Gwinnett wins prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education: A validation of its strong superintendent

Go Gwinnett!

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Way to go Meadowcreek ES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Where does my son apply?

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God I hate gwinnett….it’s so ghetto!!!

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It a good school, but later it going become a problem that no one isn’t going to know yet. It’s going to be very way up to the face in Gwinnett. Yes I know it a good school but tooo many student? how can they teach those student in a large class, I don’t know but someone going to find out soon than later

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Thanks Gwinnett! Without Gwinnett, Georgia would be dead last in state school rankings. Gwinnett is an oasis of success in a desert of ignorance in our state. What a wonderful role model Gwinnett Schools is for other school districts. Makes me so proud:-)

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Weren’t we signing similar praises about Beverly Hall and APS just a few years ago? Look at us now! This is all so confusing, and, in our case, bogus and corrupt. We’ve had about enough of APS, maybe we will go look in Gwinnett.

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Proud day to be a Gwinnett parent….

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Enter your comments here

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What place did they come in for gang presence???

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Gwinnett is Awesome especially for Special Education students I moved from Ny with an autistic son an he has received awesome care.

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Hooray Gwinnett!!

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Sorry but you couldn’t give me a home in Gwinnett and that includes the schools…Y’all can stay out there and I will keep my kids at Lassiter in Cobb County.

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Great to hear this as I was raised in the Gwinnett system. But I want people to think about it – certainly Gwinnett has a great school system, but if this is the best that the US can come up with, in terms of education, there’s a LOT we need to work on, when we compare ourselves to the other industrialized nations.

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Text message from my friend who works in GCSS: LOL….

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I would never torture my “white” son by putting him in a school like Central Gwinnett….NO WAY!

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Urban? Really?

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I guess people just have to be negative even when it’s something positive…smh

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Homes in Gwinnett just got easier to sell – and more expensive at the same time.

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At Art: Those of us who do not have the financial means to send our children to “Westminster” or other private schools are very thankful to be able to live in Gwinnett, where at least I believe my son is getting the best the public school system has to offer. I agree that public schools aren’t the best but since so many of us don’t have the option of private school for our children, it’s wonderful to have a public school system like Gwinnett as an option. Don’t be such a snob, calling this an award for “mediocrity.” Why post this on a blog that has NOTHING TO DO WITH PRIVATE SCHOOLS?! In the world of public schools….. Gwinnett has been deemed the best, how is that mediocre?

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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mitch Nauffts, Matt Sinclair, AJCMOMania, ADOLFO TRANA, Jackson Reeves and others. Jackson Reeves said: Gwinnett named top urban school system in nation by Broad Foundation. This is what happens between DeKalb and Forsyth. http://bit.ly/bMTpRc [...]

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The Broad Foundation was a sponsor of the obnoxious “Waiting for Superman”…nuff said…

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If Gwinnett (Duluth, Norcross, Buford, Lawrenceville) is urban, what is suburban? What is APS?

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Nice post @ 1:23, Dekalb Educated.

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One bright ray of hope in a Gwinnett. May be the school board and superintendent would consider taking over county government.

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As a parent who has supported this system, worked with it, criticized it, and still volunteers to help at risk students, all I can say is WOW.

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I specifically moved OUT of DeKalb County to Gwinnett County to get my kid in Gwinnett schools…..She went from Pre-K to high school graduation in Gwinnett!

Way to go Gwinnett!!!!!! I’m very proud!!!!!

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[...] Public Schools was a finalist, but this year’s Broad Prize for Urban Education just went to a district outside Atlanta, Ga. (AJC, [...]

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This is a district who knew one of their “Teacher of the Year” teachers’ had seduced one of her students’, bought him alcohol and paid for a hotel room, but allowed her to resign for “medical reasons”. This is one of the best? Really? Berkmar, Central Gwinnett, Dacula and Meadowcreek high schools were deemed “dropout factories” as none could graduate more then 59% of their incoming freshman in four years. Best at what? Spin?

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Gwinnett is considered urban? Seriously?

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Gwinnett’s a landfill for people. It’s a poor reflection on the national level.

