<p>Yes, Kelowna! The teacher warned us at bts night that there might be tears as a result of lower grades than they are accustomed to achieving. This first exam will tell her if she has studied enough to achieve results she is proud of or if she needs to study more. (can’t imagine that!) Good luck to your S the next two weeks!</p>
<p>Good luck to your DD on the WH test! Not sure what to think of this one. My DD is in Honors English. The first big essay was last week. The teacher told them the other day, after they handed everything in, that if she thought you did a half-a$$ed job, she would give you 50%. My DD was worried about the grade as several kids in the other class had received their essays back and it wasn’t a pretty picture. I asked her if she thought she did a good job on her essay. She said, “I like my essay mom, I did a good job.” Ok. The grades were just posted; she got a 78. I understand that the teacher may be raising the bar and wants her students to improve and wants to leave room for improvement. However, my DD is a good writer and has never gotten anything close to a 78 on an essay before. I’m just hoping that there are enough other assignments throughout the term that her grade can recover. Did I mention that this is the teacher’s first year teaching Honors 10th grade English? Also, this shouldn’t be about weeding out, as kids had to have a teacher’s recomendation to be in this class.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen “Waiting for Superman” yet? I haven’t seen it, just seen discussions about it. CC has really opened my eyes to the differences between schools and school districts. My kids have been in the same district their whole school career, so I guess I don’t have much to compare it to - other than the inner city district next door to ours that is obviously worse than ours. But it is obvious to me, as I see all of your posts about your schools and your kids and the curriculum, that our district is not as rigorous by a long shot. Even the AP classes seem different. My S is bright (G/T) but coasts through even AP classes with A’s. We don’t have IB or anything higher. He never has more than 30 minutes of homework and I’ve never seen him study for anything - other than learning lines for a play. My D, who is a college freshman, was the same (mostly A’s, a couple Bs in AP Physics and Honors Math). Now she is realizing how underprepared she is for college work (never wrote a research paper more than 5 pages long, etc). And our district is the top rated “diverse” district in the state. Ah yes, Texas ranks near the bottom in education!</p>
<p>Geogirl -
I have come to really dislike first year teachers. Takes a long time to find that meet in the middle point for expectations. Hope your daughter’s teacher supplied comments on the paper to sid your daughter in the next go around.</p>
<p>My Son doesn’t seemed concerned about grades this year. Instead, I have become super focused on protecting that GPA. Much more than I should. I am taking a step back.</p>
<p>Megpmom -
Yes CC really openned up my eyes. We struggle for my kid to be at a private HS. It has as much to do with his IQ as it does that I felt ill prepared for college. My parents don’t get it; after all the private HS is sending kids to the same college as our public. But my focus is not on getting a college admit as much as having the kid be able to keep up and choose any major. I do understand issues with the SAT, but the standardized national tests are the only method that I can see to level the playing field. With the AP, you need to look at the kids scores of the AP exam. Not always easy. Our tech school seems perfect for CompSci kids – hands on, AP classes – best of both worlds. When I dug deeper, the average AP test score was a 1 or 2. Difficult to determine if a college bound kid would benefit from the Tech program. Add to that, we need to sign up for the program by middle of 8th grade.</p>
<p>megpmom: I haven’t seen it yet; it’s not playing in the Nashville area (we are not a hot spot for small movies.)</p>
<p>We moved from NJ to TN 7 years ago; everyone told us how much worse the schools in TN would be comparatively. But we did our homework and are in a top rated district; my kids HS is regularly on the Newsweek Top 1000 HS list (not that I think their metrics are particularly valid but…) While we’ve been happy with most of the teachers that my girls have had, what our district has that our NJ district didn’t is parent who are: involved, educated, and for the most part well off. And they want a good education for their kids (most people say they chose our county to move to because of the schools; obviously if that’s one of your motivating factors than education has a high value for your family & you’re doing things beyond school too.) So you have a bunch of people who self select into a community because of education and the boat rises. The peer pressure here is to be successful, not that school success means you’re a nerd. </p>
