In the good news category, Alameda’s two High Schools have once again ranked on the Washington Post’s High School Challenge. Of the 1900 schools examined by the Washington Post, Alameda High ranked 579 and Encinal High ranked 995.
Essentially the High School Challenge takes the total number of Advanced Placement (or similar) tests taken by the students at the school and divides this by the number of graduating seniors, schools are then ranked by the subsequent ratio. Of course this is not a perfect measure for all students of how well the students are doing, but it does give a good measure of how many advanced classes are offered and taken at a given school. After all, the school district needs to take care of students at every level and not just the struggling kids or not just the advanced kids.
There is criticism that by not measuring how well the kids are doing encourages a kind of “ballot stuffing” by filling a class with as many kids as possible to inflate numbers without regard to the readiness of students. And while that is a completely valid point, I can also see the point by Jay Matthews, the reporter behind the index, that regardless of how prepared a student might be for an AP class, exposure to an AP class gives some kids more exposure to how rigorous college courses will potentially be. I’m definitely torn on the issue because I can see the validity in both points and I know that I personally found my experiences with my AP courses very rewarding and allowed me to shave off a whole semester from college because of the college credits that were accepted from passing my AP tests.
In, not-so-good ranking news, Alameda Unified has earned itself a grade of D+ from the Education Trust when it comes to educating Black and Latino students. From a Contra Costa Times article:
The study looked at state data from 2006 to 2010, focusing on four areas: Performance, improvements, gaps, and college readiness. Districts were graded on the performance and improvement of students of color and low-income students in standardized tests; test score gaps between whites and Latinos and African Americans; and the rate at which students of color graduated with completed courses required by state universities. Combined, these formed each district’s overall grade.
While the initial shock of such a low score is a good reminder that there are serious achievement gaps between different population groups, Alameda’s numbers are no worse that the majority of other school district. Not that it is an excuse, but in context, the challenges of the achievement gap is not one that is limited to Alameda alone.
While there are some districts that scored well, the majority of school districts did not. Even the school districts that were profiled as successes only pulled off a top score of a B. While it is understandable that using API scores is the only “objective” method of evaluating how kids are doing, there’s a lot of criticism out there about the validity of API scores in evaluating how well students are doing.
What I think is lacking in reports such as these are suggested solutions for the undefined problem. While the report points to three sample districts as doing good work, it’s interesting to note that their three model districts all performed dismally on “College Readiness.” It would be helpful to know if these school districts are doing something that other school districts are not doing. Because it is presented as though the school districts are using tools or creating a culture that others have not, and I would bet that other school districts would disagree with that assessment.
I loved the comment by one school superintendent that using a grade “was not fair.” Yet apparently it is fair for the students. You can see the effectiveness of the school by simply looking at a comparison to similarly situated schools in the recently released API scores. Encinal HS was a 10(the highest) – much higher than the elite charter and the embarrassingly low score of AHS when compared with schools with similar demographics.
Yet part of this equation is missing. the key to school is early reading programs and parental involvement- both of which are missing from many families of color from lower socio-economic groups. Recent budget cuts at the state level, as well as threatened cuts will hurt these students. For instance, the District is reducing , not increasing ROP programs which teach work skills, like woodshop and auto repair. It is quite clear that despite isolated instances of brilliance, and a tremendous amount of rhetoric and handwringing at the national and state level, that all students cannot go to college and schools cannot solve problems of poverty and neglect.
Comment by Make it go away — May 25, 2011 @ 6:53 am
from talking to teachers one angle I learned about AP is that in a classroom with all students who are really prepared and committed to be in AP, the teacher can really cover the material well. If the priority becomes to have as many kids in AP as possible despite how well prepared, just to spike the rating, then there is some degradation of the caliber of the classroom experience when teachers have to struggle to keep lesser prepared kids from failing.
On the other hand AP is an elitist concept and in an ideal world all classrooms would have that level of material. The movie “Race to the Bottom” discusses the rat race of getting into the best schools by having the best scores, etc. In a way, the institutions of higher education are making it harder for high schools to just teach kids well by having all this emphasis on GPA and SAT.
Comment by M.I. — May 25, 2011 @ 8:49 am
I’d just like to point out that it isn’t only students of color or students who come from impoverished/neglectful families that might be interested in ROP.
Some people — regardless of race or household income — just aren’t drawn to, interested in, or built for — academics. Yet they may have a talent (and passion) for a trade.
We need these people — our society is pretty dependent on people who can build houses, fix bridges, repair cars, etc. I’d love to see our society value them more highly.
Comment by Susan Davis — May 25, 2011 @ 8:54 am
It should be noted that students and their families who can get to the library (yes, even in Alameda some are too poor to ride the bus or not able to walk that far) are frequent library users. The library offers literacy, tutors, reference help and fun both on (24/7) and off line. Because it can be relatively private, many can learn without pressure or teasing while others can work in groups. For children who simply can’t read with people, there is the Paws For Reading program. Of course, the cuts to budget projected, State and local, will cut library hours, these programs and comparable offerings for adults too.
