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Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun
In this file photo, members of the class of 2009 ceremoniously toss their caps into the evening sky during a commencement ceremony at Boulder City High School.
Published Friday, June 10, 2011 | 2 p.m.
Updated Saturday, June 11, 2011 | 2:47 p.m.
Dwight Jones
Sun coverage
Sun archives
- Report ranks Clark County among last in high school graduation rates (6-8-2011)
- Superintendent announces plan to boost student achievement (5-26-2011)
- Graduation rate in state bad, but is it this bad? (6-17-2010)
- Ad points to accomplishments of high school seniors (6-16-2010)
- Long road to graduation: Faces of adult education (6-14-2010)
- Road to graduation runs through science test for Class of 2010 (5-27-2010)
- Superintendent suggests ways to increase graduation rates (2-11-2009)
- Graduate rates too low, dropout rates too high (1-2-2009)
When Dwight Jones was hired last November to be superintendent of the Clark County School District, he promised honesty and transparency to win over a distrustful and suspicious community.
Now, School District officials are acknowledging what critics have long suspected — that high school graduation figures have for years been inflated to paint a better picture than actually existed.
“We’ve known for a long time the community has been challenging some of the data that the district was coming out with,” said Pedro Martinez, Jones’ recently hired deputy superintendent of instruction.
“We need to have the trust of the community, the parents and all of the district’s employees,” he said. “The reality is when the data are not clear, then frankly people mistrust it. The new superintendent came in and said we’re going to find out the real numbers. Whatever the truth is that’s what we’re going to put out there.”
The issue became pointed this week when Education Week magazine reported that Clark County’s public school graduation rate was 44.3 percent in 2008, not the 68 percent figure that had been reported under Jones’ predecessor, Walt Rulffes. That’s a difference of 24 percentage points.
The results reported by Education Week were drawn from a mix of numbers reported to state and federal education officials, and they highlight the challenges Jones and his executive team face in rebuilding communitywide trust, especially among those who have claimed for years that the district has inflated graduation rates.
“Twenty-four percentage points. How did this happen?” Jones said as he spoke with visitors to his office. He is searching for answers.
Was it the doubling of the district’s student population to more than 300,000 students over 10 years? Fallout from the economy? The influx of foreign-born students? A function of per-pupil spending levels? The disruption of student and educator routine sparked by the monthly opening of new schools during the boom? The promise of service sector jobs that do not require diplomas? Or some combination of things?
“The causes are probably far and wide,” Jones said. “I can’t Band-Aid it. I can’t mess around on the fringes. The community has to understand it is going to take time to do it. It’s a big ship to turn.”
Rulffes said that during his five-year tenure, which ended when he retired and the district hired Jones, district administrators were open and honest with the numbers and provided the state Education Department with graduation numbers required by the state formula.
“I don’t have any dispute with the fact that the graduation rate is low,” Rulffes said. “I think it’s shamefully low, and I said that 1,000 or 2,000 times during my reign. I do have some concerns about the connotation or suggestion that we were inflating graduation rates at the district level. That simply was not true. We were submitting the data specifically required by the state formula.”
The 44.3 percent graduation rate compared with a national average graduation rate of 71.7 percent, placing Nevada third on Education Week’s list of “Dropout Epicenters,” trailing public school systems in New York City and Los Angeles.
An aide to Jones contacted Education Week researchers, who wrote the report, to gauge the accuracy and origin of the numbers. “However they figured out the data, they figured it out the same way for the every other state,” Jones said. “So the next question becomes — what are we going to do about it?”
Walt Rulffes
Rulffes placed the School District’s 2008 high school graduation rate at 68 percent. The Reno-based Washoe County School District put its figure at 65 percent that year. The two account for 85 percent of the state’s public school student population.
Clark County's accounting techniques sparked criticism from community groups, concerned district employees and others. Critics pointed to the conclusions of national studies by Johns Hopkins University, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Education Week, each placing the School District’s graduation rate closer to 50 percent.
