Are Jeb Bush and ACLU talking about same schools?
Here’s an example of why covering education is never dull.
What Jeb Bush calls educational success, the ACLU calls cause for legal action
I just finished looking at the PowerPoint that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush showed last week at a conference in Atlanta. His presentation was titled “The Florida Formula for Student Achievement.”
Based on the upbeat graphs and charts, anyone would think that Florida was leading the nation in most key measures, including closing the achievement gap and high school graduation.
Literally seconds after viewing Bush’s PowerPoint, I opened my e-mail to this news release, which paints a far different view of Florida’s formula.
ACLU Sues State Of Florida And State Officials Over Poor Graduation Rates
High Dropout Rates Evidence Of A Violation Of Florida Constitution
Poor graduation rates in Palm Beach County, Florida, demonstrate a failure by state officials to ensure that all students receive a high quality education as mandated by the Florida Constitution, according to a class action lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida.
At least a third – and possibly as many as half – of Palm Beach County’s students do not graduate on time with a regular diploma, well below both state and national averages.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of parents and students in Palm Beach County, charges that state officials violate the state’s constitutional requirement that all students receive a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality” free public education. The ACLU is not seeking any specific remedies, only that the school district improve its graduation rates without pushing students out of the system.
The lawsuit also seeks to put in place a uniform and reliable graduation rate calculation that accurately accounts for every student enrolled in Palm Beach County’s high schools. Currently, the Florida Department of Education uses inaccurate and inflated graduation rate measures.
The Palm Beach School District has 170,215 students in 186 schools, and graduation rates that varied between 56 percent and 71 percent in 2006, depending on the methodology used to perform the calculations.
Florida’s “self-reported” numbers indicate that approximately two-thirds of students graduate, but those numbers currently include students who do not receive a standard diploma. Further inflating the numbers, students who repeat a grade are counted with their graduating class rather than the class with which they entered school.
Graduation rates are not just a problem in Palm Beach, but throughout the country. School districts with similar demographics as Palm Beach’s perform substantially better, proving that Palm Beach County, too, can do better. In 2004, for example, the school systems in Maryland’s Baltimore and Montgomery
A high-quality education is the cornerstone for success, as evidenced by the fact that in 2001 the unemployment rate for dropouts 25 years old and over was 75 percent higher than for high school graduates. A study released last month by Northeastern University shows that one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates.
A copy of today’s lawsuit is available online.
Another example of the half-full/half-empty/half-baked world of education statistics was the reaction last year to the release of Georgia eighth-grade writing scores on NAEP.
“National and state results lead to the same conclusion — Georgia students are making tremendous progress in writing,” announced Kathy Cox, Georgia’s superintendent of schools.
Looking at the same results, Bob Wise, former West Virginia governor and now president of the Washington-based advocacy group Alliance for Excellent Education, said: “Of the students entering high school in Georgia, 71 percent are writing below grade level, which means they don’t have the writing skills they need to succeed.”
Neither was wrong. Cox was noting the overall improvement in the writing scores, rather than the number of Georgia students writing at the highest levels. She accurately stated that 88 percent of Georgia student scores at the basic level or higher, a six-point jump since 2002, the last time the NAEP writing test was given.
But Wise focused on the fact that only 28 percent of Georgia eighth-graders performed at the proficient level — which NAEP defines as “solid academic performance” — and 1 percent performed at the advanced or superior level.
Success is very hard to pin down in education. What measures can we trust?
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31 comments Add your comment
Benny
November 6th, 2009
5:30 am
I teach. But I cannot due to discipline OR lack of discipline. Half the student population (girls) are in fear due to groping and simulated sexual acts and harrassment by boys. The principal slaps the offenders on the wrist and sends them back to class. Fights, theft, bullying and continuous classroom disruptions are all ignored because of stats required by NCLB and the goal of “looking” good. Threats to teachers about losing their job if “scores” are not good enough. Lead teachers and coaches that increase teacher workloads with to make them look like they are doing their job and justigy their job. MEASURES? HAH! Please do not call these socialized day care centers schools. What are students learning? How to lie, cheat and scam their way thru life. I teach part time at a university and now tell students to think strongly about their future in education. Why? I want to be honest with them and tell them the truth. Truth no one wants to know about. If you really want to know about the state of education – ask a teacher.
