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Our Schools Our Money
Springboro, OH
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Just Watching wrote: The first thing we need to do is disabuse ourselves of the notion that we are the best thing since sliced bread. We have some deep systemic issues that need to be dealt with in this community in regards to educating our children.
1) We need to realistically evaluate where our deficiencies exist, both inside and outside the classroom. Education is not a drop your child off for 7 hours and they return educated. It involves the parents backing up and supporting the teachers at home, Requiring and helping with homework to make sure it is done. Not all parents are created equal, so we need to make sure that the parents have the resources to learn the material being taught so they can help the children learn. There seems to be a need for a study island for parents who wish to help their children but have been away from school for many years.
2) Just like there are no two children who are alike in their abilities, we need to recognize that teachers are much the same. Not all teachers are created equal, some are excellent, some are good, some are mediocre, and some are bad. Nodding our head at the union mantra that all teachers are excellent is a bit too Animal Farm for me. Let us begin to call a spade a spade and utilize our resources in house to bring those less talented up to speed or show them the door. The ones paying the price for mediocre or less ability are the very ones we are here for, the children.
3) Raising the standards by which we choose to operate and then enforcing those standards will pay huge dividends for all involved, from administrators, to teachers, to parents, to children, to taxpayers. We are not condemned to troll the base standards that the state employs, we are perfectly free to aim so much higher.
4) Real achievement that can be measured and quantified. While some may call that teaching to the test, I call that basic knowledge required to function productively in this society. Feasting on semantics to cover up failure is no substitute for actual learning and academic achievement. Rote learning of your math tables may seem boring, but the results are undeniable. Build self esteem with actual accomplishment, not with a false Honor Society where the top 70% of your class is recognized as deserving that accolade.
5) Recognize that not all children learn in the same environment and realize that other choices may be necessary. Some may thrive under a more rigorous discipline setting, while different children wilt under the same authority. Build programs that allow parents the choice of where their child should attempt to succeed.
6) We are not fated to repeat the past in hopes of gaining an alternate ending. We are free to reinvent the system, let us grasp this opportunity and move both our school district and our children forward now.
7) Speak up against the status quo and demand true excellence throughout the school district. Only the vox populi can stem this tide of mediocrity. Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners need to speak up in appreciation of our reform-minded school board representatives and offer special thanks for their good work being accomplished by "accelerating student achievement through innovation and policy." Should concerned citizens not speak up against the status quo leadership of SEA president Mr. Maney, respectfully asking Mr. Maney to offer due respect to Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners; who are committed to ensuring that the children of the Springboro community receive an excellent education, while keeping costs of that education affordable, by carefully adhering to responsible spending? Why doesn't Mr. Maney stop wasting taxpayers time and money and drop this law suit; and just respect the will of the people by cooperating with Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners, who are faced with this big expense of school renewal levy coming up this November?
