Respect is what they demanded. Respect in the form of better pay, fewer standardized tests and increased funding. “Things need to change,” said Janie Petersen, a councilor from Claremore Public Schools outside Tulsa. “Our [state leaders] don’t respect teachers, they don’t even respect the kids. It’s hurtful.” Initial estimates put the crowd at over 25,000 […]
grades
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We’re no. 10!
Oklahoma is No. 10, rounding out the top offender list with a high school graduation rate of 73.9 percent, shows a study from 247WallSt.com. Per-student expenditure is the eighth lowest in the nation at $9,075. Our overall score was a 64.2, a D. The silver lining here is that somehow, we also scored an A […]
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School values don’t fit into a single score
Scholars at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, in Oklahoma School Grades: Hiding “Poor” Achievement, anticipated the mess. They concluded, “a primary assumption of the A-F accountability system, that student test scores can be dissected and manipulated into valid indicators of school performance, is simply false.” The bubbling-in of three questions out of […]
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What a hack
Credit: Brad Gregg Wait. Wha? A University of Oklahoma student has found himself in the proverbial hot seat after being charged May 16 with five counts of computer fraud. Roja Osman Hamad allegedly altered his grades and then changed the passwords of six members of the OU faculty. The Norman Transcript reported that Hamad’s campus […]
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School daze
The revelation comes amid allegations by some former Douglass teachers and administrators that former Principal Brian Staples altered student grades and attendance records to make it appear that the beleaguered school was improving. At a heated news conference yesterday, Oklahoma City Public School officials blamed the mess on violations of policy and procedures, but declined […]
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Report-card reaction
Belle Isle EnterpriseMiddle School Credit: Mark Hancock Those expecting high marks received them. Those who anticipated the worst saw their fears realized. As part of the state’s new evaluation system, all public schools were issued a grade from A to F based on a list of newly developed criteria. In Oklahoma City Public Schools, the […]
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Incomplete ‘grade’
If presented within context, my message is that “for some students within the lowest quartile of test takers who have serious handicapping conditions, ‘it is just about too much to ask” that they be held to the standard — the numerical gradient of growth — expected of the general population of students. Given the severe […]