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  • Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

    i brought up this issue in another thread ("School Bullying") and some users pointed out that this topic may merit further discussion. for this thread im going to ask a very simple question:

    why are hawaiis public schools failing?

    this invites the follow up of course:

    what can we do about it?

    now it seems self evident to me that hawaiis public schools are failing. some people may disagree. you are welcome to make counterarguments here. it also seems self-evident to me that we should do something about it. perhaps someone out there disagrees. maybe a state legislator out there could explain why we spend millions of tax dollars seducing nomads into buying fruit punch here while our schools are in disrepair [and dont give me the "tourism is the only game in town" guacamole. heres a sat analogy for the lolo heads running the tourism association-- sugar:big five::tourism:big dems. it is a cash crop and the logic of a cash crop economy is that you remain eternally dependent on everyone else to supply your economy]. if we had a decent set of schools maybe we could train a vibrant middle class that would actually improve hawaiis economy.

    also here i think we should discuss what models hawaii might adopt. i pointed to some schools in the northeast in the other thread. i also think our two private schools are among the best in the nation. how are they succeeding? is it only resources? or is it as i suspect something more?

    talk

  • #2
    Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

    Hawaii schools are failing but only by the Federally mandated NCLB (No Child Left Behind) standards. Unfortunately it is the only standard by which the DOE can interpret their own version of standardized testing called the Hawaii Content Performance Standards into NCLB. Even the HCPS and HCPS II can only go so far in accessing individual student standardized testing.

    Hawaii's unique problem with their public schools are the fact that we have a diverse cultural society whereby NCLB is geared for Western culture and we have children who cannot understand western ways. Therefore the DOE came up with the HCPS as a way to evaluate children from mixed cultures. HCPS was then refined to allow integration into the NCLB. This is no easy task as Western culture typically clashes with virtually all other societal cultures.

    Eventually Hawaii's public schools will be on par with NCLB however organizations like Head Start (Federally funded) are needed to level the field so one culture can be assessed accurately by another.

    Until then by federal standards, Hawaii's public schools will always trail other states in educational evaluations. Really NCLB needs to be abolished and each state be allowed to do their own assessement such as Hawaii's Hawaii Content Performance Standards testing. In other words put the directive of education back into the hands of local State governments.
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    • #3
      Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

      One of the issues here is that the mainland US has populations that have become westernized over several generations so NCLB can be utilized accurately. When societal cultures become stabilized learning becomes an easier task as everyone speaks english and most everyone knows that you sit at a table to eat dinner and not on the floor. There is a societal norm from which education can flourish.

      But when you have a diverse culture (such as Hawaii's) there is no single basis from which to engage education upon. Nevermind the language barrier.

      In Hawaii you have kids that think a good food staple is rice where as it's potatoes in another culture. In some cultures having daughters are frowned upon and having them achieve financial independence as adults is unheard of, but in western culture, it is not only normal but is pushed upon female students.

      So how in the world can the NCLB Act evaluate accurately a child from a different culture than one who lives it everyday since birth? Which kid was the NCLB geared to assess with greater results? Children raised in a western culture such as the US.

      Hawaii's keiki come from all over the world where in some instances western culture is not only foreign but frowned upon. Are these kids stupid? Not when assessed by their own culture. So does western culture breed more intelligent kids? Not by an international perspective as a matter of fact when assessed that way, US children fall behind academically behind their Eastern counterparts (including Europe).

      It's easy to get academic excellence when children are all raised in much the same way, but put a mix of cultural diversity into the classroom and then try to standardize your curriculum. Not an easy task and unfortunately, Hawaii has been put to that task.

      For the United States of America, creating a standardized test (NCLB) based on a culture already accepted by many US students living that standard is a bit unfair for those who have to learn western culture first before understanding academic standards.

      Hawaii's keiki aren't stupid, they just aren't westernized. Is that a fault? Different cultures, different values, different standards. Hawaii Public schools failing? No, more like NCLB has failed Hawaii's students.
      Last edited by craigwatanabe; January 5, 2006, 01:07 AM.
      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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      • #4
        Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

        One word - Politics

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        • #5
          Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

          Maybe the DOE should teach in western style k-12 that way the kids will learn it. What get me is that the policy makers for education in public schools have no faith in the system they make standards for. I would guess (on O'ahu) most sent thier own kids(or grandkids) to a private school, my point being ,if it dosen't affect me, why worry too much.
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          • #6
            Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

            Craig touched on a large part of the problem in his post. Hawaii has a lot of immigrants that speak English as a second language, if at all. It makes it more difficult for the teachers, because their message may not be getting through to all students, simply due to the Language barrier.