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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A recent blog has been celebrating the number of Master degrees our school district staff possesses, the question arises of how valuable are these degrees to our children? The answers may surprise the readers of a few articles. The NEW YORK TIMES is hardly a tea party mouthpiece. Should Teachers Pursue Master's Degrees? Melanie E. Wright In an increasingly competitive global economy, high-quality education for American students has become critical for the nation’s future. Most agree that a key to achieving this aim is recruiting and retaining effective teachers, as detailed in an FOC policy brief on the quality of teaching. How to define capable teachers remains controversial. Some have proposed mandating master’s degrees; in contrast, others suggest completely eliminating incentives for continued graduate work. From the NEW YORK TIMES blog Room for Debate to The Future of Children’s Excellence in the Classroom issue, many question the value of teacher education in its current form and seek alternatives. Education course work has long been part of initial teacher certification and ongoing professional development as a way to increase a teacher’s capacity and value. Although only 16 percent of teachers in their third year of teaching hold master’s degrees, 62 percent of teachers with over 20 years of experience have earned them. Schools encourage this process by providing higher pay incentives and allowing substitution of these courses for recertification requirements. Lately, however, degree programs have been subject to scrutiny. In theory they ensure that teachers have sufficient subject area knowledge, experience with teaching, and abilities to promote learning through effective and innovations means. Often, however, these programs have been criticized for teaching irrelevant and non-transferable skills, lacking intellectual rigor, or failing to build new knowledge or abilities. A recent The Future of Children volume examined whether these programs are valuable and have positive effects on student achievement. Research on master’s degrees and teacher quality has generally been inconclusive, according to The Future of Children article “The Effect of Certification and Preparation on Teacher Quality.” This ambiguity reflects the difficulty in 1) establishing whether programs cause improvement in teaching, 2) taking into account the inequity of teacher distribution (with better teachers migrating by choice to higher quality schools), and 3) isolating the effects of graduate degrees on students of different grade levels. As Heather Hill documents in her article “Learning in the Teacher Workforce,” however, some improvement in math scores has been shown for teachers with graduate degrees in math. So far this finding has not been replicated in other subject areas, but it offers potential for more research. While graduate work has the potential to prepare teachers and increase their students’ performance, recent analysis suggests that it is not currently meeting these goals. Although more research is needed, studies so far suggest that schools should seek teachers with and encourage the pursuit of graduate degrees in the teacher’s primary area of instruction. Programs such as the master’s in education should submit themselves to more rigorous testing to find what skills and knowledge can help teachers positively influence their students’ learning. Higher quality graduate programs and a more thorough understanding of their effects on student learning will lead to better education for our children. The NEW YORK TIMES had an update this weekend on their blog with comments about master's degrees for teachers. All of these responses came from actual teachers, and most of their personal anecdotes echoed our research's findings: education and master's degrees rarely influence classroom performance, although some subject-specific work can be of assistance. Read more about it here: Room for Debate: What Teachers Have Learned.
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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A recent blog has been celebrating the number of MS degrees our staff possess. This claim begs the question, just how valuable are these degrees to our children? The answers may surprise the readers of this community. The NEW YORK times is hardly considered a Tea Party mouthpiece. Should Teachers Pursue Master's Degrees? By Melanie E. Wright In an increasingly competitive global economy, high-quality education for American students has become critical for the nation’s future. Most agree that a key to achieving this aim is recruiting and retaining effective teachers, as detailed in an FOC policy brief on the quality of teaching. How to define capable teachers remains controversial. Some have proposed mandating master’s degrees; in contrast, others suggest completely eliminating incentives for continued graduate work. From the New York Times blog Room for Debate to The Future of Children’s Excellence in the Classroom issue, many question the value of teacher education in its current form and seek alternatives. Education course work has long been part of initial teacher certification and ongoing professional development as a way to increase a teacher’s capacity and value. Although only 16 percent of teachers in their third year of teaching hold master’s degrees, 62 percent of teachers with over 20 years of experience have earned them. Schools encourage this process by providing higher pay incentives and allowing substitution of these courses for recertification requirements. Lately, however, degree programs have been subject to scrutiny. In theory they ensure that teachers have sufficient subject area knowledge, experience with teaching, and abilities to promote learning through effective and innovations means. Often, however, these programs have been criticized for teaching irrelevant and non-transferable skills, lacking intellectual rigor, or failing to build new knowledge or abilities. A recent The Future of Children volume examined whether these programs are valuable and have positive effects on student achievement. Research on master’s degrees and teacher quality has generally been inconclusive, according to The Future of Children article “The Effect of Certification and Preparation on Teacher Quality.” This ambiguity reflects the difficulty in 1) establishing whether programs cause improvement in teaching, 2) taking into account the inequity of teacher distribution (with better teachers migrating by choice to higher quality schools), and 3) isolating the effects of graduate degrees on students of different grade levels. As Heather Hill documents in her article “Learning in the Teacher Workforce,” however, some improvement in math scores has been shown for teachers with graduate degrees in math. So far this finding has not been replicated in other subject areas, but it offers potential for more research. While graduate work has the potential to prepare teachers and increase their students’ performance, recent analysis suggests that it is not currently meeting these goals. Although more research is needed, studies so far suggest that schools should seek teachers with and encourage the pursuit of graduate degrees in the teacher’s primary area of instruction. Programs such as the master’s in education should submit themselves to more rigorous testing to find what skills and knowledge can help teachers positively influence their students’ learning. Higher quality graduate programs and a more thorough understanding of their effects on student learning will lead to better education for our children. The NEW YORK TIMES had an update this weekend on their blog with comments about master's degrees for teachers. All of these responses came from actual teachers, and most of their personal anecdotes echoed our research's findings: education and master's degrees rarely influence classroom performance, although some subject-specific work can be of assistance. Read more about it here: Room for Debate: What Teachers Have Learned.
