Can someone provide a link to the LFBF scores AND the I Falls scores...seems like no one wants to talk about this and I have been waiting a week to see whats up.

Thanks

LET IT SNOW

Sports scores are easy to come by...how about some test scores?!

If someone was proud, wouldn't they be posted like basketball scores and hockey scores?

Just wondering...like the original poster...

LET IT SNOW

This link should be helpful. http://education.state.mn.us/ReportCard2005/index.do

Just wanted to post some data on the school I now work at, to offer a comparison to the local schools results. This school is an elementary school with an enrollment of 674. We have 34 teachers with 16 of them having masters or doctoral degrees in education. Our average salary is $47,671 with an average teaching expierence of 9 years. We have 23 para-professionals. In our program we not only evaluate the percent of students that have achieved proficiency but also the number of students that "have grown" since last year in their educational development. In other words, if a student achieved a 90% last year and a 90% this year, that student or class group "did not grow". Not "growing" around here is a bad thing. I am not sure what would happen if 100% of our students achieved a 100% on the annual performance results.

Our results were:
Reading 82% proficient
Writing 66% proficient
Math 83% proficient

With the push put on further development in all areas for this school year, I expect all these results to increase by 5% to 8% over last year. We won't have this years results until about late July or early August as we are still in the CSAP testing mode with testing going on this week in math and science, its hectic and disruptive to be sure.

I wanted to add, for those that might be interested in such things, that our attendance rate was 95.7%. That we establised 22 targets for our students, which we failed to meet, having attained only 20 of the targets. We had 8 violations of our student code of conduct during the year with one of those being a dangerous weapons violation with a student having brought a pocket knife to school. I probably mete out more punishment then all the other on the staff, with the exception of the asst. principal and yet I get a full day of hugs every day, as does the asst. principal. That should say something to those that understand the administration of "fair" punishment. Its like I have 450 sons and daughters that I get to see and talk to every day.

Granted, this particular school is probably non-typical in its approach to education, even in this district, I am a little alarmed at the comparison of these results to the International Falls schools results. I am particularily alarmed when I don't think the class performance in our local district was second to any in the state twenty or more years ago and has obviously deteriated to alarmingly "poor" and unacceptable levels today. I am even more alarmed when I am not "hearing" of any educational plan to raise these levels to an acceptable 80% range or better.

My question to you is, "are these results for your children, in our local school district, acceptable to you"? Are you comfortable with our local school disricts results with your children. Will your children be able to compete with their peers, in the job market, with their current level of academic achievment? You may not want to "get involved" in your childrens education in school or at home or get involved with changing the local districts ability to train your children to compete with their peers, but if you don't, you will soon see more of those results in the local community and its economy in the near future. What does a dying town sound like...Dull-Deathly Quiet-Hopelessness-Despair are some words that come to mind.

We havn't got there yet as many in our community do care and are trying and working hard to overturn some ills of the past. I think some of our old ways of thinking about things have got to change before we can ever be successful about our communities growth. I think, also, more folks need to vocally express their opinions to leaders in this community and drive their outcomes rather then the local leaders driving the outcome. After all, what can a leader do with no input from their constituents? Well other then lead, that is!

test scores, schmest scores! I went to the store to buy apples the other day, and came home with oranges instead. No one knew the difference. Every child is expected to learn to read and write. Then they are expected to use those skills to learn history, math, geography, English, Science, etc etc. Out of all these learned subjects, how many of these subjects are used in our adult life? I laugh when my 8th grader asks me why he has to learn some of these things and when will he use them in his life. I tell him I used to ask the same thing, but NOW I KNOW THE ANSWER! You will use them in life when your child has that subject! I am not saying children shouldn't learn a little of everything. But not all children are going to grow up to be scientists or historians or English majors, etc. I have a kindergardener, too. He definitely falls in the category of CHILD LEFT BEHIND! WHY? He certainly has had all the proper "raising of a smart child", reading from birth, etc (I am a preschool teacher!!!) BUT he does not learn in the "traditional and tested" way. His learning process doesn't fit in with the class size of 20-some kids in a busy busy transtional filled kindergarten room. SO he doesn't meet the governments test scores. So the school will lose funding (PLEASE TELL ME I AM WRONG!) so the first thing they do will cut staff (PLEASE TELL ME AGAIN I AM WRONG!) and who will suffer? The children with special needs and LOW TEST SCORES that need one on one assistance. SO they will continue to get LOW TEST SCORES because they will not recieve as much special needs services as they need to be able to reach the same learning level as their peers or as they are expected to have per government tests. IS this a bad thing? I don't know. My husband had special needs, he now has an alright job, certainly not a "smart" job, but we are happy. Will my kindergartener grow up to get a "smart" job. Hard to say. Will he be happy if he doesn't? I hope so. For the record, my 8th grader is a straight A student. My preschooler probably will be too. My point to all this is I think teachers should be held accountable that they are doing their best to teach children, but please keep in mind that some children just don't learn the same way, as easily, or perhaps as much in every subject as "the rest of the kids". It may put them at a disadvantage later in life for those "smart" jobs, but for the present let's not decide the finanical future of public schools based on some government produced tests that don't take into account individual children. JUST MY OPINION! I am sure there will be those that disagree. In the end, I feel all my children will be "proficient" in whatever field God intended them to be, just like my husband is! Mostly, I hope they will be happy. Antons blog about life and dying could be read in follow up to this, as is life really about tests in the first tiny part of our (hopefully) long life? I enjoyed your blog, Anton, by the way, if you happen to read this. I plan on being buried on our land "without no funeral home". Earth to earth, I sure won't care what eats me when I am dead (or who), although please don't let it be one of my dogs!