Schools and test scores
I had a chance to meet the new principal of our local elementary school this week. She seemed smart, enthusiastic, interested in engaging parents, committed to the kids. She gives off less of an "I know exactly what we need to do" air than last year’s principal (Dr. B.), but I’m not sure that’s entirely a bad thing, particularly since she’s been on the job less than a month.
She had just gotten the results from last year’s SOLs, and they weren’t particularly encouraging. I’m not quite sure what to make of that. I don’t think that test scores are especially useful as an indicator of school quality, but given the huge focus on them last year, I’d be lying if I said the lack of progress didn’t make me nervous.
If nothing else, it undermines my confidence that Dr. B. really did have everything under control last year. For example, Dr. B had made a big deal about how much absenteeism and tardiness there had been in the past, and the Urban League even donated alarm clocks for every kid in the school. But it turns out, there were still over 100 kids — nearly half the school — who were absent more than 10 days last year.
I think the overwhelming emphasis on test scores under No Child Left Behind is generally problematic. But I do think the attention it has focused on schools like this one, low performers in overall decent school districts, has been helpful. I could easily imagine that without NCLB or Virginia’s Standards of Learning requirements, schools like this could quietly have been left to flounder for years, with no one paying much attention.
We’ve got another year before D starts kindergarten, so we don’t need to make any decisions right away. I’m still leaning towards sending him to the local school, knowing that we have the option of switching down the road if we’re really unhappy. But we haven’t ruled out trying to get him into the dual language (Spanish/English) program at a different public school.
August 14th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
Our kids will enroll in 2006 in one of the best schools in a district that is, arguably, one of the top two or three in the state. And I’m _still_ completely freaked out about an issue or six.
It was very helpful for me, when we were seriously considering the considerably less-advantaged school district to the east of us, to hear from quite a few older faculty parents whose kids attended those schools. Their goal? To take it one year at a time, to tolerate a single bad year within reason, and to know that they could always switch schools or schooling methods down the road if necessary.
I know that I have a hard time recognizing the available forks in the road, and the exit ramps. Sometimes I think I’m on a restricted-access expressway when really it’s more of an open country road. If I’m willing to change the way I look at things.
The question of NCLB is too great to tackle right now. I’m curious, do you think people didn’t know this school was low-performing before? Or just that people didn’t have the willpower to experiment with change? And does NCLB spark both the will to change AND the wisdom to change well? I have a holy terror about the coming deluge of standardized tests. Not to mention a great deal of grief over the loss of art, gym, and RECESS. All those things are being scaled back, even in our lovely school district, because there simply isn’t TIME.
I have to avoid reading homeschooling blogs sometimes, because their arguments are so persuasive, and yet it simply isn’t an option for us.
I think this sort of discussion fits very well into the non-categorizable blog. Many parents have many thoughtful things to say about public finance, racial and economic equity issues, and educational methods — all tied up in the question of the local public schools.
August 14th, 2005 at 2:01 pm
I think that they knew the school had issues, but discounted them because they knew the population it served was largely low-income. And I admit that I do the same, in part — I’d be a lot more worried if a school that served a middle-class population was getting similarly low test scores. The one thing W. has ever said that I agree with is the line about “the soft racism of low expectations.” (I’d say classism as well.)
And also, doing things to help these schools comes at a cost — and the middle-class parents are much squeekier wheels when it comes to their schools. Last year, Alexandria moved well-regarded principals from better performing schools to the two most struggling elementary schools, and there nearly was a riot at the PTA meeting at one of the schools that lost its principal. In the absence of external pressure, what school board member wants to take on something like that?
August 14th, 2005 at 5:07 pm
Elizabeth, I strongly recommend the Spanish Immersion program in Arlington if you can get D into it. I used to teach on a middle school team for students that stayed in the program all the way through middle school, and it was great. Though I taught English/Language Arts, I saw my kids in action when they took Science in Spanish. They also took a Spanish literature/language arts class in addition to English, which was great. Their bilingual skills were very impressive by that age. It’s a really unique, wonderful program, and since Arlington is one of the few school systems in the country that offers such a program, I hope you have a chance to take advantage of it! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about it…
August 14th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
It is interesting to read about other parents going through the same worries about the public chools in different parts of the country. Our school district (large and urban and often underperforming) has a (free) Montessori program starting at age 3. You have to apply, there is a lottery with a few preferences.) The teachers are certified by the state and have their Montessori certifications. It has been very good, at least after our first year. I am glad there are options and I could choose a public school that I think will work well for my dauhter…but then I get into my middle-class liberal guilt complex and worry that is still feels vaguely unfair. And my husband has gotten a job in the ‘burbs now and I wonder if it will make it too easy to flee. Thank you for bringing up school issues–your posts are always thought-provoking. (Not always comment provoking, but I have meaning to say I enjoy what your written. I feel somewhat strange leaving an “I agree” or a “how interesting.”)