Okay, this is kind of random, but...
My school is either second or third-worst in the county. For the PSSA (state testing) we made an ASTOUNDING leap last year from 29% to 35% proficient (you need to score proficient to pass and therefore graduate). Kids at our school are always getting into fights, and people on one or more occassions have taken a crap in this one stairwell, when they're not smoking pot in it.
How do we correct this problem? Well, due to the fact that last year's freshman class was a horror, my school has devised: The Freshman Academy. What this means is, with the exception of some science classes and homerooms, all 10th-12th grade students are barred from the 3rd floor. They moved all of the 10th-12th grade lockers from the third floor to new lockers (including mine). They have also come up with an entire new grade for repeating freshmen. They are calling it 9T, or "9th grade transitional". With the exception of seniors who have signed up to be freshmen mentors, the 10th-12th graders are not allowed to talk or interact with the freshmen. They are also making us wear IDs around our necks, and the freshmen have different colored IDs.
Now, through all of this, the biggest area of concern the administration has is on the DRESS CODE. Our dress code is that you have to wear a collared shirt and khakis. Up until this year, you couldn't have hooded sweatshirts or striped shirts. You still can't have striped pants.
Am I the only one who thinks this is all very defeating the purpose?
In my experience, schools with parents who care, and are involved in their childs life, simply do NOT post these kinds of scores....
Where is this school?
A school in my state with scores that low would be taken over by the state dept. of education. A school in my district with behavior issues like that would simply not exist. We do not tolerate any student impeding on the educational rights of others. If you can not participate successfully in public school and not disrupt the learning of others, then you go to our alterntive learning center where county deputies patrol the hallways and stand guard in the classrooms if necessary. It is never allowed to get that bad in my district.
Haystacks Calhoun wrote: In my experience, schools with parents who care, and are involved in their childs life, simply do NOT post these kinds of scores....
Where is this school?
I should clarify that those PSSA percentages are for the math section. Our principal didn't say what the reading or English scores were, but I think they were better, since I didn't know anyone who had to retake those ones. I knew a TON of people who had to retake the math ones, though. They weren't dumb people - one of them is now attending an art college for Communications - but our school doesn't teach the math stuff. We take this math program called IMP which is all word problems.