As you may (or more likely may not) have heard, yesterday the state of New York released the results of the latest school test scores for grades three through eight. Apparently they’ve raised the standards, and the results are pretty dismal – especially for the urban districts around the state.
Statewide, only 31.1 percent of students in grades three through eight met the state’s tougher new standards in English language arts, down from 55.1 percent the previous year. In math, 31 percent met the standard, compared to 64.8 percent the previous year.
[…]
In Syracuse, only 8.7 percent of third through eighth-graders met the standard in English language arts, down from 24.2 percent the previous year. In math, it was 6.9 percent meeting the standard this year, down from 26.9.
And the Syracuse City School District wasn’t even the worst. The distinction goes to Rochester.
Only 5 percent of Rochester School District elementary and middle schoolers scored proficient on math and reading tests — last in the state save for a handful of charter schools and tiny districts that serve children with severe emotional problems.
[…]
In Buffalo, 11.5 percent scored proficient in reading and 9.6 percent were proficient in math. Syracuse reported 8.7 percent proficient in reading and 6.9 percent in math.
The suburban district scores were considerably better, of course, but still nothing to brag about (statewide, the average was about 31% passing for both math and English).
I’m not a big fan of using standardized tests to measure how much kids actually know, and I’m not sure what they’re actually measuring and what’s meant by being “proficient,” but when less than 10% of the kids pass the test (Syracuse had four school where not a single kid passed the math test), something aint right. I don’t know if the tests are just somehow ridiculously difficult or what.
I’d like to get hold of the 8th grade level tests and see how I do.
Then again, maybe not.
It’s another dental day for me, and one I’m not looking forward to. Apparently he found a couple of things he go and tinker with, and some of it involves a little work up front, where I can either suffer through without Novocaine, or suffer through what feels like a needle being shoved up into my brain. Neither option sounds appealing to me.
But at least it gets me out of work for an hour or so.
I had a friend who said that everyone believes s/he knows how to teach because everyone has been a student. I think that’s right. Everyone has favorite teachers and teachers whom they disliked and that becomes the basis for what is good and bad in education. Mayor Bloomberg, in discussing large class sizes, said 40 in a class worked for him so he sees no reason it cannot work for everyone.
Unfortunately, what a class looks like from the front of the room is very different from the experience at a student’s desk. So, rule 1 in education reform should be that reformers have actually taught classes of kids. Rule 2 should be that they have had hands on, recent experience with actual children, preferably of diverse backgrounds. And, rule 3 should be that when you are not satisfied with the level of achievement of your students, making things more difficult will probably NOT produce better results. (See rules 1 and 2)
Loud Is a Losing Proposition
By GAIL COLLINS
Let’s talk about Gov. Chris Christie. Everybody is; he’s the politician of the hour. At the top of the latest poll of likely Republican presidential primary voters in New Hampshire. (Just two-and-a-half years to go until the Iowa caucuses!)
If he winds up running, it could be a fantastic test of my theory that women won’t vote for men who yell.
We don’t need to have a discussion about whether or not Christie is a yeller, right? You just have to call up that video of him pursuing a heckler down the boardwalk, waving an ice cream cone. And while Christie is probably not any more in love with himself than your average major league politician, he is a little less good about concealing it. Dan Balz of The Washington Post interviewed him for the newly released book, “Collision 2012,†in which Christie happily recounts the way the rich and powerful begged him to run for the White House. (Henry Kissinger, the governor reported, told him: “Being a successful president is about two things, courage and character: You have both, and your country needs you.â€)
Also, we all remember the Christie keynote speech at the Republican convention, in which he told the crowd how wonderful he had made things in his home state and urged them to support whatshisname, who would carry out the New Jersey agenda in Washington. (Before which, Balz reports, the governor had a meltdown over plans to cut his introductory video in the interest of time and threatened to either walk away or go onstage and say the world’s most popular obscenity on live TV.)
On the other hand, he really, really likes Bruce Springsteen.
There’s a side to Christie that reminds women of their worst boyfriends. In his race for governor in 2009, he won male voters by a wide margin. But women went for his opponent, Gov. Jon Corzine, 50 percent to 45 percent. This is a particularly startling figure when you add in the fact that Corzine had the personal warmth and communication skills of an unconscious flounder.
