I thought a coworker was looking at a map of Iraq....

2,469 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 9 yr ago by TKDMom
wareagle044
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...it was a proposed elementary attendance zoning map of College Station.



http://www.csisd.org/ourpages/auto/2011/10/19/61778507/Proposed%20Elementary%20Attendance%20Zones%20for%202015-16.pdf
SARATOGA
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I'm shocked so many care about what elementary school they attend. You're driving them anyway most likely, and it will be reasonably close.

I care far more about Middle and High School Zoning.
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techno-ag
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AG
Balancing the SES load at the elementary level is tricky business. Kudos to the CSISD school board & the committee for their efforts.

From the other thread:
quote:
This past spring, a 31-member committee met five times to reach the recommendation to the board. The committee was charged with zoning for nine elementary schools while adhering to three parameters developed by the board. The parameters included: Zone schools for growth. Zone schools for a comparable composition of students. Maintain three Title I schools.


[This message has been edited by techno-ag (edited 8/28/2014 3:06p).]
agfan92
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AG
I sure wouldn't want the job of having to draw those boundaries. That said, it sure seems like there would be a way to do it without bypassing multiple schools to achieve the balance you're looking for.

In junior high I was bused past 2 other junior highs because "I already had to ride the bus anyway." The district's goal wasn't drawing sensible attendance zones, it was busing as few kids as possible. Sometimes it's about economics, not just common sense.
Coach Dub
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Also, from the other thread-
quote:
It's about test scores and money. Balanced SES reduces the chance that one subgroup will bring down the rating for an entire school. I can almost guarantee that if they were not bussing kids around town, there would be a few schools in CSISD that would have trouble getting an acceptable rating.

Instead of investing in raising the performance of low performers (merit pay, performance bonuses, extra stipends for teachers at low-performing campuses, etc.), its easier to water down the effects of a low-performers on campus ratings and state funding by spreading them out across all the schools in a district.

[This message has been edited by coach dub (edited 8/28/2014 4:40p).]
1.618
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My guess...and it is just a guess...is that those who are complaining are not really talking about their kids being sent to a school that is farther away than other schools-----but rather, they are complaining about the low ses kids being bussed to their kids' school.
techno-ag
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AG
quote:
Also, from the other thread-
quote:
It's about test scores and money. Balanced SES reduces the chance that one subgroup will bring down the rating for an entire school. I can almost guarantee that if they were not bussing kids around town, there would be a few schools in CSISD that would have trouble getting an acceptable rating.

Instead of investing in raising the performance of low performers (merit pay, performance bonuses, extra stipends for teachers at low-performing campuses, etc.), its easier to water down the effects of a low-performers on campus ratings and state funding by spreading them out across all the schools in a district.

[This message has been edited by coach dub (edited 8/28/2014 4:40p).]


Exactly, Coach. This is a numbers game and CSISD is adept at playing it as are other districts throughout the state. Nobody wants three or four low performing elementary campuses in their district. Better to spread out the low performers among all campuses and have (for example) 8 "A-" campuses instead of 5 "A+" campuses and 3 "C-" campuses. Districts do this all the time, and there's nothing wrong with it.

[This message has been edited by techno-ag (edited 8/29/2014 10:09a).]
Oogway
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It is a numbers game that is also related to funding; please remember that the funding for teacher salaries comes from the State of Texas. According to the formula the State uses, College Station only has X amount of dollars coming back from the State.
Those merit raises, bonuses etc are nice ideas, but with the growth in the District, they only get so much $$ per student.

You can also bet that if high performing, merit-raise worthy faculty were located on certain traditionally low-performing campuses that there would be a whole lotta complaints from certain parents that their snowflake did not have the same quality teacher as so-and-so.

Techno is right, Districts do this, and they are caught between Schylla and Charybdis in that they have to satisfy the legislated mandates of both the state and federal governments while appeasing the local constituency who may not have a clue how these mandates, budgets, and testing schedules affect their district.
SARATOGA
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Aren't low performing kids the result of low performing parents ?


Ya'll said "low performing" I'm just putting it in context.


Seems like they'll have low performing parents no matter where they go to school, and the teacher can't work miracles (and shouldn't be expected to)
TKDMom
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quote:
Seems like they'll have low performing parents no matter where they go to school, and the teacher can't work miracles (and shouldn't be expected to)


Better performing schools typically have more resources available than just the teachers and can identify and intervene for those kids who might need some additional help.

Plus, kids tend to rise to the expectations of those around them. If you put younger, at-risk kids in schools with high-achieving peers, the at-risk kids will often turn it around and become high-achieving, because they see their peers doing the same.

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