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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Do Teachers Need Education Degrees? By THE EDITORS Robert Stolarik for THE NEW YORK TIMES In a Room for Debate forum in June on the value of liberal arts master’s degrees, one group of readers — teachers and education administrators — generally agreed a higher degree was well worth the investment. They pointed out that pay and promotion in public schools were tied to the accumulation of such credentials and credits, specifically from colleges of education. But current teacher training has a large chorus of critics, including prominent professors in education schools themselves. For example, the director of teacher education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Katherine Merseth, told a conference in March that of the nation’s 1,300 graduate teacher training programs, only about 100 were doing a competent job and “the others could be shut down tomorrow.” And Obama administration officials support a shift away from using master’s degrees for pay raises, and a shift toward compensating teachers based on children’s performance. Should the public schools reduce the weight they give to education school credentials in pay and promotion decisions? Is this happening already, and, if so, what is replacing the traditional system for compensating teachers? C. Kent McGuire, Temple University dean Michael Goldstein founder of charter public school Margaret S. Crocco, Teachers College, Columbia University Patrick Welsh, high school teacher Jeffrey Mirel, University of Michigan Arthur Levine, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation James Cibulka, president, NCATE Martin Kozloff, education professor Linda Mikels, elementary school principal
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0... Hiring Is One Thing, Performance Another C. Kent McGuire is dean of the Temple University College of Education and a member of the board of the New Teacher Project. School districts typically prefer teachers with advanced degrees on the premise that these individuals possess a deeper understanding of teaching, learning and human development. In fact, in the district in which I serve as school board member, we typically look for teachers with advanced training (and experience). We are more likely to deploy these teachers in our most challenging or demanding assignments where a broad repertoire of teaching strategies is essential. School districts typically prefer teachers with advanced degrees on the premise that these individuals possess a deeper understanding of teaching, learning and human development. Like so many districts, we are persuaded that university-based preparation is key to acquiring the knowledge and skill we value and we are willing to pay a premium for it. We do look carefully at the institutions from which such degrees were conferred because not all advanced degrees are created equal. We prefer individuals who have taken their degrees from research institutions on the premise that advances in knowledge about how children grow and learn and the pedagogical implications of these insights are more likely to be reflected in the degree requirements. But it is useful to distinguish between the credentials used in selection and hiring decisions, and the information or criteria we use to reward performance, once on the job. A longstanding tradition in education is to create salary schedules that provide automatic pay and promotion decisions based on “training and experience.” These training and experience factors, by themselves, turn out to be fairly weak predictors of effectiveness. The real challenge is identifying the knowledge and skills that align with our educational goals and accurately measuring whether teachers possess and demonstrate these skills. Even if a formal certificate or degree is highly aligned with our goals, there is no substitute for well-designed performance appraisal systems that directly assess whether teachers are effectively using the knowledge and skill thought to be associated with increasing student learning. Most districts, I fear, do a mediocre job of assessing performance, especially once tenure has been achieved. The good news is we have ways of knowing when teachers have acquired the competence and skills we value. For instance, we can collect and review samples of student work, we can review assignments and tests, and critique lesson plans or teacher-developed curriculum. We can regularly observe their practice in classrooms to gauge the quality of their interactions with students and determine if their classroom practices align with what we know about effective teaching. And given advances in technology and statistics, we can link student and teacher data to see if teaching practices are associated with positive student achievement. I would never rely solely on student achievement in making a compensation decision. Teachers are responsible for much more than raising standardized test scores. But when used in conjunction with other information, compensation and promotion decisions are much more likely to identify and reward our most effective teachers.