clyde
November 6th, 2009
6:02 am
Benny,
I’ve often noted that lack of discipline is the largest single factor between a mediocre and a quality education.It is very hard to teach with disruptive people around you.This is a fact of life and it isn’t going to go away.My daughter was a teacher,”was”being the key word. A lot of my money and her time was spent so she could become a pawn in the education game.Move on Benny.There’s life after teaching.My daughter has worked for the District Attorney for several years now and she says she sees less violence and way less stress there.
ScienceTeacher671
November 6th, 2009
6:10 am
It seems to me that the NAEP results show that we are more likely to be able to trust results from a more disinterested party – the DOE has a vested interest in making Georgia’s abysmal results look stellar, for instance. To that effect, all of the state’s tests have been “dumbed down” so that even students at the “exceeds” level are sometimes only marginally at grade level or passing the particular test.
Which reminds me, what else have we heard from Matt about Georgia’s ITBS scores?
Martha
November 6th, 2009
6:44 am
If the GA tests have been dumbed down, it is probably a direct result of the pressure to obtain the HOPE grant. Students are NOT expected to work for this by their parents. The parents expect the children to be GIVEN this grant. Heaven forbid the student actually have to work, achieve and learn something! When parents realize their children NEED an education to succeed in life and the parents work WITH the teachers and schools, THEN children can be held to a higher standard. Parental support of the learning process, teachers, and schools is the key to a successful school system AND successful students. The entitlement generation is all about “gimme, gimme, gimme”….never about “let me earn this.”
"Caoch"
November 6th, 2009
6:53 am
I work coaching teachers and it befuddles me how cautious I have to be with these adults, subtly coaxing them to improve instruction. It’s more difficult than working with the middle school kids. The adult needs to value life-long learning, not just for course credit or another degree or because the district requires 20 PLU credits each year but because you are curious, because you want to hone your craft, because you don’t want to be the dull spot in the child’s day.
"Coach"
November 6th, 2009
6:54 am
and as “Coach” I can type my name spelled correctly (LOL) – always room for improvement …
Chris Murphy, Atlanta, GA
November 6th, 2009
7:31 am
I gotta say, this blog alone makes this site worthwhile. The AJC’s writers all seem to be “getting this internet thing.” Good work, Ms. Downey, and while I usually liked your columns before the web, this blog has taken on a life of it’s own.
Jennifer
November 6th, 2009
7:36 am
You are the first person in Georgia to focus on what is important in a state that uses “minimal proficiency testing”…the % at the highest levels of state testing. Since NCLB came out, the spin is to focus on the meets and exceeds – just start looking at the exceeds % which correlates much better with what is concerned a national standard (NAEP/SAT/Entrance into 4 year colleges w/out remediation). If you really want to focus on how to improve education here — start looking at the “exceeds” percentages by race, ELL, and special education. As the standards improve, that “exceed” section becomes more and more trustworthy.
If we can just convince everyone to raise the bar by discussing these elements – then we have just lifted expectations for all students in Georgia- and the spin is removed. I have never been so happy to see a blog post!
Lee
November 6th, 2009
7:43 am
Ah yes, that pesky “achievement gap” rears it’s ugly head again.
Funny how this achievement gap correlates to the IQ scores of the different races but we can’t talk about IQ because the politically correct has decreed that everydamnbody is equal so that achievement gap must be due to some other factor such as the imaginary “white privilege.”
Whew…
… and the more educrats and politicians such as Kathy Cox and Jeb Bush, et al, try to spin the results, the more ridiculous they look.
Joy in Teaching
November 6th, 2009
7:50 am
The reason why only 28% of Georgia’s 8th graders are writing at the proficient level is because the bar to the 8th grade writing test is set so incredibly low. If you look solely at THOSE scores, it looks like our 8th graders are scholars.