            No Child Left Behind is another politically correct concept that sounds great and should be a goal, but should not be a mandatory achievement mark. As I have said before, it is similar to be given 50 children (boys, girls, athletes, non-athletes...) randomly and saying that you need to put together a football team, have everyone participate and play every position (each must quarterback, play running back, etc.), and win at least 60% of your games. How do you handle those that do not want to play the game? They hurt your team, however, you cannot exclude them. Then there are those who really want to play but have no skills whatsoever, so no matter where you play them, they'll hurt your team, but they try like hell. Eventually, these kids may develop the skills due to their dedication to better themselves, but they may never catch up to the skills of the others.

            With this analogy, did you as the football coach fail, when you did not win 60% of your games under those conditions? Or did you fail because the standard was unrealistic?

            In that same analogy, everyone says that the private schools have what it takes to teach because they have the proper resources. Let's not forget that the private schools select who gets to attend their school. Back to my football analogy, that means that there are teams that have a draft of all eligable players, handpick the best, and the public school coaches have what's left. If you hand select your team, it is easier to succeed. Additionally, in private schools, the parents usually have an interest in their childs education. Especially since they are paying $10K+ annually for their education. These are the parents that have decided that it is an investment in their childs future.
            Last edited by Moto; January 5, 2006, 05:15 AM.
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            • #7
              Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

              Originally posted by alohabear
              Maybe the DOE should teach in western style k-12 that way the kids will learn it. What get me is that the policy makers for education in public schools have no faith in the system they make standards for. I would guess (on O'ahu) most sent thier own kids(or grandkids) to a private school, my point being ,if it dosen't affect me, why worry too much.

              The DOE does teach K-12 the western styles it's just that our keiki have to learn the basics of western culture before being able to learn it's form of education. And there in lies the problem.

              Like Moto indicated, teaching a foreign student the game of football is like trying to teach a typical US kid the game of Rugby. Here in the US we just don't play it well enough to do it well, then who's the failures?

              The cultural diversity runs so deep that even some locals cannot appreciate the actions of others such as: never make round musubi and bring it to a little league potluck.

              And even from that perspective, many newcomers to our islands familiar with Little League of America will be amazed at the potlucks we have after a weekend game. Ho boy now dats one local thing that's getting outta hand with all the onolishish grinds.

              But in school math is taught to an entire classroom yet only some get it because culturally speaking counting is taken in many different ways.

              Japanese count things a certain way based on their shape, use, whatever. Kinda like how we in the US count things like: one, two, three yet count events or dates: first, second, third. Can you imagine a foreign student trying to add First plus Third equals Fourth? No it doesn't work that way. First Plus Third doesn't equal a Fourth, it equals Two but not Second.

              Confusing? And we know our language! Imagine counting techniques in this most basic form to a foreigner. They can count, just not in ways we know.

              Cultural diversity makes that society a richer place to live and learn in but when it comes to academics, it can be very challenging.
              Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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              • #8
                Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                craig, i have trouble buying the cultural diversity argument. its funny because when i lived in new england, the arrival of that same 'immigrant kid' usually touched off fierce competition by students convinced that the new arrival was 'one of those damned OOs [overseas overachievers].' theres a lot to be said for the power of suggestion too. in particular i remember some kids who you never would have thought in a million years would qualify for a ged, but because the students were convinced that just about any immigrant was nourished by sat prep books, they ended up falling into that mode and going off to schools like harvard, yale, princeton, etc. self-fulfilling prophecies.

                in hawaii, i worry that it sometimes works the other way around. when we see a kid struggling with english, we recognize the cultural challenges they are facing [and thats a good thing] and convince ourselves the problem is insoluble. in some ways, it reminds of the welfare system. by focusing the person too much on the obstacles they face, and constantly trying to make up for it, we encourage defeatism from the start. it can also become an excuse for laziness. i remember one hawaii teacher saying that 'samoans arent teachable because the samoan culture isnt a very academic one.' you take a look at mufi hannemann [whatever your political views on him]. that son of immigrants went on to get a harvard degree. i honestly believe the difference for him was the demanding academic environment iolani fostered.

                look back at history. the hawaiian kingdom had an impressive level of literacy, including one of the first hawaii college grads [from yale, no less]. the educational system was your standard english curriculum but the students still succeeded. throughout the territorial period as well, hawaii public schools gave students a great education. its really only been in the latter half [maybe even latter quarter] of the 20th century that hawaii public schools began severely underperforming. cultural diversity has been a longstanding part of hawaii, but that hasnt always meant educational deficiency.

