Reply to School Board is Failing – Central High with 80% Poverty is Blowing McLean and Langley Out of the Water

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Reply to "School Board is Failing – Central High with 80% Poverty is Blowing McLean and Langley Out of the Water"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Isn’t it pretty likely that the kids in poverty in Wise, VA are native English speakers? And those in poverty in our area are not.[/quote]

Here you go, demographics of student body in Wise County Va., Demographics of student body in Wise County Va., Hispanic numbers so low they can't be counted.

[url]https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/wise-primary[/url]

Numbers are so low, they can't be counted... which last I checked puts them somewhere near 3%. Oh well. Who'd have thunk it. [/quote]

Why does it matter if most kids in Wise County are native English speakers? The issue isn't just language. Fairfax County has double the per-student funding but still struggles in many schools compared to places like Wise, which makes do with less. If language barriers are a challenge here, that just points to a failure in how FCPS is addressing those needs. The real question is: What is FCPS doing with all that extra funding to help English learners succeed? That’s what matters.[/quote]

Is English your native language? Just curious because that might help your inability to grasp they big picture key concepts. Like they spend just as much money per pupil as the underperforming HSs in FCPS, for all of their HSs, but without the need to teach to young adults, who may live in homes where the parents are illiterate, which means they themselves are most likely illiterate, how to read, and write in not only English but often times their native languages as well. 40% of the student body at Justice is labeled English Learner, and 15% are Special Education. 40% are English Learners in HS, which means that they are more than likely recent arrivals, not to mention those that entered the system in ES school who do to demographics may be proficient enough to pass a standardized test, but just barely.

Comparing a homogenous school district comprised of majority white students, where everyone speaks English, to one where approximately 40% are English learners is apples to oranges.

I took 4 years of HS French, but if you had given me an SOL in any subject written in French and not English, on the first day of instruction year 1 and repeated the same on the last day of the last year of instruction year 4, I would have had the same dismal results... fail. Don't underestimate the benefit of being having your native language be English, and having literate parents.

You can teach any dummy to read in their native language well enough to pass a SOL test. And if their parents are native English speakers and not illiterate themselves this isn't a high bar at all. [/quote]

It's funny to see how this plays out in NYC majority Asian schools. High levels of free and reduced lunch along with English language learners and yet top scores.

This would I dictate that something other than dollars spent or English speaking parents are providing advantages.[/quote]

Poor Asian immigrants come with a different cultural appreciation for education than poor Hispanic immigrants. There are few cultures that put as much time, energy, and money into education as Asian cultures. There are shopping malls that cater only to tutoring in Singapore. China passed legislation to shit down cram schools to try and reduce the money parents felt they had to spend on their children's education. South Korea shuts down airplane flights over schools on the day of national exams. The list of examples is long. They are coming to the US with an idea that education will help their kids get good jobs and provide more for their grandkids.

Poor Hispanic immigrants are coming from countries where there is limited to no education for kids.They are fleeing crime and corrupt governments. Education has not been a priority. They are looking for safety and a chance to make enough money to send home to family left behind.

The overall attitude towards education is different. [/quote]

that is true.

The point is that poverty itself isn't the problem prohibiting educational excellence, nor are the dollars spent. If people prioritize education at home, then their kids will succeed.[/quote]

Agreed, the main factor to academic success is the culture at home. There are lots of studies pointing to that. Kids who come from families were parents graduated from high school are more likely to graduate from high school. Kids who come families with college grads are more likely to attend college. Kids who come from families where the parents did not graduate from high school are unlikely to graduate from high school.

FCPS has programs geared at trying to break some of those cycles but convincing a kid whose parent doesn't care about school to attend, do homework, and graduate is a huge hill to climb. You have a different result who you have an immigrant population who is moving to the country to improve their lives and values education then when you have an immigrant population with limited educational opportunities fleeing chaos. You have a different outcome when you have a population of folks who have high school degrees but not college degrees then when you have a population without high school degrees or with college degrees. FCPS has students in all four groups and needs to try and meet all of those needs.

Wise County is working with one group. They don't have advanced classes and do much to prepare kids for college because that is not what the population focuses on. FCPS has a large group of people who expect kids to attend 4 year college as well as kids who could careless about graduating high school.

All this simply makes the point that you cannot compare just the SOL scores and say "They are doing better then we are."

As for the poverty level, the FARMs rates at the Herndon, Mt. Vernon, Justice, and Lewis are stupidly high. South Lakes HS has 35% of the kids receiving free and reduced meals.

It is not surprising that the schools with the highest level of poverty have the worst test scores in the County. When you have a large concentration of kids who come from families that do not value education, you have a higher rate of absanteeism, more kids behind academically, less parental support, and a higher rate of kids dropping out.

[/quote]

It sounds like FCPS should split into at least 2 systems, 1) To meet the needs of those who need basic daycare, food and baseline English skills  and 2) To meet the needs of those seeking an education to go to college[/quote]

It already does. Schools with higher FARMs and ELL rates have kids in gen ed and remedial classes and kid in the AP/IB programs. There ar schools within the schools. The kids in the AP/IB programs do very well and attend some great colleges and have higher SAT scores.

[/quote]
I love when people defend poor performing schools cite that they just do the segregation by classes vs via school boundaries.[/quote]

That was a statement of fact, not a defense. The reality is that high FARMs schools are effectively segregated into a hihg performing school and a lower performing school. Is that not the case? Where in that statement am I defending anything? [/quote]

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