Friday, August 21, 2009

Are We Really Data Driven?

DeKalb County School Watch blog has raised the same "show me the data" question about Springboard that Hillsborough raised years ago.


College Board "promotes" Springboard as Rigor and readiness for AP® and college success and provides select research summaries to support the program.

In all honesty, has our District generated any Springboard related data?

Am I the only one who suspects the District of selectively using data?

Do our leaders have the integrity to pull the plug on an ineffective program in time to avoid really damaging our kids?

Will those parents of "average and above average students" continue to acquiesce to the needs of the "below average" demographic?

Remember a level playing field provides no challenging hills or mountains.

2 comments:

settergirl said...

The problem with decisions being 'data driven' is that not all the data is examined or used. For example, has anyone considered the impact of the extra classes we have to teach? Or why hasn't anyone questioned the fact that school grades and writing scores dropped all over the Hillsborough district the same year as teachers were forced to replace their expertise and education with the Springboard curriculum? Of course those are rhetorical questions which will never be addressed because no one in charge wants to face the reality of the answers. Any chance that the students of unemployed or displaced families might lack some motivation to be successful in school? Is anyone looking at the impact of our current economic climate on student performance and attendance? Well, I guess we know the answers to those questions, too. Everyone knows data can be used to prove whatever the powers-that-be wish to prove.

Anonymous said...

Some lady on Fox News just brought up SpringBoard and said it was "dumbing down" our children. She said something like "a curriculum that has been brought in under the guise of AP coursework is dumbing down our kids." I think she may have name-dropped Collegeboard. Interesting.

Other people are taking notice?

Glenn Beck Episode on 9/28 at about 35 minutes in.