This is probably not a great day for Enloe High School.
As noted in today's article, Enloe's PTSA is warning students not to walk alone on campus following the beating of a student last week. In another article, Enloe didn't make U.S. News & World Report's 2009 list of America's 1,942 best high schools.
The timing of both articles in today's paper was coincidental.
The PTSA message went out on Tuesday and took a couple of days to lock up. Then, unexpectedly, the PR firm for U.S. News called on Thursday to provide an embargoed copy of the list that is being released. today.
The rest of the post will focus on the U.S. News report, which can be found by clicking here.
Enloe touts how it annually ranks among Newsweek's list of top 100 schools. But U.S. News uses different standards.
Paul Gazzerro, the lead analyst for the project, said Enloe didn't get a gold, silver or bronze medal because the school didn't meet the criteria used by U.S. News.
Under the first test, Gazzerro said Enloe's students didn't do better than expected on state reading and math exams.
Gazzerro said the school didn't meet the second level of review either because the disadvantaged students didn't at least reach the average on state exams.
U.S. News created a new category this year called honorable mention to recognize schools that didn't meet the criteria for state exams but had a high percentage of students who are deemed college ready. This is based on the participation and pass rates on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
Gazzerro said Enloe didn't get an honorable mention because the passing rates on AP and IB exams weren't high enough. Newsweek also uses those exams but focuses on the participation rate and not how well students perform on them.
Gazzerro classified Enloe as a "very good school" but not one of the best schools.
In Enloe's absence, Green Hope High was the only school in the district to make the list. Green Hope received a silver medal.
Gazzerro said Green Hope would need to raise the participation and passing rates on the AP and IB exams to win a gold medal and make the top 100 list.
Raleigh Charter High School was ranked 20th in the U.S. News list. Gazzerro said Raleigh Charter probably would have made the magazine's list last year as well if the state hadn't omitted the school from the database it provided.
Comments
You can have Title I schools and still manage to meet AYP
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 23:36 — FalcI've been reading some of the debate on this thread and thought that I'd mention that you can have Title I schools and still manage to meet AYP. You can also go to Title I schools and be successful in life. I’ve lived in Wake County for 15 years and have had at least one child in the WCPSS for 2.5 years. I grew up and was educated in a small, blue-collar farm town in Michigan (in the 70s) with limited economic resources and >10% unemployment. I (and my parents) felt that I got a pretty good education there. I am not saying that I do not think my kids are getting a pretty good education here, but I’m puzzled with this theory that if a school is >40% F&R, it and its students are doomed to fail. I do not recall there being any discourse between parents, the community and the school system in my hometown, certainly no lawsuits. My hometown did come up with some creative, outside-the-box solutions to challenges. So, I was curious how my less educated, less affluent hometown school system compared to Wake County and thought I’d share some (2007) statistics: County population: Wake – 833,000; Home County – 46,000 Number of school systems: Wake – 1; Home County – 5 (4 regular, 1 intermediate that provides vo tech, special ed and early ed services to three of the other four regular systems) Median household income: Wake - $62,000; Home County - $42,000 Other facts about Hometown: 25% of population lives in mobile homes, median home value is $115,000, has ½ the number of college grads and people with graduate degrees per capita as Wake County % F&R: Wake – ES avg. 32%, MS avg. 29%, HS avg. 21%; Hometown – ES avg. 54% (By school: 40%, 51%, 50% and 81%), MS (one school) 46%, HS (one regular 38%, one alternative (largely for pregnant/teen moms with free daycare provided at the school) 67%) Hometown schools meeting AYP: all ES and the MS. Neither HS met. The regular HS did not because students with disabilities and ED subgroups did not meet (school on whole did meet). The alternative HS did not meet as a whole. Hometown Graduation rate: >80% Spending per student: About $500/year more for Hometown than Wake County even though a higher percent of Wake County’s revenue distribution is from federal funds. On what my hometown does not spend money: magnet schools and bussing, not only do they not spend it on socioeconomic diversity bussing, when fuel prices went up and the economy went down this year, they stopped in town bussing for all MS and HS students. ES students that do not attend the closest ES geographically are expected to walk to the closest ES to their home (no more than ½ mile) to get on a bus to the ES they attend (a little like express bussing here). In case you are wondering why not all attend the closest ES, there are cases where a student may live between two ES and the closest would be overcapacity and the next closet undercapacity if the student was assigned to the closest, so they are assigned to the next closest. On what my hometown does spend money: teacher’s salaries, a strong votech program, preschool programs and an alternative high school. (Teacher avg. salary in MI is in the high $50s.) BTW - based on my socioeconomically diverse experience neither the osomosis, nor the reverse osomosis theory, hold water. There are simply too many factors in each child's life to think that in most cases who they sit next to in school will be an overwelming factor. Also, I'm AG and have managed just fine in life without AG services, only three AP classes, and less of my teacher's time than non-AG students. Less of teacher's time can lead to being an independent learner, which comes in handy in grad school. There are also people like my grandfather who learned a trade, stared a business and made more than I do with a grad degree. In other words, there's more than one way for a district to meet standards and more than one potential path in life.
