Troubling scores for KY students
The KY Dept. of Education released a new round of test scores of high school and middle schools Thursday. To me, the Northern Kentucky results are troubling for two reasons. First, way too many schools are performing under national averages. Second, the results imply we're losing ground with students from middle school to high school.
In the EXPLORE exam, which tests high school readiness for eighth graders, only 9 of 21 NKY schools exceeded the national average. In the PLAN exam, which is a pre-ACT test for 10th graders, only 4 of 17 high schools exceeded national averages.
I didn't bother to count how many schools did better than the KY average. The tally would make more schools look better, but it's irrelevant. All our schools need to be better than the national average -- that's at a minimum.
The Alliance for Excellent Education, a non-profit group that focuses on secondary education, has a report card for Kentucky high schools with statistics such as these: 35th out of 50 states in graduation rates, 40th in the nation in average per-pupil spending, 35th in the nation in teacher pay.
Money only is a piece of the puzzle, of course, and kudos go to the states that spend less and achieve a lot. Unfortunately, that doesn't describe schools in Kentucky.
Do any of you have thoughts on what's happening and why? If so, post a comment.
posted by Dennis Hetzel at 9:00 AM
2 Comments:
at 10:11 AM, May 28, 2007 
Anonymous said...
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at 7:32 AM, May 30, 2007 
Anonymous said...
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Post a Comment*Proposal:
I recommend legislation, which would direct the State School Board and the Department of Education to purchase a Handheld (Personal Digital Assistant) or Laptop for every student, teacher, and administrator who is registered in any school, which is licensed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This Handheld would meet the RFP standards set forth by the Board and Department, subject to the oversight and approval of the Legislature, which would mandate that any current handheld software that is now considered as state product standard (e.g. Wireless Generation, eWalk/MediaX) or future handheld software, be required to run on all those platforms in order to still be considered a state product standard. In the handheld world, this would mean Wireless Generation would have to make their product run on a Windows CE handheld versus just the Palm pilot handheld. In the workstation world, we call this “cross platform” compatible.
Kentucky is a state ready to step into the 21st computing century and this cost would save money in the long run. I would recommend we use subscription, online services for students to eventually replace textbooks. That we use video and audio downloads onto computer screens, even subjects like foreign language can be enhanced with the technology. The legislation will have to include funds to ensure that a reliable, secure network, which means bandwidth, scalability, and reliability, must support all computer possibilities. Students may have to log in from home, too, so those cost will have to be covered. Students will have to have a modem or DSL connection. Schools will need to have a mandate to stay open after school hours to allow wireless connectivity using the school access points. There will be funds needed to train current and future teachers using the talents of Kentucky Education Television and our star educators. Today we can track a package across the world but we still graduate children from High School who often can barely read and write. If we implement this technology, we will know the progress of every student in every subject on any given day. This is accountability.
This is true education reform that the citizens can measure.
A. 100 GREAT EDUCATIONAL USES FOR A HANDHELD BY STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Administrative Applications
1. Keep your schedule. connect to MS Exchange
2. Track student progress on specific skills
3. Conduct authentic assessment...including CATS and End of Course on-line testing
4. Use a calculator
5. Make a database of key content and concepts for student use
6. Take attendance...STI has software that allows handheld connections
7. Instantly access student information, such as schedules, demographics, or parent contacts.STI has software that allows handheld connections
8. Organize your reading lists
9. Take notes at a meeting or in a class
10. Record and tabulate grades
11. Track computer hardware and software inventory
12. Enhance school safety with bar code IDs and an emergency management system
13. Store and access lesson plans
14. Use a rubric to assess and score student work
15. Access a database of curriculum standards and related curriculum resources
16. Keep an inventory of books and other instructional materials
17. Store and track student IEPs
18. Track technical support requests
19. Keep a list of all your important contacts
20. Evaluate teacher performance and record observation notes
21. Access, track, and manage library book or textbook inventories
22. Track, organize, and control inventories and safety information for chemicals in the lab
23. Let students have constant access to their current grades (very motivating!)
24. Track teacher recruiting activities
25. Access human resources benefits information
26. Look up technical troubleshooting information
27. Keep emergency procedures and checklists readily accessible
Communication and Collaboration Applications
28. Send and receive an email through MS Exchange
29. Group schedule school meetings
30. Collaborate on a graphic organizer
31. Send or receive a fax
32. Make a presentation
33. Make a phone call
34. Distribute school activity information to students and parents
35. Exchange information with a colleague
36. Share a downloaded web page with someone
37. Send assignment information home to parents
38. Have students turn in an assignment electronically
39. Get parents’ sign-offs
40. Transfer a file from your PC for instant access
41. Write an ebook and share it with others
42. Take an online course
43. Send and receive instant messages through MS Exchange
44. Conduct group-writing activities
45. Record voice notes
46. Transmit closed captioning of lectures for the hearing impaired
47. Access online educational events and news
Teaching and Learning Applications
48. Take and store digital photos for a project
49. Make a spreadsheet
50. Draw a picture
51. Make a concept map summarizing a chapter
52. Form, visualize, and solve equations
53. Keep track of class schedules, assignments, and grades
54. Record observations on a field trip
55. Read an ebook
56. Find locations with a GPS
57. Study and compose music
58. Graph data
59. View and use maps
60. Increase content accessibility for those with disabilities
61. Gather data on temperature, light, voltage, pH, and more with data probes
62. Program own handheld application
63. Conduct a surveying expedition
64. Look up a word in a dictionary
65. Use flashcards
66. Use a tutorial for self-study
67. Conduct a stock market simulation
68. Take notes and write a research paper
69. Take notes in class
70. Practice handwriting
71. Study a foreign language
72. Listen to historic speeches
73. Take part in a collaborative simulation
74. Do research on the web
75. Conduct an academic competition
76. Gather and analyze data on environmental issues
77. Make a timeline
78. Look up a word in a thesaurus
79. Create an outline
80. Study for a test
81. Give students step-by-step instructions or visual plans for projects
82. Keep a journal
83. Create fitness records for students
84. Access writing prompts and editing checklists
85. Learn to read and write Japanese characters
86. Learn about concepts in measurement
87. Practice multiplication tables
88. Access the periodic table
89. Manage a collaborative project
90. Look at reference diagrams on parts of the human body
91. Make a photo album
92. Listen to and study classical music
93. Build a robot controlled by a handheld device
94. Track a community service-learning project
95. Read about the latest current events
96. Study astronomy
97. Build vocabulary through word games
98. Find or create a geocache
99. Have classes create their own mobile information channels to share information with other classes or the community
100. Create a database of Ky employment opportunities in their area once they graduate
John Stephenson
Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Commonwealth of Kentucky
859-653-7000
www.jstephenson.com
Step #1: Boot Ernie Fletcher and his ridiculous "Intelligent Design" platform out of office.
With "leadership" like that, it's no wonder our students are underperforming. Fletcher is a clown.
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