bueller? bueller?
Today, my assistant principal asked teachers to complete a chart that included the data in the first four columns. But of course, that only tells half the story. Administrators are fond of quoting a conventional wisdom that if a certain percent of a teacher's students are failing, it's the fault of the teacher, not the students. That might hold true in some schools. But we aren't teaching in some schools.
In a recent publication on the crisis of school attendance, the U.S. Department of Education reports that about 8 percent of students are absent on any given day in U.S. public schools. "Chronic absenteeism" is defined as missing 10 or more days in a school year. Note in my chart that my school uses a 4x4 block, with essentially an 89-day school year. For perspective, simply double the days missed per student to extrapolate for the typical 180-day year.
A November 2008 article from the TCPalm (a regional newspaper of the Port St. Lucie area in central eastern Florida) reports that Florida defines chronic absenteeism as 21 or more days in a 180-day school year. A Johns Hopkins study labeled Port St. Lucie -- with 14.5 percent of high school students "chronically absent" by their standards -- as a "dropout factory."
At this rate, it's a miracle that my failure percentage is as good as it is.
But enough about averages. As I said, I teach individuals. Here (click to enlarge) are the individual absentee (Ab=absent, T=tardy) statistics for two of of my classes this semester, in which we've had 41 instructional days so far. (Total figures are slightly different from those on the big chart due to a recording lag.)
You get the idea. I have some very successful students, and I have some abject failures. This English II class, for instance is skewed by students 4266 and 2008. While student 1510, not surprisingly, has a 102% grade for the first 9-week term. Only one student is failing this class. Seven of the 14 in the Learning Strategies are failing.
What I do with these data, I honestly don't know.
My worry, with the school budget cuts and impending staffing cuts, is that teachers with lower failure rates will be given preference when contracts come around in April. You might not be surprised to learn that many teachers pass students along to avoid looking like they can't teach, and/or to avoid filling out the failure documentation paperwork. I guess I can use these figures to support my case for renewal.
Also:
SOME STATE TEST FACTS:
Last semester, the district pass rate for the English II state-mandated test (required for graduation, and used in rating the schools' AYP) was 35%
My students' pass rate was 48%
If I include students who missed passing by 1 or 2 points, my pass rate goes up to 58%
So I'm doing something right, and at least the students who show up are benefitting.
Meanwhile, could someone with a numerology fetish please explain why I continue to fail a 7-1-7 pattern no matter how many students or which classes I teach?
