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Feature
Retired Educators’ Opinions About Test Score Woes
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Recently, partment of leased the Hillsborough
years with grandpar- ents.
If the caregivers are not teaching the basics, such as col-
ors, counting, etc., then the children don’t receive that in- formation until they begin school.
“Children learn from birth, but they really begin to de- velop around the age of 3 or 4. If they are not exposed to ed- ucational materials or if they are not in an environment conducive to learning before they enter kindergarten, then they have a lot of catching up to do.
“As educators, we are real- izing that now. The Superin- tendent is putting more money into the lower per- forming schools, providing aids for the teachers, and re- ducing the size of the class- room.
“Times are changing and students will be required to take their 3rd grade examina- tion on a computer. They must know how to operate the com- puter and know how to type in order to take the test. But, how many of those children in lower performing schools have access to a computer after they leave school?
She further stated that Su- perintendent Eakins “is working on the problem by training more reading coaches to help the students.”
Mrs. Bonnye Taylor Crews said, “As the state re- cently released the 2016 test scores and rolled out the school grades, it was certainly troubling to see the number of
failing ele- mentary schools in
our district. Unfortu- nately, this
is a prob-
lem that
has plagued
us for some time.
“Among the elementary schools earning the lowest grades, those located in Black communities share two attrib- utes: 1) they all have high numbers of minority children; and 2) perhaps more impor- tantly, they all have an ex- tremely high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, a factor which tends to negatively influence educa- tional success more than race.
“That said, I still have con- cerns when it comes to race and our District’s most chal- lenging schools. I find it trou- bling that with all of the advancements as a twenty- first century society, once again we have schools in our district that look a lot like they did in the segregated days of old.
“It seems that since being granted unitary status in 2001, several of our schools have gradually reverted back to being segregated.
“Even some of the magnet schools, which were created to attract students of all races, are starting to show demo- graphics reflective of the neighborhoods where these schools are located.
“Just as integration of our schools was important before the court order, it is important now. And it behooves us as a society to not slip back into the trap of segregation—for the children’s sakes and for our society’s well-being.
“Improving school integra- tion, however, should be a long term goal.
“Having spent most of my career in high poverty/high minority schools, I am confi- dent that all of these problem- atic elementary schools can ultimately achieve at much higher levels. But because of the unique challenges inher- ent to their makeup, it’s not an easy fix.
“In order to effectively close the achievement gap in these schools, a multi-pronged approach should be consid- ered:
• Ensure that curriculum, instruction, assessments, tu- torials, and enrichment activ- ities are intensely focused on and tightly aligned with cur- rent standards.
• Safeguard instructional time — if time on task is con- sistently focused and maxi- mized throughout the day, there should be no need to ex- tend school hours.
• Understand that targeted instructional activities gener- ate valuable data useful in making decisions about teach- ing and re-teaching concepts.
• Re-organize the instruc- tional day to guarantee rigor- ous instruction concentrated in core subject areas.’
• Use techniques proven to be effective with children in high poverty settings. (6) Re- cruit and hire the best and brightest administrators, teachers, and support staff — providing optimal working conditions, attractive pay, and comprehensive/ intensive/rel- evant training.
• Design and utilize pre- scriptive academic improve- ment strategies based on each school’s unique assessment data.
• Encourage constructive community and parent in- volvement.
“Though this is not an ex- haustive list, these are among the many approaches that have historically yielded suc- cess in at-risk schools nation- wide.”
The report
names of the
est performing schools.
the Florida De- Education re- grades for County Schools. contained the state’s 300 low-
Forty of those failing schools are located in Hills- borough County. Some retired Hillsborough County educa- tors shared their opinions on how to improve the status of those schools.
Mrs. Gloria Andrews
said, “If you
look at the
names of
the schools
that “so-
called”
failed, the
majority of
the schools
are located
in the African American neighborhoods. Most of these schools have a population of low achievers. There are a few average and high average stu- dents in these schools. There- fore, when all of the test scores are added together for a par- ticular school, what do you get --- a low test score average.
“When the so-called “Choice Plan and Charter Schools” came into existence, parents had the option to se- lect what they perceived as the best schools for their children, thus, leaving the low level kids behind.”
Mrs. Juanita Under- wood believes that the cul- ture of African Americans plays a role in the educational development of children. Many African American stu- dents spend their formative
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