Monroe Chat

School District / Subject / Number Tested / PCT PROF OR ABOVE

3RD Grade
Monroe Local Sd / Reading / 150 / 82.7
/ Math / 150 / 88.7
4TH Grade
Monroe Local Sd / Reading / 190 / 91.1
/ Math / 190 / 88.4
/ Writing / 190 / 94.7

5TH Grade
Monroe Local Sd / Reading / 159 / 81.1
/ Math / 159 / 69.2
/ Science / 159 / 88.7
/ Social / 159 / 65.4

6TH Grade
Monroe Local Sd / Reading / 181 / 94.5
/ Math / 182 / 90.1

7TH Grade
Monroe Local Sd / Reading / 175 / 84.6
/ Math / 176 / 84.1
/ Writing / 175 / 93.7

8TH Grade/
Monroe Local Sd / Reading / 162 / 75.3
/ Math / 163 / 68.7
/ Science / 163 / 61.4
Social / 163 / 38

I am pretty disappointed in these scores. How does the 8th Grade score a 38% in the Social? The entire 8th grade scores are just hideous, and to think that is what I have to look forward to for this year.

That is pretty shocking! One hopes that these scores are being addressed and a necessary course of action put into place. With such percentages, you simply have to recognize an obvious problem!

The obvious problem is the test. Just saying!

Did any one else get the news from their kids that the state is changing the testing some this year? My 8th grader said the State is evaluating the test for the 8th grade and it will not be administered. My 5th grader has said that they will not have the Social Studies portion of the State test this year for the same reason. Is the State finally coming to the realization that their is something wrong with the test?

I do believe that if you throw out the 8th grade results and the 5th grade Social results then Monroe fairs much better.

sportsnut wrote:Did any one else get the news from their kids that the state is changing the testing some this year? My 8th grader said the State is evaluating the test for the 8th grade and it will not be administered. My 5th grader has said that they will not have the Social Studies portion of the State test this year for the same reason. Is the State finally coming to the realization that their is something wrong with the test?

I do believe that if you throw out the 8th grade results and the 5th grade Social results then Monroe fairs much better.

Hmmmmmm.....But by throwing out the tests all together doesnt seem fair either. Seems something is amiss. Wouldnt that just skew the results by doing this?

In my humble opinion, testing our children is not the answer, but Ohio disagrees with me.

I am not a fan of homeschooling. However, homeschooling certainly has its merits. Many of the children who are properly homeschooled do end up achieving more in their shorter school days than public school kids. Why? Because they have one on one attention! Every student deserves one on one attention and every student should be able to progress at his/her own pace, whatever that pace may be.

To accomplish this, I think class sizes should be no more than 8 students per teacher. I know this sounds ridiculous. But if class sizes were this small, it would eliminate the need for both gifted and special education.

If I thought about it long enough, I bet I could figure out a clever way to make it work.

Golly where to begin?

Firstly on the subject of testing, I believe that there has to be a way to accurately define the scores for each Student. There are major differences in how we were taught in England verses the US and how we were tested.

Initially all Students are 'streamed' basically, you are tested (aptitude tests) and placed in the classroom with Students who were within a set score range. Classes were taught in accordance to both academic ability and learning styles. The student to teacher ratios were kept to a minimum (usually no more than 15 to 1) Over the course of the year, we were offered 'continual assessment' tests, in summary, these were short tests covering the topics which had been addressed over term (at most) but for the most part, weeks, the benefit of this was that it was still relatively fresh in your mind and if you were a student who tested poorly (as I am!) you were not penalized, but in contrast, your scores accurately reflected your understanding and comprehension of the topic matters .... If you didn't do well on these tests, you would be assigned a remedial tutor who would work with you to get you back on track!

To test Students at the end of the year, covering ALL topics is hardly an accurate measurement of academic capabilities. As mentioned above, I am an individual that is appalling when taking timed tests, always have been; had I have to take such exams in School, I would most assuredly not have been accepted into the College I attended nor the degree program!

Yesterday my 7th grader came home and advised me that she was to take a book to read at School, I didn't have an issue with this until she suggested that they had been told they were to not allowed to read when the Teacher was talking I asked whether this rule meant that she should read whilst in class?? "Yes!" ...... I don't know about you, but my thoughts immediately went to 'why do you have the opportunity to read in class and NOT BE WORKING!!!?' (Not sure if I'm explaining myself well here ) Why are the Students in the Jr High (the self same grades that have wretched scores) being encouraged to bring books to School to read in class when there is an obvious issue with either the curriculum, the teacher styles, the sheer numbers of student to teacher ratio's (30) lack of desks (good gracious!!) OMG!!

Which brings me to my next point.... (again relative to Jr High) 30 students per classroom. All students are 'mainstreamed' no more ALPS classes. Within this classroom, the Teacher is working with 30 students, of these some will be advanced, some will be struggling and (hopefully) the majority will have a comprehensive understanding and be able to maintain without too much personal attention, which is rather fortunate as the one Teacher will have more than an insane amount of pressure to keep up with them all. Possibly why the Principle told them to bring in books to read during the 'downtime,' assuming they actually have a desk so they can sit and read !

Hmmm, I might be a tad frustrated over this That was day 1, I can't imagine that I got the whole story and will allow for the power of exaggeration.... Sorry for ranting and raving, I am truly concerned and I would imagine I am one of many ......

I have thought for years that in addition to the formal evaluations given teachers by administrators that the teachers themselves should be given an informal anonymous evaluation by their peers within the department. Foe example, my wife is an english teacher, she would participate in an anonymous evaluation of the remainder of the english department and they would participate in hers. If there is an issue that the administration would not catch on the pre planned review date, the peers would be able to highlight areas for improvement. As they all work in the same department it seems they would be qualified to critique their peers in a positive fashion and if there is an issue it seems it could be brought to light for the administration to evaluate as they deem fit. the end result should be a better product available for students.

The thing that suprises me about the 8th grade scores is typically this grade is one that has outstanding grades. I know even last year when they announced during the Fall Sports Awards, the 8th grade football team with 34 kids on it had 32 kids with a 3.5 or higher on the team.

Thank you for adding that Slapshot! That is so good to read! Again reflecting on these scores; I do not believe they are accurately depicting the academic capabilities of our students. A 3.5 GPA does not cause alarm bells to chime in the least (without reviewing the actual #'s, would that present them as merit role students???) Certainly not reflective of :

/ Reading / 162 / 75.3
/ Math / 163 / 68.7
/ Science / 163 / 61.4
/ Social / 163 / 38

NB: Noting the post mentioned only 32 students