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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A few thoughts from an ITDS parent:

1) It's no longer easy to get into Cooper and the new Cooper location is much farther from Two Rivers. So the impact of that will be mitigated. But I do think it's the case that the opening of Cooper affected Two Rivers at a time when it was already really struggling. Without the impact of Cooper it might have pulled out of a bad spiral. Who knows.

2) Seems like there's just massive attrition from elementary to middle school at Two Rivers. At ITDS there's a lot-- each year about 25-30% of the 5th grade class is new, and maybe 10-15% of the 6tth grade class. Middle school academics are just okay at ITDS, and behavior is also just okay. It's not like there aren't problems, it's just that ITDS families tend to stay if they don't get into Latin because they can't figure out anything that's better.

3) Looking at the Empower K12 dashboard, seems like TR test scores dropped significantly, especially at Young. Whether that's the result of attrition among higher-scoring kids or the result of worsening teaching, I do not know.

4) It's important to acknowledge highlights as well as lows, so I will say last year Two Rivers sent 15 kids to McKinley Tech and 10 to Banneker, as well as at least 1 each to Walls and Ellington. Well done![/quote]

This is nice but ignores the fact that TR actually has a ton of attrition from early to late elementary. It's not that families peel off at 5th or 6th. It's that they peel off starting in 2nd grade when they realize their kids math and ELA instruction is bad. Once you get through ECE and start focusing more on academics it starts to become more and more apparent that TR has few if any academic strengths. If you aren't willing to supplement in all areas then you have to accept below grade level achievement. Even if your kid is bright and catches on quickly -- a bright kid still can't learn if they aren't even getting the material they need in class.

So to answer your question: the declining test scores are the result of attrition among higher scoring kids. But it's important to understand that those kids are leaving because their families are tired of having to supplement so much to keep them learning. And I actually don't fault the teachers at TR -- I think they are doing the best they can but the curriculum sucks and administration has been middling to bad over the last 5 years. There is a lot of attrition in the teaching staff.

TR needs a new curriculum but I do not believe the organization as that willingness to let go of EL nor any idea how to replace it with something more sound. The writing has been on the wall for years but they keep digging in deeper and maintaining this "ra-ra we're awesome" ethos that covers up a host of issues. That's why people leave -- there's nothing to be gained in staying because if you suggest that anything needs to change you just get sympathetic nods and meaningless reassurance followed by defensiveness and stonewalling if you persist.[/quote]

Well, my question is why did test scores decline relative to last year. Because the attrition is a longstanding trend at TR. Was there an unusually large amount of attrition? [/quote]

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