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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Another popular Springboro blog with a certain set is trumpeting the Performance Index as evidence of our AWSOMENESS in our education system in the Springboro School District. The Performance Index (PI) is a calculation that measures achievement/OGT test performance at the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th (OGT) grade levels based upon the number of students at each performance level. The PI is calculated by assigning a weighted score to each performance level in the following manner: • Untested students - 0 points • Below Basic/Limited - 0.3 points • Basic - 0.6 points • Proficient - 1.0 points • Accelerated – 1.1 points • Advanced - 1.2 The percentage of students at each performance level is then multiplied by their respective weight, and the totals for each performance level are summed to get the building’s overall Performance Index score. A perfect score would be to have everyone in the advanced classification in the school district. That score would be 120. Springboro sits at 107.2 which seems marvelous until you look behind the numbers that support this rating. As we know from past discussions, "Proficient" and below are essentially failing scores. Thus if you had everyone in the "Proficient" range, you would score 100.0 and everyone would effectively be failing. Some of the "Accelerated" scores are also failing grades, yet they assign these 1.1 weighting. So if everyone in our school system were "Accelerated", we would score a rating of 110.0 Since we only come in at 107.2, those 2000 plus students not getting the education we promise really weights our school system down. The Performance Index is another semantic sleight of hand provided by the state to make you feel warm and fuzzy about the fraud being committed in your name. A look at the actual definition of each of the academic assessment level is telling in its brevity. 6th grade 2011 OAA Test Cut Scores and Scoring Bands (This represents Springboro Class of ’17) READING Advanced.......76%-100% Accelerated.....61%-75% Proficient.........35%-60% If a student was able to answer 17 out of 49 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in READING. In 6th grade READING, Springboro had 172 students out of 502 students (34%) fall in the Proficient or below category ______ MATH Advanced.......68%-100% Accelerated....58%-67% Proficient........40%-57% If a student was able to answer 20 out of 50 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in MATH. In 6th grade MATH, Springboro had 127 students our of 502 students ( 25%) falling the Proficient or below category __________ 7th grade 2011 OAA Test Cut Scores and Scoring Bands (This is Springboro’s Class of ’16) READING Advanced 81%-100% Accelerated 66%-80% Proficient 45%-65%(45%=Proficient) In 7th grade READING, Springboro had 172 students out of 413 students (42%) fall in the Proficient or below category _____ MATH Advanced 72%-100% Accelerated 58%-71% Proficient 32%-57%(32%=Proficient) In 7th grade MATH, Springboro had 140 students out of 413 students (34%) fall in the Proficient or below categories. 8th grade 2011 OAA Test Cut Scores and Scoring Bands (Springboro Class of ’15) READING Advanced.......83%-100% Accelerated.....71%-82% Proficient.........48%-70% If a student was able to answer 23 out of 48 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in READING. In 8th grade READING, Springboro had 136 students out of 443 students (31%) fall in the Proficient or below category. MATH Advanced.......78%-100% Accelerated....61%-77% Proficient........35%-60% If a student was able to answer 16 out of 46 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in MATH. In 8th grade MATH, Springboro had 203 students out of 443 students (46%) fall the Proficient or below category. __________
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Interesting
Springboro, OH
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Masters degree for teachers have not been required for 4 years. Governor Strickland canceled the masters as a requirement. WHY? Because they actually found them to be a negative to teaching effectiveness. Yes even Gov Strickland the union supporter could no longer deny the facts. So stop paying for them to get Masters and stop giving raises when they get them. Did you know that? Ck with ODE
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bodhisattva
Springboro, OH
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Interesting wrote: Masters degree for teachers have not been required for 4 years. Governor Strickland canceled the masters as a requirement. WHY? Because they actually found them to be a negative to teaching effectiveness. Yes even Gov Strickland the union supporter could no longer deny the facts.