Jones and Martinez have adopted a new formula to determine the district’s high school graduation rate, one that reflects a new nationwide standard adopted by the National Governors Association. The formula is expected to lower this past year’s previously reported rate from 68 percent to 51 percent, a number they say reflects reality. The goal is to establish true accountability for the failure of students, a troubling reality that finds just 1 in 10 ninth-graders eventually earning a bachelor’s degree, or about half the national average. The number is significantly lower for Hispanic and black students.
Education Week drew its conclusions from figures reported to the U.S. Education Department. The publication’s formula reflects the National Governors Association approach by measuring yearly promotions during the first three years of high school followed by graduation rates for the final year of public school. Students were counted as dropouts if they disappeared without an accurate accounting of their whereabouts.
The publication’s senior research editor, Sterling Loyd, noted that Nevadans should be “quite concerned” about the state’s dramatic decline, saying Nevada fits into a troubled group of states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina, a reality that will concern anyone about the economic future of children and the diversification of the state’s economy. Attractive out-of-state employers typically seek educated workers and good public schools for their children.
Boys fared much worse than girls in the Education Week numbers, with just 39.6 percent of Nevada’s male high school students graduating in 2008, the most recent year for which figures were available for all states. Female students graduated at a rate of 50.1 percent. The national averages were 74.7 percent for girls and 67.7 percent for boys. The numbers steadily declined by ethnicity, with black students in Nevada having a 33 percent graduation rate and Hispanics at 29.6 percent. White students recorded a 55.8 percent graduation rate.
Florida’s high school graduation numbers recorded one of the nation’s largest improvements in the country, a 12.4 percent jump in the percentage of students graduating during the 10-year period measured by Education Week, and may have been the beneficiary of education reform efforts pushed by former Gov. Jeb Bush.
“It’s hard to identify one reason as the cause but they did see improvements under Jeb Bush,” Loyd said. He pointed to enhanced data tracking systems adopted by Florida and Tennessee, which experienced a 20 percent jump between 1998 and 2008. The goal of such systems: identify failing and academically challenged children when they’re young and closely monitor their progress as they move from elementary to middle to high school.
A key player in Jones’ agenda for districtwide change and academic improvement, Martinez said it’s difficult to determine the effects that the region’s hyper-growth had on the performance of district students and employees from 1998 to 2008.
The district became a major land developer and personnel management company in addition to being an educator, and it’s clear, Martinez said, student performance suffered. Was there a cause and effect with the shifting emphases? Hard to say, Martinez replied. No matter, he reiterated the mantra: “We must own the numbers.”
There is one other number the Clark County School District will be forced to own: Education Week researchers project that 16,114 of the 29,368 students who began high school four years ago will not graduate this year.
Comment removed by moderator. Off focus.
Comment removed by moderator. Off focus.
The kids continually come and go! Some move every two months! LV is #2, to Seattle, for homeless teenagers! I have students whose parents encourage them to drop out and get a job. Employers continually do not ask for proof of HS diplomas and have HS kids working until late at night closing up businesses. Many are just plain "wore out" and just decide to work!
It is sad!
Comment removed by moderator. Removed because it was in response to another reader's comments that have since been removed for being off focus.
You get what YOU pay for Nevada! The first in the lowest qualities of life and last in the best qualities of life. Did you see what the Gov. tried to do about this issue, MORE of the Status Quo. Well done the man with NO PLAN.
With opinion, education is one of those things in life where the importance is not necessarily realized until after it is earned. To be able to affectively communicate this to our youth used to be more of mentorship received from family, employment, and relatives. Now with the reduction of youth employment opportunities (internships) and the "family" unit being what it is, across the country we are seeing the impact. It appears that impact is being felt even greater here in the Las Vegas Metro area. Quality teachers and administrators; real internship programs, the increase of knowledge demanding industry in the area, and re-enforcement of community morals, values, and standards should assist in improving this. However, as the article states, it will take time. The area did not get to the point where it is at overnight, and it will not get fixed overnight.
