The largest school system in southern Alabama has things figured out, apparently. Inflated graduation rates and selective attendance records have taken priority to the actual learning process of students. Sound confusing? Join the club, take a number, and stand in line. According to the Mobile County Public School System, 95% of total students enrolled have to be in attendance around the beginning of October in order to get credit for the SAT, which is not taken until April. If students do not meet a percentage requirement in attendance, their SAT score more than likely won't be counted - passing or not. This is commonly known among teachers as 'making AYP'(Annual Yearly Performance). There are several other contributing components to insuring AYP is made, but whether or not a child is in school in October should not determine if he or she gets credit for an exam that's taken many months later. Meanwhile, positions are currently being cut and classrooms are getting more and more crowded.Friday, December 18, 2009
All About the Kids
The largest school system in southern Alabama has things figured out, apparently. Inflated graduation rates and selective attendance records have taken priority to the actual learning process of students. Sound confusing? Join the club, take a number, and stand in line. According to the Mobile County Public School System, 95% of total students enrolled have to be in attendance around the beginning of October in order to get credit for the SAT, which is not taken until April. If students do not meet a percentage requirement in attendance, their SAT score more than likely won't be counted - passing or not. This is commonly known among teachers as 'making AYP'(Annual Yearly Performance). There are several other contributing components to insuring AYP is made, but whether or not a child is in school in October should not determine if he or she gets credit for an exam that's taken many months later. Meanwhile, positions are currently being cut and classrooms are getting more and more crowded.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
something needs to be changed
ReplyDeletePerhaps decisions are being made with little or no opposition, O & G. Maybe more reprsentatives of the school system should attend more board meetings and supply some geniune, realistic reasoning to a group of established members with elaborate expense accounts who probably haven't spent more than twenty minutes inside a classroom since high school. Something definitely needs to change. Community envolvement.
ReplyDelete