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Let’s go a different route stonecasters. Someone name a school system more deserving of the award (especially in Georgia). I’ll sit back and watch.

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Congrats to the Gwinnett students, teachers, principals and system administrators. How do we make sure that our child is considered one of the chosen few?

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That’s why we moved here! Proud Parent of an Archer High School Student!!!

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A “prize” coming from the Broad Foundation is dubious at best. What if MACE selected a school system of the year? Do you think that the AJC would do handstands as if the City had just been awarded host site of the Olympics? Ha! The Broad Foundation is a joke, and Alvin Wilbanks is a dictatorial superintendent at best. There are indeed some good schools in Gwinnett. There are some good students too. There are certainly good teachers in Gwinnett, but I don’t need any “award” from an anit-teacher institute like the Broad Foundation to validate this for me.

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No hate here, and congratulations to Gwinnett, but let’s stop the charade that Gwinnett is a poor rural school district in need of financial support from urban districts via the state “Equalization” process.

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Congratulations to the students and staff at Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Let’s hope this doesn’t give Alvin a swelled head and make him difficult -)

I’m going to can this in a function key:
The state Equalization Funding is funded through legislative appropriations from the state’s general fund. It is not funded by school systems and no school system’s QBE earnings are reduced in any way by its existence. Please don’t take my word for this and research it to prove to yourself that this is how it works.

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Gwinnett is hardly “Urban” if you think it is, get a few miles outside of Lawrenceville, Gwinnett is still the Sticks.

I have so much respect for Gwinnett Schools we pulled our kids out of Gwinnett Schools and put them in private schools, best thing we ever did for them.

If you put your kids in Public Schools, ANY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, you are raising a looser!!!!!

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Maureen: You are right that there is criticism for Wilbanks being “imperious.” Can we remember Nixon’s Imperial Presidency? (In the interest of fair disclosure, I voted for Nixon in 1972 and think that he too accomplished some good things, though he was beset with paranoia.) I have never been accused of being “imperious” (at least not that I know of; just the normal “crazy”), but I have been accused of being “impervious” to pain. Hence, this is probably one of the reasons that I blog under my real name. I am “crazy,” umembarrassable, and impervious to pain! Ha!

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Alvin Wilbanks and the school board deserve a lot of credit. The school district has grown at breakneck speed, finances have dropped, the number of English-as-a-second language students has soared, and the number of free-and-reduced-lunch students is half, or nearly so, of the total. Any one of these things is enough to make the wheels come off. Instead, test scores remain high, more kids are applying to go to college, and staff morale is high.
The school board is stable, focused on the kids, and most importantly not crazy. Alvin shares their vision and knows how to get there. And the principals and teachers are committed and resourceful. Well done by all concerned.

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Will teachers ever get the recognition they deserve for helping Gwinnett County get this award ?

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Fred said. If you put your kids in Public Schools, ANY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, you are raising a looser!!!!!

Fred…it loser…..

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Asha

October 19th, 2010
1:10 pm

LOL…thats pretty good and I agree…LOL!

PS…are you and APS employee? LMAO!! AHH HAHAHAHAAAA!!!

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“as a parent have had to advocate every step of the way to make sure that my special needs child IEP was followed.”

As did I. One of my chldren was in IEP and I had to constantly stay on the teachers and force them to do certain things…its your JOB. Dont be bitter about doing the right thing for your child.

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Asha you sound kinda like a sixties flower child….

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As someone who attended school in an “urban” district and who now teaches in a TRUE “urban” district, I think the main point of contention is that Gwinnett is not an urban system. Parts of the system are, but the majority of the students do not live in an urban setting, do not attend school in an urban setting nor do the majority of the teachers teach what I would consider urban students. Only 50 of 130 schools were listed as Title I schools in 2009-2010, most urban systems are 100% Title I. Also, if Gwinnett receives funds from the equalization monies because they are considered a “rural” system by the state, it is interesting that the system is willing to change its classification based on where the money is coming from. It is nice that the system was recognized, but it seems they are getting acclaim for overcoming urban problems, when the system isn’t urban so it doesn’t have any urban problems to overcome.