44% of the seniors graduate, of which 39% are boys. The school district inflates those numbers and have gotten away with it until now. What is wrong with this picture? And they think they have done a good job? NOT!
The 1st thing that the school distric needs to do is SURVEY SURVEY SURVEY the people who are dropping out and make every attempt to contact those who drop out without giving a reason then assemble the information so that they have a starting point!
Having a group of adults sitting around a conference table sipping pop,water and coffee and attempting to 'problem solve' without hard data is doomed to failure before the meeting is called to order!
LasVegas2011,
Yes, taxpayers should be paying the cost of education since the ones being educated will one day be voters. That alone justifies it.
If you want to make it a requirement that voters must pass the same US citizenship test that immigrants do then it might be okay to re-think the system in the manner you propose. But until then, it behooves us to make damn sure every child is educated.
Keep this in mind, too. How many dropouts wind up on welfare? Who pays for that?
@LasVegas2011.
If you can't get kids to come to school, how do you think that they are going to have the self-discipline to work on internet courses? I have students who don't do any work in a classroom, with me standing there, how are they going to have the motivation to do an internet course. Tell them they have to do an internet course, and they will go to Facebook, My Space, Itunes, etc. What do you do about the students who don't have internet access?
Does Las Vegas attract more people who do not value education, as in academic education, than other cities? I've lived in several American cities and I would say yes. It's not rocket science. Let the ones who see no value in academic education and who disrupt the classrooms to either go into the real world, or change the existing school system to suit what they're looking for. Separate them from the ones who care about academics. Don't allow them to bring down the best and brightest. Don't mix them with the best and brightest. Students of all races and classes who WANT to learn deserve a top notch environment. If that's only ten percent of the current Las Vegas population, so be it.
A problem with this kind of plan, though, which is really the only solution, is what to do about taxpayer money that was allocated to students who do not want to learn. That is the biggest political stumbling block.
Perhaps everyone should watch "Lean On Me" and get some inspiration.
I believe the school district has also been fudging the actual number of hispanics in the school district. I have *unofficially* heard that they make up 60% of students, yet here's a RJ story from last year saying that the number is only 42%.(http://www.lvrj.com/news/clark-county-school-enrollment-increases-by-500-103891129.html) The 42% claim doesn't pass the eye test, as anyone living north of the 215 and east of the 15 can attest. Where I live, and in MANY areas, the percentage is about 80%. Averaged out, I think the 60% figure I've heard is about right, if still not slightly low.
If only 29% of Hispanic males are graduating, I think we've identified our single biggest part of the problem. It MUST be impressed upon the Hispanic community that their failure to take the free education provided to them seriously is dragging us all down. This is unacceptable. Unlike others, I don't say "go home." I say, "you're here, now get with the program."
There are other dimensions to the problem in CCSD. In my book, all of them start with holding families and students responsible. And getting Hispanics to get with the program is 'tough love' job #1.
So in other words, if you have a kid in the current school system, statistically he/she will amount to nothing. Just another poor smuck working pay check to pay check.
The numbers are scary if you're a parent here. What's even more apparent is the rapid erosion of cultured kids who listen to their parents. This astonishes even me.
In my travels and work around here and a few other places, I have noticed how the DISrespect within the children here seems considerably worse not only than previous times, but most other places. My guess for the reason for this is lack of parenting.
I saw that same issue abundantly evident in classrooms in Nevada, in informal conversations between kids and their folks, and even in formal meetings with them. It is as though the parents had no idea about how to engender kindness or understanding.
They merely SHOUT louder and act like children in larger bodies. In sum, how can we expect a world class culture when our gene pool is sub-par?
All the teachers in the universe can NOT impact what homes without adults have done to generations of children here, not just the young and small but also the old and big children.
