NCLB
Rising national standards are why more schools appear to struggle
November 02, 2010 Filed in:
School Rankings
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register Q. My
children go to school in the district in which I live, and it is
great. I teach in a different district and we were told we are
moving close to becoming a Program Improvement district. Do you
think your readers need to hear about how many districts and
schools are now getting into this category?
Same frustrations, new school year
September 03, 2008 Filed in:
Public Education
Column: Nicholas Wishek, The Orange County
Register Confidence in public education erodes
over decades of teaching - I don't see things getting better. Also,
I know I will be asked to do things that make no logical sense.
Things that don't help. Things that the ivory-tower types in
Sacramento and Washington, D.C., would know were pretty useless, if
they had actually ever taught in schools similar to mine. Fact.
Despite all the hype about the successes of the No Child Left
Behind program, I do not see any real growth in the academic
performances of my students. Yes, our test scores have gone up,
but, as Mark Twain wrote, "There are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies and statistics"…
Fewer O.C. schools met tougher U.S. standards
September 13, 2010 Filed in:
School Rankings
Fermin Leal, The Orange County Register
Only 34 percent of Orange
County's public schools met the 2010 federal No Child Left Behind
testing targets – a marked decline from 2009 when standards were
lower, according to figures released Monday. The results show that
even though local schools are posting steadily better results on
state tests each year, the improvement isn't fast enough to meet
federal goals. … In Capistrano Unified, nearly all of the
district's 60 campuses earned an API score of 800 or higher this
year, but fewer than half made adequate yearly progress. "These
results speak to the often contradictory standards schools and
school districts are forced to meet," said Superintendent Joseph
Farley. The superintendent said whether or not educators agree with
the federal accountability system, it's their responsibility to
work to meet the tougher standards…