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When you see your child coming home with test scores of 105 you know your in the right district. That’s why I moved here from Boston!!! Go Gwinnett!! Everyone else who is making bad comments are just jealous, and need to grow up or do something about the level of education that their kids are not getting instead of bad mouthing the ones who are!!

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Ignorance knows no boundaries, urban or rural………

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@Larry Major–

That’s not quite right. Some districts currently levy a millage rate in excess of the State’s constitutional cap. Other counties receiving benefit from the Equalization part of the funding formula have much lower millage rates. In other words, a $150,000 house in a “poor rural” county may be taxed at 15 mills, while a $150,000 house in a “rich urban” is taxed at 23 mills with the taxes from both going to the state’s general fund which then disburses the funds in favor of the “poor rural” counties. Gwinnett, winner of this prize for best “urban” school district, is classified as a “poor rural” county under Equalization.

It is contradictory to be urban and rural on alternating days, depending on how the money is being allocated.

From the Georgia Countil on Educatuion: “Because all counties are not created equal in terms of property tax wealth, they cannot raise the same amounts of money from local property taxes. The state provides additional funding to these counties according to a formula that compares the relative property tax wealth of all counties in the state.” The state, in case you missed it above, gets this money from the counties.

If you want to read the word “mill” until your eyes bleed, see here: http://www.georgiaeducation.org/documents/Basics%20of%20GA%20School%20Finance_2007.pdf

Let me clear–I don’t think this is what made the difference in Gwinnett–I’d say it’s a combination of more involved parents, a less (all things being relative) corrupt school board and administration than nearby counties, a smaller percent of the population being lower SES (I guess that’s not PC), and a greater local tax base. All of which are wonderful, and all of which imply Gwinnett is in no need of assistance from counties unfortunately lacking in those areas.

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Agree with Zoe…Gwinnett is far from “urban”, but a tip of the cap regardless. Almost every year, the entire state ranks poorly whenever measured against the lower 48. Refreshing to know that certain districts are managing quite well… Would be nice to follow suit in DeKalb, for a change.

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DeKalb Educated,

Nice job on Mr. Freddie………

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We need to stand up for our white kids!!!

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Dekalb,

Let’s see what’s wrong with your post,

1 – Private schools do not have to cost $20k per year, many are much less expensive. The ones that cost that much are Ego Schools for the parents.

2 – If your Brother can afford it, its because he made the decisions to put himself in the position to afford it. Unless he bought the winning lottery ticket, he was not “Fortunate”.

3 – You assumed class warfare here, WRONG!! We drove junk cars, did not take vacations, etc, etc to afford private schools, so let’s not even go down that road.

4 – No, not ALL kids in Public schools are looser, just like not ALL kids in private schools will be winners.

BUT, you hit a point that we can agree on. YOU, the parent, are responsible for your kids education. I applaud you for being involved and helping your kids learn. They are going to be winners in life because of YOU, the school had very little to do with it. When more parents take their responsibility of being a parent serious, the schools won’t have a choice of getting better. Voting out the losers on the school board as well is a great first step!!

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Of course I have Texas, I have your application here…..just kidding.

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It’s easy to be on the outside looking in and making judgements based on the surface. First of all, I come from another urban school district outside of Georgia. I have had the chance to experience what it’s like to teach in a loosely organized and disfunctional school district and Gwinnett is exactly the opposite. This county is very well run, high levels of collaboration is built into how we operate daily, highly diverse (at least at the high school where I teach) and growing.

I am an African American male teacher and realizes that the buck stops with me, the teacher. I want my students to succeed and if they don’t, I ask why and how can I do it better next time. I have the opportunity to walk into my class daily and see the changing face of America. My students are approximately 40% hispanic, 15% white, 35% Black and 10% Asian/other. My students parents aren’t always very involved, over 70% of our students are on free/reduced lunch, there are pockets of teachers with low morale around me, we have our share of discipline problems, there are gangs present, our administrators are diverse, our students are diverse and our teachers are diverse and yes there are days that I don’t feel like coming to work. But each year over 75% my students excel on state tests and go on to college or some form of higher education. So you may ask, what’s the difference between Gwinnett and many other counties? I don’t know what other school districts are doing but, I do know that Gwinnett focuses on collaboration, new teacher development, setting high standards in all areas of curriculum (AKS), making data driven decisions, hiring qualified teachers, exploring new outreach programs such as the county wide male mentoring program that pulls mentors from local churches and the local community, etc.