If CCSD were to initiate a pro-active program ained at the masses of disinterested under-achievers with some lofty JOB-oriented components, then perhaps the crashing numbers would turn around.
I envision the tradesmen and women contributing along with, of course, hospitalty, energy production and efficiency positions, service learning/community-oriented facilities etc. to amass a game-changer for many who are not college-bound.
There would be mandatory 3R's of Readin, Ritin, and Rithmatic and a nod to Nancy A's 3 R's of respect, resilience and Resourcefulness to include and develop the humanity piece of a basic education.
But the thrust would be on engaging tomorrow as a wage-earner - something many can ill-conceive.
With scarce resources and collapsing potentials, we need all the friends we can get. We DO have friends waiting to upgrade their workforce and engage youth. Let's call them partners or collaborators in culture.
We all benefit when kids take their lives in their own hands. And today's schooling leaves much to be desired along this road. Let them see themselves in tomorrow's picture, and they'll grow up on their own terms to become and develop.
It's their lives and we shade them from the truth by fostering mediocrity and forced Carnegie units - the years of sitting on their butts when most would profit far more from engaging themselves in the dirty ole world of work.
OK posters, remember how (right now) they are "correcting" the numbers (from cooked books) way way down so ANY IMPROVEMENT MAY BE JUST AS COOKED AS THE REPORTED GRADUATION RATE HAS BEEN FOR YEARS. Forget the hype words of transparency ad nauseum and let's get down to it: we OVER FUND K-12 and they do whatever they like to with our money. And they still don't teach our kids to READ AND WRITE. CUT OUT THE FRILLS AND NONSENSE--get our students into classes of 30-39 and let them learn a little from each other 'cause they're not getting much from the system and policies in place here and elsewhere.
Clearly there is wisdom in NOT busing, NOT mandating brick-and-mortar school attendance and EFFECTIVELY evaluating skill levels so kids can proceed at their own rate in internet-based instruction. It's cheaper, it opens up many learning regimes, and it benefits those who choose to make their efforts pay.
There are downsides though. The few who have the motivation to develop these ways often are the classroom leaders without whose inputs the others are often disadvantaged. Yes, they teach often as much as the teacher, and because they're in small bodies, their input is better and more acceptable to peers.
Good teachers know this, and often they utilize the inputs of stellar students in discussions, demonstrations, samples and classroom projects. And the good kids benefit from the interaction. This is all lost in internet-only education, this humanity piece of the socialization and acculturation known as education.
Money and quality of education pull like a tug-of-war on our kids' futures; no one solution meets all needs, but one thing's for certain - the status quo has to go!
Did you know that all the illegal nonspeaking English students that are here are required to take the end of the year tests which are written in English? This is one of the reasons for low test scores and high drop out rates.
Also people that make $100,000 a year bell hopping and parking cars in Vegas don't really see the value of an education...They pass this belief on to their children...Vegas attracts noneducated workers with the promise of big buck jobs such as vallet parkers, bell hops, firemen, etc...
Those days of parking cars and making 100,000 are over due to the economy.
If you want the graduation rates to go up you are going to have to demand that the kids show up for class, pay attention, do their school and home work and stop disrupting classes so that everyone has an equal chance of learning.
Until you start making each and every child and their parents responsible for their actions you will never seen an increase in the graduation rates in this county.
There was an article yesterday about the kids that had a chance at winning a new car. Those kids did not miss a single day of school and had 4.0+ grade averages. I guess showing up for school each day has something to do with those high grade point averages.
Personal responsibility is all it takes and things will get much better at the schools and in Las Vegas in general.
Kids that do not graduate from high school are really at a disadvantage in todays world. We need FDR's CCC to teach them self respect and a skill they can use...a Dropouts Boot Camp. While Washington scours the world putting its nose in other countries business they neglect the people at home. They have exploited us so now they need new horizons. Oh well, let's start another war.
Americans in general, and Southern Nevadan's in particular, need to WAKE UP...
