So says the head of the PWCS math Department in an email to members of the Teach Math Right Team.
The email confirms what you read here – pass rates in Woodbridge have dropped since Investigations was mandated.
The overall pass rate in Woodbridge District was down approximately 4% from the previous year. The percentage of students achieving an advanced score was down by about 3%.
So how did PWCS claim success with Investigations?
They pulled test scores from 5 years ago, compared them to 2008, and claimed that any increase from 2003 was due to Investigations.
As before, a comparison to 2007, before Investigations was mandated, was missing. Because if you pull SOL data from 2002 to 2008 you see that the increases occurred before Investigations was mandated, generally in the 2005 or 2006 time frame. Multiple factors could be playing into that, not the least of which is that the SOLs are revised every 5 – 8 years and 2003 was the first time the SOL test reflected those revised standards. But the truth is that test scores increased before Investigations was mandated.
I find the efforts PWCS undertakes to spin the success of Investigations to be alarming – especially in Woodbridge where our most at-risk students live.
The fact is that pass rates in Woodbridge have declined since Investigations was mandated, especially amongst the LEP, Hispanic, and Disadvantaged populations. But you won’t hear that from PWCS – oh no – they had to show that Investigations was successful and if doing so required them to go back to 2003, then so be it. The needs of our children don’t mater to them – what matters is making Investigations look as good as possible – no matter how hard they have to spin the data to do so.
One year may not be sufficient to note a trend, but it sure is sufficient to cause concern. The data show that claims that Investigations has closed the achievement gap are without foundation.
They are, in short, flat out lies. They are lies which are made at our children’s expense and the lemmings on our school board just lap it up. They accept what’s given to them without question and blindly nod their heads. Probably because few of them have children who are being subjected to the program.
The school boards job is to reign in the school system – to serve as our voice against a government monopoly. When they fail to do so, repeatedly, perhaps it’s time for a new school board.
so says one of the attorney’s working for PWCS. Apparently those laws just apply to us little people – the ones who pay the taxes that provide their salaries.
A member of the Teach Math Right Team contacted one of the attorney’s working for PWCS to try to get a better understanding of how the school system could assert that it followed applicable laws when it clearly did not. As you know from our previous article, here, PWCS failed to obtain school board approval for the evaluation criteria they used – a step which is required per state law when a school district is considering a non-state adopted textbook.
The attorney stated that PWCS had followed local regulations regarding textbook adoptions, and cited the newer version regulation, referenced in the article linked above. But this regulation is a PWC regulation and it only applies to newer version of approved textbooks – Investigations was not, has not been, and is not approved for use in Grade 5 or as a K – 4 or K – 5 series. Furthermore, following a local regulation does not preclude the county from following state law, especially when the local regulation doesn’t apply.
I’d love to report that our elected officials have heard our concerns and are addressing them. A summary of the issue and our concerns has been sent to each member of the PWC School Board, each member of the PWC Board of County Supervisors, State Representative Jeff Frederick, and various members of the VA Department of Education. The issue was summarized through phone calls to State Attorney General Bob McDonnel and The County Attorney.
None of our elected officials care.
Apparently, it’s OK for government employees to disregard the law. Too bad I can’t disregard my property tax bill……
At the March 18th school board meeting Mrs. Ramirez defended her assertion that Investigations has helped students in her district. She cited a pass rate, 82.2%, obtained from PWCS staff, that indicated to her that Investigations was helping the students in Woodbridge District.
One quick question, which really should have been asked by Mrs Ramirez, what was the pass rate before Investigations was implemented?
Because one number tells you nothing. Comparing the pass rate for Woodbridge District after Investigations was mandated to the pass rate before it was mandated gives that number meaning.
Maybe the reason comparative rates weren’t provided is because the pass rate in Woodbrige before Investigations was mandated was higher.
To answer that question one need only look to the Elementary mathematics program – Investigations. You see, the philosophy Investigations follows – reform math – has failed miserably in state after state. By selecting Investigations for elementary students and pushing Connected Math in the Middle Schools, PWC is setting our children up for failure just like the children in Washington and California were set up by their school divisions.
This Article, from the Spokesman Review, discusses how reform math failed students in Washington and how parents and the State Legislature are working to take control back from the schools.
Perhaps it’s time for a state-wide effort to toughen our standards of learning and get rid of these fuzzy curricula once and for all.
Have you heard about the regional Governor’s school PWC is planning?
Supposedly the school system will create a local version of Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax which will follow a STEM program (science, technology, engineering, and math) of study.
At present the initiative is described as a joint partnership between PWC, Manassas Park, and City of Manassas schools, and will be conducted in cooperation with George Mason University.
Although still in the planning stages, the idea is to pilot the school with limited enrollment of 11th and 12th grade students who will attend the Governor’s school part of the day and a regular high school the rest of the day.
It was during the question and answer session following the presentation, when school officials got off the script, when the most revealing information was provided.
The program the school provides will focus on “environmental sciences”.
One parents finally asked, “What about the math and engineering?”
School Officials responded ” A math head is a math head is a math head. What we’re going to want to do is back door them so they get interested in the math while they’re ‘grooving’ on the environmental [science] issues.”
I gotta tell you that I’m kind of at a loss right now. How much, exactly, is the county planning to spend for a STEM school that doesn’t do math or engineering?
The new motto for PWC schools – why do it all when you can get away with doing half…….
For you Investigations and Connected Math fans who have no clue what I’m talking about, Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535…Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th.
As with Investigations, it appears that the numerous studies demonstrating middle school student achievement when taught under the CMP approach are bogus.
This study, completed by the US Department of Education, found that of the 22 studies conducted on CMP, 19 had so many flaws that they didn’t meet their standards for reliability. The other 3 met the standards but with reservations.
Of the 3 remaining, semi-valid studies, the results were inconclusive. Students taught under CMP underperformed their peers taught under a more traditional program when assessed by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), exceeded their peers when assessed by the Mass. Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), and equaled their peers when assessed by the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS).
), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535…Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th.