Gwinnett, isn’t perfect, but at least they have a clear vision and backs it up with appropriate action to meet the needs of it’s growing diverse population of students. In the end, we must ask ourselves; What’s best for our students. When decisions are made based on the student’s best interest, usually high levels of achievement follows.

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If your kid is willing to put the effort out and you as a parent are willing to stay involved, public schools are a good thing, at least in Gwinnett. I think it is important to be a part of a school community that reflects the real world demographics, not one that is full of the same socio-economic members. I do recognize that there are poorer performing schools in Gwinnett and that people have had a bad experience with some of those schools. To paint the entire system with the same broad brush is both unfair and unrealistic. There are pockets of excellence and pockets of mediocrity. We need to increase the former and decrease the later.
As to Gwinnett being considered “urban”, let’s look at some population figures and school attendance figures courtesy of the Census Bureau, the State Board of Education, and the various school system web sites.
Population Children attending school
State – 9,829,211 – 1,615,066
Fulton Co – 1,033,756 – 92,000
Gwinnett Co – 808,167 – 161,000
Cobb Co – 714,692 – 106,000
Dekalb Co – 747,274 – 102,000
Atlanta – 540,900 – 45,500
Gwinnett is the largest school system by far in the state. Fully 10% of the State’s students attend Gwinnett. As the second most populous county Gwinnett has approximately 8.2% of the State’s population. Given these stats, it is easy to see how Gwinnett is considered “urban” even though most of us think of the City of Atlanta as urban. When you add in the demographics of the population and consider that over 50% of the Gwinnett student population is on the free or reduced price breakfast/lunch program, I think it is easy to understand the urban classification.

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This is the same superintendent that last year laid off many of his so called beloved teachers leaving marks on their records so they are unable to find teaching work again.

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Be positive Georgia! Negative comments are ridiculous! It takes alot of work to get here!
Maybe all of you negative folks should go to your schools this afternoon and see how you can volunteer!

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One of the things I’ve heard Gwinnett schools praised for is narrowing the racial gaps for academic achievement. This, for example, from Atlanta Magazine, January 2007:

“The county was recently recognized by Standard & Poor’s for narrowing the achievement gaps between black and white, economically disadvantages and non-disadvantaged, and Hispanic and white students.”

Well, pardon me, but it does not seem to me that this is enough information to trigger praise. There are two ways to narrow an achievement gap, and raising the performance of the undergroup is only one of them. How do we know that the test scores of white and Asian students haven’t been falling, instead?

Winning the Broad Award doesn’t mean that Gwinnett is the best school system in the country, or even in the State of Georgia. Remember, only the BIGGEST school systems are eligible for the prize. The little ones aren’t in the running, no matter how good they might be. And until I see the judging criteria, I’m not going to conclude on whether they are objective and non-political. If they’re getting points for “narrowing the racial gaps,” without someone being very sure that this was done by raising the low side (and not by lowering the high side), then there’s a political element in the judging. If they’re getting points for “diversity,” then there is a political element in the judging.

Leftist (il)logic can be confusing to someone who believes that leftists actually mean what they say, that their intentions are what they claim them to be. If race doesn’t matter, then why bother to raise objections when a school isn’t racially diverse? If leftists really believed their equality dogma, no arrangement of human beings would be any more or less objectionable than any other arrangement, regardless of how much or how little diversity there were.

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I am thrilled with the effect the contribution of my poor (70% Free lunch) county has made to Gwinnett County schools by the millions that are taken from our property taxes to give to the “poor” systems like Gwinnett from the Fair Share Program (what a misnomer!)! Alvin, do you think you could send us some of our tax money back so we can pay for the basics for our kids?

This is a serious question.

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YEAH Gwinnett County! WOOT WOOT!

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For Gwinnett to be the largest district in the state and still be able to turn out numbers that best their counterparts I’d say good deal and good job! The KIDS win here, say what you want about the system but a cool million will be going towards some lucky kids’ college education. And that, is AWESOME.