Blaming your local school district for the ills of Society is not gonna get er' done.
Graduation rates SUCK because students FAIL.
They fail to come to school, they fail to pay attention, they fail to do their homework, they fail to understand the implications of NOT taking advantage of the opportunity to get educated.
Our IMMENSE immigrant population, along with a lack of PARENTING by a percentage of all populations needs to be factored into your Blame Game scorecard...
Do you suppose all the CCSD-educated kids going off to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown, Duke and the like are complaining about their TEACHER???
Quite contrarily, my friends.
so folks, we have been LIED to. any surprise? where is the accountability? why arent any reporters banging on ruffles door, wherever he is, and asking him why he lied? ruffles was a "savior" when he was first hired...remember?
How can the educated CCSD over inflate the graduation rate. Seems to me its easy. Did a kid graduate or not. This is a reason why people have issues funding more education. its not the teachers its the administration that needs to be trimmed down. And these people call themselves educators? They can't even add. Waste of money.
Instead of placing blame, I want you people to be rational and think a little bit deeper than you normally do (if at all possible):
There are many states whose graduation rates are many times better than CCSD. Why?
----Is it the CCSD teachers? Think about it. There are only a handful of local teachers. Most of them were recruited from all over the US and some from abroad. What is it? Did they lose their "teacher ability" when they came here?
-----Let us think about the community of those states with higher graduation rates. Compare them to Las Vegas. Got any clues there?
-----Think about the parents and families of those states with higher graduation rates. Are you getting any hints?
-----Think about the school systems in those states with higher graduation rates and the people who run those systems. You see any similarities?
-----Think about their governor, their legislature. Any clues there?
-----Look at their environment, their quality of life, their values. Do you even recognize them?
If you can think as I ask, research if you need to, post here what you find and blame whomever you want, but please give Ceasar what is Ceasar's.
But then again, thinking would probably be too much to ask.
What we should see is a ethnic breakdown of those graduating. That would help to narrow the cause instead of just blaming the teachers or the school system. Parental involvement is the primary KEY to a child's success.
Nancy Agustin,
You're lashing out unnecessarily, today. Most of us posting on this thread see it the same way as you. Roseanrose is a broken record and nobody really takes him seriously. But the overwhelming majority of the posts here agree that the blame for failure lies squarely at the feet of the parents and the students of the CCSD. Our community has glorified the two-legged table that is our broken and bankrupt economy in this valley, and such a mentality has given us our just desserts in education. Earnest teachers never stood a chance.
Let's end the folly, end the immediate gratification culture, embrace education, and mature our economy and our community. Those who continue to glorify the boom-town fixes that are broken and belong to yesteryear, are part of the problem, not the solution. Again, we as a community need to embrace education. Support, not undermine, the educators in our children's lives.
Of course, voters just put Carolyn Goodman into office. The battle remains steeply uphill...
I am not lashing out - simply asking people to think. Not too many do, or are incapable.
They find scapegoats instead of admitting why, who, what, and where the problem lies, absolving only themselves.
Thank you.
Well I'm not going to tell you that teachers don't get scapegoated. I know that all too often happens. But again, the majority of the posters on *this* thread have recognized parents and students as the culprits and have *not* scapegoated teachers. That's encouraging. The hardest part about dealing with CCSD schools is being honest about where the problem is -- parents and students. I see that being said here.
"CCSD were to initiate a pro-active program ained at the masses of disinterested under-achievers with some lofty JOB-oriented components, then perhaps the crashing numbers would turn around"
Your intentions are likely noble but...
This idea sounds really really scarey to me.
How long would it be before some person is telling a X year old that he/she is going to lay bricks for the rest of his/her life or clean toilets or flip burgers or where ever there is a labor shortage?
Sounds like a social-ist experiment that requires a cowed populace!
I'm glad thar I'm 64 yrs young and don't need to fear this type of future!
