Monday, April 14, 2008

Graduation rate goal to be established

It appears that the Journal will support Marty Esquivel's
effort to force Winston Brooks to set a goal for graduation
rates; up from 53% to something closer to the national average
of around 65%.

No one is talking about any intermediate or enabling goals
and objectives.

It is the enabling goals and objectives that allow the final
goal to be reached. If none are identified, or evaluated,
all issues become one.

Consider for example; chronically disruptive students.
I have not seen any figures that represent the effect of
chronically disruptive students on the graduation rate;
I suspect that it is significant.

Yet Winston Brooks will have no specific goal related to
student behavior at school.

The entire student body of the APS will continue to practice
prohibited behavior (sagging as but one example) with the
tacit permission of the leadership of the APS.

The effect of permitting prohibited behavior on the rate
of graduation, will not be measured or evaluated.

Nor will any other of the myriad of the day to day problems
the confront those who work at the educational interface.

1 comment:

Joseph Lopez said...

All I can say is that kids who sag used to be way slower than kids who wear regular fitting pants. Easy to catch.

They make pants now that are made to stay up and show the underwear off, it is how they are DESIGNED.

And kids wear them to school, because they have some kind of dual role seat that can be worn above the buns as well as below and the pants still stay up pretty good either way.

They can run faster in otherwords, now, damnit. No easy catches, or avoiding long foot chases with the ones who are sagging anymore.

It is a lost battle. An indicator that mores change and each of us becomes the old man who bitches about the young uns.

Brooks got the job because the graduation rate went up over time in his last District, right?

That is what he will spend his time on, and he will appoint subject experts as intermediaries and "go to guys and gals" as point men on his team, that is who will run things day to day at APS