                Originally posted by Moto
                No Child Left Behind is another politically correct concept that sounds great and should be a goal, but should not be a mandatory achievement mark. As I have said before, it is similar to be given 50 children (boys, girls, athletes, non-athletes...) randomly and saying that you need to put together a football team, have everyone participate and play every position (each must quarterback, play running back, etc.), and win at least 60% of your games. How do you handle those that do not want to play the game? They hurt your team, however, you cannot exclude them. Then there are those who really want to play but have no skills whatsoever, so no matter where you play them, they'll hurt your team, but they try like hell. Eventually, these kids may develop the skills due to their dedication to better themselves, but they may never catch up to the skills of the others.

                With this analogy, did you as the football coach fail, when you did not win 60% of your games under those conditions? Or did you fail because the standard was unrealistic?
                i dont support the nclb act either, although for a different reason. from what i have seen, nclb simply turns schools into princeton review and kaplan. the students learn how to take a standardized test, which is a valuable skill up until you have to write your first real paper. i also think its ridiculous to base so much on a single test when just about any college admissions officer will tell you that, while standardized tests are important, they are by no means the be all and end all.

                that said, i still dont think that diversity automatically connotes with mediocrity. this may be the case where a little tough love is called for. if a student genuinely does not qualify for, say, the fourth grade, they should not be expected to do fourth grade work. they should be sent to the appropriate grade. if the grade-level standard is 'unrealistic' for a student, then they should be moved to a grade where there are 'realistic' standards. i also happen to agree with the opposite case; if a student is capable of tackling Tolstoy or Kafka, they should not be forced to read SEE SPOT JUMP along with their 'peers'.

                Originally posted by Moto
                In that same analogy, everyone says that the private schools have what it takes to teach because they have the proper resources. Let's not forget that the private schools select who gets to attend their school. Back to my football analogy, that means that there are teams that have a draft of all eligable players, handpick the best, and the public school coaches have what's left. If you hand select your team, it is easier to succeed. Additionally, in private schools, the parents usually have an interest in their childs education. Especially since they are paying $10K+ annually for their education. These are the parents that have decided that it is an investment in their childs future.
                sure teaching in the public schools is difficult work. but if teachers automatically assume they are getting second-rate students, they will turn out second-rate students. i really see a difference at a school like avon [massachusetts] for instance, where the teachers confidently assume their kids are the pick of the litter--even though massachusetts private schools like phillips andover, boston latin, middlesex school, etc. regularly enroll the cream of the crop. you also get that sense with some of hawaiis publics [moanalua immediately comes to mind].

                Originally posted by alohabear
                Maybe the DOE should teach in western style k-12 that way the kids will learn it. What get me is that the policy makers for education in public schools have no faith in the system they make standards for. I would guess (on O'ahu) most sent thier own kids(or grandkids) to a private school, my point being ,if it dosen't affect me, why worry too much.
                i do think this is a very crucial point. although many of the legislators are graduates of the public schools, they often use their newfound social status to enroll their kid in the private schools. nothing bad in that necessarily. im not one to indulge the 'class warfare' line, but this does seem to be a case where rigid social boundaries [in this case, access to education] are imposed in the interests of the powers that be.

                i sometimes wonder if the tourism overdependence also contributes to it. as part of the tourism engine, we require a large, low-skill, low-wage serving class. if our economy relied on high-tech, academic research or even international banking, i think educational reform would be much higher on the legislative agenda.

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                • #9
                  Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                  Originally posted by stumphurple
                  i sometimes wonder if the tourism overdependence also contributes to it. as part of the tourism engine, we require a large, low-skill, low-wage serving class. if our economy relied on high-tech, academic research or even international banking, i think educational reform would be much higher on the legislative agenda.

                  You wonder correctly. We rely heavily on tourism to drive our economic engine and with it comes service jobs that don't require high levels of academic achievment.

                  The problem with Hawaii is it's geographical isolation (the most isolated port in the world) and the high cost of living here. With that said it doesn't take the best and the brightest to realize you can get higher wages and lower costs of living by moving to the mainland. What's left is a brain drain and a mecca for service jobs for tourism. The market will bear what it seeds . And in this case the only ones interested in investing here in Hawaii are the tourists and they spend a lot here so we have to provide that service to accomodate them.

