After introducing our President of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Robert Seward, and following his warm words of welcome, District Superintendent, Dr. Linda Henrie, introduced a few more district leaders followed by a quick briefing on district accomplishments over the past year as well as some key issues that the district will be facing in the near future. Amongst those topics were talks about upcoming bond updates, House Bill No. 5, the proposed voucher system for virtual and charter schools, school finances, budgeting, and how community donations have helped to pay for 177 AP exams for underprivileged students. I had no clue that we even had that last one!
Now, its no secret, I love our school district! We have some of the most amazing teachers in our classrooms and the most awesome administrators across the expanse of the district who get up every morning to fight not only for what is best for our students and our district, but also what is best for our community. I love how open and welcoming our schools are to their parents as well as our district is to our community. Dr. Henrie said this morning "If you have any questions or concerns please call my office. I would love to talk with you..." and I know that she meant it. Honestly people, if we don't give our district feedback (positive or negative) how will they ever know if what they are doing is working? And this was coming from the District Superintendent; a Superintendent who routinely visits school campuses, attends district sporting events, rides the school bus with children in the mornings, and makes countless appearances and participates in district as well as community functions. I guarantee that you won't find a Superintendent like Dr. Henrie over in Dallas ISD. However, no matter how much I love our school district, there are always some things that make me raise my eyebrows and this morning was no different. Often times these topics are not necessarily the fault of our school district leaders, but rather are the faults of the Texas Board of Education and our representatives in legislature as was the case this morning. Two topics really stood out this morning that I think all parents need to be made aware of even if your child does not attend school in Mesquite, TX.
The first topic was presented by Dr. Cathy Rideout, the school district's Associate Superintendent of Instructional Services and was accompanied by the following print out of the Mesquite ISD Graduation Plan that will go into effect next year (2014-2015):
Now please excuse my handwritten notes but I wanted to make sure that I fully understand how this is going to work. As Dr. Rideout explained, in order to understand this chart we have to begin at the bottom and work our way up. To begin, all students (ELL, ESL, and students with disabilities) will be required to meet the minimum course requirements, a.k.a. the "Foundation High School Program (FHSP)" in order to graduate. The requirements for this program are listed at the bottom of the chart and are as follows: 4 years of English, 3 years of Science, 3 years of Math, 3 years of Social Studies, 1 year of Physical Education, 1 year of Fine Arts, 1/2 year of Speech, 1/2 year of health, 2 years of LOTE (Language Other Than English), 1 year of a Technology Course, and 5 electives for a total of 24 credit units in order to graduate. Pretty simple right? Well now it's going to get complicated. Under the new program 8th graders will now be required to select an area of endorsement from five different areas: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), Business & Industry, Public Services, Arts & Humanities, or Multi-Disciplinary. The idea is very much similar to picking a major area of studies in college. All students including special education and ESL/ELL will be required to pick an area of endorsement. Under each area is listed the criteria that the students will have to meet in order to successfully graduate with their specified endorsement. For example, a student who chooses the STEM endorsement would now have to not only complete the requirements for the FHSP program but they would also have to complete either an additional Math, Science, STEM Career Cluster, or STEM Combination in order to graduate. Once the student has chosen an endorsement program, it may be changed at any time but students do need to keep in mind that altering the program can have an effect on the classes they have already taken or need to take. In addition all students will be required to remain in the endorsement program for a minimum of two years after which time a parent may meet with school officials to discuss the students progress and opt their child out of the program and back to the FHSP program. But let's say that the student does not opt out and continues to move forward...the next level on the plan would then be the Distinguished Level of Achievement. Under this plan, students would have to complete the FHSP, one or more endorsement plans, a 4th Math course including Algebra 2, and a 4th science course. Moving up from the Distinguished Level of Achievement students then could become eligible to earn performance acknowledgements on their diploma for the following categories: dual credit, bilingualism/biliteracy, advanced placement, PSAT, SAT, ACT, and/or a Business or Industry license or certification. In all honesty, this plan is not much different from our current offered graduation plans except for the addition of the five endorsements and the fact that our children will now have to decided in the 8th grade what career path they would like to follow and then confirm that path in writing to the district during their Freshman year.
Now if you're anything like me you are screaming to yourself "are you serious" right about now. And honestly this is what I was doing as Dr. Rideout jokingly remarked "...because our 8th graders know what the want to do when they graduate." I was still screaming internally afterwards about how profound this idea is. I mean, can you really imagine being 13 or 14 years old and being asked to select a career path or a major course of study? At 13 and 14 years of age our children are already dealing with so much. Their bodies are going through some of the greatest changes that the human body ever experiences. They are battling hormones and trying to discover just where they fit in. They are preparing for their first dates. They are leaving behind their early childhood and transitioning into the beginning of their young adult lives. They are too young to work, to young to vote, over opinionated on everything, and too young to drive yet we are asking them to decide on a course of study program that will direct them where they need to be for the next four years of their lives without having had the opportunities or experiences that are often involved in such decision making. High school is supposed to be a time of fun, a time for our children to begin to learn their place in this world, and a time to express their individualities. Heck, I'm almost 35 years old and I'm still sorting out who I am yet, we now expect our 13 and 14 year olds to have their own answers about who they are and what they want to be. This all just sounds a little absurd.