<p>I think our district could be doing a lot more given the socio-economic profile of the students (i.e. when 99.7% of your students have internet at home, have intact families, are not eligible for free lunches, etc. you’re dealing with a population who SHOULD be testing well, since most barriers to success have been removed.) However, when we went back to our old district in NJ for HS graduation (D1 is still in constant contact with a few of her pre-, elementary & middle school buddies) I was stunned by the “lack of” in their HS careers. Very few ap’s and the ones they had didn’t have many students (AP English had 4 students because even the better students “didn’t want to read that much.”) The choral program had no discipline; it was a “fun” class vs. my D1s chamber choir that had an emphasis on difficult 'literature," sight reading, and proper technique (and a couple of the kids that were the “stars” of the NJ choir have been shocked at college this year that they weren’t selected for auditioned college groups; they just haven’t had the training that is standard at other schools.) I could go on and on. I felt so sad; I knew many of the kids very well and there was a diminished sense of expectations there compared to here. Made both D1 & I thankful for the move. </p>
<p>Anyway not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but a lot of this is really driven by collective parental/community expectations. The schools can only do so much when the students aren’t motivated and parents aren’t expecting more. There’s got to be a better way!</p>
<p>megpmom: we haven’t seen it yet, either, but I’d like to.</p>
<p>We moved 2 years ago from the top ranked public school in PA to a highly regarded, but unranked school on LI. The differences are huge, however, I’m not yet sure how it actually will affect my kids. I agree, it seems that the only way to really determine if your school is preparing kids, or at least provides an atmosphere where they can prepare themselves is looking at avg SAT and AP scores. At least the tests are national and everyone takes the same test, even if the tests are flawed and shouldn’t really be used for that purpose. </p>
<p>As RobD pointed out, the differences in each school’s starting population absolutely effects the schools academic atmosphere. Our PA school was filled with high achievers with supportive parents. It’s a large school, with awesome teachers (if you aren’t awesome, you don’t get a job), a large selection of classes and a student body with 15% of the population testing into the gifted range and a very large % of the school population in the IQ range between 120 and 130. How could they not have a wonderful school with wonderful stats. It is also a competitive pressure cooker and it is hard to shine there because there are so many kids who shine. </p>
<p>Our current school has a more “normal” bell curve range of students. The parents are just as involved, but their isn’t a huge % of the population pushing for top anything. We have enough AP classes, but the caliber of teacher ranges from class to class. The opportunity is there for high student achievement, but most students are more on their own to get that 5 or get that 800. At our old school the classes where taught ( and the homework load reflected) the expectation that most kids would get a 4 or 5 on the AP. Here, not so much. </p>
<p>On a positive note though, here my kids shine. They are at the top 5%, even though they were more in the top 20% at the other school. Here their teachers notice them and they have much more opportunity to be invovled in whatever they want, just because it is a smaller environment and they are at the top. So, in the end, I’m not sure which is the better environment for them. I guess they will have to tell me when they are 30. Right now, they wish they were back in PA, but see and appreciate the advantages they have here.</p>
<p>our HS is 65% minority and almost 40% economically disadvantaged. About 15% of HS kids enter with insufficient English (at the elementary level it is much higher). And many, many parents don’t have sufficient education or English skills to help their children the way that we seem to “expect” in suburban schools. They can’t even attend parent/teacher conferences because they are working 2 or 3 jobs or have younger kids at home. In fact, our HS doesn’t even try to have parent/teacher conferences. But we have a great faculty and staff who really care for the kids and put in the extra hours. We have a high percentage “college bound” (around 80% in D’s class) but I just wonder how many of them are actually successful at college. I worry about the state of public education in our country if this is one of the successful schools. It seems like these kids are at a disadvantage before they even leave the starting gate.</p>