I’ve been grading essays this week written by my middle school students and have been assessing them according to a rubric based on the Georgia Middle Grades Writing Assessment. Most are completely banal, dismal pieces of writing and its been a struggle making it through the stack. Yet according to the rubric, most are either proficient or higher. That’s what happens when only 20% of the total score is based on grammar, mechanics, and sentence structure.
Joy in Teaching
November 6th, 2009
7:58 am
Coach, I hope that the professional learning opportunities you are providing the teachers in your school are of much higher quality than those which are provided in my school.
To be honest, most of the professional learning opportunites that I’ve been offered in the past 5 years have been completely useless. For instance, why on earth would I wish to learn to use a computer program that I have no access to whatsoever? Also, as a teacher, planning time is becoming more valuable as we no longer have planning days. It is rather irritating to give up what planning we do have to go discuss GPS, gadgets, or whathaveyou. Especially is at least 2 of our planning periods a week are spent covering a class.
jim d
November 6th, 2009
8:04 am
To hell with discipline——Jack up those numbers for NCLB compliance.
Rather difficult to do if you provide proper discipline–kicking out the constant trouble makers.
As for the Forida Miracle?? He is a Bush right?
jim d
November 6th, 2009
8:29 am
No surprises in the Florida Miracle—–He is a Bush—right??
Tonya
November 6th, 2009
8:32 am
Ahhhh, Jeb Bush. I was unfortunate enough to be a native Floridian during that turd holes reign. The FCAT is an even bigger farce of measurement than CRCT. Seriously.Anyone who would look to FL for educational innovation or achievement should be slapped. Just saying.
Northview (Ex) Teacher
November 6th, 2009
8:38 am
Lee,
Could you please explain what is “mythical” about white privilege?
jim d
November 6th, 2009
8:39 am
Reminiscent of another educational miracle that happened (or not) in Tx. Under another Gov. Bush.
Northview (Ex) Teacher
November 6th, 2009
8:40 am
Sorry. I meant “imaginary.” I should have proofread before posting.
Lee
November 6th, 2009
9:10 am
Northview, according to the politically correct, the reason that whites outperform their black counterparts is not due to ability or effort, but because whites are granted some special privilege due to their race.
Tonya
November 6th, 2009
9:51 am
Lee, while not always true, white privilege does exist. I’m far from politically correct, but as a black person who grew up in primarily mixed and white communities…I’ve seen it firsthand. It can be the way that tax dollars are distributed, or the textbooks an technology a school or schools receive. Whites hold the economic and political power base in this country, and that cannot be denied.
Blacks started behind the eight ball due to prolonged discrimination and apartheid conditions. To ignore the long-term effects of that, and expects a complete ‘catch-up’ in the span of the 40+ years since the Civil Rights Act is crazy. I never had that issue, because my family (parents and grandparents, even great-grandparents) placed an emphasis on education and its value.
jj
November 6th, 2009
10:16 am
Said it before and I’ll say it again. Look at the staffing at any Georgia school and you will see only 1/3 are actually teaching the basics.
Lee
November 6th, 2009
10:27 am
Tonya says: “I never had that issue, because my family (parents and grandparents, even great-grandparents) placed an emphasis on education and its value.”
Thanks for making my point. The level of success you attain is directly related to the level of effort that you put forth.
Next, two kids, go to the same school, have the same teachers, use the same textbooks. But yet, one earns good grades and goes on to a life of success while the other drops out. If the drop out is black, the politically correct want to excuse the behavior by claiming white privilege, racism, the lingering effects of slavery, ad infinitum.
Sorry, excuses don’t cut it anymore.
Netti Schreiner-Yantis - ex-teacher
November 6th, 2009
10:41 am
YES, it is the lack of being able to DISCIPLINE STUDENTS which is ruining the federal education system! My college training (at Purdue U.) equipped me to teach, and I did so for one year, then decided it was not for me. I had spent all my time trying to keep order and felt defeated as I really wanted to provide knowledge to my students. This was way back in 1960’s! Now I have two daughter-in-laws who are teachers and things are much worse. I truly believe it is ONLY the long summer vacation that has kept them in the job. I doubt that very many of today’s teachers are doing so because they actually enjoy it!
