Ah, but there is hope.
In many districts, (even those having many F grades) according to the Ohio testing website, factors such as gap closing and serving the lowest 20% are often showing much better progress than the rest of a district's grades.
Lakewood, as mentioned, got an "A" in its service to the lowest 20%.
The public education world has been looking hard and fast at how to best serve the lower end of the academic bell curve for some time now, thanks in part to the Federal "No Child Left Behind Act" from a generation ago, and while that has undergone many changes over the years, our public schools have been at the forefront of change for the better worldwide, regarding that population.
In comparing US scores with many other countries, their academic measurements may at times superficially SEEM better than those in the USA for the very reason that other district scores SEEM to be better than Lakewood's in the recent state comparisons. Those foreign schools that SEEM to score better than we are, simply do not include economically disadvantaged students in their populations.
Whether those students are weeded out by attrition in other countries, or are simply denied opportunities that we present to everyone in America, in our country, we work with all students extraordinarily well, particularly here in Lakewood, but also indeed and especially so in Ohio's high risk districts too.
Finally, I think it of great importance that we DO NOT EQUATE economic disadvantage with lower intelligence.
Truthfully, some of the most economically disadvantaged high risk students that I've taught over the years were some of the most brilliant and resourceful students I've ever known! It's just when family, home, financial, and environmental factors outside of school get to be overwhelming for a young person, they too have to prioritize.
Kudos to Lakewood Observer's Jim O'Bryan here too by the way, for working with Lakewood City Academy, our alternative school serving a number of such students potentially having multiple concerns beyond the classroom.
The Ohio testing website will tell you NOT to judge a school district by graded results alone, but to look at the whole picture. For those who bother to study the whole picture, they will understand that- far from failing, even districts having multiple F grades are working hard to reach all students, and those districts are demonstrating significant measurable progress in doing so.
Charter schools, private schools, home schooling? Those are all potentially viable alternative settings for parents who feel the necessity to separate their children from the rest of our kids for whatever reason. At the same time, and for the same reasons expressed here many times, those settings can come with their own shortcomings too.
All of us, whether we're parents, students, or community leaders, need to continue to remain aware and engaged with public education in order to insure the best possible outcomes for all of our students.
Back to the banjo...
