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For those interested in standardized test scores of Charleston area schools, the 2009 ACT scores were just released. They can be found here. (http://ed.sc.gov/topics/assessment/scores/act/2009/2009ACTAssessmentResults.html - broken link) With Charleston County Schools viewed in such a negative light by many, it is nice to see that the top three composite test scores in the tri-county area in 2009 were in Charleston County (Academic Magnet High School, Charleston County School of the Arts and Wando High School). There certainly are many Charleston County Schools that need great improvement, but there are some excellent Public High School Options in the County.
While everyone should be happy to see that ACT scores for last year's graduating classes in the tri-county area remained stable or improved slightly [see Area ACT Scores Improve], those statistics are virtually meaningless without regression analysis of variables affecting the scores. The numbers taking the test vary widely from one high school to another and from one year to another.
Look at it another way. What would really be an accomplishment would be that the statistics on standardized testing did not continue to mirror the socioeconomic status of the students. Do the numbers mean that Wando High School (at an ACT of 22.9, above the national average) does the best job in education or that its relatively affluent and white student body would do that well regardless of how poor its curriculum was?
Do the numbers mean that Burke High (with an ACT of 15.7, well below the national average) does the worst job in educating its students or that its relatively poor and ill-prepared student body would have done even worse if not for its strong curriculum?
In fact, until taking the ACT is a graduation requirement and high schools become more diverse, such numbers will be but a blurry snapshot of educational progress.
The blogger who commented below does makes some excellent, yet I believe controversial points. According to her profile, she is teacher in Charleston County. It would be interesting to know at which Charleston County School she teaches. I would not characterize the ACT scores or other standardized test scores as being "virtually meaningless" in evaluating the success that teachers and administrators have at a particular school in providing an educational environment and standard of instruction conducive to learning. When a family is considering moving to a particular school district, test scores are one of the few objective criteria that is available to evaluate the educational experience that a child will receive should they attend a particular school. The percentage of students taking a particular standardized test at a school certainly is an important factor in evaluating the "average" scores. Generally, Wando High School has one of the highest percentage of students taking standardized tests in the tri-county area. Professional staff members at Wando have an average of 14 years of educational experience. 67% of the faculty and professional staff hold masters or other advanced degrees. 30 professional staff members are National Board certified teachers. I would like to think that these numbers have a lot to do with the relatively high tests scores we see at Wando year after year rather than the economic profile of the students. I find the comment by the blog poster that white students might do well in testing regardless of how poor it's curriculum might be, rather insulting to the 19% of African-American students attending Wando who receive family and teacher support and work hard to succeed academically. 94% of the 2008 Wando graduates attended four year colleges or universities, two year colleges or technical colleges. These figures should help support the contention that the success of Wando students can be attributed to it's faculty and professional staff and not just the incomes of their families or their race.
While everyone should be happy to see that ACT scores for last year's graduating classes in the tri-county area remained stable or improved slightly [see Area ACT Scores Improve], those statistics are virtually meaningless without regression analysis of variables affecting the scores. The numbers taking the test vary widely from one high school to another and from one year to another.
Look at it another way. What would really be an accomplishment would be that the statistics on standardized testing did not continue to mirror the socioeconomic status of the students. Do the numbers mean that Wando High School (at an ACT of 22.9, above the national average) does the best job in education or that its relatively affluent and white student body would do that well regardless of how poor its curriculum was?
Do the numbers mean that Burke High (with an ACT of 15.7, well below the national average) does the worst job in educating its students or that its relatively poor and ill-prepared student body would have done even worse if not for its strong curriculum?
In fact, until taking the ACT is a graduation requirement and high schools become more diverse, such numbers will be but a blurry snapshot of educational progress.
Of course socio-economic factors impact the scores - there isn't an educator, parent, student, administrator, politician that doesn't know that. Of course the scores are blurry. Of course we don't have the whole picture.
Of course rural schools with less resources, urban schools with more diversity and less resources don't score as well. Of course schools in areas where people can CHOOSE to move to have good schools.
These figures should help support the contention that the success of Wando students can be attributed to it's faculty and professional staff and not just the incomes of their families or their race.
These figures don't 'support' but you have to hope the staff had some impact.
It's a self- fulfilling prophecy of sorts -- you have a school or area where parents support education, kids see it has value. The scores are good, the teachers want to go to schools where the kids want to learn and be there. So the good schools get the good teachers, and the families where education is a priority. If you can't get decent scores from that -- then you must be dong something wrong.
I agree with you that socio-economic factors impact test scores. I do disagree with the blogger who said scores "are virtually meaningless" in evaluating the success of the teachers and administrators in proving a good learning environment and representative of the quality of education one can obtain at a particular school. You seem to give the impression that schools with limited resources and those with a diversified student body don't score as well as those with better resources and/or with little or no diversification. This may often be true, but there are numerous examples of schools with such limited resources and low income students doing quite well on standardized courses. If this were not the case than it would be almost futile for a school to improve the test scores of it's students without changing the composition of the student body. You made the statement that the good schools get the good teachers thus resulting in better test scores. I would think that the majority of teachers at intercity schools would differ with you in that evaluation.
I am not alleging that the only reason that Wando students do well in test taking is due to the instruction they received. I do stress that parents of school age children need some objective standard to use in deciding to which school to send their child.Certainly, a visit to the school and conversations with teachers and administrators may give one some degree of comfort that they are making the right choice. However, I believe that it is difficult to judge the quality of education one will receive and the learning environment in a school by just an hour or two visit and that test scores are a better criteria.
Quote:
Originally Posted by moneill
Of course socio-economic factors impact the scores - there isn't an educator, parent, student, administrator, politician that doesn't know that. Of course the scores are blurry. Of course we don't have the whole picture.
Of course rural schools with less resources, urban schools with more diversity and less resources don't score as well. Of course schools in areas where people can CHOOSE to move to have good schools.
These figures should help support the contention that the success of Wando students can be attributed to it's faculty and professional staff and not just the incomes of their families or their race.
These figures don't 'support' but you have to hope the staff had some impact.
It's a self- fulfilling prophecy of sorts -- you have a school or area where parents support education, kids see it has value. The scores are good, the teachers want to go to schools where the kids want to learn and be there. So the good schools get the good teachers, and the families where education is a priority. If you can't get decent scores from that -- then you must be dong something wrong.
SAT and ACT scores do not give you an accurate read of the schools in general, what they do is give you an accurate read of the students who took the tests. Since not all, and probably not even most of the students took the tests it can not be used to evaluate the entire school system.....
273 students took the ACT at Wando 215 took it at Summerville I don't know how many kids there are at Wando, but there are over 3K at Summerville, that makes the test a less than 10% sample.
Approximately 36% of eligible students at Wando took the ACT test. 80% of Wando Seniors took the SAT test. Between the ACT and SAT, a huge percentage of Wando students took the ACT and/or the SAT tests and did very well compared to the rest of the tri-county schools. As most college bound students take the SAT rather than the ACT test, the large number who took the ACT and particularly the SAT is certainly reflective of the quality of students attending Wando High School.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OleTomCat
SAT and ACT scores do not give you an accurate read of the schools in general, what they do is give you an accurate read of the students who took the tests. Since not all, and probably not even most of the students took the tests it can not be used to evaluate the entire school system.....
273 students took the ACT at Wando 215 took it at Summerville I don't know how many kids there are at Wando, but there are over 3K at Summerville, that makes the test a less than 10% sample.
As a parent that is relocating with school age children...
I don't look at test scores as an indictment or endorsement of the teachers or curriculum because there are too many other factors. I do look at it as a gauge of where I want my children to go to school. I'm looking for a school where students, parents and teachers are all engaged in the learning process.
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