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I feel for special needs parents and students. One of our family members is on the autism spectrum. However, I keep in mind that no one has to teach special ed. It is a gift to us that some do. The parents of special needs children need to remember that being difficult and constantly criticizing schools for doing their best with challenging children will never work. Work with your school people. REmember: no one has to do this saintly work. Otherwise you could put your children in any/all private schools with vouchers…

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So now we’re telling the foundation who and where to give their $$$$$. the hypocrisy in this is astounding!

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David Sims,

I would encourage you to look at GCPS’s student achievement data over the past five years. We do not just close the achievement gap. We close it high.

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Since when did Wilbanks become a Dr? This is about the third year Gwinnett has been up for this award…it is about time. i wonder how many teachers went on the all expenses paid trip to accept the prize!

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Enter your comments here

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I would stack our Gwinnett schools up against the finest schools in the state…public, private, urban or rural.

Great schools……great parks……great libraries…..great entertainment….great place to call home.

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Gwinnett County Schools.
Spending per pupil: $8859.
63% instructional, 7% student/staff support, 15% administration, 15% other.
Showing data for some of the county’s public high school’s.

Brookwood High School
1255 Dogwood Rd – Snellville, GA 30078
Grades 9-12
3385 students: 63% white, 15% black, 13% Asian, 6% Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 10
2009 SAT average score: 1625
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
Hispanic 90% (something strange here)
White 78%
Asian 77% (something strange here)
Black 69%
Biology.
Asian 96%
White 93%
Black 74%
Hispanic 64%
U.S. History.
White 92%
Asian 87%
Black 76%
Hispanic 60%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
Asian 97%
White 96%
Black 84%
Hispanic 84%
American Literature.
White 97%
Black 93%
Asian 92%
Hispanic 79%
Economics.
White 93%
Asian 87%
Black 78%
Hispanic 56%
Geometry.
Asian 92%
White 89%
Black 79%
Hispanic 70%

North Gwinnett High School
20 Level Creek Rd – Suwanee, GA 30024
Grades 9-12
3077 students: 58% white, 15% Asian, 12% black, 12% Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1573
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
Asian 85%
White 73%
Black 63%
Hispanic 60%
Biology.
White 91%
Asian 82%
Black 79%
Hispanic 62%
U.S. History.
White 87%
Asian 78%
Black 71%
Hispanic 62%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
White 95%
Asian 91%
Black 83%
Hispanic 75%
American Literature.
White 98%
Asian 95%
Black 90%
Hispanic 80%
Economics.
White 94%
Asian 90%
Black 75%
Hispanic 69%
Geometry.
Asian 92%
White 88%
Black 70%
Hispanic 68%

Duluth High School
3737 Brock Rd – Duluth, GA 30096
Grades 9-12
2208 students: 33% white, 26% Asian, 19% black, 19% Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 10
2009 SAT average score: 1568
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
White 70%
Asian 64%
Hispanic 50%
Black 45%
Biology.
White 90%
Asian 78%
Black 64%
Hispanic 56%
U.S. History.
White 82%
Asian 75%
Black 60%
Hispanic 48%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
Asian 96%
White 93%
Black 80%
Hispanic 73%
American Literature.
White 94%
Black 87%
Asian 83%
Hispanic 80%
Economics.
White 90%
Asian 80%
Hispanic 58%
Black 53%
Geometry.
White 90%
Asian 86%
Black 72%
Hispanic 47%

Peachtree Ridge High School
1555 Old Peachtree Rd NW – Suwanee, GA 30024
Grades 9-12
3071 students: 44% white, 24% Asian, 19% black, 11% Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1553
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
White 81%
Asian 81%
Black 60%
Hispanic 52%
Biology.
White 87%
Asian 78%
Black 59%
Hispanic 54%
U.S. History.
White 83%
Asian 66%
Black 59%
Hispanic 49%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
White 95%
Asian 89%
Black 83%
Hispanic 78%
American Literature.
White 98%
Black 93%
Asian 92%
Hispanic 73%
Economics.
White 84%
Asian 80%
Black 60%
Hispanic 49%
Geometry.
Asian 89%
White 88%
Hispanic 77%
Black 70%

