25 Worst Public Schools

[RSLudlum]

http://www.walletpop.com/mortgages/worst-performing-public-schools

Woot Woot!! The middle school I attended 20yrs ago, Brentwood Middle, is #9 on the list. SC has 10 schools in the list and it's not getting any better. The Charleston Co. district seems to think building new buildings and purchasing $2 million worth of additional and new copies (to replace old copies) of books to get kids interested in reading is the answer. :rolleyes:


At least they're making an attempt to encourage additional reading but I wonder what the majority of content in the new books will be. More of the same state worshipping that is taught in the classroom?


Alewine said, research has shown that student achievement improves anywhere from 10 percent to 18 percent when students have free and open access to school libraries with up-to-date resources aligned with the school's curriculum.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jun/22/schools_bolster_library_collections86784/

[Aurelia]

Most of these schools are up in the north, with the exception of South Carolina and I think one in Arizona. Funny that the list doesn't include schools in L.A., or New York City, or any of the other "inner city" schools that get the bad rep. Also, Chicago--what happened here? More important to read The Audacity of Hope than, say, A Brief History of Time?

[acptulsa]

Lotta charter schools.

So, these are the worst according to the precepts of the No Child Left Behind Act. Seems like damning with faint praise, to me...

[LBennett76]

What's with the majority of these schools having less than 100 kids?! Is that what a charter school is? I don't think this would be an accurate assessment at all if most of these are that. I live in a village of just over 4000 people, but we still have about 500 kids in 9-12.
Just seemed incredibly odd as when I think of public, I think of more that 10-30 kids in a grade level. geesh!

[ItsTime]

5 from Obamas state?

[Agent CSL]

Charter schools tend to have parents who want to opt-out of standardized testing. At my old school our robotics team placed in National and International competitions, our environmental teams going to state, and our dance teams going to nationals. We had low scores purely because most parents would opt-out of the state and federal tests. Yet the students were pure geniuses (with some exceptions).

Give them the benefit of the doubt, will ya. =)

[euphemia]

Charter schools tend to have parents who want to opt-out of standardized testing. At my old school our robotics team placed in National and International competitions, our environmental teams going to state, and our dance teams going to nationals. We had low scores purely because most parents would opt-out of the state and federal tests. Yet the students were pure geniuses (with some exceptions).

Give them the benefit of the doubt, will ya. =)

No siree. If a charter school wants to keep its charter, all of their students should test at a proficiency level for reading and math. 0% is more than a disgrace.

For that matter, every school should be required to reach that benchmark--especially when home schools are considered substandard. Read some statistics on that and do the math.

[Kade]

http://www.walletpop.com/mortgages/worst-performing-public-schools

Woot Woot!! The middle school I attended 20yrs ago, Brentwood Middle, is #9 on the list. SC has 10 schools in the list and it's not getting any better. The Charleston Co. district seems to think building new buildings and purchasing $2 million worth of additional and new copies (to replace old copies) of books to get kids interested in reading is the answer. :rolleyes:


At least they're making an attempt to encourage additional reading but I wonder what the majority of content in the new books will be. More of the same state worshipping that is taught in the classroom?

South Carolina.

Absolutely no surprise there.

[Agent CSL]

No siree. If a charter school wants to keep its charter, all of their students should test at a proficiency level for reading and math. 0% is more than a disgrace.

For that matter, every school should be required to reach that benchmark--especially when home schools are considered substandard. Read some statistics on that and do the math.

This depends on who is testing and where the statistics come from. You should know better; statistics are manipulated all the time. How can one school reach a benchmark unless it takes the same federally-approved tests as every other school? If parents opt their children out on ideological beliefs against federal/state education, which is the reason most at SVEC do, this would no doubt bring the statistics down. However it doesn't mean the school is bad. Each school, like individuals, must be treated as such.

Tests administered by the school or city itself would be thrown out if the statistics are based on state or federal tests.

There are bad charter schools just as there are horrible public schools, and there are excellent public schools just like excellent charter schools. However, if you base your opinion on statistics alone you are like 90% of all Americans who can't decipher the method (http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/03/09/25-worst-public-schools-in-america-methodology/) by which that statistic was produced. Statistics produce generalization, generalization creates assumptions, and before you know it you're so far from reality that your socks could be blown off if you find out you were wrong.

[0zzy]

I want to take my kid to the best charter school...
ya know, when I have a kid,
after I find a wife,
which will be after I find a girlfriend...
which,
ya well I have a long time to go start thinking about all that.