Comment by Li_ — May 25, 2011 @ 8:58 am
The whole concept of education, particularly college education is radically changing. Due to the economy, many families, like ours, are seriously considering going the community college to college route, rather than starting off in the four-year school. If your kid is not wired for the AP fast-track, and many are just not mature enough at this point to do the work, there’s no point in freaking out. They can still get up to speed in community college, save beaucoup bucks, and take the time to choose the college and emphasis that really suits them rather than scrabbling to get accepted by applying to numerous schools. The system has gotten crazy and absurdly expensive. If you are planning to become a doctor or pursue another high income profession, you’ll be able to pay off those student loans, but it doesn’t make sense to pay for a degree that will not qualify you for a job that will be lucrative enough for you to pay for it, or to send your own kids to school for that matter.
Comment by Denise Shelton — May 25, 2011 @ 9:31 am
There are many who say that “throwing more money at our schools will not solve any problems.” This, IMHO, is close to a lie when you look at what has been cut from school curricula since I was enrolled in Redwood City’s then-excellent public schools (K-12, including AP English and other enrichment offerings like music, drama, and “new math” 1950s – 1969).
It is heartening to see that AUSD’s teachers and staff are still managing to teach most students as well as they do despite the huge cumulative cuts in AUSD’s real-dollars budget since the base closed.
AUSD has cut nearly $20 million from its budget (again, in real dollars) just in the past few years). And Measure A and other parcel taxes merely slow down the rate of budget cutting that the continuing state-level budget chaos have been consistently imposing on AUSD.
Just maintaining the status quo is a remarkable achievement when 1/5 of the budget disappears in 5 years. Try losing 20% of your blood supply and functioning at work, running a marathon or taking a test..
Comment by Jon Spangler — May 25, 2011 @ 11:21 am
6. The inverse for higher education (college) is that the more money we throw at it (loans for everybody), the more unaffordable it gets. And there are good arguments the quality of today’s college education is really suffering.
Comment by Jack B. — May 25, 2011 @ 11:50 am
Denise, your on the right track, there is nothing like good old “common sense”.
Comment by John P. — May 25, 2011 @ 11:54 am
Not to change the subject but at last night’s BOE meeting, Alameda High School boy’s baseball and girl’s softball teams were recognized by the North Coast Section Scholastic Team awards for highest team GPAs. The boy’s team GPA was 3.27 and the girl’s team GPA was 3.36. Alameda teams beat out 167 other schools for this honor. These student and their coaches are to be congratulated for their commitment to excellence in the classroom and the on the athletic field.
Comment by Mike McMahon — May 25, 2011 @ 12:30 pm
Does the AUSD count capital spending from all local and state bond measures passed by voters in their budget and Spending per pupil?
Comment by John — May 25, 2011 @ 1:09 pm
5
The whole concept of higher education is a bubble ready to burst. The idea that a college degree will lead to a higher paying job is rapidly becoming obsolete. Unless A student learns a marketable skill, the only reasons secondary education education exists in it’s current state is because it lessens hiring preference lawsuits by weeding out those who used to weeded out by hiring tests, which are no longer allowed.
Non-skill seeking, feel-good classes (which are the great bulk of classes) for kids who take out higher and higher easily obtainable education loans in order to achieve mythical wealth is no different than sub-prime home buyers flipping houses for wealth.
Sooner rather than later people will wake up and realize.
Comment by Jack Richard — May 25, 2011 @ 1:11 pm
A college degree, that is ANY college degree, used to be the golden ticket until it became attainable to almost everybody. Now employers have to work harder to find the gold among the dross. What high schools should be focusing on rather than knocking out as many AP-assisted graduates as possible is getting kids thinking about what they want to be (or better yet, what they are uniquely equipped to be and will be happy doing) whether it includes a four-year college or not.
Comment by Denise Shelton — May 25, 2011 @ 3:23 pm
12
Not ANY degree. Petroleum engineering graduates start at 120K. But, that kind of degree means more than partying for four years.
Comment by Jack Richard — May 25, 2011 @ 3:54 pm
I mis-read your comment, Denise, you’re right. Between the IPad, Washington mountains in a train and wine tasting, it’s tough to read…much less type.
Comment by Jack Richard — May 25, 2011 @ 4:02 pm
It is absurd to rank schools by the number of tests taken – instead, look at the PASSAGE rate! When you look at that, then AHS really shines, because our passage rate surpasses the state and national averages.
As for the API comment made by #1 – AHS’s comparable schools include Piedmont High!
Comment by SFB — May 25, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
14 . Beam me up, Scotty! We were in Sonoma last weekend. Have a great time!
Comment by Denise Shelton — May 25, 2011 @ 9:39 pm