Collins Hill High School
50 Taylor Rd – Suwanee, GA 30024
Grades 9-12
3556 students: 55% white, 19% black, 13% Hispanic, 10% Asian
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1529
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
White 88%
Asian 86%
Hispanic 73%
Black 71%
Biology.
White 88%
Asian 80%
Black 66%
Hispanic 60%
U.S. History.
White 87%
Asian 77%
Black 68%
Hispanic 62%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
White 92%
Asian 82%
Black 75%
Hispanic 71%
American Literature.
White 98%
Asian 94%
Hispanic 87%
Black 86%
Economics.
White 90%
Asian 79%
Hispanic 70%
Black 64%
Geometry.
White 95%
Asian 92%
Hispanic 85%
Black 78%

Central Gwinnett High School
564 West Crogan St – Lawrenceville, GA 30045
Grades 9-12
2736 students: 42% black, 27% white, 20% Hispanic, 8% Asian
Greatschools rating: 7
2009 SAT average score: 1475
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
Asian 67%
White 67%
Black 55%
Hispanic 45%
Biology.
White 75%
Asian 66%
Black 55%
Hispanic 45%
U.S. History.
White 75%
Asian 69%
Black 59%
Hispanic 44%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
White 81%
Asian 80%
Black 67%
Hispanic 66%
American Literature.
White 92%
Asian 87%
Black 87%
Hispanic 72%
Economics.
White 74%
Asian 66%
Hispanic 53%
Black 49%
Geometry.
White 79%
Hispanic 76% (something strange here)
Asian 70% (something strange here)
Black 60%

South Gwinnett High School
2288 Main St East – Snellville, GA 30078
Grades 9-12
2685 students: 59% black, 27% white, 7% Hispanic, 3% Asian
Greatschools rating: 7
2009 SAT average score: 1414
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
White 82%
Hispanic 69%
Black 68%
Asian 67%
Biology.
Asian 79%
White 78%
Black 63%
Hispanic 53%
U.S. History.
White 82%
Asian 64%
Black 51%
Hispanic 37%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
White 82%
Asian 77%
Black 69%
Hispanic 62%
American Literature.
White 96%
Black 84%
Asian 83%
Hispanic 81%
Economics.
White 83%
Asian 71%
Hispanic 61%
Black 56%
Geometry.
White 92%
Hispanic 71%
Black 68%
Asian n/a

Berkmar High School
405 Placeeasant Hill Rd NW – Lilburn, GA 30047
Grades 9-12
3086 students: 39% black, 37% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 10% white
Greatschools rating: 5
2009 SAT average score: 1385
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
Asian 68%
White 67%
Black 50%
Hispanic 49%
Biology.
White 86%
Asian 76%
Black 60%
Hispanic 47%
U.S. History.
White 77%
Asian 58%
Black 55%
Hispanic 40%
Physical Science.
White 73%
Hispanic 66%
Black 63%
Asian n/a
9th Grade Literature.
White 86%
Asian 81%
Black 69%
Hispanic 62%
American Literature.
White 95%
Asian 88%
Black 87%
Hispanic 78%
Economics.
White 81%
Asian 78%
Hispanic 72%
Black 61%
Geometry.
White 78%
Asian 70%
Black 60%
Hispanic 54%

Meadowcreek High School
4455 Steve Reynolds Blvd – Norcross, GA 30093
Grades 9-12
2300 students: 50% Hispanic, 29% black, 13% Asian, 6% white
Greatschools rating: 5
2009 SAT average score: 1346
EOCT 2007-8, percent passing.
Algebra I.
White 43%
Asian 41%
Hispanic 30%
Black 30%
Biology.
Asian 83%
White 65%
Black 54%
Hispanic 44%
U.S. History.
Asian 74%
White 73%
Black 44%
Hispanic 43%
Physical Science.
(No data.)
9th Grade Literature.
Asian 79%
Black 71%
White 70%
Hispanic 49%
American Literature.
Asian 96%
White 93%
Black 80%
Hispanic 62%
Economics.
White 77%
Asian 73%
Hispanic 51%
Black 43%
Geometry.
Asian 84%
White 69%
Black 40%
Hispanic 33%

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Mmm dawgh8…

It is not the parents responsibility to ensure the IEP is implemented. You are dead wrong on that point.
An IEP is developed in partnership between the school and the parent, with the school shouldering the majority, if not all of the responsibility of the implementation.