Thank you for the detailed
Tue, 12/09/2008 - 08:38 — ncdad1Thank you for the detailed comparison. It is always good to see where we can improve.
I would like to know whether your hometown has a "bad" section and "good" section of the county which leads to imbalances in the schools system? For example, my wife who went to school in a rural GA with two high schools was much more diverse than my school in Atlanta. In Atlanta, the whites all grouped in certain schools to avoid the blacks. For my wife, they were all poor (Black and White) and there were only two schools so people could not move around trying to get into a better or less diverse school since where ever you lived in the county you attended one of the two schools.
What was interesting was they never had the race riots we had since they all lived together and went to school together. Nor did they have any busing issue since there was no disparity between any of the schools.
Response to questions
Tue, 12/09/2008 - 09:03 — FalcI will try to respond to your and VoR's questions/posts at lunch or this evening.
Thanks for sharing that
Tue, 12/09/2008 - 07:54 — Voice_of_Reason_Could you provide a bit of data on class size in ES's in that district?
I wish this county had the option to split into smaller LEA's than North Carolina law mandates; it might encourage the type of thinking that goes on there. I believe a part of our problem is the school board is just to small to manage education in the classroom, rather they spend way to much time in buildings, land acquisition, reassignments, and political squab ling.
On the issue of AG, I agree to a point. I have a top percentile AG student. She did fine in a school with small class sizes, but in a crowded Elem School class she was very bored and started to lose interest. We had to supplement her education at home a lot. Now in Middle School she is able to take advanced classes since she had been identified as AG. We had to advocate for her in math since the advanced math was not challenging to her, the school accommodated. Electives give her the other stimulation she needs. I think the key is keeping them challenged or at least engaged.
Another thing is that Wake county has to deal with is the high % of ESL/LEP (non-English speaking) students. I don't think that effects your old district as much. It has a huge impact on WCPSS, and it has far more impact than F&R in most schools.
BTW- I think WCPSS's Title I schools have less problem meeting AYP that the non-Title I schools. It may be because they bus low-performing nodes out of those Title I's. It really is hard to see how the school system is doing with education in those schools when they keep shuffling the base around. It is easy to see the damage to the non-Title I schools but since there is no NCLB penalty there, they don't seem to care.
In 2007, a team from Enloe High School in Raleigh
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 15:59 — AngelaWhttp://www.wral.com/news/local/noteworthy/story/4099694/
Science & Math students win $100,000 scholarship
Posted: Today at 1:38 p.m.
Two students from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics will share $100,000 in scholarship money as the winners of a national competition for their project on genetics and chemotherapeutic drugs.
Seniors Sajith M. Wickramasekara and Andrew Y. Guo won the team award in the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. More than 1,200 projects were submitted in the premier national competition.
"These students have competed with some of the greatest young minds in our country and are now on an amazing journey to the finals for the most coveted high-school science prize in the nation," Siemens President James Whaley said.
Wickramasekara, of Raleigh, and Guo, of Cary, used traditional genetics and cutting-edge computational modeling for the project, entitled "A Functional Genomic Framework for Chemotherapeutic Drug Improvement and Identification."
"Wickramasekara and Guo’s project was chosen because despite an enormous amount of research on cancer therapeutics, there is still a need to identify new genes to target for treatment,” said Dr. Kostas Konstantinidis, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Their approach has the potential to identify novel treatments that could lead the way to personalized medicine in the future."
Wickramasekara, the team leader, started brainstorming about a project after another team from NCSSM became regional finalists in 2006. They were assisted by Dr. Craig B. Bennett, an assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center, and Dr. Myra Haplin, dean of science at NCSSM.
"The team had exceptional communication and coordination in executing their project," Konstantinidis said.
Wickramasekara was the team leader and heard about the Siemens Competition in 2006 when seniors from his high school were selected as regional finalists.
He is captain of his school's Science Bowl and has participated in various science competitions, including the 2008 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and the North Carolina Junior Science Humanities Symposium.
Wickramasekara is an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America and dreams of one day owning his own biotech startup, specializing in personalized medicine. He founded the Student Journal of Research of NCSSM. He and Guo are co-editors of the publication.
Guo is a Science Olympiad winner and co-captain of the Quiz Bowl. He received First Place State Team in the Goldman Sachs National Economics Challenge. Guo is co-founder and editor of the Student Journal of Research at NCSSM.