Some teachers / posters need to develop some self confidence. People are not necessarily targeting teachers or blaming teachers. K-12 is NOT WORKING. There are many reasons why and we need to take steps to change ALL THE AREAS THAT ARE NOT WORKING. One of those areas is REQUIRING HONESTY IN ACCOUNTABILITY, not just hype for the media. Perhaps teachers can figure it out if they looked at a factory--teachers are the line workers. When the line is slowed down for ineffectiveness, at some point, we have to SHUT THE LINE DOWN AND FIX THE BROKEN ASSEMBLY. This does impact workers / teachers but it doesn't mean people are accusing them of breaking the line.
yo pmmart,
What's wrong with masonry?? One of the best gents I know manufactures masonry heating systems that get almost all the heAT FROM A BURNING PILE OF STICKS INTO THE HOME, BURNING AT OVER 2,000 DEGREES!
Some masons specialize in kitchens, pools, etc. There's art in every science. And what's scary about art or perfecting a trade ??
Kids that actually do things benefit from the experience WAAY more thsn from hanging out at the mall, texting and playing xbox360 games. Those who get dirty become interdependent with our planet, so to speak.
My suggestion was never intended to instill fear, my friend, so much as to suggest alternatives for the bored but potentially creative kids whose learning style falls into the hands-on category. Some kids do waay better in the realm of touching and constructing while others are more 'booky' or 'looky' types. Good teachers would approach each kid where the kid has strengths, in a better world. That's what I'm suggesting is the way out for some, but not all.
Please note there would also be plenty of basic skill development pieces to this alternative diploma, but enough of a work-orientation to appeal to the 'doer' types.
If you peeked into the European and Asian cultures and school systems, you will find this trend for several decades going strong. The college material go the college route. The construction kids build and plumb and wire.
They all make good money and earn respect for their talents where they can find them. 'Growing where one is planted' and 'to each his own' come to mind. It's hardly socialism, but call individualized instruction what you wish. The new term, differentiated instruction, tries to incorporate learning styles within a subject; I was merely suggesting a curriculum alternative along the lines of differentiation in emphasis to include learning style and work skills because so few can actually imagine themselves doing ANYTHING productive with their lives.
This way they can picture their future and begin to take initiative and a dash of responsibility for what to do with their talents, their few years of formal learning, and their ephemeral decades of employment.
I'm your age and working six days a week making bank in like my fifth career change, and I'm having the time of my life incorporating the skills and talents picked up in numerous fields of endeavor from home-building and retrofitting to school teaching to energy efficiency to community service. New stuff doesn't need to be intimidating, but it sure ought to be fun, if they ever even get to BE our age!! LOL
@roseanrose. The only problem with your analogy is that an assembly line works with things, and a teachers work with people. Last time I looked a car being built didn't have to be fed or nutured, a child does. A car being built doesn't come with any problems, except the parts may not fit. A child comes to school with all the impacts of home, society, and thousands of other factors beyond the control of the teacher.
ya can't shut the time line down Rosie; it's inexorable and gets worse when ya try and fail. These kids need attention NOW. they are only capable of learning for awhile at the rate that that present opportunity affords them. Then they slack off, fatten up, get knopcked up, drugged up, punched out, etc. Learn early, get the goods on life and excel, or Willy said "There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries"
Airweare
I also changed 'careers in 'midstream' and I spent the 1st 12 yrs. out of HS in the concrete trade so you cannot educate me on the pros [a few] and cons [many more than a few] `then went self employed for 2 yrs. [just in time for the 1982 economy meltdown] and spent the next 30 yrs in the manufactoring budiness [tool and die and machine operator]during which time I trained a few good people [men and women] and watched a good many more pass through due to a lack of desire to learn,lack of interest and a refusal to work an off shift[which I worked for 26 yrs].