                  But getting back to cultural diversity, let's say you are a 4.0 honor student here in the United States of America but had to spend your senior year of high school in Japan where you don't 1) understand the language and 2) don't understand their culture.

                  The language and the cultural barriers will impede you from performing at your peak and suddenly your GPA drops to an average level. Are you stupid? Are you failure? NO! You simply have a handicap that prevents you from staying on par with your peers.

                  Hawaii is so isolated we may as well be considered a foreign country. Heck even some ignorant mainlanders believe you need a visa to visit Hawaii. Never mind the grass shacks and skirts mentality.

                  Our Pidgin English is so hard to understand by the rest of the 49 states that when I went to Basic Training in Lackland AFB I was told to take a reading comprehension test and passed with a college level (I was 18). Stumped, the advisors couldn't believe that someone who spoke like an illiterate could master the English language at a college level.

                  What? Not only was I mad as hell for that insult but confused as well. What do you mean I'm an illiterate just because I couldn't speak perfect english like those bastards.

                  Cultural differences is what impeded me from promotions as well. It took almost a year in the service for my superiors and myself to fully understand why I was getting in trouble for not showing respect to them. When they spoke I looked down. They took that as a sign of disrespect (not maintaining eye contact). For me being Japanese, looking down and not looking directly in their eyes was the ultimate form or respect (not showing defiance).

                  I was giving them my total respect for them, at the same time they thought I was acting in defiance. Cultural differences again hard at work and misinterpreted the wrong way caused me a year of anguish in the military.

                  ONE YEAR I COULD HAVE BEEN PROMOTED TO A HIGHER RANK SOONER. Does that sound like a problem with culture and it's ability to inhibit academic excellence because a teacher thinks a student is being disrespectful while he's trying his hardest to be? The result is a bad grade all because of CULTURAL DIFFERENCES by virtue of our diversity.

                  This is what I mean when I say Hawaii has a problem because of it's diversity stumphurple. I don't care whether you buy it or not, it's a fact. Anytime you go into a place where you don't understand the rules of the game, less the protocals of being respectful, you will always be at a disadvantage. I challenge you to say otherwise.

                  Hawaii's kids have a way we call the "local" way of living here in Hawaii. It's different than the mainland and it can be intimidating when travelling abroad. I know I felt that way when I saw the world and visited many foreign lands with different views on respect. The rest of the world really hates us Americans for being arrogant. I don't blame them especially when hearing statements like "Buying that idea". You don't have to subscribe to any one thought, just respect those thoughts from others as being different but not necessarily inferior.

                  NCLB says Hawaii schools are failing. What they're really saying is that Hawaii's diverse culture is inferior academically to the rest of the US. Well I'm sorry Hawaii just seems to be a unique place with a very broader concept of international respect than the rest of the US. Maybe the rest of the US can learn a valuable lesson in international respect and look at Hawaii as a model of it instead of burying it's diversity and trying to mold its keiki into another western entity the rest of the world hates.

                  And like I said before, if other schools on the mainland are so much better than Hawaii's based on the NCLB standards then why are American students still lagging when compared to other nations. New Zealand and Japan are just a few countries that make US schools look like Kindergarden.

                  In Singapore a college education is touted as an honor. Here in the US it's party central, beer tanking contests and football. Yeah we're really focused!
                  Last edited by craigwatanabe; January 5, 2006, 09:04 PM.
                  Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                    Good points, Craig, but I have to take issue with this:

                    Originally posted by craigwatanabe
                    NCLB says Hawaii schools are failing. What they're really saying is that Hawaii's diverse culture is inferior academically to the rest of the US. Well I'm sorry Hawaii just seems to be a unique place with a very broader concept of international respect than the rest of the US. Maybe the rest of the US can learn a valuable lesson in international respect and look at Hawaii as a model of it instead of burying it's diversity and trying to mold its keiki into another western entity the rest of the world hates.
                    I hasten to point out, though, that NCLB's "adequate yearly progress" provisions are based on standards that each individual state creates. In other words, WE set our own bar, presumably based on OUR own unique environment and needs.

                    And some in the educational community have said that, compared to other states, ours are tough. Like asking our kids to clear a 6-foot bar when other states are having no trouble getting theirs to clear a 3-foot one. Percentages of schools in restructuring can therefore paint a somewhat distorted picture.

                    Now, I'm pretty sure the feds had some say in signing off on it, and to the extent that's true, cultural differences between us and the mainland might have something to do with it, but the fact remains that WE agreed to make that the standard that OUR kids must meet.

