Congratulations to teachers and staff in all schools for ensuring that our students meet the state’s benchmarks for school accreditation. This does not just happen; it takes a great deal of focus and energy to provide Suffolk’s students with an education that meets Virginia’s standards.
It is good to have all schools accredited – and as citizens, that’s an expectation we should have for our schools.
The recent article, SOL test results positive, by Leila Roche (Suffolk News Herald) includes another data tidbit that is worth a second look.
“All high schools passed with rates 70 or above, Whitney said, but scores at each high school fell between two and 11 points in each subject area.”
There are only three ways the data will go each year: up, down, or stay the same. And the pattern here is that each of the three high schools and each subject area had dropping scores. This piece of data and the corresponding issue with the graduation rate calls for a more intense look at the causes for the drop.
4 comments:
The "ya-buts" are going to have a field day. NCLB is still in question as is the whinning teachers complaining about the SOLs. Teachers are like a typical taxi driver they complain all the time you're with them and at the end they demand a tip for their service. So here's my tip; until there is fair competition with the public schools there is no hope for change.
A child in the Public Schools flunked their Biology exam. The exam asked to name two things commonly found in cells. Apparently terrorists and illegal aliens was not the correct answer. The teacher was reprimanded by ICE and the DOJ.
The Principal's List and Honor Roll for King Fork High School was released recently in the SNH. What immediately popped out was the number of seniors that attained the academic status to the overall class size. A total of 89 seniors received the recognition in a class of approximately 268 or roughly a third of the class. Only about 14% of the KFHS Juniors made the list.
Were this year's Seniors unusually bright or were teachers continuing the practice of grade inflation? If they were pushed along, these young men and women will realize the harsh reality in the job world or in college that their school system failed them. However they will no longer be the problem of the Suffolk School Administration, they will be our problem.
Shouldn't the city attorney have looked into this? And if not, why? Are they friends?
Post a Comment