There are many factors that could be compared among school districts in order to decide which district is "the BEST". We can compare performance based on TAKS, SAT, ACT, AP, percentage of students going to College and many others. I believe it would be very interesting to compare some of these factors, so let's start with TAKS results. In late July, the TAKS scores and Accountability Ratings were published by the Texas Education Agency. The table below illustrates a summary of district-wide results, including each subject area and some of the student subgroups in GCISD and other suburban districts in North Texas.
The table indicates that GCISD scores were very strong in the areas of Reading, Writing and Social Studies, with ALL Students passing at a rate of at least 98%. In the areas of Math and Science, GCISD also had a strong performance for ALL Students (93%, 5th highest among compared districts), but we can see performance gaps in the Economically Disadvantage Students subgroup when compared with some of the other districts included in the report.
In order to be the BEST in terms of TAKS performance, GCISD needs to continue to focus in the areas of Math and Science, placing a strong emphasis on the Economically Disadvantage students. The district is already showing improvements on this student subgroup, increasing its TAKS scores by 5% in Math and 2% in Science from a year ago. As we look for ways to have a significant impact in these subject areas in the near future, GCISD is planning to perform an audit on its Math and Science curriculum, and findings will be presented to the Board this Fall.
In order to be the BEST in terms of TAKS performance, GCISD needs to continue to focus in the areas of Math and Science, placing a strong emphasis on the Economically Disadvantage students. The district is already showing improvements on this student subgroup, increasing its TAKS scores by 5% in Math and 2% in Science from a year ago. As we look for ways to have a significant impact in these subject areas in the near future, GCISD is planning to perform an audit on its Math and Science curriculum, and findings will be presented to the Board this Fall.
If you are interested in getting involve as a Math or Science tutor (or in any other subject) in our district, or as a mentor for some of our kids, please contact one of our schools or send me an email to jorge@jorgerodriguez.org.
In believe that this is an excellent goal "to be the best" and one that we should strive to achieve. That said, I am not sure that TAKS scores alone should determine whether or not we are achieving that goal.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have seen when we focus only on improving our TAKS scores, we end up teaching to the test. How about we focus on providing our children the best education and making the curriculum challenging enough that the TAKS tests become easy for them.
By teaching in a manner as to pass the test, we can certainly raise our scores, but now we are teaching at the minimum level. This does our children a great disservice.
On teaching for the test, I agree that could be an issue when measuring district performance based on TAKS. However, based on the performance of our kids on TAKS, AP, SAT, ACT, percentage of kids entering College, conversations I have had with GCISD administration personnel, principals, teachers and my own experience at Timberline Elementary with my 4th grader tell me that in our district we do not teach for the test.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, passing the TAKS proves that we met a minimum standard set by the state. GCISD is not about meeting minimum standards, but it does give us an opportunity to compare performance among districts with a common tool. In the near future, I am planning to use other standards (AP, College Readiness, etc.) to show how well GCISD rates versus peer districts in DFW and the state.