Five Barrow schools fail AYP

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Thursday, July 21. 2011

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Five Barrow County schools, including both high schools, failed to meet AYP on the initial state results, according to state data released Thursday.

Both Winder Barrow High School and Apalachee High School failed to make AYP due to low graduation rates and WBHS also had some academic problems.

It is the second year in a row the two schools have been on the “needs improvement” list, a situation that mandates the schools offer public school choice and tutoring.

In addition, Russell Middle School and Winder Barrow Middle School also didn’t make AYP due to CRCT failure rates among several subgroups.

Statham Elementary School was the only county elementary school to not make AYP, also due to CRCT failure rates among several subgroups.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Both Barrow high schools fell below the 85 percent mandated graduation rates, one of the factors in their AYP status.

WBHS had a 75.4 percent graduation rate overall, and within two subgroups had even lower rates. Black students graduation rate was just 55.7 percent and economically disadvantaged students had a 71.4 percent rate, both below the threshold.

At AHS, the graduation rate overall was 75.4 percent.

In addition to the grad rates, WBHS also fell short in academics, which this year was measured by the results on the Georgia High School Graduation Test.

At WBHS, 36 percent of black students, 25 percent of Hispanic students and 26.1 percent of economically disadvantaged students failed the Math part of the graduation test where a 76 percent passing rate was required.

In addition, 12.6 percent of all students failed the ELA part of the test, along with 23.5 percent of black students, 20.5 percent of Hispanic students and 17 percent of economically disadvantaged students also failed. The threshold was a 90.8 percent passing rate.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Both RMS and WBMS fell short on AYP due to high failure rates in Math among subgroups on the CRCT.

At RMS, 25.4 percent of economically disadvantaged students and 44.7 percent of students with disabilities failed the Math section of the test. A 75.7 percent passing rate was the threshold. Also at RMS, 21.3 percent of students with disabilities failed the ELA part of the test where an 80 percent passing rate was required.

At WBMS, 36.9 percent of black students failed the Math part of the CRCT.

STATHAM

Math was also one of the problems at SES where 27.8 percent of black students and 33.9 percent of students with disabilities failed the Math section on the CRCT. 29.5 percent of students with disabilities at SES also failed the ELA part of the test.

AYP is the formula used to determine is schools are meeting expectations under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Georgia Department of Education released its initial AYP report on Thursday, but plans to release its final report in the fall — which will include summer retest scores, summer graduates and appeals.

Fewer Georgia schools made AYP this year due to the academic bar being raised in all four categories (Reading/Language Arts CRCT Grades 3-8, Math CRCT Grades 3-8, English/Language Arts Georgia High School Graduation Test, Math Georgia High School Graduation Test).

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#1 Paul David on 07/21/11 at 05:51 PM [Reply]

How can this be a surprise. Wanda Creel has lowered morale while burying her hand in sand by treating the Keys to Improvement as if they are Scripture. If we look at what she said she would do and compare it to what she has done, it is clear that it is time for her to go. She simply has not done what she said she will do. Her presentation of her self in educational magazines is like her promise to what she said she would do for our community. It is phony.

#2 You get what you elect on 07/21/11 at 06:42 PM [Reply]

Once again, the citizens of Barrow chose to re-elect the same old tired people and they stand amazed that nothing has changed.

This goes beyond apathy; this borders on stupidity. Boy am I glad I can afford to put my child in private school!

#2.1 John Wages on 07/28/11 at 05:38 AM [Reply]

Well put. Doing the same things and expecting a different outcome.

#3 Anonymous on 07/21/11 at 07:32 PM [Reply]

I really don't care what barrow county schools ranked in education. There only two people that i can worry about and its my children and so far i have no complaints about the education my kids are getting from public schools or the teachers they have had so far teaching them. My daughter will be a senior this year and my son a freshman and both make good grades. These test like the CRCT are standardized and every student is different some learn quick and some learn more slowly you just cant stick a student in a room who has difficulty in a certain area and give them a damn time limit to finish the test. My point is you need to teach them where they are at not where they need to be.

#4 Kyle on 07/21/11 at 08:02 PM [Reply]

It's been 6 years since I have graduated from Apalachee. I will be the first one to tell you that we MUST have more discipline in our schools in order to make improvements. Distractions are what ruins our schools. Students care way too much about being popular and cool, and it's these kids who are setting the standards for everyone else. Therefore, the students who work hard and study hard are not rewarded amongst their peers. If you look at successful schools, it's the kids who work hard who set the standards, and everyone else follows. This is the benefit of private schools and successful public schools. When I was at Apalachee, I tried to make sure that the students who tried hard were rewarded. I realize it's a fine line because you don't want to create classes in schools or discourage those with less resources. However, we must carefully shift culture through the use of discipline and incentives for our students. Currently, the environment in our school system is no where near reality. Too many students who study hard face turmoil and those who act all cool and try to be popular by rebelling are running the schools for all the other students.

