SWOPblogger

karlos says:

At my alma mater no less...

Tomorrow morning at Duranes Elementary, Norma Garza, senior policy advisor US Dept. of Education, will present Ramona Corona, a first grade math and reading teacher at the school, with the "American Star of Teaching" award. The star award will be given to a teacher in each state and the District of Columbia this fall.

The press release for the media event says Duranes Elementary has seen a "significant increase" in reading scores and has pulled itself from a school in "need of improvement" to "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) over the last two years.

Expect local news outlets to be gushing over the story tomorrow, even though NM students still lag behind national average in almost every indicator.

My advice to Ramona: Give back the award. Tell Bush he's leaving children behind!

Numbers missing from the Dept of education's press release:

49% of NM's fourth graders and 38% of eighth graders are below basic achievement scores in math and reading, compared to 29% nationally.

62% of NM 8th graders read at a "basic" level in 2005, compared to %70 percent in 1998.

Only California and Mississippi have a higher percentage of children below basic achievement levels.

*Go to the National Assessment in Educational Progress website to get the complete numbers.

NCLB
NO Child Left Behind
education
new mexico