It was the second year in a row that Triangle students won a regional team title in the Siemens Competition. In 2007, a team from Enloe High School in Raleigh won the prize that Wickramasekara and Guo took home this year.
Wickramasekara and Guo were the eighth team from NCSSM to make the make the contest's national finals, according to statistics posted on the Siemens Foundation's Web site.
NCSSM has been the nation's most successful school in the contest, producing the most regional and national finalists of any school – seven and 18, respectively – during in the past 10 years.
Enloe High School in Raleigh has produced one national finalist and five regional finalists
Two students plead guilty in Wakefield High assault
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 15:14 — AngelaWhttp://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4099993/
Posted: Today at 2:11 p.m.
Two of the three young men charged with beating a fellow Wakefield High student in September have pleaded guilty.
Micah Hakeem Conley, 16, Stephen Shawn Wilson-Chism, 16, and Tyree Lee, 17, injured DJ Merwitz, 15, so badly in a fight on Sept. 22 that he required reconstructive surgery on his face, his parents said.
Conley pleaded guilty to felony assault, inflicting serious bodily injury. He was credited for time served and will serve six more months in jail followed by 36 months on probation. Under the terms of the plea, he must pay a $500 fine, $626.50 in court costs and restitution of $2,000.
Wilson-Chism pleaded to felony accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to 36 months on probation.
Both men are prohibited from contact with Merwitz or his family, and are banned from Wake County school property.
The third suspect, Lee, has not yet had a court date.
And that relates to Enloe
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 15:33 — ncdad1And that relates to Enloe how?
So why has the community given up on itself?
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 23:21 — Voice_of_Reason_It's not the school system that is letting the community down. If Enloe was left to be Title I and it failed to meet AYP standards, the students would be allowed to voluntarily be bused to their choice of two other non-Title I schools, or if it continues to fail, free tutoring. That's the law {Of course WCPSS now says they can't meet the law because they are failing.) Title I money gives more money to the school and the school system should also contribute. But how to fix it starts in the community, the Enloe base community. The police need to assist, but it takes the community to get involved. Lowering standards is not the solution, tolerance of all behaviours is not the solution either. Spreading the problem isn't either, it makes the problem worse. You probably think I'm racist or non-compationate, at least in my mind I'm neither. I just think the way to solve a problem is internal with external help when needed. The solution has to be wanted and the consequences accepted. It may not be politically correct to say what I'm saying, but a lot of people feel that way and they are not racist either. Another writes : It would go all black, so am I hearing that all black is wrong, inferior; isn't that racist in itself. Are those areas forced to be all black? Are blacks barred from living in other areas? There is even low income housing in "good" school districts. This is not the 50's, racial discrimination is against the law. I actually don't think it is inferior to have an all black school. There are many fine all black schools. In fact there are many fine all black public universities that I believe all hell would break loose if they were closed. So what is that you want, you can't have it both ways? Better facilities? Better security? I think you would find more friendly ears in the community if this was asked for. Shipping out your internal problems is not the way to get a true solution. Maybe things like this need to be said more often, you will not hear it from politicians. They may think it though. I am not alone and I have heard the same thing said by blacks that I have worked with with ghetto roots. But choice is the real answer, that is resisted by the politicians, not the ones who would benefit. Even though those are the same politicians they voted for, unless they are part of the 5% that got it.
BTW - It is illegal to bus for race. The legal basis of forcing this is not there anymore.
Lesson?
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 22:07 — SideburnsA lesson? I think I missed it.
Is the lesson not to send your kids to a magnet school because of the "neighborhood kids" (as you call them) and their violence?
Or are you advocating sending the "neighborhood kids" to Apex, Cary, Leesville, or Wakefield... and somehow their behavior will change?
Please explain.
Let this be a lesson...
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 21:15 — MarvinSchwartz...for all of you who get on here and bitch and moan about WCPSS and busing and "neighborhood schools" and magnet programs "ITB". Guess what - Enloe is a magnet school inside the Beltline and trust me, it's not the magnet kids getting in gang fights and shooting off cap guns in the cafeteria - it's the "neighborhood kids".
If you remove the magnet kids, then this is a perfect example of what you will be left with - this is what "neighborhood schools" will look like in SE and E Raleigh. But then again, you won't care because "those kids" won't be in YOUR schools in Apex, Cary, Leesville, or Wakefield...
Harsh lesson
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 06:57 — fiestamomMarvin,
Are you saying that a neighborhood school with all black kids is surely going to be a school in chaos? Let's say that Enloe, SE Raleigh do become neighborhood schools. Wouldn't the parents of the kids in that community want to come together to ensure the school in their neighborhood is something to be proud of? Wouldn't the parents in that neighborhood want their kids to have a quality education? Why are you making the assumption that a majority black population school equals gang violence? Shame on you.
