Last year's Third Grade at Janney. 30 kids in a class = only 53% proficient in English.

[Anonymous]

They will be mailed in early September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, Lafayette had 20 kids in a class and still only 53% tested proficient in English.

I don't get it.

Eaton also had the same issue. The other grades tested significantly higher (83 and 82%), but only 50% in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, should have been 83 and 81. Typed too fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, Lafayette had 20 kids in a class and still only 53% tested proficient in English.

I don't get it.

Eaton also had the same issue. The other grades tested significantly higher (83 and 82%), but only 50% in 3rd grade.

So is the problem with the 3rd grade writing curriculum or with the test?

[Anonymous]

Could it be simply the learning curve for a computer based test between 3rd and 4th?

[Anonymous]

Probably has to do with the difficulty of the 3rd grade test last year. I don't remember 3rd grade being lower the year before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be simply the learning curve for a computer based test between 3rd and 4th?

I pulled the other high performing schools and they did not seem to have this issue. Key, Stoddert, Mann, Murch, Hyde were all fairly consistent across the grade levels with perhaps the exception of Stoddert's 5th grade class.

[Anonymous]

The Caucasian kids overall at Hearst destroyed the test last year. 86% at 4+ for ELA and 89% at 4+ for math. Can't breakdown by class because the classes are so small. Big gains for the other populations there too. Great job owls! No substitute for small class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Caucasian kids overall at Hearst destroyed the test last year. 86% at 4+ for ELA and 89% at 4+ for math. Can't breakdown by class because the classes are so small. Big gains for the other populations there too. Great job owls! No substitute for small class sizes.

Uh, except the results for the only other race breakout at Hearst (AA) are horribly disparate from the white students. I find that concerning when other schools in the area seem to do significantly better with the achievement gap between races.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It is just a test.

I care because I'm a parent and a tax payer. I don't personally care about test scores, per se, but the District government roped our families and our children into this test, which many declare as worthless. This test required tons of instruction time to prep for. This test cost our city coffers millions....millions that could be spent on other education-related expenses.

If your child did well, why do you care about the overall? I am not a fan of standardized tests. It is a very small piece of a overall picture. I heard about the mega class last year at Janney from friends, who dismissed the year as a waste and a loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Caucasian kids overall at Hearst destroyed the test last year. 86% at 4+ for ELA and 89% at 4+ for math. Can't breakdown by class because the classes are so small. Big gains for the other populations there too. Great job owls! No substitute for small class sizes.

Uh, except the results for the only other race breakout at Hearst (AA) are horribly disparate from the white students. I find that concerning when other schools in the area seem to do significantly better with the achievement gap between races.

I was just going to mention that! A 50% achievement gap is horrible especially on the ES level with small class sizes. Look at Eaton and Stoddert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, Lafayette had 20 kids in a class and still only 53% tested proficient in English.

I don't get it.

your kids are in that school. Are they learning a lot and thriving academically? If so the test is flawed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It is just a test.

Yes, a test of proficiency in English Language Arts.

if that is indeed what it measures. the results are only as good as the text folks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Caucasian kids overall at Hearst destroyed the test last year. 86% at 4+ for ELA and 89% at 4+ for math. Can't breakdown by class because the classes are so small. Big gains for the other populations there too. Great job owls! No substitute for small class sizes.

Uh, except the results for the only other race breakout at Hearst (AA) are horribly disparate from the white students. I find that concerning when other schools in the area seem to do significantly better with the achievement gap between races.

Uh, but you are not factoring SES into your analysis. Hearst is much more diverse in that metric than JKLMM. That's what makes the upward AA swing even more impressive and outpaces the city overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, Lafayette had 20 kids in a class and still only 53% tested proficient in English.

I don't get it.

your kids are in that school. Are they learning a lot and thriving academically? If so the test is flawed!

How do you know if they are thriving when the test results are so low?