#4.1 someone who cares on 07/21/11 at 10:16 PM [Reply]

I sooo totally agree with number 4 Kyle's comment! Kids trying to socialize and not being recognized for making a real effort and not being told that they can be anything they want when they graduate and that college is an option for every kid, is the problem. Parents need to make their kid concentrate on school and school work. They need to tell their kids college is an option for them and make them want to do something with their life. Get them excited to graduate and make them look forward to their adult lives. As for Russell Middle, I have a daughter that attends Russell. Russell is a great school. Mr. Johnson is a wonderful Principle/Assistant Superintendent. I sincerely hope he stays on as principle. A lot of Russell's retirees will be greatly missed. My daughter's scores are about as high as they get, Thank God. The difference, in my opinion, is that we put school first in our family. We know how important it is for our childrens futures. My daughter missed 0 days last year, for which she did not even get a pat on the back, but we know when she will be rewarded for it when she starts looking for a college.

#5 James on 07/21/11 at 08:16 PM [Reply]

The CRCT's are a joke. just look at Atlanta Public Schools. Teachers need to be allowed to teach and test the students and award the students the grades they EARN. Some will succeed some will fail and stop using skin color, ethnicity, or economic status as a crutch. Each student sits in the same classroom and hears the same lesson as the other students. I have never heard difficulty hearing or paying attention being affected by the fact that you are Hispanic. Call me old fashioned but bringing back God and Real discipline wouldn't hurt either.

#6 SoNowWhat on 07/22/11 at 06:19 AM [Reply]

Okay, so both public high schools in the county failed to meet AYP again and now we are supposed to be able to "choose" to send our kids to a school that did. Since we don't have a public high school in the county that DID meet AYP, do we get to send them to another county? How ridiculous!!!

#6.1 Sheesh on 07/22/11 at 02:14 PM [Reply]

That's hitting it on the head! Why do you think the school system is spending tons of tax dollars to open their HS academy in an ancient school building they were supposed to dispose of to save money? If they don't open it, they can't offer HS kids a choice as required by law and the kids can escape to better schools in surrounding counties & take their state and federal dollars with them. The new HS is simply expansion to hide failure.

#6.2 Odins Eye on 07/22/11 at 02:40 PM [Reply]

[[Okay, so both public high schools in the county failed to meet AYP again and now we are supposed to be able to "choose" to send our kids to a school that did. Since we don't have a public high school in the county that DID meet AYP, do we get to send them to another county? How ridiculous!!! ]]

I did this with my teen daughter, her last year of high school was spent outside the county.
Cost me extra, but she exceled and graduated so it was worth it.

Goverment schools are run by the goverment...the goverment is dysfunctional and deranged.

the goverment does not want educated citizens...they want functional slaves.

Garbage in...Garbage out.

-Harr

#7 WhatDoesThatHaveToDoWithIt on 07/22/11 at 06:25 AM [Reply]

Okay, desegregation was even before my time. So why are all the hallmarks for my children's schools having to be split up by race. All the children there and the children's parents have had the same educational opportunities as each other so why do some feel the need to segregate the testing results? It would be more interesting to have it set up instead to track parenting styles since that is something that could be taught or modified.

#7.1 Jess on 07/22/11 at 08:33 AM [Reply]

Testing data is separated out into many different categories. Teachers look at the data to see who is falling behind and who is surging ahead. As a general rule, most minority students do not perform at the same level as the others. The data is also collected to determine if there is a testing bias. Meaning, is the test fair for everyone. You can blame groups like the ACLU for this. Every so often they will pop up with some kind of law suit against the school system and test makers for a kid that failed because they think the test questions were not fair to the minority groups. For example: A black football player in Alabama ( I think, could have been Mississippi) filed a suit against the SAT board for discrimination. The student claimed that the test was unfair because in his culture he did not use the word "quilt" and therefor questions that used the term should be thrown out.

This is also another way of covering the school systems behind. If a minority group were to question what the school is doing to help minority students improve they can use the data to compare from year to year showing improvements or failures of special prep programs for the group.

#7.2 james on 07/27/11 at 09:35 PM [Reply]

I am glad to see I am not the only one who thinks that way.