Right now, a lot of parents of these kids are prevented from being involved in their schools because of the long distance required to travel. There's only so many hours in the day, and if mom (or dad) is working full time, coming home, making dinner, then they have to drive all the way up to Wakefield..... guess what doesn't happen!
scared for my life
Wed, 12/10/2008 - 16:07 — enloestudenti agree with marvin. i attend enloe high school and it is the neighborhood. i am scared to walk anywhere, whether on or off campus. one of my very close friends was attacked the other week. he was pushed to the ground then kicked in the stomach while they recorded it on tape. just yesterday after school there was a fight between two black boys. one of them was on top of the other repeatedly punching him in the face with no end. when a "rent-a-cop" pulled up only then did the boy run and the one who was beaten up was simply left there on the ground. its things like this that has made enloe go from being one of the best high schools in america to nothing in just about a year.
also the gang known as the MS-13 has made exponential growth this year. the hispanic population at the school is unnoticed by the faculty. as a student i see things teachers do not, like gang members planning drive by's and such.
i am not proud to attend enloe high school any longer. it has been ruined by fear and violence that the administration has yet to do something about. we only have one police officer on campus and two security guards, who let's be honest, are the butt of half the jokes said at enloe. the security guards are more worried about students sitting in their cars during lunch than they are about violence.
i hope something changes very soon before the administration is forced to wake up with the death of a student or something worse.
I am scared for you
Thu, 12/18/2008 - 18:29 — morethanenoughIts not a question of
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 08:11 — vsheehanIts not a question of becoming all black but all poor families. Their are many schools that are mostly black that do not have the problems Enloe has. Look to MD Silver Springs to see what I mean. On the other hand there are many schools with a poverty base population that are like Enloe. There are exampels of things being turned around like DorchesterSsouth Boston MA . Those schools were poor white or poor black but with extra resources and an extreemly involved PTA the schools are now much better.
Truthfully I think the BOE would be better off trying to influence Raleigh/Wake social servicesto give section 8 vouchers only if you move outside the beltway. Raleigh/Wake should also close down Walnut Terrace and spread its residents around outside the beltway. Yes you will be killing a neighberhood but if its dying a;;ready you might as well put it out of its missery. Out of control students at local schools is a sign of a dying neighberhood.
One of my kids is in a downtown raleigh school and the majorty of the PTA is magnet parents. When a call goes out for volunteers its magnet parents who respond. We can not get base parents to even fill out a form to volunteer. For godsake we can't even get the some of the base parents to show up for the drama class play. Instead its a fight about letting the kids do the play after school.
vsheehan, I agree with all of what you said
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:25 — Voice_of_Reason_But, (there's always a but, isn't there) I would like to add a sidenote regarding Section 8 housing. I am not opposed to the concept, because I understand the intent. Over the years there has always been a problem with elements of Sec 8, and I believe it was the fault of a failure of government and also of some of the people's "advocates" that live there. It has to do with the enforcement of series of rules and regulations, often referred to as "family obligations." This is where a lot of problem occur, and yes I know sometimes it is not the fault of the beneficiaries. You know what I am talking about, basic upkeep and respecting the property rights of others and the community.
A lot of the problems in mixing economic strata as is being tried in the schools has nothing to do with race or yes even economic strata. It has to do with behaviour and respect for others. If a white billionaire moved in an affluent neighborhood and played loud music, had children running around destroying public or private property, selling or using drugs openly, cursing in public in front of young kids, and letting the outside appearance of his property degrade (thus degrading others property values); he would be shunned too. By the same token, if a poor person with section 8 housing moved into an affluent neighborhood (assuming they could afford the maint and upkeep) and took pride in the appearance of their house and keep their children in check they would be welcome. See the issue of race, culture, etc. doesn't even play. Why do you think HOA's exist, it's not to keep out poor people? The same could be found everywhere in the world. Some people call this elitism, racism, anti-cultural; I call it life and basic human nature. When you move to affluent neighborhoods, you are expected to behave differently, of course nobody forced you to move. You have more freedom to move where you want with more money, but with that freedom comes responsibility. Part of that responsibility is not infringing on others rights to enjoy their freedoms.
Ya know Marvin, you are
Sat, 12/06/2008 - 22:00 — sameolemessYa know Marvin, you are right, so very right.
This is what would happen if we went back to neighborhood schools. The magnets especially the "main" ones like Hunter, Powell and Washington....they would become ALL BLACK.
If we just neglect these
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 15:48 — ncdad1If we just neglect these "neighborhood" school downtown and let them fail can't we just close them and send the kids to Cary, Apex and GH and be done with this arguing? Isn't that the law that kids can transfer out of failing schools?