So stop paying for them to get Masters and stop giving raises when they get them.
Did you know that? Ck with ODE Without a doubt, Springboro schools has many excellent teachers. But on the other hand there are a certain number of educators in this district that have absolutely no business being in any classroom. Our administators and BOE should reward the strong skills and strong efforts of the better teachers as well as demand the right to cut loose any teacher who is inept, obviously burnt-out, or is habitually insuborinate.
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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County District Per Kid Instruction Total Costs Enrollment Warren Carlisle Local $9,817 $5,751 $16,710,690 1,702 Warren Franklin City $9,712 $5,683 $28,275,666 2,911 Warren Kings Local $10,458 $5,826 $40,928,189 3,914 Warren Lebanon City $8,059 $4,361 $43,918,654 5,450 Warren Little Miami $7,959 $4,885 $30,510,420 3,833 Warren Mason City $10,125 $5,637 $106,346,812 10,503 Warren Springboro $7,926 $4,470 $43,540,274 5,493 Warren Wayne Local $8,274 $4,756 $12,169,454 1,471 Instruction means dollar amount per child for instruction. The difference between Instruction and Per Kid is the administrative cost of education. At first glance we would seem like a bargain, but these numbers do not tell us what the cost is supposed to be, only what we are spending. GM knew how much money they were putting into a car and how much Toyota was putting into a similar auto. The difference was fairly unsubstantial, what they were spending their money on in each car was the telling factor. GM had, through judicious use of kicking the labor costs down the road, wound up with each car made supporting $2,000 retirees' legacy costs. To keep the cost comparable with Toyota, GM was forced to leave things out of the final production model. Toyota, unhampered by legacy cost could spend the same money on substance such as better engineering, heated leather seats, burled walnut, better sound systems, etc. Both cars essential cost basis was quite similar, it was what they spent the money on that was the defining difference. The consumers voted with their wallets and the rest is history. Right now all we have is the amount the school district is spending. We have no idea, however, if that is the correct amount, too low or too high. Without evaluating the entire product, from results, to delivery system, to the changing modes of communication available to us all, physical plant, etc, it is quite simply impossible to make any definitive statements regarding our underlying cost structure that have any relevance to the quality of product we are delivering to our ultimate consumer, the child. Those parents of gifted students will claim it is working perfectly, those 2000 plus students rated "Proficient" or below may claim otherwise. Of note, is the fact that in the review of public high schools in the state of Ohio by USNEWS and World Report ranked Kings Mill, Lebanon, Mason, and Waynesville substantially higher than the 110 spot that Springboro occupies. #30 Kings High School 5500 COLUMBIA RD KINGS MILLS, OH 45034 Kings Local #816 Nationally Ranked Larger than OH Avg 1,085 Students 54 Teachers 20:1 Student/Teacher Above OH Avg 47% Tested (AP®) 32% Passed (AP®) #31 Lebanon High School 1916 DRAKE RD LEBANON, OH 45036 Lebanon City #818 Nationally Ranked Larger than OH Avg 1,481 Students 71 Teachers 21:1 Student/Teacher Above OH Avg 46% Tested (AP®) 32% Passed (AP®) #34 William Mason High School 6100 SOUTH MASON MONTGOMERY RD MASON, OH 45040 Mason City School Disrict #879 Nationally Ranked Larger than OH Avg 3,043 Students 170 Teachers 18:1 Student/Teacher Above OH Avg 38% Tested (AP®) 33% Passed (AP®) #65 Waynesville High School 735 DAYTON RD WAYNESVILLE, OH 45068 Wayne Local #1324 Nationally Ranked Larger than OH Avg 449 Students 25 Teachers 18:1 Student/Teacher Above OH Avg 37% Tested (AP®) 22% Passed (AP®) #110 Springboro High School 1675 SOUTH MAIN ST SPRINGBORO, OH 45066 Springboro Community City #1933 Nationally Ranked Larger than OH Avg 1,468 Students 77 Teachers 19:1 Student/Teacher Near OH Avg 20% Tested (AP®) 16% Passed (AP®)
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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reality
Springboro, OH
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Just Watching wrote: Right now all we have is the amount the school district is spending. We have no idea, however, if that is the correct amount, too low or too high.
