The Express-Times has an article on the NASD’s program to meet state standards at the Middle and High Schools (read it here) that was presented at Monday’s School Board Meeting.
It mostly involves pre-testing and intervention. They pre-test students, see what areas that are on the PSSA test in which they might struggle, and teach to it.
“Superintendent Victor Lesky said the district continuously searches for ways to help students learn, but he cautioned it was important 11th graders take the required testing more seriously.”
It has come to be taken for granted that HS students don’t perform well on PSSA tests because they don’t care about the tests. When a quarter of the student body is on honor roll, but not that many are advanced or proficient, there appears to be a disconnect. The kids obviously can do the work (or they wouldn’t make honor roll), they simply don’t try.
Another potential reason students struggle in 11th grade is that they’ve not had the proper courses to prepare them for the test. A parent relayed to me that in 11th grade, Algebra 2 is the college prep track course. Meaning any level below college prep has not yet had Algebra 2, but Algebra 2 coursework is in the PSSA test. By extension, regardless of how much pre-testing and intervention we hold, it will be difficult for students to do well if they haven’t taken the classes needed to be successful.
I also wonder how much teaching can get done in a regular classroom environment when there is so much testing and intervention being conducted.
Another change made to meet state standards is to have a new grading system on the elementary level. I received two booklets, one for grades 2-3 and one for the intermediate school. Each had a hard stock cover on front and back and they were comprised of 20 and 26 pages of explanation.
Twenty pages or more to explain to a parent what the report card means?
9 comments:
When the heck is the administration going to get their heads out of their butts and admit that they teach to the test? They've always denied it.
Teach a cirriculum. Simple. Done. Everything else will work out. Oh, and they should have Algebra 2 out of the way by 11th grade for college prep. Come on.
I thought it was late as well, but there is a HS Course Guide (100 page PDF doc) available here:
It says that Algebra II is offered as an honors course for 9th grade, and is offered as a College Prep (CP) course for students in 10th, 11th, and 12th.
Algebra I and Geometry are prerequisites to take Algebra II.
Geometry is offered as an honors and CP course for 9th and 10th grade students, with Algebra I as the prerequisite.
Algebra I CP is offered in 9th and 10th grade. I did not see an honors level course for this.
So, if in 9th grade a student takes Algebra I at CP level, they could take Geometry CP in 10th and that leaves Algebra II for 11th grade.
From what I read this is the 'correct' order of classes for a college prep student at Nazareth.
Slightly misleading. After having 2 kids out of high school and one presently an eleventh grader all of my children had completed Algebra II prior to eleventh grade. One was honors so was taking calc by junior year but the other 2 were College Prep and both received Algebra 1 as eighth graders, geometry as ninth graders and Algebra II as tenth graders.
As an aside,I certainly was happy to see that they have removed Trig as a separate course and combined it with Pre Calc so most College Prep students are now able to get Calculus as 12 graders without doubling up on math.
A couple comments...
Algebra II should be taken (IMO) by 11th grade...
I don't necessarily "buy" the 11th graders don't care about the test argument and that is why there is such a drop-off between 8th and 11th grade. Sure, I'm sure they have "better" things to do, but look at the differences between the reading and math scores and that argument (to me at least) falls apart.
*PERSONAL DISCLAIMER* As an engineer, I am kind of biased towards mathematics.
If you follow a particular class (for example 2005 - 8th grade to 2008 - 11th grade) you can see how the class as progressed/regressed.
For math over the past couple classes, the average decline of Proficient or better has been approximately 15%
8th (2003) to 11th (2006) -13.4%
8th (2004) to 11th (2007) -15.2%
8th (2005) to 11th (2008) -14.6%
8th (2006) to 11th (2009) -14.3%
For READING Proficieny or better:
8th (2003) to 11th (2006) -2.5%
8th (2004) to 11th (2007) -7.2%
8th (2005) to 11th (2008) -1.0%
8th (2006) to 11th (2009) -6.9%
The reading scores show some variability year to year, but the average drop is much less.
So, if HS students don't truly "care" about the PSSA (and I doubt they do) wouldn't the average drop in Math scores equal the average drop in Reading scores?
I'd be curious if any parents out there with 11th grader (or 12th graders) could comment--
what has their son/daughter's schedule been in math in the high school (you know where I'm going with this)?
Have they had math every semester or has block scheduling prevented that?
Like Ross said -- honor roll numbers don't correlate here. Maybe it's too easy to get on the honor roll......
I know Brad has looked at 'high performing' PSSA schools and nearly everyone had traditional as opposed to block scheduling.
Block scheduling, especially for math, is not good.
The sooner we get off block scheduling across the board the better.
I'd also like to hear from HS parents and students about the course-path and block scheduling.
I have an 11th grader in Algebra II this year and was surprised to hear PSSA's discussed at all for this class. These students will be taking the SAT's and the curriculum should be structured to ensure they receive the instruction needed for the SAT's.
I have yet to hear a college admissions officer mention PSSA scores, but they certainly talk about the SAT and ACT.
There are several problems with NASD block scheduling, in my opinion. First is obvious and everyone points out that classes, such as math need to have full year instruction. Currently, my daughter has Algebra II and will complete the course in January, but will not take the SAT till Spring. She will not see the material for several months prior to taking one of the most important exams in her life.
Second issue is one that you do not become aware of until you are in the middle of it...just how many courses are available to these students each semester? Will they be able to fulfill their requirements to be competitive for college admission? Not every student wishes to begin their college career at NCC. There is absolutely nothing wrong with beginning at community college, however, it is a different college experience and not one that all students desire. Do we have enough teachers? My daughter was forced into filling her schedule with an elective that she has no interest in and has no bearing on her future career...but they simply did not have another course for her to choose. The class sizes are also brimming with 30+ students...
NASD is a safe environment for our students, however, I am questioning whether they are providing an adequate curriculum which will give the college bound students the best competitive advantage they will need for acceptance into the college of their choice.
Why all the fuss?
The football team is 3-2, dontcha know!
Let us not be distracted...
Unfortunately, Fourth is pretty much on the money with what people are thinking in our district.
To those of you that are saying "my kid is in elementary, I will worry about it later", you should start worrying now.
There is a strong push to make the 11th grade PSSA mandatory for graduation, and increasing the minimum number of HS math courses. My 11th grader is thank god exempt from that happening, but your kids will not.
We seem to forget that the PSSA tests are the report cards for TEACHERS and SCHOOLS, not students. But, they have gotten smart about it by making practice exercises/tests and the scores themselves part of the student's grade. Really nice of them.
So, while they train our kids that there is always a right answer (A, B, C or D) and to fill in the little bubbles, they have dropped how to do critical thinking completely off the agenda except in some of the honors and AP courses, of which there are not a lot of.
If your kids are in the ES, IS, MS or just starting HS, be very afraid because soon all they will be learning is the PSSA.
For fun and giggles, call any university admissions office and ask them what they are looking for as a PSSA score. They don't care. They will want to know your kid's SAT/ACT score, and what they have done in courses above and beyond the minimum requirements. Only then will your kid have a shot at getting accepted.
But, as Fourth said, as long as the football team is winning and wrestling continues to be top notch, there will not be an uproar.
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