No Child Left Behind in Philly School District

[Al B. Sure!]

the results came out and even with the supposed
dramatic improvement, the scores are still abysmally low. all philly scores are from the public school district.


percent proficient of advanced in 5th grade
math- 23.1% (philly) 56.3% (pa)
reading- 22.8% (philly) 58% (pa)

in 11th grade
math- 21.6 (philly) 49.1 (pa)
reading- 30.1 (philly) 59.1 (pa)

when you examine it racially (all grades) in philly... math then reading

asian 50.3 43.3
white 42.4 49.6
hispanic 16.8 19.6
black 15.1 22.4
english language learners 20.0 12.0

graduation rates... 60.5 (philly) 86.4 (pa)

when it comes to teachers. the percentage of those considered highly qualified (is fully certified, has a bachelor's degree, has completed a content area major, and must have passed a content area test) is 90.4% in philly, 97% in pa.

my question is what can be done to improve these scores if teachers (which are apparently just as qualified in philly as in the rest of pa) are not to blame. and whites and asians in the public school system scored over twice as high as hispanics and blacks.

[Bereta_Eder]

americans believe in social dwarvinism. so if u're poor it's because u're stupid according to them

[Jon Miller]

that's real;ly high compared to my school district

Jon miller

[Japher]

Get rid of the sports programs.

Granted it encourages team play, health, competition, etc. Yet, this is something that can be done through gym and through academic challenges.

The problem with sports in intercity HS is that many of the children there feel (due to their society) that becoming a professional or proficient athelete is the only way they will ever get into college or make money. THus, they ignore the education taht they are actually there to receive and either cause problems during classes making it harder on those who are there to learn or just do nothing. Also, those who try to become these atheletes but fall short earn a mental stigma that labels themselves as losers. This self image is then reflect not only on their classes, but also their social behavior.

I hate to suggest it as I love sports, played them in HS (even though I suked), and enjoyed going to games in HS. However, I don't feel that a institution of learning should be a breading ground for atheletes, and that is what they have become. Especially in places like Philly.

[Al B. Sure!]

Japher:

basketball scholarships remain one of the primary ways inner-city guys manage to get into college. by cutting sports like that, you'll be preventing a fair amount of guys from going on to college.

[Japher]

by cutting sports like that, you'll be preventing a fair amount of guys from going on to college.

It's thinking like that which is the problem.

Are you saying that those guys are too stupid to get into college without a basketball scholarship?

[Al B. Sure!]

one odd thing about the philly stats is that the math scores for 11th grade have dropped 2% since last year

[Al B. Sure!]

Japher:

perchance... the thing is though, they need to get into college. once in it, they'll buckle down and learn things. it's just they need to get in first.

[Spiffor]

I don't know the situation, so I couldn't tell how to change it.

But I'd suppose the main reasons behind failure at school in Philly's case are:

- bad working conditions out of school: crowded/noisy housing, families not emphasizing the importance of education, unhealthy lifestyles etc.
- bad working conditions at school: crowded classes, unsafety, lack of following by the teachers.
- (for the older highschoolers): insufficient hopes of bettering one's condition through education, temptation to look for non-academic forms of making money.

[Japher]

the thing is though, they need to get into college. once in it, they'll buckle down and learn things.

Really? What makes you think that? If they can't pass 11th grade math which is basic arithmatetic, then what is to say they will do well in college? That is a BS excuse. If they are too dumb and proud to learn in HS chances are they are making it more difficult on those around them, not to mention that there lack of desire to learn brings those scores down... and that is the matter of discussion here.

It is not just the notion that HS=basketball=scholarship to college that is the problem, it's the whole mind set that this stems from. It's the something for nothing, at least not brains. If a whole society is via'ing for that scholarship, or relying on it, what happens when they don't get it? What happens to those who don't even make varsity? What has that done to ther status in this society that worships atheletes? What will that do to their self image?

A lack of respect for education in exchange for a greater respect for atheltic performance gets you those lower percentages, it gets you a town full of disgruntled never has beens, and it gets you a town full of people who are ashamed of who they are and therefor have no respect for the socitey that betrayed them.

Society should encourage their children to become the owner of a sports team, instead of a player for one. I know that I, for one, would rather be writting the checks then collecting them.

[St Leo]

Re: No Child Left Behind in Philly School District

Originally posted by Albert Speer
my question is what can be done to improve these scores if teachers (which are apparently just as qualified in philly as in the rest of pa) are not to blame. and whites and asians in the public school system scored over twice as high as hispanics and blacks.

Parents are a very important component of a child's education. They need to encourage scholastic achievement in their kids and they need to be able to help out with the homework/check math answers/whatever.

Children raised by people who never got the chains of illiteracy off all the way are unlikely to unchain themselves.

[Verto]

For the record, in 2002, Pennsylvania returned nearly 3.5 million dollars in federal funding (for education) back to the govt.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
Japher:

perchance... the thing is though, they need to get into college. once in it, they'll buckle down and learn things. it's just they need to get in first.

BS. They have people take care of their classes for them.

[Verto]

Japher:

perchance... the thing is though, they need to get into college. once in it, they'll buckle down and learn things. it's just they need to get in first.

[Jac de Molay]

Originally posted by Japher
Get rid of the sports programs.

Yeah ok . Let's just screw poor school districts even more and get rid of their sports.

If anything, sports is the ONLY hope that many of these kids have for discipline and accountibility because they're not getting it from home or from regular school.