Without evaluating the entire product, from results, to delivery system, to the changing modes of communication available to us all, physical plant, etc, it is quite simply impossible to make any definitive statements regarding our underlying cost structure that have any relevance to the quality of product we are delivering to our ultimate consumer, the child.
Those parents of gifted students will claim it is working perfectly, those 2000 plus students rated "Proficient" or below may claim otherwise. re: the 2000 students rated "proficient" or below in OAA testing It is easy to fantasize that each and every Springboro parent pays an equal amount of attention to the quality of their respective child's education. In reality nothing is further from the truth. A certain percentage of households today are completely dysfunctional, often so much so that children find themselves running the show to a certain extent. A lot of families today are pieces put together from former families that were torn apart by domestic violence and or substance abuse. Especially if they have some type of support outside of the home, some kids find the resilency to not let a really bad home situation defeat their scholastic progress. There are rare examples of students that thrive under such tough circumstances, giving real life meaning to... "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger". Unfortunately, other kids end up quitting high school because they can no longer deal with the stresses of school, combined with the hell they are forced to deal with every day at home.
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Proficient
Loveland, OH
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Judged:
1
1
Is proficient basically considered being an average student? I want my kid to do the best possible and have a great education, but not everyone's going to have the same access to resources and opportunities to improve. I'm privileged to be able to get my daughter tutoring when needed, but I don't blame her teachers for her not understanding everything. I personally struggled with some lessons and skills and I expect my child to do so as well ....no matter who taught it and their education. The main issue seems to be the state's test and what they consider a good score. Is the test designed so that students only perform at 40% or better? I'm thinking a good measure would be a student taking the test in August and then again in May to see how much they learned. That would seem fair.
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Why no answers
Kent, OH
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Proficient wrote: Is proficient basically considered being an average student? I want my kid to do the best possible and have a great education, but not everyone's going to have the same access to resources and opportunities to improve. I'm privileged to be able to get my daughter tutoring when needed, but I don't blame her teachers for her not understanding everything. I personally struggled with some lessons and skills and I expect my child to do so as well ....no matter who taught it and their education. The main issue seems to be the state's test and what they consider a good score. Is the test designed so that students only perform at 40% or better? I'm thinking a good measure would be a student taking the test in August and then again in May to see how much they learned. That would seem fair. If comprehending just half of the material being covered is considered Proficient, then I am filthy rich because I make $54,000 per year. I don't think me or anybody else believes the above statement.
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Stay Focused
Springboro, OH
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Finding ways to methodically advance student achievement should always be everyone’s goal. Implementing academic reforms will, for example, reduce the present need for so many of our students needing to take college remediation courses. This, of course, will immediately translate into money saved for parents whose students attend Ohio’s colleges. And, in order to meet this challenge of higher academic quality, the current school Board of Education and District are, or already have plans to, invest heavily in technology, professional development for teachers, new textbooks, as well as new computers for every teacher, plus much more. All this being said, there is a lot of work yet to be done to assure you (parents) that we will strive to do more than meet the minimum state requirements. The current Board of Education is dedicated to being advocates for every student striving to push the bar higher than other districts. Some say there’s no need to change because our district achieved an “excellent with Distinction” rating for our most recent school year. But we live in a world that is dynamic, a world of ever-evolving expectations and realities that require our constant attention. What once was an acceptable level of achievement is now a relic of the past that will ill serve our children and our taxpayers in the future. As parents, we all desire that our children be provided the best we can afford. We constantly challenge our children with the hope that doing so will help prepare them for the world and better lives than we ourselves enjoy. We are also highly cognizant of the importance of true learning and greatly value education and the promise of what it may bring. Everyone in the school community has more in common than they have differences. Let us meld that commonality to push forth a better school system than we enjoy today. We owe it to our children. Let us come together to push for real achievement and higher standards that we currently demand. http://educatespringboro.wordpress.com/2013/0...
