RATINGS: Shooting for the stars

Recently the State Department of Education released its ratings for some of our local schools. Harrison Elementary received a two-star rating while other local elementary schools received a rating of four.

Let me explain how the rating system really works.

Harrison Elementary has a high number of students who have historically read at one to two grade levels higher than their peers. Based on ISAT scores from last spring these students did not show significant improvements on their reading scores. If a fifth-grader is already reading at a seventh-grade level, should we expect the student to read at an eighth-grade level the next time he or she is tested? The answer is NO.

Now here is where it gets crazy. The student who is progressing at the same rate as his or her peers will show much higher progression than the student who is already reading at a level one to two grades higher. Thus, the school with a higher number of students who simply meet the state standard will garnish a higher star rating.

Let’s talk free throws. I’ve shot thousands of free throws during my lifetime and could probably hit eight of 10 with a few shots to warm up. Let’s say we pick five people off the street who have never played basketball and test them on day one by having them shoot 10 free throws. Chances are, most of them are going to make 2-3 shots. Continuing with the hypothetical story, the five people are told to shoot 100 shots each day. At the end of the month it’s likely that these five people will show significant growth in their shooting ability, with some of them able to make five to six shots out of 10. I’m sure that at the end of the month I’ll still be hitting 8-10 shots. Who is the better shooter? I am of course, but they will have shown higher “growth” than me even though I’m a better shooter. At the end of the day the headlines will read:

Whipple … a two-star shooter.

We have great teachers at Harrison Elementary and the rating system doesn’t reflect the wonderful job they do with our children.

ANDREW WHIPPLE

Kootenai High School