Moving forward or backward?

Opinion

March 2, 2010

W. Terry Smith The Daily Southerner Tue Mar 02, 2010, 11:11 AM EST

Dr. Craig Witherspoon took over as superintendent of Edgecombe County Public Schools on Aug. 23, 2006. Since then, Edgecombe's third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders have improved their End of Grade (EOG) test scores. See chart on this page.

We are "moving forward" as everyone likes to say.

This newspaper did a good job reporting the improvements, but we apparently did not ask the right questions. The facts are the state is moving forward faster than Edgecombe County Public Schools.

This means our students really are losing ground to their peers --- the ones they will be competing with for jobs, educational opportunities and standard of living as adults.

In other words, we are going backwards.

Look at the chart. In the school year 2004-05, the third-graders in ECPS were 6.4 percent behind the state average in reading. In 2008-09, these same students are in the seventh grade and are 22.2 percent behind the state average in reading. Big difference.

In math, the same third-graders were behind the state average by only 1.7 percent. But by the seventh grade, they were 16.4 percent behind in math.

That shows a steady decline across the board.

Same thing if you take the fourth-graders in 2004-05 when they are 2 percent behind in math. By the eighth grade they are 20.1 percent behind.

Those are significant differences.

I asked ECPS Director of Accountability Janet Morris what she saw. She replied:

"In looking at the combined EOC scores for the past three years, I see a similar growth pattern in ECPS as compared to the state – statistically similar growth has occurred in our district as across the state in reviewing End-of-Course scores."

Morris continues:

"In looking at the combined EOG (reading and math) scores for the past three years, I see growth for our district – but at a slightly slower rate than the growth of the entire state.

"Continued emphasis on both (1) short cycle common assessments developed by teachers at the school level and (2) district benchmarking to target areas in need of early interventions and acceleration are critical to our ongoing improvement.

"Common planning and sharing of best practices among teaching staff through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) is equally important. Expansion of the use of technology in our classrooms to engage students in the learning process is a goal of the district. Frequent monitoring of student attendance and suspensions is also vital.”

When asked for comment, Witherspoon, who departs soon for the superintendent's job in Birmingham (Ala.) City Schools, issued the following statement: We need to accelerate the progress we are making with student achievement.

"With our efforts through Professional Learning Communities (PLC), we

are addressing ways to improve student achievement in the district. "

I am not familiar with PLCs, Professional Learning Communities, so I asked spokeswoman Diane LeFiles. She said:

”The biggest difference in the PLC model and the traditional approach is that a school becomes much more collaborative. Teachers work together in teams to help each other plan, deliver, assess and analyze instruction. They draw on each other's strengths and hold each other accountable for ensuring that all students learn the curriculum.

“In the traditional approach, each teacher works independently and often in isolation to accomplish these tasks.”

It’s too easy to blame the teachers, but the schools have our children only seven or eight hours a day.

W. Terry Smith is editor of The Daily Southerner.

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