To a degree you are correct
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 16:30 — Voice_of_Reason_The law is very clear, it takes a few years to kick in though. As a school fails it has to have a plan to fix the problem, if that fails they have to offer VOLUNTARY busing, if no improvement happen they have to offer free tuturing, If they continue to fail the staff is fired, that is MANDITORY and the school would then be allowed to operate differently under federal oversight. The school doesn't have to be shut down, but WCPSS would be forced to fix the problem or lose federal funding. What they do now is artificially relieve their problem by shipping out low performing nodes from Title I schools making them look better on paper. Other schools that are non Title I are not held to this standard thus is the reason why they try their best not to create new Title I schools. You see it is smoke and mirrors, the poor do not really benefit and little changes on that front for graduation rates. Read the executive summary of the NCLB Act and understand Average Yearly Progress (AYP); I stated the operation very simply, it is complex. Everything is out there if you dig. You see this is no longer the 1950's anymore, there is a lot more laws to protect schools in poor areas. And you must realize, not everyone wants to be bused, very few when offered accept. And the voluntary busing and tutoring is geared to just the F&R population in those schools as the priority.
Neglect is not an option legally or advocated by anyone I have heard.
"not everyone wants to be
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 17:44 — ncdad1"not everyone wants to be bused, very few when offered accept"
I am guessing many would continue to meeting in a burned out building if we let them. Education may not be a priority for many of these folks. Should we let them stiffle their kids too? I guess that is their right but is it best for society?
Is there their right
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 21:35 — Voice_of_Reason_Yes it may not be best for society. But again the school system has legal obligations, your example is extreme. But, it part of living in a free society, I would hate the alternative. And if they loss that freedom, what next? How would you like it if the state would not let you homeschool?
You might find it strange but some parents would like to have their children close to home and have less time on a bus.
Bingo
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 18:22 — joeciulla"Education may not be a priority for many of these folks. Should we let them stiffle their kids too?"
We should offer them something that works. Busing doesn't work, it just lets the school board play numbers games and the Democratic state legislators feel warm and fuzzy about being so "progressive."
Estimates of WCPSS cost to bus students run between $5M and $10M per year. This money is being wasted.
The School Board and Office of Growth Mgt can't see any solutions beyong that 70's show (busing). How about taking that money and using it to provide home computers to F&R students? If the busing cost is $10M/year, then WCPSS could use that money to provide 33,000 students with home computers and high-speed internet access. ESL students could learn english much quicker with some of the software out there. Tutoring could be provided on-line for struggling students. The F&R kids could use those two hours they spend on the bus instead on supplemental learning.
Oh, and their parents might be able to spend more time at a school that is not 20 miles away.
Math
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 20:25 — ncdad1"Oh, and their parents might be able to spend more time at a school that is not 20 miles away."
The math does not seem to work. When I look at the nodes everyone is trying to give someone else because they are poor or do not speak English it does not seems like a lot of kids. So, I am guessing they consume very little of the $5M transportation cost you quote. The WCPS transportation study shows that 95% of all kids live within 6 miles of their school. I think that includes kids traveling to magnets or across town to Enloe. So, max I am guessing we are only talking about 5% of the kids travel 20 miles. So, that only leave $250k for those home computers and smaller class sizes. WCPS has 137k kids x 5% = 14k "undesirables" or $36 per kid which is not much of a computer.
Example
http://www.wcpss.net/demographics/distance/images_h06/high06_distance_tables.pdf#page=3
I do believe if you do a little digging
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 21:59 — Voice_of_Reason_There have been numerous post on the N&O blog about the high costs of economic diversity busing. It has been made worse by MYR and high fuel prices. Remember all bus travel is from the furthest point on the route times 4 (two round trips) divided by the number of students riding the bus. Then you add all the extra special needs contract busing on top of that. Your math is not valid. Also you need to look at ride times, even a person living two miles away may have a 20 min bus ride. And another thing, in the morning some of the non-base node buses arrive late or just before the bell. The children on those buses are mostly F&R and get breakfast, time has to be allowed and they miss class time. SO are they benefiting?
Where the math does not
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 22:30 — ncdad1Where the math does not work is citing the entire transportation budget is some how associated with undesireable F&R you want to get rid of making people think: 1) getting rid of busing will save $5M and 2) It will stop these F&R from getting to my school.
I took the the ABC scores by school and compared them against the % F&R. You can see why the goal is to try push the F&R to some other school. If you plot these you will see that it very linear - for each F&R% increase you get a proportional decrease in test scores.
Hmm..