#8 Anon on 07/22/11 at 08:00 AM [Reply]

Everything lies in our expectations. We rise to the expectations put before us. Do you expect your child to work hard at school or do you give them excuses not to? Does their teacher expect them to fail because they are poor? Do we expect excellence and professionalism from our teachers? Do our administrators raise the bar and expectations from themselves and their schools? If we expect failure, we get failure. The difference between public and private schools is that parents pay a lot of money so they expect excellence from the students and the school. Why can't we expect the same even though we don't pay tuition? It's time to place the same high expectations on everyone in our school system and only then will we see changes.

#9 Jess on 07/22/11 at 08:18 AM [Reply]

What this article is really saying is that the schools are OK. The kids that tested didn't tank the tests but not enough minority students passed AND not enough actually graduated. So the lesson here is to help the minority families place a value on education and graduation.

The teachers are doing their job. They can't make your kids stay in school. That is where good parenting comes in. For those of you that are concerned with the education your kids are getting, STOP. Be more concerned with the kids your kid goes to school with.

#10 More and more on 07/22/11 at 09:42 AM [Reply]

at least we did nto cheat

#10.1 Victor on 07/22/11 at 11:58 AM [Reply]

It doesn't appear the we learned anything either...

#11 Fortitude on 07/22/11 at 08:52 PM [Reply]

The "Sub Groups" are what is causing the failures, not the regular students. They place special education results with the regular students for a combined score, those "sped's" are the problem. How can they pass English, when they cant speak it, or sit still ? Its like trying to grade Muhammad Ali in art while he is battling Parkinsons, its not going to happen.
From some of the meetings I have attended, the BOE and Sup seems to really care and want to make a difference, but our Federal Gov of Ed screws it up with "No child lefe behind" so others will too program

#11.1 Anonymous on 07/23/11 at 09:55 PM [Reply]

Special Education students are ranked right with the regular kids, yet they often are not able to perform the same tasks or compete academically at the same level. Yet, the FEDS (in their infinite wisdom) believe that all children can succeed (by 2014 they are all supposed to be 100% genius'!).

Most of our students do very well on the standardized tests. Be most concerned about how your individual child does on his or her tests....not the school. The expectations of how the school does is set by a bar level above reality. If he/she does need help, plenty of tutoring help is available at the schools (before, during, & after). Beyond that, the Internet has gobs of great sites that offer tutoring for those desiring help or who simply want to expand their knowledge.

#12 TickedOff on 07/23/11 at 03:12 PM [Reply]

Slice and Dice it anyway you want to, these schools failed. When looking for a place to lay blame go to the top. The board needs to get its act together and concentrate on a solution to enhance the education of students in Barrow County. The super needs to get busy cleaning house.

#13 Anonymous on 07/23/11 at 04:44 PM [Reply]

@ Fortitude- obviously you don't have a special needs child, " speeds are the problem"

#13.1 Fortitude on 07/24/11 at 01:07 AM [Reply]

I do not have a special needs child, however, If I did, I would do what ever I could to help him/her with their studies and not blame the school.

@Ticked Off. It is not the BOE/Sups fault, they cannot control the way the scores are done, I will say that in their defense. If the scores were to leave out the "special needs", then they would pass as you can see, those few students failed the entire school. either way you dice it, the Feds are making our schools look bad by their standards.

#13.1.1 Jess on 07/24/11 at 09:25 AM [Reply]

It really isn't the special ed kids. Re-read the article. The sub groups that have the most difficulty with testing and graduation are minority groups, meaning economically disadvantaged, Blacks and Hispanics. They are already "regular" as you call them and they receive very little, if any assistance when they are testing. Special Education kids get extra time and or have the test read to them. They are getting a lot of help by comparison. The sub groups aforementioned don't necessarily need help on the test but at home. These groups generally do not place the same value on education as "regular" kids do. Special Education parents/families put a huge value on their children's education because of the way they were treated before 1975.

#13.1.2 Joy on 07/25/11 at 12:39 AM [Reply]

Having a child with a disability and one that is in the school system here has always been a challenge. According to our overall school's population, one's with a disability is a small percentage, so they are not the main cause for not passing AYP. There are many students who are not reading or on a lower grade level of reading and they are not special ed students. Some can not understand what is being taught and of course it would be hard to pass these tests. I help my child with their school work and request tutoring at every IEP meeting. As for our special needs children, they did not fail the schools, the state has.

#14 Sheesh on 07/26/11 at 01:44 PM [Reply]

Come on folks, get a grip. These same sub groups are factored into the scores of every other school system too, yet they continue to blow our teachers, students and administrators away.

#15 Fortitude on 07/27/11 at 10:40 PM [Reply]

It appears the blacks, hispanics (at one school), and the "poor" kids are the one who failed the rest of the county...again. Some kids should be left behind or have their parents jailed for not helping their kids succeed and hold back the rest of the students

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