Nonetheless, I sat and I listened to Dr. Rideout as she explained this new graduation plan and I came to realize that our kids today are not like we once were. The competition for them in life is tough and we have to prepare them as best as we can. Today's kindergartners are expected to know the things that we didn't learn until first and second grade. Third graders have to be proficient in multiplication, division, reading, writing, and problem solving while we were just learning to add and subtract properly. Sixth graders are doing fractions and decimals and algebra and geometry; we were playing kickball and had recess twice a day. High school students are tackling calculus, trigonometry, anatomy & physiology and are taking dual credit courses whereas we were still complaining about Algebra and Biology. Gone are the days of partying all night, taking random classes to see what you like or don't like, and just taking the time to enjoy being young. In order to keep our students prepared for college and life after high school our districts are being forced to alter their graduation plans to include areas of speciality because a general high school education just is not enough any more. Companies want students who are already trained so we have to begin to train them younger. This my friends is what happens when we allow big business and legislation to control the path of our state boards of education. I'll admit also that while I still don't agree with the enforcement of such graduation plans, I do understand their necessity and the varied opportunities that they will give our children. Perhaps, if nothing else, they will help more of our students prosper in their academic careers and allow for more students to graduate.
If you are still reading my post at this point I truly thank you and ask that you bear with me just a little longer. Our next topic is really a topic of many heated discussions but one that is extremely important.
Dr. Rideout also presented to us the Index of Standards which are used to determine whether or not a district/school has successfully met and passed the standards for the STAAR Test as they are written by the Texas Education Association. As you can see on the handout below, each district has to pass the standards that are listed under each index in a serious of four. If for any reason a district fails to pass one of the indexes, that district will be considered to have not met or passed the standards of the test and are listed as "needs improvement." To make it a little easier to understand it is best if you look at the indexes in the following manner:
Index 1: How many students total passed the test
Index 2: Did all of the students make progress on the text?
Index 3: Did the students who are economically challenged and those who scored the lowest last year score higher this year?
Index 4: Are your students achieving at their highest possible levels?
Basically what this means is that every student across the state of Texas, no matter what their language capabilities, learn disabilities, or special needs may be, has to take the same test. The results for each grade level, each campus, and each district are then tallied up to determine the overall number of students who successfully passed the STAAR Test (Index 1). Index 2 then breaks down the district scores into ten subcategories (all students, 7 race/ethnicity groups, students with disabilities, and ELL students) and asks if the students in these categories made progress that was equivalent to one years worth of improvement on their tests. Index 3 then looks at the scores of those students who are impoverished and who were reported as being in two of the lowest performing racial groups for the district to determine if they have shown any improvement from last years scores. Finally, index 4 takes a look at each kid to determine how they are fairing overall. For elementary and middle school students the only scores that are counted are the scores from the STAAR Test. For high school students, the TEA takes into consideration not only their STAAR scores but also their individual subject areas and grades. All of these things combined are what helps to determine the success of our children and the future of our schools and teachers.
This by far is not a fair system. Districts who are small and who have little diversity in their students often fair better than our inner city districts. The one size fits all theme ensures that our students are on a playing field that is mottled with potholes which prevent any sense of a level playing field. And by having such stringent standards that our districts must meet in order to be viewed as successful much of the burden and stress is passed onto our students. If a child fails a test that was designed for all and not for him specifically he becomes a statistic. That statistic determines the worth of his teacher, the worth of his school, and the worth of his district. Because of his failing grade (if he is in 5th or 8th grade) he may not advance to the next grade level, his teacher may not have her job next year, his school may not become a recognized school, and his district may be labeled as a district that needs improving and may lose funding. That's a lot of pressure to put on a child and yet we do it every year. As Dr. Rideout put it this morning "When STAAR Testing began our kids didn't suddenly forget how to write. They have been writing for the TAKS test for a long time and they were doing good. When STAAR happened it seemed like they suddenly forgot and everyone did poorly. The truth is, when STAAR started they changed the way in which they graded our students' writings and they did not tell us. Teaching our kids to write to meet the new standards is not something that we could change over the course of one year after having taught them to write a specific way for so long. But now, we are making those changes and our kids are doing better. The STAAR is not only different but it is the most difficult test our kids have ever received." Now, I'll ask you this...if a district leader is saying that this test is that tough why as parents and communities aren't we screaming at the TEA and Legislature to change something? Our children, our teachers, and our school districts are the futures of our communities. Having someone sitting in an office in Austin telling them what they are worth based upon a standardized test that is too difficult and requires too many standards to be met seems preposterous.
If you would like more information about the Mesquite Independent School District please feel free to check out their website: www.mesquiteisd.org
For more information about the Texas Education Agency and STAAR Testing please feel free to visit:
Thank you for reading and for supporting public education!
