...the very top top American kids are scoring about the 75th percentile on international studies. So we know our top performing kids are doing very well. What what are the challenges posed by those kinds of data? [ed.: you mean, aside from the challenge of our top kids scoring twenty-five points below the top kids in Europe and Asia?] What’s interesting to me about places like Scarsdale is that because high-performing school districts aren’t having to deal with some of the very gritty kinds of reality that some of our urban schools must deal with, we’re in a position to explore alternative ways of doing things and ask questions that go to the heart of what truly strong public institutions do and and to the heart of how they can function most effectively.

...the very top top American kids are scoring about the 75th percentile on international studies. So we know our top performing kids are doing very well. What what are the challenges posed by those kinds of data? [ed.: you mean, aside from the challenge of our top kids scoring twenty-five points below the top kids in Europe and Asia?] What’s interesting to me about places like Scarsdale is that because high-performing school districts aren’t having to deal with some of the very gritty kinds of reality that some of our urban schools must deal with, we’re in a position to explore alternative ways of doing things and ask questions that go to the heart of what truly strong public institutions do and and to the heart of how they can function most effectively.

What Scarsdale does, we do.

I can't for the life of me think why this would be, unless it has something to do with the fact that Scarsdale's SAT scores are a teensy bit higher than ours:

But did they look at the scores for 8th grade?

No children in Irvington had used TRAILBLAZERS at that point.

But did they look at the scores for 8th grade?

What Scarsdale does, we do.

I can't for the life of me think why this would be, unless it has something to do with the fact that Scarsdale's SAT scores are a teensy bit higher than ours:

What Scarsdale does, we do.

I can't for the life of me think why this would be, unless it has something to do with the fact that Scarsdale's SAT scores are a teensy bit higher than ours:

...the very top top American kids are scoring about the 75th percentile on international studies. So we know our top performing kids are doing very well. What what are the challenges posed by those kinds of data? [ed.: you mean, aside from the challenge of our top kids scoring twenty-five points below the top kids in Europe and Asia?] What’s interesting to me about places like Scarsdale is that because high-performing school districts aren’t having to deal with some of the very gritty kinds of reality that some of our urban schools must deal with, we’re in a position to explore alternative ways of doing things and ask questions that go to the heart of what truly strong public institutions do and and to the heart of how they can function most effectively.

38.9% of Irvington 8th graders last year, 2005-2006, scored a 4 on the state test — and these are kids, remember, who have been through Irvington's Death March to Algebra Phase 4 extravaganza. The Irvington Middle School math curriculum is a mess no matter who's teaching the thing.

I'm going to call upon my Bayesian priors to say there's a reason for that.

38.9% of Irvington 8th graders last year, 2005-2006, scored a 4 on the state test — and these are kids, remember, who have been through Irvington's Death March to Algebra Phase 4 extravaganza. The Irvington Middle School math curriculum is a mess no matter who's teaching the thing.

I'm going to call upon my Bayesian priors to say there's a reason for that.

And still, we have 38.9% of our kids scoring a 4 compared to just 28% of Scarsdale's TRAILBLAZERS kids.

...the very top top American kids are scoring about the 75th percentile on international studies. So we know our top performing kids are doing very well. What what are the challenges posed by those kinds of data? [ed.: you mean, aside from the challenge of our top kids scoring twenty-five points below the top kids in Europe and Asia?] What’s interesting to me about places like Scarsdale is that because high-performing school districts aren’t having to deal with some of the very gritty kinds of reality that some of our urban schools must deal with, we’re in a position to explore alternative ways of doing things and ask questions that go to the heart of what truly strong public institutions do and and to the heart of how they can function most effectively.

...the very top top American kids are scoring about the 75th percentile on international studies. So we know our top performing kids are doing very well. What what are the challenges posed by those kinds of data? [ed.: you mean, aside from the challenge of our top kids scoring twenty-five points below the top kids in Europe and Asia?] What’s interesting to me about places like Scarsdale is that because high-performing school districts aren’t having to deal with some of the very gritty kinds of reality that some of our urban schools must deal with, we’re in a position to explore alternative ways of doing things and ask questions that go to the heart of what truly strong public institutions do and and to the heart of how they can function most effectively.

...the very top top American kids are scoring about the 75th percentile on international studies. So we know our top performing kids are doing very well. What what are the challenges posed by those kinds of data? [ed.: you mean, aside from the challenge of our top kids scoring twenty-five points below the top kids in Europe and Asia?] What’s interesting to me about places like Scarsdale is that because high-performing school districts aren’t having to deal with some of the very gritty kinds of reality that some of our urban schools must deal with, we’re in a position to explore alternative ways of doing things and ask questions that go to the heart of what truly strong public institutions do and and to the heart of how they can function most effectively.

It’s a real privilege but it’s also a responsibility. Particularly today when so much of the impetus for educational change has shifted from localities to the federal or state government. I think it’s very easy to lose sight of the fact that historically one of the tremendous strengths of the American public school system has been the initiative and the individuality of local school districts.

Did the superintendent of Scarsdale's public schools just tell us that the top-top American kids are scoring at the 75th percentile in international studies?

It appears so:

Did the superintendent of Scarsdale's public schools just tell us that the top-top American kids are scoring at the 75th percentile in international studies?

It appears so:

Mike is a passionate guy, "a 1960s person ... pre-disposed to a kind of professive [sic] social vision," who is, of late, discovering the virtues of local control and the "danger in moving to big government."

Mike's not down with that:

The danger in moving to big government being, one gathers, way too much testing and accountability.

The danger in moving to big government being, one gathers, way too much testing and accountability.

And still, we have 38.9% of our kids scoring a 4 compared to just 28% of Scarsdale's TRAILBLAZERS kids.

-- CatherineJohnson - 04 Dec 2006

28.4% of Scarsdale 8th graders last year, 2005-2006, scored a 4 on the state test.

And still, we have 38.9% of our kids scoring a 4 compared to just 28% of Scarsdale's TRAILBLAZERS kids.

28.4% of Scarsdale 8th graders last year, 2005-2006, scored a 4 on the state test.

And still, we have 38.9% of our kids scoring a 4 compared to just 28% of Scarsdale's TRAILBLAZERS kids.

And still, we have 38.9% of our kids scoring a 4 compared to just 28% of Scarsdale's TRAILBLAZERS kids.

28.4% of Scarsdale 8th graders last year, 2005-2006, scored a 4 on the state test.

The Irvington 8th graders left K-5 before Math TRAILBLAZERS was adopted.

But did they look at the scores for 8th grade?

I assume that one reason our curriculum committee thought TRAILBLAZERS was a great idea was the fact that Scarsdale 4th graders were so far ahead of Irvington kids on the state tests. 71% of Scarsdale kids were scoring a 4, compared to just 53% of our kids. That's a big gap. (I think.)

Irvington      4th grade       8th grade

Scores of 4       71%           37%

I assume that one reason our curriculum committee thought TRAILBLAZERS was a great idea was the fact that Scarsdale 4th graders were so far ahead of Irvington kids on the state tests. 71% of Scarsdale kids were scoring a 4, compared to just 53% of our kids. That's a big gap. (I think.)

So here's an interesting factoid known only to me, Ed, my next-door neighbor, and our erstwhile Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum. (I know he knows because I gave him the data, walked him through it, and stood there while he read and reacted.)

Scores of 4       52%           41%
Scores of 3       40%           45%

Irvington      4th grade       8th grade