News - Silver Creek Beating the Socioeconomic Odds in Business ...

A common criticism of the Business First rankings that socioeconomic status determines most who will do well.

[Buffalo teacher]

How many students in Orchard Park have witnessed drive by shootings? How many students in Barker were born to 14 year-old mothers? How many children in Alden are being raised by their grandparents? How many students in West Valley are in foster care because their parents have a drug addiction?
As an elementary teacher, these are the "socioeconomic" factors my students struggle with.

[Penny]

It is great that Business First adjusted for socioeconomic factors, yet obviously, there is more going on than that. Notice that all these districts listed are in the rural areas. Poor, yes. Parents probably, yes also. It's not just about poverty level, but then again, how to measure parent involvement. Perhaps Business First should do a listing titled
Parent Involvement Based on State Assessment Scores. It takes more than a teacher.

[poverty district teacher]

And how many students drive their drunk parents home from bars, live with their mother's boyfriend's uncle's stepchildren, aren't allowed to bring school books into their homes, don't have anyone show up for conferences/Open House/school plays, come to school on the first day with no supplies, see drugs and alcohol being abused in their home daily, have one or both parents in jail....need I go on?
We can only work with what we get!