Parent Post 1: More schools face consequences of No Child Left Behind law http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/
ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/failing_schools.
 

Parent Post 2: I am going to assume that Parent Poster 1 doesn't have any kids in high school yet, based on their message. If they did, they would probably already know why we don't have more AP and Pre-AP classes being taken.

My children have taken each type (Pre-AP and AP) and we aren't pushing for them to take more. I'm very disappointed in how that experience went. Not all, but most of the teachers "teach to the test" for standardized testing and the kids struggle the entire time trying to very hard learn materials on their own.

Don't get me wrong, some of the teachers are outstanding and deserve kudos. But not the classes my children took. It wasn't a good experience, not even CLOSE.

We have to get our heads out of the "testing for the money" mode or this will never be a bigger better thing at Deer Creek.

Parent Post: In a continued attempt to initiate conversation on important educational issues, I noticed that Edmond has 3 schools on Newsweek's list of the best high schools and Deer Creek has 0. This is an affluent school district with involved motivated parents. Why don't we have more students taking AP classes? Why don't we have more AP classes? We should be aiming to be on the Newsweek list of high schools who have been excluded from the list because they are too affluent and have high average ACT and SAT scores!

• Check out the list: http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380
• Here is just Oklahoma: http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?s=OK
• Read about the issues involved: http://www.newsweek.com/id/137415/page/1

On another related topic, the 2007 school report card is out. It is interesting to note that Everyday Math (EM) didn't do what it promised to do, which is raise test scores on the Oklahoma CRT. Since EM follows the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards as the CRT does, it is not a good sign that the 3rd grade children who started using EM in 2nd grade didn't score as high as the children with a more traditional background in 2nd and 3rd grade. It is also interesting to note that the number of advanced students is lowest at Rose Union. At this point, I am ignoring the 4th and 5th grade Rose Union scores because most of those children had math at PV or DCES through 2nd grade. It is true that fewer 3rd graders were proficient at Prairie Vale. However, we should also note that Prairie Vale has almost 2.5 times more advanced 3rd graders than Rose Union. I  would almost expect the Saxon students at Prairie Vale to score lower since Saxon is the curriculum that is most traditional and is least affected by the NCTM standards (and least in line with the Oklahoma CRT), but it is amazing that the most traditional curriculum also has good 5th grade scores with the most (64%) advanced students! Could it be true that calculation ability is one tool that children need to be proficient in math?

Parent Post: Actually, I'm more concerned about the spelling and writing by the students presenting the posts. I think this confirms there are no National Merit Scholars at Deer Creek this year.

With all DUE respect, I hope they will learn to check their spelling (you can't always trust a computer)and learn when to use worse and worst.Perhaps a remedial writing course can be offered during flex time.

May 12, 2008

Update: Yesterday’s Sunday Oklahoman including a special section listing the 2008 Academic All-Staters.  There was not one student from Deer Creek included in the 100 students mentioned. 

So let's tally this up:

• No Academic All-State
• No National Merit Finalist
• Highest remediation rates in the area. 

We can’t wait for the API scores to come out so that the school administration can boast about being the best school district in the state.

Parent Post

Thanks Post for the number in a very clear format.  I am really not sure why we are thanking Shanbour for anything though as I have heard all three candidates talk about these statistics and Mr. Miller seems to know a great deal about how these numbers compare district to district.  Miller also had some interesting info about the ACT numbers from district to district and across the state.  People hear what they want to hear.

Actually, John Robertson, during his campaign last year brought this topic to light.  So let's give credit where it is really due.

Who brought it up is really not the point though, the key is what will be done to fix it.  If you do your research state wide, this is an ongoing problem in our State.  It is in no way specific to Deer Creek.  Hopefully our next Board member will have the time to study other Districts and see how some are beginning to overcome these issues.

VOTE TODAY FOR CHANGE!

Parent Post

Thanks DCSPost for the fast work on getting out the College Remedial #'s
you Rock. Thank you Tony Shanbour for bring this to everyone's attention!
Wow maybe every student in the class room having their own BOOK to take home
really would help!