Local schools fail to meet yearly progress goals

Posted by crzy_mama2mny (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Why is it always the fault of the teachers? What about the parents who don't push their kids to do their best? I think that's where it all starts...teachers cannot fix what parents do not enforce.

Posted by MiddleAgedTrojan (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 1:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Glenville iz my ulmu mader and i think gettin over haf on reedin an ritin is fine. In all honesty, these tests are not the end all-be all of education, but scores this low should concern everyone.

Posted by cininternational (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You all seem to think that teachers make so much. Yes they get benifits just like some other jobs. But do you realize that alot of things come out of thier own pockets for the classrooms and the kids? They are only allotted so much each year . So when they have used up that paper to send those notes home to parents quess who pocket that comes out of!! Or when kids come to school and they don't have there mittens or hats. Alot of teachers try to have this stuff for them but guess what they go home and forget to come back most of the time. And no i'm not a teacher but have helped alot with trying to get crayons,paper and etc.. so those kids that don't have it can . Yes they get time off in the summer but they also have thier chose on how they want thier checks thru out the year so they can get paid thru out the summer. also do you relize that they are at school a week or so after school is done then they usally have courses they have to take them selfs and back in school a week or 2 before school starts again? So really they only get a couple weeks themselfs. Think about it!

Posted by alhs1975 (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 2:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Anyone who pays attention to the results of NCLB testing is a moron. The program is designed to make public schools look bad. Each year the bar is set higher, fewer resources are allocated, parents escape their responsibilities, teachers are blamed and the voucher crowd smiles................

Posted by OldTrojan (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The blame lies entirely in the hands of local school administrators and teachers. The buck stops with them! They are not doing the job that they are paid to do. Stop blaming the parents. If not for parents there would be no children to teach. It is high-time that the educators get-off their royal high-horse and start taking responsibility for their failing. They need to stop asking for more money and be held accountable for their shortcomings. These results are disgusting. How are the kids ever going to effectively compete for jobs when their educators will not help them acquire the knowledge that they so desperately need? What a shame!

Posted by SRO (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ok, some are blaming the teachers, some are blaming the parents.....
So what do us parents who do push their kids to be/do their best and help them every single night with math/reading/spelling and the other homeowork they get. Yet they still do not get the help they deserve from the teachers, then what?? Can anyone tell us what MORE we can do to help our children?
There was a point in time when I complained...didn't do much good.
Thankfully my daughter was with an awesome teacher last year and she was able to jump up in one year what she hadn't learned the year and a half before...

Posted by farmgirl (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 3:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

now i am not 100% positive but didn't no child left behind start in texas and is it true that the only state not using no child left behind is texas? now if that is true doesn't that say a lot?

Posted by controlledhyperness (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 4:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

farmgirl,
Yes, the concept of no child left behind was started in Texas, under who was then Govenor Bush (actually, I think it went further back to Richardson, but don't hold me to that one). As one who went through parts of that, I have to say the concept was great! It meant that if a child had difficulties in one particular area, they were not allowed to pass that grade until that area was addressed (as many times it was reading or math based). Hence, they were not left behind wondering what was going on. When it was brought out at the National level, each district within each state was held responsible for what it meant (for instance, if a child was close to their counterparts in reading, but not up to the rest of the class, could they pass on, or did they get held back), and at THAT point the concept failed...miserably. From what I have heard (from relatives still in the state of Texas), they no longer use that method and the results are no longer increasing (as they had done way back when) either.
On a lighter note...the editor missed a typo. "Alden Conger ... secondary school, 43 percent were proficient in reading and 62 percent were proficient in reading". Just to prove that, as someone who came out of the Texas Public School system, we learned to re-ad very much gooder (the grammar however lack-ed) :0)

Posted by alhs1975 (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 4:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Quick question OldTrojan:

If you have a couple three cavities, is it your dentist's fault or yours? If your dentist encourages you to brush three times a day and floss regularly, it sounds like sound advice and good instruction. But if your parents don't reinforce the behavior and you ignore the dentist's instructions - eating tons of candy, drinking high-sugar sodas and brush maybe a couple of times a week - how can you blame the dentist?