Butt..enough about me ... the bottom line on the subject of graduation rates [or lack of same]is that we need to identify the causes for failure in the system and we need to identify the leading causes of that failure which means that we need to ask those who failed to complete HS and those fine folks are the ones that leave early. Once we catagorize the main issues we can then proceed to ATTEMPT to make the changes that will raise the biggest groups expectations.
If I learned ONE THING in my working life
was that the 1st thing you need to do is analyze the situation and then either make the changes needed to improve/repair it or stop and get someone who has the ability that you might not be well versed in.
The biggest detriment to improvement in any situation is the know-it-all who would rather wreck the operation than admitt that they don't have all of the answers and I'll bet we all know one of them.
Airweare,
You make some good points, including the perfect acceptability of becoming a tradesman. But the traditional strength of American society has been that we do NOT pigeonhole our students, forcing them into tracks. We do NOT tell some that, "no, you're not going to college where you could have had the chance to explore professional possibilities;" it's off to vocational school and life for you.
You cite Asia and Europe as examples, but entire economies in both places are finding out that they no longer have the answers, in the 21st century -- you can't just keep making buildings. Spain is finding that out, as is England, Ireland. In Asia, there is no more important lesson than Japan, which embraced this model you speak of with a fervor. Japan has found out just how badly this 'dual-track' cultural mentality can stultify an entire economy and depress entire generations and society.
If one were to ask any of our foreign competitors what they think of America as a future contender, they all continue to revere us and count us as a continuing leading force with a highly flexible, innovative and formidable society. OUR problem is, we don't have a national economic policy, vis-a-vis other nations. And so they steal our lunch. But that's another conversation for another time...
Yes, we most definitely need parents to crack down on their own kids, and we need to get back to the basics in school -- a lot more emphasis of the *3 R's.* Kids THEN can CHOOSE their personalized field of concentrations, after they get their K-12 base.
And a lot less of the completely off-base Roseanrose and his fallacies.
Thank you DTJ,
The failures in Europe and Asia even with their dual track system points up, as you point out, the wisdom of the slow learner and the apparent plodder gathering steam and snowballing into greatness over time.
It often takes awhile to have enough of a clear picture for the best and brightest to begin to shine, and our way of holding off on eliminating the slower ones is likely bound to prove wise, even though more nearly equitable all along, albeit sometimes a seemingly wasted effort to bring some up to speed. Tennesse Williams flunked out as a prime example, and there are many more good examples of late bloomers seeing the light and finding their strengths.
Back in the 60s we DID track high school kids; today we do NOT except with AP and Honors classes picking the cherries for exalted concentrations. These are excellent investments in the top tier, but by no means the exhaustive end-all and be-all of the sum of potential in schools. Many plod and then later excel, so keeping the light on is the only logical path in the land of the free. It costs more and it pays slowly, but these are lives, not investments. I agree w/ you - it's worth the time; I'd walk a mile for a Gates or a good Buffet.
And just think, the Education Foundation gave Walt Ruffles a "Lifetime Achievement Award" when he retired. If this was his lifetime achievement, what does it say for his career?
None the less, in my opinion parents have the most ability to improve education. The district needs to bring them into the process. If they don't respond, we will know which kids are most likely to have issues.
Understand this is the first step of a very large staircase.
I have been saying for a year the numbers coming from the district are unreliable. Their graduation rates, spending per student, building and improvement bids as well as their entire budget is not transparent.
Their is no accoutability and you can't get a straight answer to simple questions. The only thing the district can say is...."we need more money".
Turning the schools around is not a difficult proposition. It is fairly simple actually.
the schools themselves are in the way, the state government is in the way, the unions are in the way. The schools have plenty of money, they have brand new buildings. They have I pads, but no books for the kids.
The school unions will say they are not responsible for educating the children and they are right. But they are 50% of the reason the kids are not being educated.
I demand accountability of the school system, the school board, the state legislature, past superintendents. The school district must be audited and formal charges brought to those who deserve them as the malfeasance appears to be Epidemic. The stinkin thinking that is going on in the schools must be scrubbed from the system.