<p>I think success is a relative term. Your school is successful considering how much it has achieved and considering what most schools with those kinds of statistics look like. Your school is the wonderful exception. Your DD was able to go to college and do well. Sounds like she will have a much steeper learning curve her freshman and even sophomore year, but then, because she IS smart, she will figure it out and reach her highest potential. That is awesome! The fate of the unexceptional student in an unexceptional school is a concern.</p>
<p>I do believe that you can receive a good education no matter what school you go to. As I tell my kids, “you bloom where you are planted.” It just takes a little more initiative, self-motivation, desire for learning, etc. My kids are in public school not only because of finances, but because we value public education as a societal good. We’re lucky that our district has magnet programs (housed in our HS) that do offer something special for the motivated kid (AVID, robotics, health science, law, culinary, performing arts and communications). I agree with geogirl1, that it is those “unexceptional” kids that we all need to be concerned about. It is so easy to fall through the cracks and get discouraged. I’m glad that public education is becoming part of the national conversation (for now, until our national ADD takes over and we chase another rabbit!)</p>
<p>Megmom I would love to see Waiting for Superman. I too am very interested/concerned with educational differences. I live in an urban area with very poor schools overall. Fortunately for me my children attend an honors school that consistently is recognized as a top school nationwide. AP & IB are standard classes. When you pull the best and brightest in the district, I would think that would be standard however. </p>
<p>Given that, 30 minutes of hw a night is what my dd will often do. She is very efficient and has an unbelievable memory. If she reads/hears it she remembers it. She has two AP classes this year and I have yet to se her put in the time I think she should. I nag, threaten, etc, but the effort is not there. She spends most of her time writing (for pleasure) and playing her guitar. (Not unproductive but still not establishing study skills) I am trying to back off somwhat so she can own this issue. She knows the expectations are A’s only. I suspect AP World will not be that high. </p>
<p>I do agree you can receive a good education no matter where you are but it is so much more work if you are in an underperforming school. If you have parents with time interest and money you can often supplement a poor education.</p>
<p>Took D & a friend to the district sponsored College Fair last night (140+ schools. Very overwhelming.) I would not have suggested she go this year, but the GC’s did. Quite interesting to hear she and her friend as they walked around and talked to Ad Coms. I remember my older D being very reserved when she went to these things, but D2 was having conversations about Creative Writing programs, while her friends was inquiring about Film Studies. We’ll be going through the bag of brochures together soon, I’m sure. I know at least a few schools came onto her radar that she’d never heard of before. </p>
<p>I really didn’t want to be there; honestly I’m still hoping for a year off of “real” college talk.</p>
<p>My district is having a private screening of it next week for those of us who serve on key committees. Can’t wait to see it.</p>
<p>Anybody else’s sophomore taking the PSAT in a couple of weeks? Our school requires it.</p>
<p>The PLAN is required for all sophomores here (we are an ACT state; it’s mandated to graduate) but the PSAT is recommended for strong freshman & sophomores for prep for junior year. Since the PLAN is being administered to all sophomores on the same day as the PSAT HAS to be administered, D & other sophomores will take the PSAT on that day, and take the PLAN the next day during the make up day. Yay testing!</p>
<p>We just had our back to school night…finally! I just have to say how impressed I was with the teachers…particularly the younger ones and the brand new English teacher! H and I are amazed at the energy, enthusiasm and organization skills of our D’s teachers. Each one had only 9 minutes to describe the course,expectations and some background on themselves. They are all comfortable with the new technology (smart boards, blackboard online) but still seemed to be old fashioned in their expectations and approach to classroom management. My daughter has been more enthusiastic this year and now I see why. They were all pretty good last year, but she seems to have won the lottery in teachers this year. Just wonderful! Even health/PE promises to be an interesting and challenging course with a very kind/athletic/smart assistant football coach leading the way (he also teaches the PE for the physically challenged kids and the special ed kids at the school). This is a suburban public school outside of dc in a district that is heavily unionized, 40% kids are below the poverty line and at least 15% are second language English speakers. It would be a shame if the new movie made people believe that good teachers and a successful school won’t be found where there is a teacher’s union in a large school (2000 students) with a lot of poor students. It is noteworthy that her teachers for the accelerated English and Math also teach regular level classes and some remedial level. The best teachers are not reserved for the top students. If you are in a great district like ours, take a moment to appreciate what our public schools do for our children and demand that all children get the same opportunities.</p>
