<p>A local high school has been in the news after a [TIME</a> article](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1599099,00.html]TIME”>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1599099,00.html) was written about them possibly encouraging low-performing students to drop out in order to raise test scores. CMS conducted an investigation that [cleared</a> the school](<a href=“http://www.wsoctv.com/news/13214107/detail.html]cleared”>http://www.wsoctv.com/news/13214107/detail.html), but there have been errors noticed in [student</a> records](<a href=“http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-042807-cls-myerspark.19460bb3.html]student”>http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-042807-cls-myerspark.19460bb3.html). Similar claims have been made about [another</a> high school](<a href=“http://www.wbtv.com/news/topstories/6542342.html]another”>http://www.wbtv.com/news/topstories/6542342.html).</p>
<p>Yeah, well. I’ve seen this story unfolding every night on the evening news. I’m of the belief that there’s probably a lot we don’t know about in this story. It sounds like the hs principal at the time was trying to take a very firm stance, and didn’t want to put up with any crap. The other high school mentioned is on the other end of the spectrum of the 17+ high schools in this district (it’s a high school where students bringing guns to school make the news more frequently than anyone would want). The schools on the lower end of the performance spectrum are getting much more pressure to bring up test scores, etc. and I think we’ll see a lot of the behavior related issues being tolerated less and less, as well. </p>
<p>BTW, my 2 D’s are at one of the high schools in town where people lie about their addresses so they can get their kids in. My sr. daughter (with > 5.0 weighted GPA) got a form letter from the math department alerting me to the fact that she’d missed 10 sessions of her math class. I knew it was a “requirement” that the principal enforces with an iron hand, but i emailed the head of the math dept to tell her I was aware (and approved) of all her absences, and to let me know if there were any issues with her performance. She responded back immediately that D was in the top of her class and doing extremely well. One of the biggest difference in the top hs in this district and the lowest hs in this district, is the amount of parent involvement. Parents of the kids in the Time article were likely oblivious to their kids’ actions in school, and only got riled up after the fact, claiming race discrimination, among other things. I give big thumbs up to the district’s new superintendent—I wouldn’t want his job in a million years.</p>
<p>our district did something similar
With NCLB, and the poor scores on the WASL test for graduation, the district decided that all students of the class of 2008, who were 2 or more credits behind- would be reclassified as class of 2009, and therefore wouldn’t have to take the WASL or be added to those test scores/graduation rates</p>
<p>( however- they did nothing to reclassify students of the classes of 2007 or 2006, who also may not have been on track to graduate- but didn’t have to take the WASL or be added to districts stats)</p>
<p><a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002802066_freshmen13m.html[/url]”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002802066_freshmen13m.html</a></p>
<p>We had had WASL testing for * years* and could have been doing more to help those students, but it was easier to do this apparently.</p>
<p>APM- I graduated from Independence, and I’m familiar with these schools and their students. I also know that CMS has put a tremendous pressure on schools to bring up test scores, and the state has threatened to close at least four schools (Garinger, Waddell, West Meck, West Charlotte) if test scores don’t improve. I’m not saying they would kick students out, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did. There are also subtler ways of excluding students, like not admitting them to magnet programs.</p>
<p>“My sr. daughter (with > 5.0 weighted GPA) got a form letter from the math department alerting me to the fact that she’d missed 10 sessions of her math class.”</p>
<p>can someone explain to me how someone would get OVER a 5.0 gpa? fishy</p>
<p>I heard rumored that at a school near me, the counselor was advising parents of low-performing students that they might want to pull the students out to homeschool them. As a homeschooling parent, I found this quite alarming. I have to give the school credit, though. Instead of fighting against homeschooling, they have adopted the philosophy of “if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em”. Pretty smart move for keeping your school’s test scores up. :-p</p>
<p>Laserprecision,</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s necessarily fishy. I think some schools might weigh AP classes so that an A = 6 points. It just depends on how the school weights grades. I have heard of schools where an A =10 points, so 10.0 GPA may equal 4.0 at another school.</p>
<p>There are a number of standard grading scales, Laserprecision, and as Prefect says, there is one where the top grade is a 6.0. A lot of private schools are on what they call the 4.2 scale, where an A+ is worth a 4.2. There are also many, many nonstandard grading scales as well. I’ve seen one where a 7.0 was the top gpa possible. </p>
<p>As to asking low performing students to leave highschool, I know our district here does that. They refer them to a GED program. I was appalled.</p>
<p>prefect was right…there are threads on CC that talk about high schools’ grading scales. It’s mostly used to arrive at class rank. An A in AP = 6 points, an A in an honor’s class is 5 points, and and A in a regular class = 4.0 points. That’s why comparing weighted AP’s between schools in completely different states/high schools vary so much. Even whether an A = 90% (or 93% or 94%) … sorry for causing you smell rotting sushi, laser. But, back to the topic at hand, since it was under a previous principal and previous superintendent maybe it happened, I don’t know. I could get on a soapbox about all the things that are wrong about No Child Left Behind.</p>
<p>This has been done before. See “Joe Clark” and “Paterson, NJ.” That guy’s (the school principal) antics got him national attention, recognition from the President of the U.S., and a movie.</p>