slice of my life

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

weather update

We got our first rain from the tropical storm this afternoon at about 2. We are thankfully not getting any strong winds, but we're getting a wonderful soaking rain. Because of the rotation, as the storm moves northwest across us, we are getting the rain moving down from the north right now. The "eye" isn't really apparent, but it's sitting a little bit east of us and moving our way.

I was just looking over the TAKS scores of my kids' schools. Both of their campuses were rated "academically acceptable." I know they were aiming for higher. Part of the course I just finished on my "Road to Certification" was about testing and analyzing the results.

I was really unhappy about B's school's Math scores. Because of construction, last year the only grade taking the state tests was her grade---6 classes of children. All students passed at a 67%.

Other interesting facts I gathered:
B's school---85% of the students are economically disadvantaged.
At J's school---82%
district-wide---56%; this is quite a bit, actually.
For College Station---20%

At B's school, apparently 9 students out of 91 are white. They didn't make a large enough group for the TAKS test to count their scores for.

Two out of 6 of the College Station schools are Exemplary. They have 20% and 13% Economically disadvantaged.
One out of 15 Bryan schools got the Exemplary status. Only one grade had a statistic for Economically disadvantaged, and it was 48%. This is not the school with the least economically disadvantaged children attending. The other two with fewer low income kids did have a Recognized status, though.

Here's the link to our county's ratings and information:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/cgi/sas/broker

It's time to go make the dinner!!

Labels: ,

4 Comments:

  • Oh, yeah, the storm that wasn't! Hee!

    Don't get me started on the TAKS tests. I abhor them with every fiber of my being. I really, really wish they were achievement tests. It's wrong on so many levels when a kid who isn't on grade level (the kids I work with) have to take an on grade level test. I don't care if it's modified or if they get accommodations. If a child reads on a 1st grade level, there is no way he can read a 4th grade TAKS test. ARGH! Ok, enough of that, I promise. :D

    By Blogger D..., at Thursday, August 07, 2008 11:57:00 AM  

  • I'm not necessarily defending the TAKS, because I think there could be a lot different about our system. However, when there is a kid who somehow makes it INTO the 4th grade when he reads on a 1st grade level, there is a whole lot more wrong than what kind of test the state decides to give.

    By Blogger Larry Adams, at Thursday, August 07, 2008 10:10:00 PM  

  • D, to clarify my previous comment... I agree with you that kids in special education should be treated differently when it comes to test time. I am just very frustrated with what passes as "acceptable" and "minimum standards." My comments were definitely directed toward the general student population.

    By Blogger Larry Adams, at Friday, August 08, 2008 5:43:00 PM  

  • I understand where you are coming from, I should have clarified that I was speaking specifically about the special ed. population.

    I am also very frustrated about the standards for the general population. I am also frustrated with TAKS driven schools.

    By Blogger D..., at Saturday, August 09, 2008 12:04:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home