Only five county schools rank high compared to similar schools

Schools found out Thursday how their test scores stand up against 100 similar schools statewide -- a complex comparison that can either make educators grin from ear to ear or leave them wondering if they're doing enough.

[Love it]

"This is really apples to apples," said Mary Ann Robb, a 22-year teacher at Bay View Elementary in Santa Cruz.

Hilarius coming from a teacher straight out of college....That's not an expression!
The expression is comparing "apples to oranges," meaning they are equal and that one is only better through the eyes of ones own personal preference.

Maybe she was trying to say, "Apples to apples, dust to dust." A teacher's way of saying we're all going to die anyway.

[Vox Populi]

Brenda Payne, principal at Main Street Elementary in Soquel, said she was "alarmed" that her school dropped from a 3 to a 2 this year in the Similar Schools Ranking.

Every school you have worked has taken a header. Please quit!

[Mary]

It would be great if the article listed the schools and their ranking, I went to the recommended website and was not able to find it.

[Taxes]

Love it wrote:

"This is really apples to apples," said Mary Ann Robb, a 22-year teacher at Bay View Elementary in Santa Cruz.
Hilarius coming from a teacher straight out of college....That's not an expression!
The expression is comparing "apples to oranges," meaning they are equal and that one is only better through the eyes of ones own personal preference.
Maybe she was trying to say, "Apples to apples, dust to dust." A teacher's way of saying we're all going to die anyway.

Maybe you should go to college.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apples_and_orang...

"used to indicate that two items or groups of items cannot be validly compared"

So "apples to apples" in the context of the article is a reasonable variation on the "apples to oranges" idiom since the school rankings eliminate other variables from the equation such that schools *can* be validly compared.

[Soquel by the Creek]

Love it wrote:

"This is really apples to apples," said Mary Ann Robb, a 22-year teacher at Bay View Elementary in Santa Cruz.
Hilarius coming from a teacher straight out of college....That's not an expression!
The expression is comparing "apples to oranges," meaning they are equal and that one is only better through the eyes of ones own personal preference.
Maybe she was trying to say, "Apples to apples, dust to dust." A teacher's way of saying we're all going to die anyway.

The "apples to apples" phrase is fairly common and is a variation on the "apples to oranges" phrase.

"APPLES to ORANGES" = Trying to compare two dissimilar items. Not a valid comparison.

"APPLES to APPLES" = Comparing two similar items. A valid comparison.

[Becky Johnson]

Also, she has been a teacher at Bayview Elementary for 22 years. NOT that she is a 22 yr old teacher straight out of college.

[pwned Love It]

Is a hater! What a tool.

[Money_Saver]

Please someone call the HATE police, another Sentinel forum reader is spouting BS again...

It would be great if people commented on reasonably important stuff. The rankings are in and our schools pretty much suck. That is what the article is about. It's great that some of our schools are doing comparatively well, isn't it?

Arguing semantics is a waste of time and only serves to give people something to argue about.

Can't we all just get along? hardy har har...

[GD in Santa Cruz]

yea i knew how that all worked when i was 10
love it...'love it'...
moron...

gd

[The Scream]

Money_Saver wrote:

Arguing semantics is a waste of time and only serves to give people something to argue about.

When you've got NO LIFE, there's nothing left to do BUT argue.

[Johanna B]

PCS - a score of 10! Pah!- crazy school for overbearing parents and sad hot housed children!!

[Mary Mango]

Love it wrote:

"This is really apples to apples," said Mary Ann Robb, a 22-year teacher at Bay View Elementary in Santa Cruz.
Hilarius coming from a teacher straight out of college....That's not an expression!
The expression is comparing "apples to oranges," meaning they are equal and that one is only better through the eyes of ones own personal preference.
Maybe she was trying to say, "Apples to apples, dust to dust." A teacher's way of saying we're all going to die anyway.

What's really hilarious is that you don't know how to spell the word "hilarious". At least run your comment through a spellchecker before criticizing others.

[Seacliff Local]

These comments are really hilarious this morning. As noted, the point of the article is to point out how badly our schools are doing in the grand scheme of things. Kudos to Bayview, which had a reputation for being a really crappy school, who spent some money and was willing to work with non-English speaking students and provide a little extra help, thus improving their score and ranking!
And to further stir the pot, I would like to add that this story reinforces my decision to make a few personal sacrifices and send my son to private school. Of course his school won't be included in the report but if it was....

[Hah]

I find it hard to believe that Scotts Valley High is so low...

[santa cruz resident]

Hah wrote:

I find it hard to believe that Scotts Valley High is so low...

I also send my children to private school and for good reason and as for S.V. High.........there is not enough space to go over the problems at that school.

[Caelum Sinclair]

Love it wrote:

"This is really apples to apples," said Mary Ann Robb, a 22-year teacher at Bay View Elementary in Santa Cruz.
Hilarius coming from a teacher straight out of college....That's not an expression!
The expression is comparing "apples to oranges," meaning they are equal and that one is only better through the eyes of ones own personal preference.
Maybe she was trying to say, "Apples to apples, dust to dust." A teacher's way of saying we're all going to die anyway.

I think you need to spend more time around teachers.
The article says "22 year teacher" not "22 year OLD teacher," "apples to oranges" means they are NOT equal, and "apples to apples" is an extremely commonly used expression.

[Caelum Sinclair]

Mary wrote:

It would be great if the article listed the schools and their ranking, I went to the recommended website and was not able to find it.

Yes, wouldn't it be just great if the writer had provided a specific link:

http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2009/2008Base_Co...

[Hah-Hah]

Hah wrote:

I find it hard to believe that Scotts Valley High is so low...

Are you kidding me? That is a terrible school!

[Serf City]

Take a look at these scores.

Except for PC, Santa Cruz schools are mediocre at best.

http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2008/viewreport.as...

By the way, I am only linking to one small fraction of the database--the overall scores for SC County.

You have to search around to break things down by school district, school, economically disadvantaged, English learner/illegals, etc.

[SC Teacher]

I wish I were 22 years old!