While, I do not teach, I work in a job where I go to many middle schools. I was amazed to see listed in the halls teacher’s names followed by the students in their classes and to find there were less than 15 students per class in most all classes. Being from a country school in Indiana, I grew up with two classes in each elementary classroom, i.e. 1st & 2nd together, 3d & 4th, 5th & 6th. These teachers each had about 30 students in their room and they seemed to have no difficultly in controlling them. If anyone misbehaved the teacher paddled them–I know, as I got a paddling the FIRST day of school! But, I only needed that one to keep me unpaddled through the rest of my school days. And I was not bruised, only a little embarrassed. It didn’t crush me for the rest of my life. My paddling also set a great example for the rest of my classmates–all of those who attended our 50th class reunion remembered the incident. WE NEED TO BRING BACK THE PADDLE–students can be punished with a provision that proper witnesses be present which would prevent abuse by a teacher or principal. One source says, “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” and we are definitely spoiling the lives of our children when we EXPELL them from school–rather than paddle them–because they are disruptive; and if we DON’T EXPELL them, we are spoiling the education of the only students who are trying hard to learn.
Maureen Downey
November 6th, 2009
2:21 pm
Chris,
Thanks very much. We are all trying. Maureen
Northview (Ex) Teacher
November 6th, 2009
7:30 pm
Lee,
It’s hard to understand how anyone seriously would argue that there is no white privilege in America. I remember how the German Jew Walter Benjamin wrote that every cultural artifact is an expression of oppression, and Americans are part of that, as any honest person knows.
The example you give of two children being given exactly the same treatment, with the white one succeeding and the black one dropping out actually proves a point that is a bit different from yours. The idea of absolutely equal treatment is, simply put, not enough to make up for the deleterious effects of white privilege. We should approach the example you provide from a perspective of equity, rather than absolute equality. As you point out, equality of treatment results in minority children failing in many cases, so we should, instead, look to equity, which, in education, means providing conditions for each child to be successful. Much to your disapproval (I imagine), that might well mean giving a black child or a poor child “more” in recognition of the ill effects of white privilege on the education of minority and poor children. Somehow, equity in education doesn’t seem superficially “fair,” but it really is much fairer than the sink or swim model we have embraced. Equity does not mean equality, as white privilege has made equality a chimerical idea for many children. Equity is not a race-based issue, however. White children from the lower classes also suffer from classism, so the same point applies to them.
Of course, a child may still drop out or fail or reject the opportunity to be educated, but at that point it is an individual responsibility. I would argue that conservatives want to place individual responsibility too early in the education process as a way of avoiding our collective responsibility to educate all children, which means actively implementing equity.
I’m feeling actively discouraged about the prospects for meaningful educational reform, and this time I have to criticize the Democrats. As an (ex) educator, I enthusiastically supported Obama and expected that one of his first acts would be to repeal NCLB, which, in my opinion, is destroying teachers and the art of teaching. However, Obama seems to have forgotten his mantra of change in this area, and Arne Duncan, Obama’s Secretary of Education, is pushing more and more testing and research-based practice, which means more and more control over what teachers do. Ironically, those who support privatization of public education have an ally now, and profits are just waiting to be made by the edupreneurs. I’ve always been quick to criticize republicans (especially the loathsome and despicable Ashley Widener), but honesty demands that the Dems take their licks as well.
Doesn’t anyone care about educating children? I mean really, truly educating them to the point of joy? We’re raising a generation that doesn’t have any sense of intellectual challenge or struggle or the euphoria of everything falling in place. I wish I could say that my decision to leave teaching was a mistake, and it almost drives me to despair to realize that it was not, even more so because both Dems and Repubs are equally at fault, including people I worked for and voted for and eagerly supported.
This is a painful time.
Been there a while
November 7th, 2009
7:48 am
Amen, Northview Ex !!!!
Buzz G
November 7th, 2009
7:57 am
We need three things to fix our education system: Vouchers, vouchers and more vouchers.
Lee
November 7th, 2009
8:08 am
Sorry Northview, your Equality vs Equity argument doesn’t cut it. You’re trying to assign blame to the imaginary concept of “white privilege” because the black student is not performing on the same level as his white counterpart. What you (and most educators) fail to consider is the role that IQ plays in the education equation.
