Learning from the little school
It is good to see a measure of academic recognition for the nine Kootenai County area seniors that qualified for National Merit semifinals. We need some silver linings in Idaho education as we sit on the bottom of the nation, staring up.
For those students and their parents this is a welcome opportunity to offset future education costs with presidential scholarships and university awards based on the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores. I know our family would not have funded top tier universities without the PSAT boost and the presidential awards.
What I am saddened to see is the paltry showing by our two largest high schools - Coeur d'Alene and Lake City High. Only one student managed to qualify for the semifinals. I hope Joseph Robbins can go all the way as the sole standard bearer for the rival schools. Out of an approximate combined pool of 700 junior students from the two high schools to test, only ONE junior from CHS managed to excel on the accumulated knowledge gleaned from more than 11 years of education! Granted, only a percentile of students choose to sit for the test, but even that needs to be challenged by the bigger schools.
On the other side, the Cd'A Charter Academy, with fewer than 70 juniors available to test, managed to qualify six to the semifinals. Math aside, I would have to conclude that their results were 600 percent more successful than our under-performing larger high schools. Through sheer numbers one could expect to at least EQUAL the Charter school outcome. Much of the PSAT is foundation knowledge, retention, study preparation and applied reasoning. I urge the academic leaders at Lake City and Cd'A high schools, and even the middle schools, to head directly to the Charter Academy and see what is working for their students. Do not wait for next year's results.
When prospective residents, future students, buyers, Realtors and HR recruiters search Kootenai County education by high school, they will see lots of mention of athletics, state titles, clubs, rivalries and notable graduates (all athletes!). No scores, academics or accelerated learning is mentioned. If you want to relocate to Coeur d'Alene and offer your academically focused or university-bound student a consistent academic core, it seems you need to win the lottery at Charter Academy or head to Spokane. This has a direct impact on our land value, recruiting appeal nationwide and educational credibility in an already low rated public education state. I would be reluctant to move to Kootenai now based on the evident academic blind spots here. I know the schools have some great teachers, so where is the disconnect and why?
Some of this abysmal result may sit squarely within the adult and administrative politics tied to International Baccalaureate, AP, Honors and all the other dithering we have inflicted on our PSAT-capable students. My daughter survived the chaos of the CHS International Baccalaureate infancy. She still managed to get the presidential awards as a finalist, in spite of the backroom tug of wars that the students were and are affected by. I hope the new minds on our school board, parents, students and particularly the school leaders see the writing on the white board.
Results speak volumes and our big high schools appear to have lost their academic textbooks.
Lynn M. Fleming is owner of XACT Interiors, former University of Memphis educator, and parent of Elise and Byron Fabiano, CHS grads 2008, 2012.