Democrats were eyeing that gender gap when they chose Barbara Buono, a state senator, and Milly Silva, a labor leader, to run for governor and lieutenant governor this fall. They’re bucking long odds. Christie’s record has a lot of weak spots, but he was terrific when it came to the cardinal rule in politics, which is to show up for bad weather. Voters never forget good behavior in a storm, and Christie was pretty near pitch-perfect during Hurricane Sandy.
But let’s get back to that infant race for the Republican presidential nomination. The WMUR Granite State Poll, which had Christie on top in New Hampshire, put Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky in second. So it was kind of fascinating last week when they got into a fight, carried out long-distance at top volume.
Christie started it, when he laced into a “strain of libertarianism†that he termed “very dangerous†to national security. This was a garbled broadside against Paul’s recent campaign against the government’s mass collection of phone and e-mail records. “I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans (of 9/11) and have that conversation,†he concluded.
Terrible opening. You cannot win a serious argument by bopping your opponent with the widows and orphans of 9/11. That was a tactic well-honed by Rudy Giuliani, a person whose race for the presidency will be forever remembered in the annals of totally disastrous political campaigns.
Senator Paul, in response, trotted off to Fox News and announced that if Christie “cared about protecting this country maybe he wouldn’t be in this gimme, gimme, gimme.†His garbled broadside was a suggestion that by demanding so much money for hurricane relief, Christie was depriving the country of funds for national defense.
Double error! First of all, you do not mess with weather-related disasters. Also, Paul left the door wide open for Christie’s next retort, which was to point out that New Jersey gets 61 cents back for every $1 its residents send to Washington, while Kentucky gets back $1.51.
So, in the battle for the incoherent defense of the indefensible, Christie won Round 2. There was further sniping, during which Paul called the governor “king of bacon,†then made a peace offering that Christie swatted down. (“I don’t really have time for that.â€) And then life moved on.
In the end, the governor scored points only when the Yelling Guy was replaced by the rational politician with an actual point to make. What if it turns out that the most celebrated aspect of Chris Christie — his high-decibel tough-talking — is really his biggest handicap as a national candidate?
In that New Hampshire poll, Christie got 27 percent of the male vote and 14 percent of the women. All the other candidates mentioned were pretty much gender gapless. It’s just one little poll, but maybe we’re onto something. Maybe quiet and sane trumps loud and crazy, even in Republican primary politics.
Could be the start of something soft-spoken.
I can’t stand being yelled at, either.
How can your face be numb from Novocaine, yet still have an itch that you can’t friggin’ scratch because your face is numb?
Jack Clement, Country Music Hall of Famer, dies at 82
I am sure there is a lot of sadness in Music City today. 🙁 :gate: :blues: :banana:
Countering the Confederates
Richmonders grapple with how to respond to plans for a giant, road-side flag.
POSTED BY NED OLIVER ON THU, AUG 8, 2013 AT 2:39 PM
Karen Black, Versatile Character Actress, Dies at 74
🙁 :gate:
:love:
My friend Jason on Karen Black al dente.
:blues: :bong: :gate: 🙁
Listening to Obama. Just can’t help thinking how full of shit he sounds.
Sarah Palin used accuse him of palling around with terrorists. Now she is attacking him for going on vacation and palling around with tourists.
Werner made a touching tribute at the Les Blank memorial I attended last month.
Werner Herzog Made a Documentary About Texting While Driving. And It’s Haunting.
Now BHO is working my last nerve. Has he been attending Constitution refresher classes at Teabagger Community College.?
Obama administration backs prayer at local government meetings
He has always favored that stuff, if I remember right. I never understood how a Constitutional Law dude could justify that position. But then, there’s Scalia & Co. 🙄
When I was in elementary school, every morning after we pledged our allegiance, sang we said the Lord’s Prayer. (That’s how I learned it) On Friday we went to the assembly and some kid would read a passage from the bible. I have no idea which testament it was. We all bowed our heads.
I learned never to mention that I didn’t believe in a god.
It got to be quite uncomfortable and very coercive. It has no place in a diverse group. Praying should not be a social norm.
🙁 :gate:
🙁 :gate: