So, tell me about Lakewood (Dallas, Forest Hill: neighborhood, moving, kindergarten)

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

It was the math scores of the minority groups that were what pulled it down. Go the the link and you will see. Reasons for Academically Unacceptable rating are highlighted in ORANGE. The math scores are all highlighted in orange while anything that was acceptable is in blue. While math may not be a "foreign language" all of the math problems on the TAKS tests are word problems. Overall the pass % was 50% but the minority groups were all in the 30's so it does pull it down as it is all based on how the subgroups do.

I did go to the link (which is why I quoted numbers from the site). My point being that while Black/Hispanic are considered minority groups, they are not the minority of the school population. This is not a case where a "few" students brought the rest down. This implies that there is a deeper problem when the majority (53%) of students at the school don't have the math skills to pass the test, word problems or not.

Based on the fact that the Reading scores were much better than the Math scores for these subgroups, I would claim that reading comprehension of the math problems was not the issue.

[Lakewooder]

You have to understand that last year there were 200 transfers in from other academically deficient schools plus some Katrina victims - that's what hurt the scores - this year they have improved dramatically - see info below from a teacher who was one of my classmates:

"The preliminary TAKS results are in and Woodrow has been great strides. Compared to other Dallas schools, Woodrow went from 11th to 4th in Reading, 7th to 3rd in Math, 14th to 9th in Social Studies and 4th to 5th in Science. W.T. White is first in all four categories (again) and Hillcrest is 3rd in Reading and 2nd in the other three categories.
Among 11th graders (the test that they must pass to graduate) 90.3% passed Reading, 81% passed Math, 69.4% passed Science, and 96.2% passed Social Studies. Among the economically disadvantaged 11th graders (represents almost half our students) 85.3% passed Reading, 77.8% passed Math, 62.1% passed Science, and 93.5% passed Social Studies. Those numbers climbed dramatically over last year except for Science which is stagnant.
We still have work to do, but we have the largest gains in Reading and the second biggest gains in Math compared to the other Dallas schools. So things are looking up for us".

[Lakewooder]

Also you need to know that Woodrow is really several schools in one. The upper level AP kids (mostly Lakewood/MStreets) are unfettered by the lower achievers and kids who don't even speak English and who therefore have trouble with TAKS. The AP program is rated in Newsweek's Top Schools in the Nation (top 3% of all high schools) and DMagazine's ratings (above approx 70 suburban schools - the highest DISD comprehensive high school).

The mix of students and income levels is hard to fathom from the outside, so I encourage you to visit and see for yourself. I believe I am a much better person and I am confident and friendly with all sorts of people whom I may never have encountered had I gone to a homogeneous high school.

I also urge you to check parent comments at greatschools.net.

[Spree]

What is the percentage of seniors going to college from Woodrow?

[Lakewooder]

I'm not sure - I know the senior class is usually around 250 and has been pulling in about $4 million in scholarships the last few years.

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

I'm not sure - I know the senior class is usually around 250 and has been pulling in about $4 million in scholarships the last few years.

That's an amazing statistic - that equates to $16,000 in scholarships for each member of the senior class. Obviously many students are not going to college, so the per-college-bound student amount must be much higher. Do you have a source for that number?

[Lakewooder]

It is announced every year -- just gleaned from the newspapers.

There are some very high achievers and there are some low ones, too...it's hard to explain but think of it like a small town high school - every stripe is represented. Actually some of the biggest names out of our school (like Trammell Crow) literally came from the wrong side of the tracks.

That's one thing I very much enjoyed. I have two degrees from SMU (we had 12 in my WW class there) but when we are at a reunion or football game we are all just friends (if not family) - whatever the race, economic class, station in life, job, etc..

[Lakewooder]

Woodrow Wilson junior basketball player commits to Minnesota

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007...its-minnesota/

[Lakewooder]

Lakewood Elementary's 55th Annual Field Day:

http://lakewood-now.net/view/article/943?page=1 (broken link)

[Lakewooder]

Woodrow Seniors Leave Behind Winning Legacy On and Off the Football Field

http://lakewood-now.net/view/article/926 (broken link)