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@Old Time Educator. It must not have been me. I didn’t post any graduation rates for Gwinnett County high schools. I posted a lot of other information, but I didn’t post graduation rates.

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Kudos to Gwinnett. Outstanding achievement! Now give the money back you are taking from the other counties when you are classified as “rural” for QBE funding.

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Quit your complaining! What a bunch of cry-babies. The negative is what is wrong with this country. Mill creek is a great cluster. They have many school clubs and activities and it is up to YOU PARENTS to get your child involved and to go the extra mile in public school. Teachers can only do so much.

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@ David,

It isn’t just the size of the school system that made Gwinnett eligible over schools in Fulton or Cobb (which are also large enough).

You see, most thinking people know that a school’s test scores alone only tell about the socioeconomics of an area. It’s when you look at schools with high test scores AND they still wrestle with demographic change, high economic needs, non-English speakers, etc…you see that some schools are doing something correct…..something amazing. THAT is what the Broad group recognized in Gwinnett County.

I have had three children graduate from Gwinnett schools. All have said that college was easier than the rigor they faced in their local high school. I couldn’t have asked for better preparation.

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@Sherri. The real world wasn’t always diverse. Racial mixing is the result of fossil fuels used in mass transportation, in mass propaganda, and to empower the governmental coercion necessary to prevent re-segregation by both voluntary and violent means. All through the ages, races hardly ever mixed as equals. In the societies in which the races mixed at all, it was the general rule that one race was the citizenry, whereas the others were the slaves.

This social experiment in racial harmony is, judging by the evidence of the past, a temporary affair, an aberration, an attempt to violate natural laws as they apply to hominids through the constant use of exosomatic energy to defray the costs and to absorb the damage. Once fossil fuels are gone, or even seriously depleted, the world will promptly pay all of the accumulated costs for violating those natural laws.

There doesn’t appear to be much wrong with “lily-white enclaves.” After all, that’s what Europe was throughout ancient times and the Middle Ages. The people who lived there brought to the world its first and only technological civilization (all others just copied what Europe pioneered), introduced heavy industry, created its highest culture, and produced a great deal of its natural philosophies, though some of them, such as universal brotherhood and racial egalitarianism, were pretty foolish. Don’t judge Europe by the sorry condition of society you see in your area.

“I am glad my sons have had the opportunity to see that…we are all the same underneath our skin.”

If your sons have had their eyes open, that’s not what they have seen. Race isn’t skin color. Skin color is merely one of the differences that race can involve. There are loads of others: physical, mental, behavioral.

Furthermore, a difference in race doesn’t always involve a difference of skin color. The Turks are not, for example, of the same race as European white people, even though their skin is just as fair. The Negritos, inhabiting the island of Panay in the Philippines, have black skin and knappy hair, as the African blacks do, but they are as genetically distant from African blacks as Europeans are.

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It was great to see the leaders of Gwinnett County Public Schools in attendance at the event. Does Gwinnett County Public Schools have black educators and leaders? I noticed Dr. Tim Mullen and Mr. Jonathan Patterson both white educators were representing the county. Mr. Wilbanks, you do have some highly educated blacks that are educators and leaders that are employed in the county? Where were they? Why weren’t they invited to attend? It’s about time to change face of the Board!!

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Errata.

I wrote:

Although it has not yet become as nationally famous, something similar has been going on in the public schools of New York City, where the exit from office of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quickly followed by the discovery that the “closure of the racial gaps” on NYC public school test scores was illusory. That’s probably a nice way of saying fraudulent.

Correction:

Michael Bloomberg remains mayor of New York City. I incorrectly stated that he had left office. Nonetheless, the discovery that the gains in overall test scores and the closure of the racial gaps in academic achievement, which Mayor Bloomberg himself had bragged about before Congress, have been proved not really to exist.

