Education Measures Are More Than Just Test Scores
Data on bullying and breakfasts show schools still have a lot to do to help students.
Two separate groups released last week seemingly unrelated reports, both with wide-ranging implications for education and students.
One, put out by the Advocates for Children of New Jersey, examined participation rates in school breakfast programs in New Jersey.
The other, from the Department of Education, provided the first district counts of incidents of harassment and intimidation since the state's anti-bullying law took effect.
The 2011-12 bullying statistics were included as part of the state's annual violence and vandalism report, and boosted the total number of reported incidents (weapons and drug and alcohol incidents are included as well) by more than 50 percent over 2010-11.
Some of the results were surprising, and disturbing.
Parsippany had 128 instances of bullying, in addition to 29 acts of violence, 20 of vandalism, 4 involving weapons and 25 of substance abuse or possession. The district is the largest in Morris County, with more than 7,200 students, but that still works out to incidents affecting nearly 3 percent of the student population.
Butler had only 13 incidents of bullying, but 24 of violence. And its total rate of all incidents was more than 4 per 100 students.
By contrast, West Morris Regional had just 6 cases of bullying, 5 involving violence, and 18 total. That's less than 1 incident for every 100 students enrolled.
The Morris School District had 39 harassment and intimidation instances, although presumably one of those involved Lennon Baldwin, who is believed to have killed himself as a result of being bullied. He was a victim of assault by two other youths, so it could also be one of the 40 incidents of violence reported.
Lennon's case puts a much-needed face on the numbers and drives home how much bullying and violence hurts students and how serious these incidents can be.
There is a question of whether the numbers in the report are giving a full picture of what is happening in the schools, given it is the first year in which districts have been implementing the law and documenting incidents of harassment.
And are students reporting all complaints?
If so, there seem to be valid questions about why some districts had so many more incidents than others? Are there some places where a culture of bullying is tolerated more than others?
The other report, from ACNJ, provides data that appears to be unrelated at first, but also provides insight into how students are faring in school.
For those districts required to offer a breakfast program, the group calculated the percentage of eligible students who actually receive the meal for free or a reduced price.
This data also was eye-opening. Although only collected for a fraction of school districts—those with at least 20 percent of students of low enough income to be eligible for a free or reduced-price breakfast—it found that little more than one-third of students statewide are getting the meal to which they are entitled.
In the Morris School District, more than three quarters of students eligible are receiving breakfast, which was far better than the state average. Still, according to the data, there were 251 students last spring who have been getting a breakfast and didn't.
It seems clear that all students eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch should get it. It's also clear that children should not be bullied or harassed at school.
Students who go to school hungry or without having a healthy breakfast are not going to learn well. And students who go to school fearful of physical or verbal abuse or social isolation are likely to have a tougher time concentrating on learning as well.
Both reports show that there are shortcomings in our school systems that cannot be measured by test scores. They give officials, and the parents and citizens who must keep an eye on them, other benchmarks for improvement.
jab
9:11 am on Monday, October 8, 2012
How about parental responsibility for their children? In terms of learning performance or abusive behavior? Or have we run out of excuses?
We are the top spenders in the world per child in education, only to rank towards the bottom in OECD countries in scince, math, and reading comprehension.
Spending & wasting more money on "education" won't fix things, parental responsibility will!
Lewis Morris
7:53 am on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Enough! Take responsibility for your actions everyone! This kid drops out of school activities. Then drops out of sports. Then he gets into the wrong crowd. Then gets into drugs. Then rehab. I guess he was bullied into that too?
Parents, if you want to find the person responsible for your children's problems, look no further than the mirror.
The school, community, and society and I are not responsible for your screw-ups.
Prentiss Gray
8:52 am on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I agree Parental responsibility is key in all aspects of raising a child. However, just saying that isn't solving our educational problems. We've been saying the same thing for years, are we hoping to shame the "Bad parents" into action? If that's the reason our strong beliefs have done nothing to solve these problems. Moreover, I would gladly argue that these kinds of statements are a symptom of all us "responsible" parents ignoring these problems and hoping they'll go away due to the sudden emergence of "responsibility" in the supposed "irresponsible" parents.
These problems are not going away, so the school systems are implementing new strategies to tackle these problems. I wonder how many of these bulling problems have always existed, it's just now become more imperative to report them.
As for the lunch and breakfast programs, I believe we need to delve into why the children are not taking more advantage of them. Is there a stigma associated with participating? Are the kids just too distracted and want to spend time with their friends instead of eating? It can be hard to keep kids at the table at home when they're excited about doing something else.
Lewis Morris
9:01 am on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Bullying isn't a education problem. The fact that Morristown is 75th in the state and in the bottom 3rd of Morris Co. is an educational problem.