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 23:31 — Bob_SconceAs VoR pointed out, you didn't really prove anything. A linear relationship is completely consistent with busing having no effect. In fact, the argument in favor of diversity is that there is a "tipping point" -- once you get below a certain percentage, the performance deteriorates rapidly. This would lead to a hockey-stick shaped curve, not a linear curve.
Based on a quick review of the data, at the elementary level, it's tough to find a correlation at all. In a lot of cases, F&R students appear to do better when they're clustered together. So, Dillard Drive, has about 40% F&R, but a 62.1% passing rate among F&R student; Knightdale, with over 50%, has a 60.3% passing rate among F&R students; and Carver, with about 63% F&R was a 71% passing rate among F&R students. Meanwhile, Wakefield has about 17% F&R, but only a 36% passing rate among F&R students. But, guess which school is getting more F&R students bussed in. (If you have a source for the data that doesn't require 4 clicks to get to each element, I'll be happy to do the scatter plot.)
No surprises,exactly what are you proving?
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 22:40 — Voice_of_Reason_That shows nothing except that F&R fail at a higher rate, thus you get a higher rate. And what is the effect on the schools base population? You need to look at things by student, then ask is moving the student changing anything?
If you took the bused in F&R's a Wakefield ES, you will see they actually perform substantially worse that the similar population at their base school. Again, is busing helping the children?
The WCPS transportation study shows that 95% of all kids live ..
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 21:04 — loriac"The WCPS transportation study shows that 95% of all kids live within 6 miles of their school. "
I'd like to see this study. This may be true today, but cannot be true of this reassignment proposal - not when they propose to move our North Raleigh nodes away from the Leesville campus (3.5 miles from our neighborhood) to Millbrook High School, which is 13.5 miles from our neighborhood. This is over 350+ kids for all the nodes. At the WFR CEM the other night, we heard from Leesville, Millbrook, Heritage, Wake Forest parents all opposing the move of their kids from schools close by to schools across town. I would like to see the before and after transportation costs for this proposal.
I think they use linear
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 21:31 — ncdad1I think they use linear distance not on the road distance. Looking that the projects, it looks like Leesville will be 2700 kids in a 2300 capacity building. If someone does not leave, the kids will need to meet in the parking lot.
http://www.wcpss.net/demographics/distance/index.html
wow, you sounds like Eric_B
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 06:27 — AngelaWwow, you sounds like Eric_B before he converted;
Growth In The LEESVILLE Area is FLAT.
• From 2007/08 to 2008/09, Leesville Road High School ’s enrollment only increased by 5 Students.
• From 2007/08 to 2008/09, Leesville Road Middle School ’s enrollment DECREASED by 46 students.
• The current 8th grade class at Leesville Road Middle School is 441 students. The current 6th grade class at Leesville Road Middle School is only 391 students.
Oh yeah didn't you know
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 22:16 — Voice_of_Reason_The schools in affluent areas are overcrowded. The use these things can modular units to pack more than building capacity into the schools this way. Our "affluent" elementary school has 21 of them and hardly any playground for the kids to play on in Wakefield. And the school went from a School of Excellence to a School of Progress school; no Title I protection there. If it was Title I, they would let kids bus out. So I guess busing is good for the community as a whole? And to top it off the schools infrastructure was not designed for that many kids (i.e. library, cafeteria, computer lab, etc. too small)
Spend the money on lower
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 19:24 — vsheehanSpend the money on lower class size, up the number of special ed staff and offer services to anyone getting a low 3 and below, have afterschool enrichment(chess, tutoring, math club, science club) Make sure the enrichment is run by a paid professional or teacher getting overtime with materials supplied.
Send disruptive Kids to a separate class with HIGHLY trained professionals in charge. If behavior improves they may go back to the general ed class.
Offer transportation on PTA meeting nights.
Aren’t you tired of me saying this?
Again, I agree , tell it to the school board & Democratic Party
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 21:40 — Voice_of_Reason_These are positive solutions. Add longer school days with study periods for homework. There are a lot of other options besides busing, and they work.
no where is busing mentioned
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 09:26 — AngelaWDecember 8, 2008
Poverty dramatically affects children's brains
By GREG TOPPO
USA TODAY
A new study finds that certain brain functions of some low-income 9- and 10-year-olds pale in comparison to that of wealthy kids, and that the difference is almost equivalent to the damage from a stroke.
"It is a similar pattern to what's seen in patients with strokes that have led to lesions in their prefrontal cortex," which controls higher-order thinking and problem solving, says lead researcher Mark Kishiyama, a cognitive psychologist at the University of California-Berkeley. "It suggests that in these kids, prefrontal function is reduced or disrupted in some way."
The study adds to a growing body of evidence showing how poverty afflicts children's brains. Researchers have long pointed to the ravages of malnutrition, stress, illiteracy and toxic environments in low-income children's lives. Previous research has shown that the neural systems of poor children develop differently than those of middle-class kids, affecting language development and "executive function," or the ability to plan, remember details and pay attention in school.
