Defining the future

ISTE President Helen Padgett had this to say at this year's NECC conference:

"Schools have made progress" toward meeting 21st-century curriculum goals, she said, but the results from the most recent Speak Up survey reveal how much work still remains: Students in the national survey said they "step back in time" when they go to school.

"We won't be doing our job until students say they're stepping into their future, instead of our past," Padgett warned.

Like everyone and everything, educators are desperately trying to determine what that "future" looks like when it comes to technology. Will technology simply be a wonderful tool that allows us to deliver services more efficiently and to an ever-expanding audience? Or will it transform the foundation of the educational model.

The current educational model is the result of generations upon generations of trial and error and best practices. It is what it is because it works. While there are myriad things that can be improved in education through the use of technology, educators need to be cautious they don't mistakenly throw good after bad simply for the sake of doing something new.

What we do know, and what will not change, is that technology is playing a larger and larger role in people's personal and professional lives every day, and the ability to not only use technology, but the ability to adapt to technologies as they become available will be key to students' success in life.

It is very exciting to be an explorer navigating this frontier, in which, once again, all is possible.

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World language in day care?

WCCO had a wonderful story last night about kids learning world language in day care. Here's a snippet:

Research has found that a second language comes very easy for children. In fact, the younger, the better. Unfortunately, our country's schools are cutting back in this area.

The Center for Applied Linguistics has published preliminary survey results on its website. It found in 1997 one-fourth of elementary schools offered foreign language instruction. Last year, only 15 percent did.

We are so thrilled we are moving in the opposite direction. That, despite budget cuts we were able to add world language at the elementary level while districts nationwide are being forced to cut it. Learning a world language at a young age has a host of additional educational benefits beyond just language and parents are seeing the value. One day care mentioned in the WCCO story has a waiting list of 350 kids!

Adding Spanish to the curriculum here at NBAPS will not only expose kids to language at the most opportune time, and improve their ability to learn in the long run, but also provide an opportunity to attract new families to the district.

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School supply lists now available

We've received a few inquiries about it over the last few days, so we have placed the school supply lists at the district home page for your convenience.

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More on math scores

Yesterday, I posted more detailed information on District math scores. Last night at the School Board meeting, I got into the subject of MCA II scores in more detail, including how proud we are of reading scores and how concerned we are with math scores. I also discussed the efforts we making to provide math remediation and get those scores up next year.

For your convenience, here is a podcast of those remarks:



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Understanding math scores

There has been some confusion expressed over 11th grade MCA II math scores, primarily because of the many ways to measure the results. Here is some information I hope will prove helpful in understanding the many percentages being reported.

There are many factors at play when measuring the results of MCA II math test scores.

First, the 11th grade MCA II math test is actually two tests in one: (1) The MCA II and (2) the imbedded GRAD standard test. The GRAD standard, which is a lower benchmark compared to "proficiency" on the MCA II math test, is 40 of the overall 65 questions contained in the test.

Second, there are various ways districts calculate achievement. For instance, North Branch Area Public Schools could measure 11th grade students scores' at the district wide level (which would include students at the Area Learning Center) or at North Branch Area High School. Depending on what is being measured, there can be a variety of percentages reported.

In an effort to make the reporting more understandable, we have compiled the multiple percentages for your information:

11th grade GRAD - Passing

District wide = 44.5%

High School = 48.0%

State average = 57.3%

11th grade MCA-II - Proficient

District wide = 30.7%

High School = 33.6%

State average = 41.6%

Something else to keep in mind is that the state has relaxed the math graduation requirements for the next five years, so students who do not pass the GRAD standard will still be able to graduate if certain conditions are met. I blogged about those conditions here.

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