Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Utah Public School Grading Falls Under the Microscope - Updated

Critics and skeptics say failing grades speak to flaws in the system

The Standard-Examiner reports that "[t]wo Top of Utah high schools received failing grades overall from the state in the first-ever release of ratings for public schools."
Via the Democratic Education Caucus of Weber County, "here is the information from the Ogden School District on the school grades released from the state replete with Mr. Smith's explanations":
 More from the Standard: "Critics and skeptics Utah's grading system for its schools say failing grades for Ben Lomond and Viewmont High Schools speaks to flaws in the system rather than the failings of the individual schools":
So what do you think, fellow Utahns?

OSD "Superintendant Smith"
Update 9/5/13 9:15 a.m.: In a dazzling display of political opportunism, and with a neck-snapping 180-degree flip-flop from his remarks contained in the above-linked memorandum, Ogden School District Superintendent Brad Smith now says he supports the grading system that "clobbered" OSD schools earlier this week:
Political chameleon, anyone?

Mr. Smith apparently doesn't subscribe to the philosophy: "The buck stops here," we guess.

14 comments:

Nick Turner said...

Both Ogden High Schools Dead Last in Utah, both got an F. Nice work
Ogden, nice work. Time to solve this crisis and go all charter in the
Ogden District. I can't think of any other solution. Throwing more
money at bad schools won't solve it. The kids and Ogden's future
deserves it. I am a concerned parent of 2 and we are seriously considering moving because of the schools.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=691&sid=6258270

Sharon said...

Not
surprising, schools with poor students do poorly. When the school also
has a gifted class in the building it makes normal students rank lower
as a percentage. This grading shows nothing.

Joel Estrada said...

Our school moved from an F to a C. We are moving in the right directions.

Joel Estrada said...

I disagree, look into the way they are doing the grading system. If their are talented students in the school it would raise the schools scores not lower them

Joel Estrada said...

Hey, our school, Dee, went from an f to a c. We have a lot more work to do but we are heading on the right track. Way to go Dee.

Joel Estrada said...

You should read this article about charter schoolshttp://m.democracynow.org/stories/13859

Bonnie said...

Why is it that we are spending time grading our schools? We already know that pretty much all of Ogden City Schools are having a hard time. So lets not grade them, and make the teachers feel worse. Lets do something about it! Lets try and get more teachers, lets make school fun for the kids, and lets try and make it so the students want to go to school! When I went to school everyone was trying to "sluff" class. That was what the cool kids did. We don't want kids doing that. Grading the schools in my oppinion didn't help. I think it made things worse.

blackrulon said...

a grading system, designed by the Utah Legislature, gave some schools failing grades. A eductional system that is severely underfunded but at the same time overcrowded. Even the pride and joy of the legislatures, charter schools, failed or reveived low grades. Perhaps the legislature could consult with teachers about ways to improve learning opportunities.

Bob Becker said...

Your school may be improving. I hope it is. But its grade on this list is no reliable indication that it is.
Also, since this is the first time the state has issued school grades, it's a little puzzling how your school could have " moved from an F to a C."

Bob Becker said...

Since this is the first time the state assigned grades to schools, how could Dee have gone from an F to a C? Or from any grade to another?

Danielle said...

Now
that a PR campaign is being mounted to counter concerns from the
education community, it cannot be not be denied that these grades are
based on ONE test score. If I gave grades on that basis during my
38-year career, parent complaints would land me in the principal's
office.

rudizink said...

Wake up, people! Many of these "ditzy" Ogden School Board officials need to be replaced, once Ogden School Board Officials are on the ballot in November 2014.

Bob Becker said...

Yup. D or F for getting a 94% instead if a 95% on a single measure. Our legislators at work. And our governor, who signed this turkey into law.

James Humphreys said...

I have no idea how flawed the system for grading is etc. But I do have a couple of thoughts. If a single letter grade is good enough for all of our children, based solely on performance, like test results or turning in homework etc, why is it not good enough for our schools that teach these same children?


Second, I know that there is every likelihood the system has mistakes. This is the first time it is being used, but some measurement is good for parents and Administrators alike I would think. We seem to be lacking in accountability in many areas of education. Our educational system has lots of trouble for a wide variety of reasons, but the solutions we have tried in the past do not seem to be consistently getting better results. Certainly we need to find out where we are falling short and ensure we are attempting to fix those various issues.


Lastly, I think Rudi is right. No matter what we think about this or other education issues, we must hold the school board accountable for either success or failure. Our involvement in the process is almost always better. Many hands make light work.

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