Lakewood Elementary principal Karen Rogers says her school does not deserve the “unacceptable” rating it received in a recently released review by the Texas Education Agency.
“Certainly, our scores should have been higher,” says Rogers, whose school was one of seven in our neighborhoods to be termed “unacceptable” or “low performing”. The seven were cited by the state for low scores on a standardized test.
“But what you have to remember is that the rating refers to the low performance by fourth-grade Hispanic students who have been here for only eight months and many of whom are not fluent in English yet,” says Rogers, who points out that every other group tested at the school exceeded the state guidelines.
Overall percentages of students passing all three portions of the test (reading, writing and math) include: white students, 81 percent; Asian American students, 36 percent; black students, 28 percent; Hispanic students, 20 percent.
Yet Rogers says 89 percent of the Hispanic students who attended Lakewood for both third and fourth grades passed all three portions of the test, as did 61 percent of similar black students.
Rogers says Lakewood also decided to include a number of special education and limited English students who could have been exempted from taking the standardized test.
“That was a conscious decision on our part,” she says. “We thought it was more responsible to get a baseline score for these students so that we could measure future growth rather than to exempt them to protect our rating now.”
The Texas Education Agency, as part of the state legislature’s plan to improve public education in Texas, ranked each district and each school in Texas. The Dallas Independent School District was rated acceptable, although 29 of its schools were rated unacceptable.
One neighborhood school – Stonewall Jackson – earned a “recognized” rating, the second highest; seven were deemed acceptable; five, including Woodrow and Lakewood, were rated “unacceptable”’ and two were rated “low-performing”, the worst of the five grades.
Low-performing schools are given two years to improve their scores. Or face the possibility that the state will close the school.
Among the schools rated “acceptable” was Mount Auburn, which was recently awarded more than $100,000 by the state for its test score improvements over the past three years.
Wilshire Baptist Sets Support Program
A support group for new teachers will be held Monday nights for six weeks beginning Sept. 20 at Wilshire Baptist Church, 4316 Abrams Road.
The program is aimed at teachers with three years or less of classroom experience, and will give them an opportunity to discuss the problems and situations unique to new teachers, says Brian Burton, the church’s minister of adult education.
The support group will be led by Karen Rogers, principal of Lakewood Elementary School.
Enrollment is free. For information or reservations, call Judy Yarbrough at 824-4531.
National PTA Group Picks White Rock Woman
Lois Muyskens-Parrott, a professor of humanities at Richland College, has been named to the National PTA Federal Member-to-Member Network.
Her job on the panel will be to discuss national PTA positions and concerns to PTAs in the White Rock area.
Among the policies under consideration by the national PTA group are education reforms, school safety, children with special needs, parental involvement and mandated state and national testing.
St. John’s Announces Fund-Raising Campaign
Charlie Derrick and Kent Sweeney have been named to head the campaign committee for St. John’s Episcopal School.
Joining them on the committee for the campaign, entitled “Prepare the Way, Open Every Door,” are Richard Duncan, Patti Capshaw, Tom Switser, Pat Hadawi, Amy Maceo, Olive McMillim, Bunny Sullivan, Patricia Richardson, Sandy Secor, Jean Sommerfield, Carol Farquhar and John Billingsley.
The campaign hopes to raise $450,000 to complete the expansion of the school’s facilities. The campaign began with a kickoff picnic Aug. 29.
Secor, the 1992-93 parent council president, announced that the group had raised $75,202.75 for St. John’s during the last school year.
The new officers of the parents council are Lola Moore, president; Dolly Holt, vice president/president elect; Jane Mayo, secretary; Joan Carey, treasurer; MaryTed Banta, parliamentarian; and Julia Gould, ways and means.
News & Notes
ARCHEOLOGY WORKSHOP: Dianne Harris, the assistant head of Lakehill Preparatory School, participated in an eight-day archeology workshop at the Crow Canyon Archeology Center in Cortez, Colo. She helped excavate an early American Indian pueblo.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: The Lakewood Preschool PTA is looking for volunteers for its November home tour and craft fair. People interested in helping with the home tour should call Suzy Cawthon (823-6053) or Chris Gresback (826-0586).
