From Harvard University: https://cepr.harvard.edu/news/scary-truth-about-how-far-behind-american-kids-have-fallen Students of all ages still haven’t made up the ground they lost during the pandemic. Sometimes, panics are overblown. Sometimes, older generations are just freaking out about the youngins, as they have since time immemorial. That’s not the case, unfortunately, with kids’ learning right now, more than four years after the pandemic shuttered classrooms and disrupted the lives of millions of children. The effects were seen almost immediately, as students’ performance in reading and math began to dip far below pre-pandemic norms, worrying educators and families around … [Read more...]
It’s official: Ditching the SATs was a big mistake
Food for thought.. Brought to us by the Washington Examiner written by Jon Miltimore republished at Zero Hedge The state of education in the US is at a crossroads. Money isn't the solution. Focus on basics with full parental engagement and a societal commitment to establish new expectations is the only solution. In early 2020, the University of California set the tone for the rest of the country when its regents voted to drop SAT and ACT admissions requirements through 2024. That decision, initially framed as a pandemic necessity, quickly reshaped admissions nationwide. By late 2022, roughly 1,750 schools, or about 80 percent of U.S. universities, had adopted test-optional … [Read more...]
Washington’s Special Ed Schools Rife With Abuse Complaints, Poor Academics: Report
Today we bring you an article that is deeply concerning. If you have or are aware of a special needs child in K-12 schooling you may already be aware of these issues. If you know of examples that you want to share (all names and details that could be used to trace back to a child will be removed) please let us know. This report comes to us from: The Daily Wire - https://www.dailywire.com/news/washingtons-special-ed-schools-rife-with-abuse-complaints-poor-academics-report written by: Mairead Elordi Washington state’s special education schools are rife with student abuse allegations and poor academic performance, a new report shows. A severe lack of state oversight has resulted in … [Read more...]
Battle Ground SD 10 year student enrollment report – Updated Feb 12th
Update: Feb 10th At the special workshop on Feb 12th at 5pm the head of finance for the BGSD will share a power point presentation. For full disclosure here is a link to that presentation without any comments or questions: https://www.boarddocs.com/wa/bgps/Board.nsf/files/AVPVK67842BC/$file/BGSD%20Presentation%202-12-18.pdf We added one more question and response below from a Feb 12th email exchange Update Feb 9th After reading the report from Ed Hovee I sent him a list of questions that he kindly responded to. Here is a link to the questions and his responses: BGSD Student Enrollment 10 Yr Forecast Memo from Ed Hovee Feb 7 2018 - Richard Rylander Response After reading … [Read more...]
Is technology in schools helping or harming kids?
Today we bring you an investigative report rom KARE11 - a TV station out of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The segment is five (5) minutes in length. We encourage you to take the 5 minutes and watch/listen to their report. Please share the link to the report as well. When asked the simple question...is there ANY evidence or proof of value of Chromebooks or other technology the answer is...no. See the question asked multiple times and the avoidance to answering. Listen to the segment from the child psychologist that speaks to HARM in children and then ask your local school district to watch the segment and answer the question...is there any proof of value and can you assure us there is no … [Read more...]
SBAc Test – Washington State – Real Example
Have you seen the SBAc (Common Core) test results? Every Spring (2016 was the 2nd year) students in certain grades, in Washington State, spend hours and hours taking a series of tests that OSPI (State Superintendent of Schools) says are necessary and important and useful to help gauge how well students are doing AND to help plan their future education. When the program was introduced OSPI said it would not take much time and they would NOT "teach to the test". The scores that came back in 2014/2015 were terrible. Here is a link to the results by grade for the Battle Ground School District [Note: you can change the district to yours]: … [Read more...]
Common Core isn’t preparing students very well for college or career, new report says
From: The Washington Post A new report that surveys curriculum nationally and reaches thousands of K-12 and college instructors as well as workplace supervisors and employees has some bad news about the Common Core State Standards: Many people in education and the workplace don’t think some of the English Language Arts and math standards — which are being used in most states — are what students and workers need to be successful in college and career. The report, issued by ACT Inc., finds: • There are gaps between some Core standards and what college instructors consider important for students to succeed — especially in the area of writing. For example, middle- and high-school … [Read more...]
ESSA
Anaylsis on ESSA Analysis of the conference report on ESSA Sources: Actual Vote https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/114-2015/h665 US Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) http://www.uspie.org/federal-mandates.html Text of Bill https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Ee8FdtdhGNdGtrV2FsbHA4N0U/view?pli=1 Christel Swasey's Analysis https://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/this-is-the-moment-congress-we-are-watching-you-vote-and-we-know-whats-in-this-bill/ TAE http://truthinamericaneducation.com/elementary-and-secondary-education-act/the-esea-reauthorization-conference-report-is-now-public/ Mercedes … [Read more...]
What are the top Schools in Washington State?
Where does Washington sit as a state in education nationally? How do schools rank within Washington State using various measures? http://www.wacatalyst.org/where-are-washington-states-top-k-12-schools/ Now...the really tough question...what do we need to do to get Battle Ground schools into this type of report (and don't say it's just money)? … [Read more...]