Kathianne
05-13-2014, 09:22 AM
I've never been a fan of NCLB, mostly because of the inane 100% passing. The wonderful concept included retarded and terminally ill special needs children.
However this new 'change' appears to me to be so unconstitutional I don't know where to begin. Different groupings and requirements based upon race and income? A supergroup formed out of all the groups, to save the reputations of premiere schools-such as those found on the North Shore and DuPage County.
Since the elite schools have small percentages of poor and minorities removing the 100% for all, setting it at 85% for caucasians; lower 70's for minorities, then combining total results-their rankings will go higher than ever.
While there are a myriad of reasons children from indigent families or those that primarily speak a foreign language have lower test scores; there really hasn't been a good explanation why minority kids from wealthy backgrounds, attending 'well funded schools with great teachers' and supportive homes, still fall behind their majority peers in absolute performance. IE, they may still score in the 80-90s in percentile, but be a few points below school average.
May be a function of differences in raising, residual dialects, or teacher perceptions throughout the years. In any case, these are really appearance problems more than performance problems-the kids are ready for post high school and to compete.
But those 'differences' in performance caused schools with overall high scores to still be placed on watch lists, for the appearance of disparate results between minorities and Caucasians/Asians. Now nearly all will make the cut-offs and schools with strong programs, but more ESL or poverty students, will have the high performing kids to offset those that fall below the new lower standards:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-11/news/ct-school-ratings-overhaul-met-20140511_1_black-students-minority-students-state-exams/3
Different standards for different students
State gets permission from the feds to ditch No Child Left Behind rules
May 11, 2014|By Diane Rado, Tribune reporter
Under a dramatic new approach to rating public schools, Illinois students of different backgrounds no longer will be held to the same standards — with Latinos and blacks, low-income children and other groups having lower targets than whites for passing state exams, the Tribune has found.
In reading, for example, 85 percent of white third- through eighth-grade students statewide will be expected to pass state tests by 2019, compared with about 73 percent for Latinos and 70 percent for black students, an analysis of state and federal records shows...
However this new 'change' appears to me to be so unconstitutional I don't know where to begin. Different groupings and requirements based upon race and income? A supergroup formed out of all the groups, to save the reputations of premiere schools-such as those found on the North Shore and DuPage County.
Since the elite schools have small percentages of poor and minorities removing the 100% for all, setting it at 85% for caucasians; lower 70's for minorities, then combining total results-their rankings will go higher than ever.
While there are a myriad of reasons children from indigent families or those that primarily speak a foreign language have lower test scores; there really hasn't been a good explanation why minority kids from wealthy backgrounds, attending 'well funded schools with great teachers' and supportive homes, still fall behind their majority peers in absolute performance. IE, they may still score in the 80-90s in percentile, but be a few points below school average.
May be a function of differences in raising, residual dialects, or teacher perceptions throughout the years. In any case, these are really appearance problems more than performance problems-the kids are ready for post high school and to compete.
But those 'differences' in performance caused schools with overall high scores to still be placed on watch lists, for the appearance of disparate results between minorities and Caucasians/Asians. Now nearly all will make the cut-offs and schools with strong programs, but more ESL or poverty students, will have the high performing kids to offset those that fall below the new lower standards:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-11/news/ct-school-ratings-overhaul-met-20140511_1_black-students-minority-students-state-exams/3
Different standards for different students
State gets permission from the feds to ditch No Child Left Behind rules
May 11, 2014|By Diane Rado, Tribune reporter
Under a dramatic new approach to rating public schools, Illinois students of different backgrounds no longer will be held to the same standards — with Latinos and blacks, low-income children and other groups having lower targets than whites for passing state exams, the Tribune has found.
In reading, for example, 85 percent of white third- through eighth-grade students statewide will be expected to pass state tests by 2019, compared with about 73 percent for Latinos and 70 percent for black students, an analysis of state and federal records shows...