Simply put, you cannot expect the child with an 85 IQ to perform on the same level as the child with a 100 IQ. The current education model throws all children into the same class and teaches them in the same manner. A better solution would be to group by ability and teach them in a manner and pace that is appropriate for their ability level.
But, the politically correct will not allow this. The moment that blacks are disproportionately represented in the “slower” class, they will start with the usual cries of racism and there must be another reason besides IQ.
And the only thing they can come up with is the imaginary concept of white privilege.
LOL in that you expected a politician to keep his promises…..
Been There. . . Done, well. . . just done!
November 8th, 2009
11:56 am
I have to say “Coach”, having once been in the profession, this is what I’ve observed about classes geared towards the attainment of the PLUs necessary for certificate renewal: while most of us (and I last worked with a group generally psyched to earn additional units) understood why we were there and made the BEST of it, these classes were stretched-out, watered-down, delivered to us – I have to say this, otherwise no one will state it this way – as though we were stupid, inane, helpless students (of any generic group) who NEEDED to be taught as though (often by ALTs, ILTs, state-sponsored “visitors” who needed to over-talk to us as though each extra minute justified their salary exponentially) our lives depended on it! These “classes” could have been cut by one-half the amount of time taken…oops!…I’ve let the secret loose! These “instructors” from whom we took these classes delivered this “instruction” as though they’d seemingly forgotten EVERYTHING they ever knew about being in a classroom! As for your comments Benny, Clyde, & Martha, I have been in those situations too: friends of mine still in the profession (at my last location) routinely have stories about the administrator(s) who COMBINE administrative referrals for students’ behavior, instead of addressing each INDIVIDUAL instance (most of these TERRIBLY egregious). Why?! Any time a student spends in in-school suspension or out-of-school-suspension impacts the attendance indicator for AYP? Why do I bother to mention this? This last location receives Title I funding, has numerous behavior problems, and serves a community where a vast majority are underprivileged, divorced parents, blended families, low-SES, and where the parent(s) are struggling to get by, work hours where they aren’t able to attend conferences, and seem a little overwhelmed when it comes to helping their kids with their schoolwork (if they even talk about it at all). In summary, this location struggles – as do yours, Benny, Clyde, & Martha (to take nothing away from you hard-working classroom warriors) – with how to discipline while SIMULTANEOUSLY trying to learn. Oh…I forgot…some of the teachers are more interested in themselves & if they’re considered part of the principal’s “in crowd”, where they can get away with such things as skipping duties when our kids change for connections classes.
Sarge
November 9th, 2009
2:59 am
Hey Coach, don’t sweat the small stuff…spelling “opses” notwithstanding, your message is loud n clear. When you talk with people, kids and adults alike, you have to concentrate so much on picking the right words, facial gestures, etc…people seem to become offended over the most idiotic things, like nose and ear hairs being too long!
When I was playing 7th grade football, back in the Sputnick years, after practice, the coach would prowl the locker room in search of wayward property…socks, jocks, and the like. Prior to dismissing the troops, he would hold aloft each item he found lying about, inquiring “who belongs to this”! When the hapless lad stepped forward to claim his property, the coach would, in ceremonious fashion, pop the kid,on his six, with his paddle (all teachers/coaches had paddles). This small gesture served two purposes: 1) teach the kid to keep track of his stuff, more importantly 2) unify the team. Pretty soon, (I suspect) kids were mis-placing their stuff on purpose just so they could be “initiated”…COACHING SURE HAS CHANGED…thou must be pc at all times! Godspeed, Coach!
E
November 10th, 2009
2:03 pm
@Martha I think the HOPE grant is fantastic… but it really has skewed things here. If only it were some % of students in some way. The program has great intentions, but the grades are massively inflated now. I am rather tired of tutoring “A/B” average seniors who cannot do simple, single digit Algebra. (ie. X + 3 = 8, what is X?) They are so sure that they’re ahead of everything until they try to go to college.
Read: Tuesday Morning Teacher Edition || Dropout Nation
November 17th, 2009
12:27 am
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