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Norwalk: No Achievement Gap Left Behind


by turfgrrl


February 21st, 2008 · 3 Comments

The spinmeister-meister spinners are off this week so slipping through the fortress of ineptitude is the latest report card on Norwalk public schools.

An independent study released Wednesday ranked Norwalk schools scraping the bottom in working to close their achievement gaps with black and Hispanic students.
Norwalk high schools are ranked 99 out of 119 state school districts. Elementary and middle schools are ranked 68 out of 153 and 117 out of 144 respectively.
Scraping the bottom! Ranked 99 out of 199 school districts! Uh yeah, some perception problem here.

The study looked at how a public school is meeting students’ academic needs through test scores. It also analyzed the “traditionally underserved” black, low-income and Hispanic subgroups to understand where the achievement gap lies.

The study comes after Norwalk public schools face the fourth year of being labeled as a District in Need of Improvement by No Child Left Behind.
The label means all students — specifically black, poor and Hispanic — are not meeting standard reading or math scores on state tests.

But hey, our BOE like to reward administrators for just fogging the mirror. They must feel very proud this morning, especially former chair, Jodi Bishop Pullan who drove the agenda for the past several years. Banning bake sales and investigating whether to have commercial music played on school buses were two oh-so important policy things to send time on.

Of course, rewarding incompetence, or ignoring it, or absolving it, take your pick on what they actually do, is not limited to Norwalk and the BOE. The American auto industry, what’s left of it, has done its fair share of setting the example of rewarding bad managerial results. Produce crap cars, layoff a few union workers and give bonuses to the management who brought you, in no special order, the Pontiac Aztek, US underpowered version of the Ford Fusion, the Impala, and Monte Carlo. In Japan or Germany managers who fail to improve product resign. Closer to home, on the BOE, we could use a few resignations here.

source:The Hour, Achievement gap remains wide open in Norwalk, February 21, 2008

Tags: Education · Norwalk

3 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: No Achievement Gap Left Behind”



  • 1 Anonymous Too // Feb 22, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Kendall Elementary School has for the last 2 years, been ranked among the top 10 schools in the state, in the ConnCan report, for narrowing the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students.

  • 2 Disgusted Teacher // Feb 23, 2008 at 2:05 pm

    I am so outraged that the state and the Cambridge Group have painted our district’s education with a huge paint brush of failure.

    It is not so. The state and others are notorious for using only the state goal as a measure of improvement. The state goal is like asking every student to get an A or a B. What many people do not know is that there is a range called Proficiency, which is the middle range or a C. In the CAPT assessment, there is a range from 1 to 5. The No Child Left Behind Law is using data as a weapon against our schools because they are only using State Goal, which is very high.

    For example, in Norwalk, there are graduation requirements, which state that a student may graduate if he/she receives a 3-proficiency or better- 4 or 5 in reading, writing, science, and math.

    The CAPT scores for 2007 do not paint such a horrible picture as shown by the state or Cambridge. In reading for example, at Norwalk High School, the Black students received 70%. This figure means that 70% of those Black students who took the exam got a 3 or better.
    The Hispanic students dipped a bit this year to 68%, receiving a 3 or better. Last year, they were in the 70% range. Those White students who reached proficiency or better was 95%.

    In writing, the scores were 70 % of those Black students who took the exam got a 3 or better. The Hispanic students received 71%, and the White students received 95%.

    Over the last four years, the Hispanic and Black subgroups have made great gains in the areas of reading and writing. These gains are not celebrated because the data is only reflecting the State goal, which is very high.

    In the Cambridge Report, it is interesting to note that they did not include the writing score. Additionally, they too relied on state goal, instead of proficiency. There is nothing wrong with reaching proficiency. Why then does the state and this foreign observer only give stats that reflect those students who get A’s and B’s?

    I cannot speak to the other scores, although I know that both science and math have overall scores of 70%. In totality of all students, 70% received 3’s or better.

    Once again, think about how these agencies are using data to present an untruthful picture of where we are academically. We must be doing something right because after a week’s stay by NEASC, we received a full accreditation by this prestigious organization. They did not do a fly-by like Cambridge, and they did not come into the school saying that we could only get a 2 out of 5 because the subgroups did not make enough progress. Come to our school and see for yourself. We have a huge AP program, exciting classes, a nationally recognized music program, and very dedicated teachers who care about all students.

    Don’t believe everything you read in a report about what is going on in our schools by strangers who have no vested interest. This new commissioner is trying to make a name for himself. If all of the schools are failing, then he can push his own agenda, which is now in a traveling show around the state. He plans to implement changes that will rock our foundations. He has already instituted free courses on line for any child to take to make up for those he/she has failed. How does one monitor an online course? I’m confused.

    Stay tuned for more insanity. Last words–we work diligently to improve reading and writing skills in all groups. Can’t someone recognize that these scores have improved significantly in the last four years?

  • 3 disgusted taxpayer // Feb 23, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    Disgusted teacher, perhaps Sal Corda could enlighten everyone as to the achievements and areas in need rather than poo pooing the Cambridge Report. It can’t all be wrong. He is obviously not doing his job to full potential if he is allowing only the Cambridge report to dictate results. Where is the outrage from principals and teachers who know whats going on? Sal Corda is the one who allows this to happen. When are we going to get accountability from him? He blames the teachers and the students. How about putting the blame where it originates and where it belongs? We are paying taxes and we deserve to know where our money is going. Why does he always shrug off the fact that many of the minority students come from out of town and bring our kids scores down? Why are we paying for well over 200 out of town kids? If you send your kids to school out of town you pay for it. Why aren’t they? Perhaps then we wouldn’t be seeing results like we have. Sal Corda needs to leave Norwalk and take some of his administrators with him and let those who have a vested interest in Norwalk and the kids take over. Always smoke and mirrors without accountability.

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