                    Yeah, I know...a Japanese raised in Kailua around haoles, Punahou grad, college degree from mainland school...easy for me to say. But I'd like to think that our standards are tough, rigorous, and built with our needs and cultural challenges in mind, and we can meet them and not become Mainland Lite. Maybe I'm too optimistic. But I figure, someone has to be.
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                    • #11
                      Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                      One thing about the Hawaii Content Performance Standards is that yes it allows a "regional" allowance for NCLB to set it's standards on but because of our diversity you can't hit all academic targets or goals as easily as in those states that have a cultural norm. Eventually all public schools will be assessed by the NCLB in an across the board means, meaning some schools will never attain the levels the NCLB sets because of it's diversity.

                      And yes our HCPS I and II are more rigorous than some mainland counterparts but we do so because need to set higher goals for our keiki in order to compete nationally.

                      We as a state (Hawaii) can meet or beat the NCLB act but all the education hoopla from the DOE cannot change the one criteria that will be it's weakness...the parents. And therefore lies the problem in Hawaii's education system. The lack of parental involvement due to cultural diversity.

                      I said it before, it's not that another culture doesn't believe in helping their kids, it's that the parents have a language barrier that prevents them from attaining a good 8-hour/day job. They work while their kids are at home at nights alone. Where's the involvement when the parent is working two sometimes three jobs to make ends meet.

                      All the standardized testing won't change a child's ability to learn if the parents aren't there to support their kids in school. This is why non profits like Head Start is so beneficial to help those families cope with cultural diversities in their communities and allow them to participate in their children's educational future thru community service.
                      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                        Originally posted by craigwatanabe
                        The DOE does teach K-12 the western styles it's just that our keiki have to learn the basics of western culture before being able to learn it's form of education. And there in lies the problem.

                        Like Moto indicated, teaching a foreign student the game of football is like trying to teach a typical US kid the game of Rugby. Here in the US we just don't play it well enough to do it well, then who's the failures?

                        Well ... the "typical US kid" learned how to play the mostly foreign game of soccer, and the private school students do just fine learning western culture,I guess (from your statement) that the DOE needs to get "better coaches" to teach Hawaii's students.
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                        • #13
                          Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                          http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...7Pub051011.pdf

                          This may be a problem when judging in a state to state ranking:

                          http://www.brookings.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb149.htm

                          "Because NCLB allows states to create their own tests and to define the level of achievement required for students to be deemed proficient, states vary widely in their expectations of what students should know. The share of students in a state who are proficient therefore contains little information about the relative effectiveness of its schools. Indeed, it is the states with the highest expectations for their students – most of whom set their standards before NCLB's passage – that are most likely to be found lacking under the federal law....."


                          "As many observers have noted, the ability of states to alter their standards raises the specter of a nationwide race-to-the-bottom, with states progressively lowering their expectations for students so that fewer schools are identified as failing. Indeed, a handful of states including Louisiana, Colorado, Connecticut, and Arizona have altered their scoring systems since the law's passage in an apparent effort to increase the number of schools making adequate yearly progress......"

                          "The problems with the NCLB measurement system are rapidly coming to a head. Consider the following scenario: Higher statewide performance targets cause a sharp increase in the percentage of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress, just as state accountability systems register conflicting signals about school performance, some indicating considerable progress. An Education Week analysis of preliminary data from the 2004-05 academic year showed just such an outcome unfolding in several states. In California and Hawaii, for example, the percentage of schools making adequate yearly progress decreased by 10 and 21 percentage points, respectively, over the previous year, despite the fact that the percentage of proficient students in each state increased. In Hawaii, the percentage of schools making adequate yearly progress fell to 34 percent, the lowest of any state to have reported its data thus far. But the local reaction was not entirely negative. "We have two daily papers," Hawaii's communications director explained. "One played it up like the glass was half-empty; the other like the glass was half-full. So it's kind of confusing." Such schizophrenic outcomes could lead many people to question the legitimacy of the entire accountability enterprise. After all, if virtually all schools in a state are identified as failing—including many that appear to be succeeding in difficult circumstances—is the problem with the schools or with the accountability system? The threat of diminished credibility is especially acute in places like Florida where, as we have seen, dual schoolrating systems provide conflicting assessments of the effectiveness of specific schools......"