Such deficiencies are reversible through intensive intervention such as focused lessons and games that encourage children to think out loud or use executive function.
"It's really important for neuroscientists to start to think about the effects of people's experiences on their brain function, and specifically about the effect of people's socioeconomic status," says Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.
Among the most studied: differences in language acquisition between low- and middle-income children. The most famous study, from 1995, transcribed conversation between parents and children and found that by age 3, middle-class kids had working vocabularies roughly twice the size of poor kids.
For the new study, researchers used an electroencephalograph (EEG) to measure brain function of 26 children while they watched images flashing on a computer. The kids pressed a button when a tilted triangle appeared.
The researchers found a huge difference in the low-income children's ability to detect the tilted triangles and block out distractions -- a key function of the prefrontal cortex.
"It's just not functioning as efficiently as it could be, or as it should be," Kishiyama says.
While the effects of poverty are reversible, kids need "incredibly intensive interventions to overcome this kind of difficulty," says Susan Neuman, a University of Michigan education professor.
The study appears online in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and will be published early next year.
"Researchers have long
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:06 — ncdad1"Researchers have long pointed to the ravages of malnutrition, stress, illiteracy and toxic environments in low-income children's lives. "
Seems to say that the best way for folks who don't want low income kids in their neighborhood schools would be to support projects to prevent the things listed which seems cheaper in the long run than the after the fact intervention - smaller class size, more TAs, IEPs, etc.
That is what you take away
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:58 — AngelaWThat is what you take away from that article?
"folks who don't want low income kids in their neighborhood schools"
can there be a more ignorant yet typical provoking taunt pulled out of one's own.....
ncdad1 - Another thing
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:40 — Voice_of_Reason_More money doesn't fix it either. Have you ever heard of the Kansas City experiment?
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html
Also Read:
http://www.education-consumers.org/research/briefs_0102.htm
It's going to take more than $$$, and I don't know if the civil rights lawyers out there will let what really needs to be done happen? Some people just want to keep shooting themselves in the foot, because their "leaders" THINK it is good for them....But is it? I would like to give those that WANT help, to get the same opportunities as the rest of us. Face it, some don't care, is that my problem (sort of, but that's the the downside of a free society and I don't want the alternative --- Maybe you would take the children away from the parent(s) for their benefit, do you really want to go there?)
Ok, you don't think
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 12:29 — ncdad1Ok, you don't think spending money is the right answer, you don't want these kids in your school, you don't want your kids to go to their school, and you are hoping a billionare will make things right. Also, ("I would like to give those that WANT help, to get the same opportunities ") I am guessing the kids who need the help most and would take advantage of your offer don't know you are out there and have already given up. I think it is disingenuous for weathly privileged folks (not directed at you since I don't know you) to preach "survial of the fittest" since most of the kids in the greatest need can not take advantages of the opportunities offered for one reason or another.
It sounded from the article that providing a stimulating, educational childcare in the first one or two years to develop their brains would be the most economical path. Later on, they might be able to take advantage of those "opportunities" you mention.
Quit reading only what you want to hear
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 12:57 — Voice_of_Reason_None of what you said above is what I said. As far a Mr. Goodnight, as I see it he is part of the problem, I just wish he would be part of the solution. And while "survival of the fittest" is what usually happens; I don't subscibe to that philosophy. And childcare is one of those things way outside the scope of this blog. What's next -- maternity leave? paid vacations? babysitting? a chicken in every pot? Give me a break, at some point personal responsibility needs to kick in. How about don't have kids if you don't want them, can't provide a loving environment, or can't afford them?- And no, I am not advocating abortion? And I am a realist, it happens sometimes when you didn't plan. Anyway, I am steering off course.
"As far a Mr. Goodnight, as
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 13:49 — ncdad1"As far a Mr. Goodnight, as I see it he is part of the problem, I just wish he would be part of the solution. "
Do you know him? Is that first hand knowledge or did you read something that someone said to someone else who heard it from a friend? Seems kind of harsh since they probably do more the community than you or I will ever know.
Only what I've read
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 13:57 — Voice_of_Reason_And I am not saying Mr. Goodnight has not done any good, I know he has. Nor do I say he has had evil intent.
Only I am saying SOME things he supports have had unintended consequences in our schools (opposite of his desires), I would like to see him change direction.
Huh?
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:45 — Bob_SconceA million TAs, IEPs, etc. won't solve malnutrition, stress or toxic environments. And, without involved parents, illiteracy is almost impossible to overcome.
This is not something the schools can solve.