<p>Had BTS night for D last night and was thrilled with her teachers while she did pick some regular versions of classes those teachers seem motivated and I know D will actually stay on top of things and learn what she needs to instead of struggling in material moving too fast that shes just not as interested in. I also loved her photography teacher and instantly knew (she raves about him too) that he is what is keeping her sane in the school day and that is so important. Shes just a different student much more like I was although I was better at sucking it up and taking classroom style learning 
but I felt instantly at ease in her art and photo classrooms because they just felt more relaxed and yet energetic too. I really liked her honors English teacher who says she teaches her hardest book right before she needs to do recommendations for AP 11 because she wants to make sure the students are ready and it was refreshing to know she was focused on books that appeal to both boys individually and girls individually. No one seemed to have a crazy grading scale or philosophy which is good. Ds HS is a good one in that it offers a lot for the motivated student but it also doesnt forget about those that are strong students but just not motivated to take all AP, etc whereas my D10s HS seemed much more focused on IB kids and everyone else had to fend for themselves. Even my D10 who was full AP was a step-child of sorts.</p>
<p>I cringe when I hear 1st year teachers too although I know there are gems among them, my kids have never had a positive experience when faced with one!</p>
<p>FineArts I was impressed with that too - the teachers at D’s school have varied classes and also weren’t just teaching advanced or regular.</p>
<p>YDS – Son will be taking the PSAT too. No PLAN here.</p>
<p>RobD – back to back testing days may not be fun, but I do like the idea the kids get exposed to both types of tests.</p>
<p>My kid who always had a humanities slant is really regretting taking AP Govt and wishes he opted for a 2nd (non-AP) science course. He doesn’t share much, so I can’t decipher if this means AP Govt is too difficult/too much work or if he is finely starting to have an interest in science. Either way, I’m sure when planning classes in the future he’ll look more in depth at course and teacher rather than what fits into the schedule. </p>
<p>megpmom – You are indeed lucky that your public district has a magnet program. I do value public education. I even believe my public district does a lot of good with the limited resources we have. But not all public districts can fit all kids. I don’t believe a child can thrive anywhere. I am from a small, poor district. It isn’t just a lack of funding for school, but also a lack of adult support to value academics as much as athletics as well as stable family environment. For every success story that has come out of our district in the last 25 years there is also a tragic story.</p>
<p>YDS, my D will be taking the PSAT along with the rest of her sophomore class. The district administers it to all tenth graders during school and pays the fees. However, junior year when the class will be attempting to qualify for the NMS program, the district expects the individual student to register, pay the fee, and show up after school to sit for the test. Only the truly motivated do this.</p>
<p>My son takes the PSAT next month too. He also took it last year and did pretty poorly. I know he was only in the 9th grade but he didn’t score 500 in a single subject area. I think a lot was due to the fact that he doesn’t read much of anything except gaming magazines and gaming blogs and he wasn’t exposed to much of that math yet. So I’m hoping he’ll do better at least on the geometry questions in the math section since he had that last year. I bought him a couple of novels (War of the Worlds and an Edgar Allen Poe anthology) that have SAT words highlighted and defined that I’ll have him read between now and then. Hopefully he’ll show a nice improvement in the CR and W sections and that will motivate him to read more.</p>
<p>All sophomores here take the PSAT - paid for by the school. I’ve never heard of the PLAN but not many kids here take ACT. As I said earlier, S said no to the school sponsored PSAT prep class. I’m not sure why that would be important, considering that you have to be a junior to qualify for NM. Is there any benefit to scoring high as a sophomore? (Other than proud parents, of course).</p>