FourScore
10:21 am on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Of course bullying is an educational problem. Students cannot be productive and successful in school if the environment is hostile and threatening. If bullying is wide-spread within a school, then the educators are failing to control the environment they are responsible for. Of course the parents share in this responsibility also, but they can only take action of they are aware of what’s going on in the school.
Lewis Morris
11:22 am on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Twisted to the extreme that you imply? Agreed. But that is not what happened in this case.
Jennifer Dowd
12:16 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
We live in a time where social, individual, and natural systems are all in decline. This is merely evidence of social decline and a symptom of the larger problem. We are all responsible for what happens next. Schools fractionalize knowledge and use recursive methods for teaching skills in isolation of real world application. Our kids are rightfully frustrated.
Our schools are not teaching the competencies that students need to thrive in a rapidly shifting social, political and global economy. The school system was designed to perpetuate a hierarchical order and maintain the status quo. This is not the work of stupid people, but an intentional design.
What do we want our children to know and be able to do? How do we want our children to feel? How do they need to be able to interact with each other in order to work towards thriving social, individual, and natural systems?
Does anyone else have Everyday Math in their school? What do you think about it? Does it match what you want for your child? Is it going to provide your child with the competencies that they need in order to thrive? My son is apparently failing 1st grade math according to that program's assessment. I know my son, and he understands numbers and counting and how to apply them in the real world. It concerns me that the assessment doesn't show what I know to be true. I don't want him feeling like he is bad at math in first grade. That's how bullying begins. Kids who feel like failures.
FourScore
1:44 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I'll give you a bit of advice Jennifer; if you don't want your son to feel like a failure, then don't air his poor grades on a public internet forum using your full name. How would you feel if you boss did the same with your work performance???
Jennifer Dowd
7:50 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Interesting response. Everyday Math is a systematic form of education that is intended to produce exactly the results that it gets. It is not a reflection of my child, but the failing system. I always appreciate feedback and transparency is important in all aspects of life. By the way... the teacher told me that most of her students failed as well.
The test is neither reliable nor valid. Is that how you want our children's skills, knowledge, and performances measured?
louisvuitton
12:49 am on Thursday, October 11, 2012
Louis Vuitton Handbags outlet||http://www.louisvuittonhandbagoutletss.net/
Coach Factory outlet||http://www.get-coachfactoryoutlets.com/
V
8:56 am on Monday, October 15, 2012
It is critically important to provide underprivileged children with healthy breakfast at public expense. Otherwise, their parents may not have enough more money for cable, beer, new iPhones, bling, $200 shoes, and other vital necessities.
Really, how about we test the actual expenses distribution of those asking for public assistance in any form, and receiving it? Begging was *supposed* to be demeaning. Those in true need will be provided with food, heating, and basic clothing, at the expense of those who waste their own resources and rely on public largesse.
PS: For raving liberals here - yeah, facts are racist, deal with it.
stewart resmer
10:32 am on Monday, October 15, 2012
Here is a report of a differnt kind that frames the issues:
As Staff Writer Harvy Lipman reports, the 4Cs of Passaic County, which oversees day care in Passaic County, will lose $900,000 in state funding in order to make up for a retirement nest egg given to its former executive director and other "disallowed" uses of its financial support from Trenton. The state Department of Human Services, following an audit of the agency, says 4Cs wasn't permitted to use state funds for former director Mary Ann Mirko's deferred compensation account.
Incredibly, the child-care oversight organization paid Mirko, its longtime leader, nearly $1.4 million for both her retirement fund and other fringe benefits from 2003 through 2010. Until her retirement in January, Mirko was one of the highest-paid non-profit executives in North Jersey.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/173641141_Herald_News__A_non-profit_falls_down_on_its_mission.html
ANNA
12:57 am on Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sprint is http://www.coachoutletonlineoe.com Coach Factory Outlet spending http://www.louisvuittonbeltspc.com Louis Vuitton Belts latest http://www.coachoutletsstorebm.com Coach Factory Store Long-Term Evolution http://www.guccibeltsmh.com Gucci Belt USA Sprint is http://www.coachouletbtf.com Coach Factory Online Store laboring And http://www.coachoutletuse.net Coach Factory Outlet if a tougher http://www.coachoutletb1.com Coach Factory Online competitor http://www.coachoutlethcs.com Coach Outlet Online Sprint has http://www.coachoutletonlinetpc.net Coach Online Outlet long hinted http://www.coachoutletonlineeu.net Coach Factory Outlet Online But http://www.coachfactorystorebg.org Coach Bags Outlet . Until http://www.coachoutletonlineef.org Coach Outlet Online now largely http://www.coachfactoryonlinemb.com Coach Factory Online through http://www.coachfactoryoutletion.com Coach Factory Outlet until recently http://www.hermesbeltsoutletns.net Hermes Belt stood at nearly confirmed http://www.coachoutletmls.com Coach Factory Outlet Online ton Thursday.