Education works the same way.

Posted by alhsgrad90 (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Here is what is wrong with these tests!!! They test everyone, which you would think is great it is not. They test all the students who are required to even if they do not have a grasp of the English language or are in Special Ed. There lies the problem I could guess that these scores would go up if they did not test these students. How can a student who comes from another country who is having enough trouble adjusting to this country be expected to do well on a test that they have no clue about. I work in Special Ed and these students really could care less about the test because many of them will graduate off of their IEP's anyways so why test them. You don't have to blame the teachers or the parents blame the ones who gave you NCLB. I have heard many districts around the nation are not even following NCLB because they do not get the funds from the government to make the changes to improve test scores. If the one who wants all of this don't you think they would provide for it? Also, alhs1975 when you call people out like that don't be suprised if you don't get a response many who post like to blame and not offer solutions.

Posted by justanothervoice (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 5:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe they should not test everyone, but to say that special ed students could care less is not very nice. I hope that you are not giving yourself a pass, since you are the one that is suppose to teach them. If you don't care, why should they. If you don't try and just give them a pass, why should they try.

Posted by Wildbill (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 7:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

When I went to school, there was Special Ed, Regular, and some Excelerated classes. We had twice the students they have now and amazingly society functioned quite well.
Of course, parents took greater responsibility and the teachers union wasn't as powerful yet.

Posted by OldTrojan (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 9:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)

alhs1975: In my opinion there is a difference between preventative dental care and education. My question for you is why blame the parents? How can you be so certain that parents are not encouraging their children to learn? Do 36% of the parents for Hawthorne students have poor parenting skills since only 64% of the students are proficient at reading? I've read earlier that scores might be low due to non-english speaking students and those with special needs. Does 36% of the student population at Hawthorne fall into one of these two categories?

Posted by SRO (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Again I ask.....

So what do us parents who do push their kids to be/do their best and help them every single night with math/reading/spelling and the other homeowork they get. Yet they still do not get the help they deserve from the teachers, then what?? Can anyone tell us what MORE we can do to help our children?

Posted by drgreenthumb (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 10:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Another thing to think about is that kids start to realize these test do not affect their grades. All these tests do is "show" how well students are supposably doing in school. When you are a kid and realize there is nothing in it for you, why take the test so seriously?

Posted by alhsgrad90 (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 11:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

many special ed students want to be rewarded right now and test do not do that. they can not see the point of taking a test for a grade or a score because to them it is not a reward that has any meaning to them. i work very hard at getting them to realize that not everything you do you will be rewarded with a token or some sort of special privilege. so that is why i said what i did. SRO you want to help your children be there help them with their homework, go to meetings at the school get involved with the school, go to parent/teacher conferences and speak up on your child's behalf. My wife and I are very involved with what happens with our sons, who happen to be in special ed, and their education. i push my sons extremely hard and make sure that they are prepared for these tests when they come around. SRO once you start getting involved in your childs school you will see the many things that not just teachers but all school personal have to deal with on an everyday basis. OldTrojan you make my point for me; students who are already lacking in the areas that they are testing should not be tested by NCLB they need to find another way for those students to improve on their skills. Feedman have you ever come up with a solution or do you like to blame people maybe that is why you always are yelling in your posts. Why don't you just shut your mouth until you can come up with an intelligent thought that does not blame someone for something that may have affected you. Wildbill please remember that we did not have all these test back in the day. I can remember taking the California Achievement Test(CAT) and that was it, other than that we were graded on our work and test we took after each unit.

Posted by Wildbill (anonymous) on August 12, 2009 at 1:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

When I was in school we had twice the students with very little of the problems of now days. I was back when they had the Iowa Basic Skills Tests. Maybe they should look back at the baby boom era and study what might work today.
I realize that times change, but people are still people.

Posted by justanothervoice (anonymous) on August 12, 2009 at 8:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

It is hard to help with their homework when they do not have homework given. Stop rewarding with tokens or special privileges and TEACH. The teacher or school must have started the token system, NOT the student. Don't get so angry when someone disagrees with your system. Before you can have an intelligent thought, you need to have some intelligence and be able to think.