That makes a huge case against economic diversity busing
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:10 — Voice_of_Reason_If that study is true, wouldn't it be better to target those type of classes at Title I schools? Spreading those type of classes throughout the county would not be cost effective. I am sure that only certain teachers get this kind of training. This also shows that middle class teaching techniques are not beneficial to the poor in general. And WCPSS has a goal of 100% graduation? That could only be achieved by lowering the standards. Let's quit wasting money and quit the experiment (IT HAS FAILED). Let's try something new. This is not racism or class warfare to suggest this! If we don't, this snowball of poverty will get worse, busing is not the answer. Of course, I am sure this study will be debunked by some because it is not politically correct.
YOU KNOW SOMETHING:
Maybe Mr. Goodnight can do something about this. He worries about graduation rates here. Why doesn't he cough up a few million (pocket change to him) to build a school in a high poverty area to do this, try this experiment. They could name it for him.--- I can dream ;^).
"Mr. Goodnight can do
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:16 — ncdad1"Mr. Goodnight can do something about this. "
Why won't you step up to the plate and do something instead of waiting around for Mr. Goodnight to make things right?
If I had his means I would
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:57 — Voice_of_Reason_He probably makes more in one day than I have in total assets, he's a Billionaire, in case you don't know. He and his wife are big supporters of WCPSS and has a lot of influence. I don't have his fortune, or do I want it. I also have not yet figured out a way to change the mind of the economic diversity kool aid drinkers in the BoE.
Anyway I am getting tired of your insults (I am not frightened of poor kids). It's very Troll-like.
Schools are one of the long term solutions to most poverty. What you propose as far as spending and smaller class sizes is good, I don't have a problem with that. But money wasted on Magnets and economic diversity busing drains away money we could use for that purpose. I would go arm and arm with you to the county commissioners and school board to lobby for that (caveat, they have to eliminate the failed experiment).
This is not the forum to discuss why we have poverty in the first place. Nor is it the explain why the war on poverty has been lost, billions of dollars latter. Even I will not go that far off topic.
"Let's quit wasting money
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 10:14 — ncdad1"Let's quit wasting money and quit the experiment (IT HAS FAILED). "
I don't see where we have ever really addressed these problems so what are we going to quit? Most of these kids live and go to school in inferior building, with inferior teachers and limited resources. They dress the problem with magnet schools to get some folks to send their kids to these schools. Yes, a few are bused to your neighborhood school which is frightening but it is not the majority. As a society, we have not commited to fixing it at the beginning (non-toxic housing, etc.) and don't want to spend later to compensate.
Their teachers are not
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:09 — vsheehanTheir teachers are not inferior !!! I know a lot of teachers and believe me the schools of Cary could only wish they had the teachers at the Raleigh schools. Teachers in low income schools know what they are getting into that they will have to work ten times harder than their counterpoint in a suburban school. They CHOOSE to be there. Principals at low income schools are picker about their staff hirings because they know the job can not be done by most teachers. It takes a special dedicated person to teach in low income schools that do not have the resources the school truly needs.
I send my son to a messed up Magnet school for the TEACHERS !! The staff is %100 times better than any staff you will find in Leesville, Cary, Holy Springs or any suburban/country school in NC. I would send them to our base but they have become so Draconian over the years.They can not help the kids bussed in who need more than the school has so they handeld the problem by becoming draconian.
I think you will find the
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:20 — ncdad1I think you will find the highest paid, educated, awarded teacher gavitate to the smartest, easiest to manage, lowest hassle, most parent participation, most active PTA, most AP classes offered schools in the county. That is human nature and you would expect them too do that.
Who cares if they are the
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 12:11 — vsheehanWho cares if they are the best paid, best educated I am talking about the best teachers. From what I have seen in WCPSS the best teachers can be found at the schools with the greatest problems. There are jobs galore in NC for teachers why put up with the crap if you do not have to. The teachers who stay are dedicated and great at what they do. They can navigate the chaose enough to get the job done with out having a mental breakdown. Those who leave couldn't do the job.
Stop being such an American just because you pay more for some teacher doesn't mean they are the best!
You went from definding Wake to bashing it to defending it in such a way that its official your a TROLL
It makes me wonder about Ivy League Schools
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 12:39 — Voice_of_Reason_With an MBA from Ivy League Dartmouth, ncdad1 doesn't know how to argue very well; I just don't like the Troll label since he hasn't resorted to name calling yet. He's come close a few times, but he's remained civil. It just makes me wonder.
"From what I have seen
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 12:36 — ncdad1"From what I have seen in WCPSS the best teachers can be found at the schools with the greatest problems."
If true than why are so many people fighting so hard to avoid those schools? Logic would tell you that parents would seek out the best schools and teachers. Seems illogical that the "best teachers" are at the worst performing schools and supurban parents are fighting so hard to keep away.