What are you guys down in Florida teaching your kids??
I remember a few months ago we had a big discussion on here about the quality of education in Florida. This was after a report was issued on Florida's standardized tests and the scores of those tests.
I saw a list today that was really puzzling. Everyone is familiar with No Child Left Behind, which mandates that schools meet certain federal standards or be put on a targeted list. If those schools on those lists do not improve and meet those standards, they are placed on a higher list, and so on. Eventually, if the school hasn't improved to meet the federal guidelines within like six straight years, the government essentially takes over that school, and parents are given the option of sending their children to a better-performing school, at the school district's expense.
Anyway, seven states have thus far compiled their information and determined which of their schools are or are not meeting the NCLB standards. The rest of the states continue to compile their data.
Here is the breakdown of what percentage of each state's schools are meeting the federal standards:
RE: What are you guys down in Florida teaching your kids??
thats terrible. wisconsin did pretty good i think. could the low test scores have anything to do with highr numbers of minorities/immigrants/illegal immigrants and/or poverty?
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RE: What are you guys down in Florida teaching your kids??
Ben,
A large gaping problem with the NCLBA is the actual testing procedures.
If a certain percentage of the school does not TAKE the test, the school fails.
We had a school in CT with a 99% graduation rate, with a senior class GPA of 3.5+, and the school failed because a portion of the testing class was away on a 3-day field trip during the test period! Remember, the test period is set up by the state according to Federal mandates, so the field trip was long-planned and signed off before the testing deadline.
I believe if at least 90% of the testing body does not participate on the test, the school fails.
Hence, perhaps most of Florida merely skipped the exam period?
I can think of no other means to achieve a 23%...
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"The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight." Theodore Roosevelt
RE: What are you guys down in Florida teaching your kids??
Strut&Rut, it is 95 percent of the "eligible students" who have to be tested. So, yes, it's true that a school can fail if they have a lot of students absent. But why in the world would a school administrator allow a three-day field trip during the tests? These Gateway exams are pretty important.
Ifferd, your sarcasm is noted and I got to disagree with ya. . . The federal government involved in education is EXACTLY what we need. The states weren't doing it on their own. Let's face it: America's schools are in bad shape, generally speaking. The locals can't do it because, in too many instances, the locals are happy with mediocre performances from their students.
NCLB is full of holes, and a lot of nonsense. For example, one thing that NCLB mandates is that every school have a 100 percent graduation rate (every freshman that goes into the school must transfer to another institution or graduate) within a decade or so. We all know that will NEVER happen at 95 percent of the public schools in America. It's just one of the many unfair things that NCLB offers.
But at least someone is taking the initiative to get our schools on the right track. Educators gripe and moan because they don't want accountability in their classrooms. And yet our local high school, through all the griping and moaning, improved their English test scores from 85% proficiency to 94% efficiency, and math scores from 65% efficiency to 94% efficiency, and increased graduation rate by 10%, all in ONE YEAR after they were placed on a "target list" for failing to meet NCLB standards last year. I'd say that NCLB is working here, and I assume that similar results are being achieved elsewhere.
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RE: What are you guys down in Florida teaching your kids??
Ben,
As I recall, and this story broke almost 6 months ago now, the teacher had set-up the field trip with industries, representatives, etc., and the superintendent thought the students could take the tests when they returned.
They were somewhat "annoyed" when they found out that the tests could only be given on the specified days...which is somewhat interesting, because the old SAT standardized tests (NY) were to completed within a specified month, which allowed a school to account for field trips, athletics, absences, etcetera.
But there's another point there Ben...the school I wrote about is in no need of re-structuring or government hassling...it literally is one of the top 5 schools in the state, public or private.
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"The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight." Theodore Roosevelt
What are you guys down in Florida teaching your kids??
