Reply to Highland Elementary -- fact or fiction

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It won't be long before a teacher or former teacher comes out of the closet and tells the truth about what happened.[/quote]

and it's me!  No, actually, I was not there when the big change happened, but I was there for Myrtle's first year, and basically, he's a huge a-hole who takes credit for others hard work.  Many teachers left because of him (I left to go part-time at another school, but probably wouldn't have stuck around anyway) and he has talked poorly about these teachers who "couldn't hack it."  Nice.  I have styaed in touch with many of colleagues there, however.  There was no cheating as far as giving the kids answers, testing violations, erasures, etc.  However the change did not happen organically or as a result of awesome teaching and learning.  It happened because the school taught to the test for the entire year and students learned basically nothing but how to pass MSA.  No English language proficiency (ESOL test scores plummeted).  Students weren't taught how to write well or decode or comprehend text--they were taught test-taking strategies non-stop.  Everything was MSA.  There were these ridiculous rallies with kids chanting "MSA! MSA!" and working to earn ridiculous prizes like PSPs, video games, bikes, etc.  It was insane.

There are some valid factors pertaining to the rise in scores--the fact that Arcola opened and relieved a huge population issue.  the demographics were the same, but just having fewer kids made a difference, even if it means fewer resources.  And with the drop, well, Myrtle left, and he was the driving force behind the "reforms" and drastic cuts have been made to resoruces.  Schools like Highland are the most protected, but even adjusting student-teacher ratio by one matters.  It can mean going from 18 students in a 3rd grade class to 24.  And when these are the neediest of students, it is a big impact.  so, again, a drop is expected.

But anyway, my point is that while I don't suspect cheating, I agree that there's reason for others to suspect it.

And yes, Highland is different from Highland View.  While it's not the greatest school in the world, Highland is in fact a "lovely neighborhood school" to many of its students.[/quote]

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