                          There's an option to change schools or go to a school in another district...in Hawaii...that other district would be ....ummm....where???:

                          http://www.ncrel.org/policy/pubs/htm.../challenge.htm




                          The tests themselves are often fubared and the checking of tests can be done incorrectly by the testing company:

                          http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_at...es.html?id=539




                          NCLB relies on unreasonable catch-22 of subgroups:

                          http://www.citypages.com/databank/25...ticle11955.asp


                          "Under NCLB, students taking the assessment tests are broken down into eight different subgroups such as white, Hispanic, eligible for free or reduced price lunches, and special education. Each subgroup, as well as the school's student body as a whole, is measured according to its proficiency and participation rate on the tests. This enables teachers and administrators to better understand which students are most in need of extra assistance--and penalizes schools for not having already provided it.

                          Large schools that have at least 20 students in each subgroup (at least 40 for special education) can literally have their test results parsed out and measured in 37 different ways. If just one of the subgroups fails to meet just one of the standards (which include a two-thirds rate of proficiency and a 95 percent rate of participation by each subgroup on both math and reading assessments), then the school will be listed as having failed to meet AYP performance goals.

                          Well, there is one hint of leniency. Under NCLB's "Safe Harbor" provision, schools can be exempted from the failure list if the same subgroup can't attain the proficiency standard for two years in a row, but demonstrates progress by having 10 percent fewer students fail the test in the second year. But that removes just one potential pitfall from the dozens of possibilities through which schools can be penalized. For example, it's possible for a school to be put on the list because their "black" student subgroup wasn't proficient enough in math one year; take remedial steps to solve the problem only to be penalized again because only 94 percent of the "free and reduced lunch" students showed up for the test the next year; and then have their "limited English proficient" students demonstrate limited proficiency on the reading test the following year. Just like that, the school is facing third-year sanctions and is in danger of being restructured two years down the line. "


                          There's also a section of the article on a situation that would personally affect my child....Make inadequate compensations for disadvantaged students.

                          She's considered 'special needs' as she is technically brain injured because she's eplileptic and has had brain surgery to ease the siezure activity, but is still on her high drug dosage (it was only this Nov for the surgery). Due to the location of the siezure activity and the damage it's already done to that section of her brain, she has problems with short term memory retention and language processing, this totally screws with her ability to do tests and speed of learning a subject.

                          This problem however does not affect her intelligence, she has been tested by the special ed department and she tests off the charts. At 11 (5th grade the time of testing) she tested at a high 8th grade level in reading and high 7th grade in math. There is NO support system in the special ed set up for her situation of high capability with alternative learning needs....NCLB will eventually leave her way behind.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                            does anyone feel that language differences can play a roll in the way calssrooms are taught? I dont mean pidgin but like kids in the classes that do not speak any english or just a few words are being taught in mainstream classes with teachers or aids translating for them.

                            they have that in Ca and its very distracting to the rest of the class they try to pass it off as a language experience as in the kids might learn parts of a language does this happen in the schools in Hawaii also

                            wen I was in Puuhale/Puahala elm wen we had keeds come in from other countries but the were taught in different classrooms till they could speak, write, & understand decent english then they got to mainstrem wid da rest of us.
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                            • #15
                              Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

                              Here's some stuff on ELL/LEP (English Language Learners/Limited English Proficiant) students if you're curious:

                              http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountabilit...t-english.html


                              http://www.coursecrafters.com/ELL-Ou...TIArticle4.htm


                              http://www.urban.org/publications/900884.html


                              http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-2/behind.html






                              Oooo.....interesting sub-law of NCLB I didn't know about (from a 2002 article)

                              http://writ.news.findlaw.com/ramasastry/20021204.html

                              "In January of this year, the "No Child Left Behind Act" was signed into law. The Act was touted as being designed to ensure that no child is left behind when it comes to getting a decent education. But it also had another, much less publicized aspect: It sought to ensure no child is left behind when it comes to military recruitment, as well.

                              According to a few sentences buried in the 670-page Act, public secondary schools must now supply recruiters for the armed forced with students' names, addresses and phone numbers (even unlisted ones). They must also allow these recruiters the same access to students on campus that college recruiters or prospective employers enjoy. If schools refuse, they lose their federal funding.

                              Parents can object and "opt out" of having their children's information disclosed to military recruiters. But to do so, they must have proper notice of the law, and must act in time to stop disclosure - and schools may not always provide sufficient notice (though it is technically required) and sufficient time for parents to "opt out."
                              Last edited by Peshkwe; January 6, 2006, 01:13 PM.

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