I was reading the WRAL.com website this evening and noticed a story about how "most area schools" failed to make adequate yearly progress this past year based on a set of preliminary data.
As usual, I expected the article to focus on the Wake County schools with perhaps a brief mention of Durham County, but I didn't really expect anything to be included about Orange County. After all, as last year taught me, Orange County is less than forthcoming with its preliminary testing data.
But, to my surprise, the article said that "33 percent of schools in Orange and Cumberland counties met AYP." So, I thought this might be worth a closer look.
A link titled, "Preliminary 2007-08 AYP Results" was included in a sidebar to the WRAL story. Lo and behold, clicking through the links will ultimately allow you to see the preliminary results for each Orange County school.
As it turns out, one less Orange County elementary school successfully achieved AYP than last year - 3 of 7 - meaning four elementary schools failed. For 2006-07, only three elementary schools failed to make AYP - Central, Efland Cheeks and New Hope.
Interestingly, this year, one of those schools has improved its performance - even with new higher math standards - and joined the short list of higher performing Orange County schools.
And, that school is Central Elementary. The parents, teachers and students at Central should be celebrated for succeeding even as the bar was raised!
Unfortunately, not all of our other schools met the challenge. These preliminary results mean that at least four elementary schools will fail to make AYP, and be labeled "failing schools": Cameron Park, Efland Cheeks, Grady Brown and New Hope.
While this is not new territory for parents of children at Efland Cheeks and New Hope, it will likely come as a surprise to those with children at Cameron Park and Grady Brown.
Surely, there is something the new Orange County Board of Education can do to help these two new "failing schools."
Maybe the Board should consider something dramatic, like, perhaps, merging Cameron Park with Central, so that the higher performing children at Central can help raise the performance of the struggling children at Cameron Park through the "peer effect."
I am sure that both sides would agree as long as the newly merged school retains the traditional calendar.
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12 comments:
I think that CES achieving AYP is wonderful. This achievement validates the school as a place of learning. Great job!
I also want to point out the value of having reduced class sizes. Each student receives more attention with the lower class size, which had to have helped CES last year. I'm worried about the Board's decision to eliminate teachers at both HES and CES this current year. Class sizes are up...I only worry that test scores will go down.
Last year's board would say that Cameron Park, Efland Cheeks, New Hope and Grady Brown did not make AYP because HES stole the best kids from this district. I'm sure Liz is on her organic farm right now blaming us for the other schools failing AYP.
Let's see how the Board reacts to this news. I imagine they will wonder if they should alleviate some of the overcrowding at the schools. Cameron Park is over capacity, and that problem has not been addressed.
So since some with children districted to CES tried to cite test scores as their reason to not enroll their child, would they consider going to CES now that they jumped the elusive bar set by the No Child Left Behind law? By the way folks, by 2012, don't know if you'll have kids in school at that time so you may not care, most all schools will be on the did not meet AYP list because that's when everyone is supposed to be at 100% proficient. This just shows how ludicrous it is to judge any school by making AYP or not. This wouldn't have been an issue for either Efland or CES last year or the previous two years had they not received title 1 funds. And now that OCS has chosen to redirect title 1 funds, not meeting AYP means double nothing for the schools not making it this year. There are so many other things that need to be considered when judging whether or not schools are successful or failing. The public needs to get educated about these other factors that need consideration. Failing school makes the headline much quicker than a big picture headline. This law while well intended can divide communities (the consequences felt much of the last couple years in our situation), not give the big picture about school performance (since a school can do well by state standards but fail by federal standards???), and then creates an unrealistic goal of 100% of the students in grades 3-5 being proficient by 2012. Now we can argue that it's not the law that creates these situations but the reactive decision makers.
CES making AYP is just another reason why the CES and HES merger was idiotic. The Board felt that the CES families were victims of society, and that the only way to improve their scores is through the "peer effect" concept. Wrong again! You would think the Board would have gotten something right from just sheer dumb luck.
Anyone remember this quote?
"Whether or not Central is passing or failing its end of grade tests, it doesn't matter to me. The fact the school is 70% free and reduced lunch, and its a majority-minority school in this district, I don't think it's right. I may be wrong about that, but deep inside, somewhere morally inside, I feel that it's wrong. And I do feel like it's the job of the school board to make it right."
Answer: http://savehes.blogspot.com/2007/09/return-of-liz-brown.html
Let's go back and look at how reactionary the Board was last year. As Liz Brown states so eloquently, she could care less about Central not passing it's end of grade tests. I wonder how she feels about Grady Brown failing AYP? She should have concentrated less about Grady Brown's soccer field and more about the school's classroom instruction.
Well I wonder if the whole AYP thing didn't come up would Liz had brought up the disparate numbers in the first place? In other words, was anyone concerned about the resegregation occurring in the Orange County School system before the feds made the officials look at the fact that some students were not performing up to a pre set standard in this school? Didn't seem to care until test results, right? How long did it take for the school to become so segregated and where was Liz during this process? No one seemed to care as long as all was well. So who takes up this fight now? Norther Orange Task Force? The current board? The superintendent? Parents in the whole community? This is so much more than test scores. But just as Liz suggests, who cares?
OMG!! I forgot about Liz's beliefs. Does she have any idea how presumptious that sounds regarding minorities? This is ignorance at its best.
I can see how Dennis and his plan came to fruition. The village idiot was on the Board to take the heat off of him to do his personal, self-serving agenda to profit himself.
Okay, we all know how the Board reacted to the news last year the CES, NHES, and ECES did not make AYP. CES was to merge with HES. That was it. No help for NHES, which was their 1st year not obtaining AYP, and ECES (2nd year).
So how will the Board react now? Will there be a reactionary force that will stunt academic growth again? We don't know.
The Board needs to have a "strategy" to handle these problems. Last year the Board's strategy was to dismantle HES, and it failed. Maybe the Board should consider listening to the concerns of teachers and parents? That's a novel idea!
Please do not kid yourself with talk about combining Cameron Park and Central Elementary. The two schools are not at all compatible. I will pull my child out of such a debacle, and I'm sure my neighbors would do the same.
Besides, we all know that Central cannot hold a match to Cameron Park, which is the premier school of Orange County.
I believe the comment about merging Central and Cameron Park was sarcastic.
I don't think Alan would wish what CES and HES families went through for over a year on anyone else.
If a school merger designed to artificially improve the numbers at CES was wrong, so would be one to artificially improve the numbers at Cameron Park.
Okay, I can't resist. I would absolutely love for all of the self-righteous parents of Cameron Park to go through EXACTLY what the HES parents went through. I am sick and tired of the nasty comments from Cameron Park people re: HES parents. I would like nothing more than for them to have the year we had and THEN let's hear all of the complaining (would like to swear, but will refrain).
I bet Debbie would be happy to throw her neighbors into the mix since any changes to Cameron wouldn't impact her personally. But then, I wouldn't want Central kids to have to go to school with Cameron Park kids - that school is less than welcoming to new people.
Let's see if the Board gets all up
Cameron Park's business. The principal there seems like she is impervious to the boe.
"Okay, I can't resist. I would absolutely love for all of the self-righteous parents of Cameron Park to go through EXACTLY what the HES parents went through."
"The principal there seems like she is impervious to the boe."
Points well taken. The snotty Cameron Park parents, many who felt their school was the best, have egg all over their faces. If there was ever a community who were elitists, it are the parents from the Cameron Park district.
As far as Terry Rogers, she's a talker and will do anything to promote her own agenda. She's fast to accept credit when things are doing well, and fast to blame others when things don't go her way. Dr. H. will see right through her act, so I don't think she'll get her way anymore.
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