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I am SO proud to be a part of educating students and working with top notch educators in Gwinnett. I work in an elementary school where the teachers CARE, work extremely hard to differentiate instruction for the multiple learning styles of students, and use innovative approaches to make sure that ALL students succeed! The students speak MANY languages, come from diverse backgrounds and economic situations. The teachers and administrators have high expectations for the students and themselves. The students are respectful and excited about learning. My school is an International Baccalaureate School (Primary Years Program) which encourages international understanding, thinking outside the box, inquiry and application of knowledge. I invite ANY of the above critics to come and see first hand the kind of results we get in one of the TOP elementary schools in the country…Peachtree Elementary in Norcross!!!

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@Vince. Congratulations on having a very smart daughter. On the question of whether Gwinnett’s closure of the racial gaps in academic achievement should be taken at face value, note what I did when I looked over the data on that school system from Greatschools.org and from the SAT scores published by your state’s DOE. You’ll find it in an earlier post of mine. I’ll condense some of the data here.

These are some of Gwinnett County’s high schools, ranked in descending order of average SAT score for 2009.

Brookwood High School
3385 students
76% white/Asian
21% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 10
2009 SAT average score: 1625

North Gwinnett High School
3077 students:
73% white/Asian
24% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1573

Duluth High School
2208 students
59% white/Asian
38% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 10
2009 SAT average score: 1568

Peachtree Ridge High School
3071 students
68% white/Asian
30% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1553

Collins Hill High School
3556 students
65% white/Asian
32% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1529

Central Gwinnett High School
2736 students
35% white/Asian
62% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 7
2009 SAT average score: 1475

South Gwinnett High School
2685 students
30% white/Asian
66% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 7
2009 SAT average score: 1414

Berkmar High School
3086 students
21% white/Asian
76% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 5

Meadowcreek High School
2300 students
19% white/Asian
79% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 5
2009 SAT average score: 1346

Notice that when these schools are ranked in descending order or average SAT scores, they are also ranked in descending order of the percentage of white/Asian students and in increasing order of black/Hispanic students. A similar thing can be said for these schools passing percentages on the EOCT. If you’ve “closed the racial gaps,” as one (self-described) Gwinnett teacher has said, then why do these correlations occur? It certainly doesn’t look to me as if you have closed them.

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I might as well add a few more.

Mill Creek High School
4006 students
73% white/Asian
25% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 9
2009 SAT average score: 1542

Mill Creek High’s average SAT score is a little less than what would be predicted by a least squares fit to the previous data. It’s still a very good correlation, though.

Grayson High School
3320 students
60% white/Asian
38% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 8
2009 SAT average score: 1494

Grayson High School does take its expected place between racial percentages and SAT scores shown in the previous set of Gwinnett County high schools.

Dacula High School
2336 students
57% white/Asian
41% black/Hispanic
Greatschools rating: 8
2009 SAT average score: 1505

Dacula High School does take its expected place between racial percentages and SAT scores shown in the previous set of Gwinnett County high schools. (I regard the reversed order of Dacula and Grayson as being “in the noise” or involving a difference too small to be significant.)

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Yes, David…I saw your figures earlier. Phoenix is Gwinnett’s alternative high school….or think of it as an Open Campus concept. Kids go there when they need to make up a class they failed, or if they want to take a class after hours to get ahead, or if they work during the day and need to get credit hours in the afternoon or evening. It’s a great school that enables many kids to get hours for graduation when they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, otherwise.

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[...] to direct you to education researcher Rick Hess’ short blog this week raising concerns about the Broad Prize going to Gwinnett County, which he describes as anti-charter [...]

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Sorry, Tina Gwinnett is not GREAT!! Gwinnett has serious problems with race and fair treatment of employees. What they are GREAT at is trying to cover up their corruptions!

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Regarding ART who thought the award mediocre since it did not include private schools. You are right, it only included public schools who accept all students with no admissions testing (like the one for Westminster students) – that means second language learners, special education students, students of modest and low incomes are all welcome. In other words, Gwinnett Public schools admits all those that private schools discriminate against.

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