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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Proficient wrote: Is proficient basically considered being an average student? I want my kid to do the best possible and have a great education, but not everyone's going to have the same access to resources and opportunities to improve. I'm privileged to be able to get my daughter tutoring when needed, but I don't blame her teachers for her not understanding everything. I personally struggled with some lessons and skills and I expect my child to do so as well ....no matter who taught it and their education. The main issue seems to be the state's test and what they consider a good score. Is the test designed so that students only perform at 40% or better? I'm thinking a good measure would be a student taking the test in August and then again in May to see how much they learned. That would seem fair. The main issue is what our children are learning or not learning. 3/8 of our kids are not getting the education we are all funding. While some kids may indeed never get "it", you cannot make me believe in a community like Springboro that we are to accept such low results. Proficient means failure. See what percentage of the state assessment tests it takes to be considered Proficient, Accelerated, or Advanced. The standards and semantics are an affront to every taxpayer and parent in the state. A look at the actual definition of each of the academic assessment level is telling in its brevity. 6th grade 2011 OAA Test Cut Scores and Scoring Bands (This represents Springboro Class of ’17) READING Advanced.......76%-100% Accelerated.....61%-75% Proficient.........35%-60% If a student was able to answer 17 out of 49 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in READING. In 6th grade READING, Springboro had 172 students out of 502 students (34%) fall in the Proficient or below category ______ MATH Advanced.......68%-100% Accelerated....58%-67% Proficient........40%-57% If a student was able to answer 20 out of 50 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in MATH. In 6th grade MATH, Springboro had 127 students our of 502 students ( 25%) falling the Proficient or below category __________ 7th grade 2011 OAA Test Cut Scores and Scoring Bands (This is Springboro’s Class of ’16) READING Advanced 81%-100% Accelerated 66%-80% Proficient 45%-65%(45%=Proficient) In 7th grade READING, Springboro had 172 students out of 413 students (42%) fall in the Proficient or below category _____ MATH Advanced 72%-100% Accelerated 58%-71% Proficient 32%-57%(32%=Proficient) In 7th grade MATH, Springboro had 140 students out of 413 students (34%) fall in the Proficient or below categories. 8th grade 2011 OAA Test Cut Scores and Scoring Bands (Springboro Class of ’15) READING Advanced.......83%-100% Accelerated.....71%-82% Proficient.........48%-70% If a student was able to answer 23 out of 48 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in READING. In 8th grade READING, Springboro had 136 students out of 443 students (31%) fall in the Proficient or below category. MATH Advanced.......78%-100% Accelerated....61%-77% Proficient........35%-60% If a student was able to answer 16 out of 46 questions correctly they were deemed Proficient in MATH. In 8th grade MATH, Springboro had 203 students out of 443 students (46%) fall the Proficient or below category.
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aint got good learnin
Springboro, OH
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Why no answers wrote: <quoted text>
I don't think me or anybody else believes the above statement. I trust you didn't pick up this eloquent style of grammar here in Springboro?
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Our recommendation Spring
Springboro, OH
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Happy 5th Birthday, thread!(one day late)
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Divided or Determined
Springboro, OH
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Sunday brunch wrote: Do not blame guns.
Guns are not the problem.
The real problem is what drives people to want to kill in the first place.
Anger and envy are being encouraged by the entertainment and news media.
Video games teach foolish people that death isn't even permanent because the victim gets up and walks away.
Our real societal problem is a lack of self discipline or self control.
The real blame for any kiling goes to the psychologists who told us to express our anger and all of our emotions: "Let it all hang out". So today we have mass shootings, road rage, and muffin tops.
The ugliest truth is the fact that we don't care much about our children. We'll have them killed before they are born if they are viewed as inconvenient in our lives. After we allow them to be born we warehouse them in human kennels a.k.a. daycare centers. Then we send them to government run indoctrination centers where they are taught to hate and envy because there is no god. Before kids hit puberty, schools are teaching them sexual propaganda and we stand around sratching our heads wondering why our adult children are developing into such awful dysfunctional parents.
Meantime the schools continue to teach reading with methods they have known do not work for more than 50 years.
Again, do not blame guns.
A gun can not make a conscious decision.
A gun cannot pull its own trigger.
The key to ending this kind of violence is as an entire society, gradually changing the way we treat and view ourselves. For the past year, we have seen the results of our "Let It All Hang Out" indoctrination of our students by the trickle-down-leadership of the Springboro Education Association and president Mr. Scott Maney. Mr. Maney has led our students in all-out rebellion against the authority of our newly elected reform minded Springboro Board of Education elected officials; and the will of the voters in our school district by filing this latest law suit against all hard working Springboro families and taxpaying hoeowners, in Mr.Maney's legal efforts to take more money out of our household budgets and add more to the pockets of the Springbroo Education Association. The voters of our community stand determined, through five failed unnecessary school levy requests from Mr. Maney; AND two cycles of free elections of new reform-minded board representatives; in the voter's determination to break the financially-dysfunctional cycle of continuous streams of levies, while reforming our budget and problem solving levy alternatives for our children's future; which by-the-way, IS the real REASON for the DIVISION of "union activists vs common sense voters" that we are seeing played out in some blogs and in our public school board meetings; spreading lies and false accusations against our hard working reform-minded BOE elected officials. Stay Alert Voters! We cannot allow the status quo mantra of board member Don Miller and the Babb and Bowman babblers drown out the GOOD NEWS of our fiscally responsible reform-minded BOE members! It is time to celebrate the Achievements of our Successful children first budgeting board respresentatives, after just one year of hard work prioritizing our kids in every decision! Isn't it time for our status quo board member Don Miller and his status quo community union activists to get on board with determined common sense voters? Isn't it time for SEA president, Mr. Maney, to stop wasting our money and time with his continuing season of "Silly Politics?"
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Our Schools Our Money
Springboro, OH
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Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners need to speak up in appreciation of our reform-minded school board representatives and offer special thanks for their good work being accomplished by "accelerating student achievement through innovation and policy." Should concerned citizens not speak up against the status quo leadership of SEA president Mr. Maney, respectfully asking Mr. Maney to offer due respect to Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners; who are committed to ensuring that the children of the Springboro community receive an excellent education, while keeping costs of that education affordable, by carefully adhering to responsible spending? Why doesn't Mr. Maney stop wasting taxpayers time and money and drop this law suit; and just respect the will of the people by cooperating with Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners, who are faced with this big expense of school renewal levy coming up this November? Before reform-minded board member Kelly Kohls was elected to the board, our district projected a $30 million deficit. Now, our district projects a $5 million surplus after replacing many things taken from the children during the levy campaigns. Under the leadership of our current school board president, Kelly Kohls, our school district has now added many curriculum and safety measures for the children of our district. AND all of this without new money. WHAT CHANGED? Our BOE president and reform minded board representatives have become much more efficient, our new board is holding people accountable and making ALL decisions using what is good for education and ALL our children as FIRST priority.
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Bad to the Core
Springboro, OH
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Who wrote the article in the February 7, 2013, Star Press: -Teachers union say no to beginning contract negotitions? -Without renegotiation, district will pay additional $11.3 million in costs -The board's current financial forecast presents a balanced budget; however, it assumes no overall increases in payroll and no overall increase in medical insurance costs for the next five years. Don't know much about legal rights of the Springboro Education Association; but based on this Star Press article, is it correct the SEA is suing already heavily tax-burdened Springboro families and taxpaying homeowners (who already pay generous salaries and great benefits to our school employees) for $11.3 million worth of increased taxes, so that our school employees can financially benefit? Or, does this lawsuit against our Springboro community suggest that SEA president Mr. Maney is so reform-minded challenged, that he thinks the SEA can legally force down the throats of community wide voters, the union's out-dated tunnel vision of status quo for our children's education?
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Gemini
