Hebron Dollars & Sense

Check out Cruz's attempt to persuade everyone to keep her ADK:

www.hebron.k12.ct.us/uploaded/Hebron_Dis...resentation_2008.pdf

This is what she will be showing at tomorrow's board meeting.

"Hebron’s performance in reading, consistent with
overall state performance, has been relatively flat
over the past 10 years. Our third grade reading
scores dipped 10% on the 2008 CMT’s."

"In a state-wide survey, approximately 38% of
Hebron’s Kindergarten students did not come to
school with the expected language and literacy
skills despite a majority of our students attending
nursery school or pre-school."

"We did not make AYP for the special education subgroup
as measured by the 2008 CMT’s in reading
and math."

The above are the only Hebron specific statistics quoted in this or any other presentation I have seen regarding ADK. Stating one year of data does not make a strong statistical case for need for ADK. I hope Ms Cruz has more information tomorrow night, if we are indeed moving forward to fund non mandated ADK at the expense of other established programs.

She states the facts above, yet in her blog, on Jan 27th she wrote:

I have never seen research that has correlated the CMT's with program decisions such as All-Day K. There are simply too many variables to consider.

I have seen them use the tactic of invalidating data that shows no correlation to ADK and CMT scores, then, later attempt to show better performance from ADK kids. It's mind numbing.

This type of misuse of statistics bothers me - and it is not the first time the superintendent misuses statistics like this. She has noted elsewhere that there are in fact too many variables to consider - but most importantly, these are different kids, with a different mix of special needs students, etc., not to mention teacher turnover and curriculum changes, and the test itself asked somewhat different questions. The third grade is the starting point for the CMT's - the measurement is comparing 2008 third graders against 2007 third graders - but the comparison should be 2008 fourth graders with 2007 third graders.





How does this compare to prior years at Hebron? Especially, say, for the current 6th grade class, which did not have any ADK, but is a large part of why HES had been nominated for awards. Also, how does this compare statewide, to our neighboring communities, and to other towns in our DRG.



First of all, how is this relevant to the All Day Kindergarten argument? Second, like above, how does this compare statewide? My understanding is that special education students present unique challenges that the CMTs do not fairly accomodate. This problem was anticipated when NCLB was implemented without the federal funding, and it was expected that most towns will be hard pressed to try to meet adequate yearly progress for the special needs subgroups.

Don't get me wrong, I believe special needs students deserve an appropriate education. Hebron does fairly well in making information available to parents of these students, as well as in developing specialized programs for them, while integrating them in the classroom. We already pay a lot more for these students than for any other subgroup, and this population has grown dramatically. But the approach Hebron has taken is less adversarial, and more collaborative, with parents who request these special services for their children. Consequently, Hebron has been able to provide more mandated services to these students within the district, as opposed to having to transport them outside the district at much higher costs to the taxpayer. Nevertheless, the reality remains that many of these students reach their achievements at a different pace than "mainstream" students, which is then reflected on the CMTs.



I am appalled that the Superintendent wishes to maintain ADK at the expense of the other established programs. Her argument that the cost of ADK next year is minimal "because of the 14 special needs preschool students" is clearly putting the needs of those 14 kids above the needs of the 700 other students who would be impacted by music program cutbacks, and above the needs of the 100 or so students who benefit from the C&E program.

cosmania wrote:


WELL PUT Cosmania



When they Attempt( AS THEY DO FREQUENTLY) To Skew The Statistics & Just Plain Flat Out Manipulate & Bamboozle The Public, It Makes Me wonder If Even They Know What The Truth Of A Situation Is.

Do they Even Know What They Say DAY TO DAY/WEEK TO WEEK/MONTH TO MONTH As To The Credibility Of what they Say??

I DOUBT IT

No Consistency In Their Statements WHATSOEVER!

And They wonder Why The Electorate At large Duz Not Trust Them & They Wonder why their Credibility With the Electorate Is In SHREDS


NUFF SAID

I am appalled that the Superintendent wishes to maintain ADK at the expense of the other established programs. Her argument that the cost of ADK next year is minimal "because of the 14 special needs preschool students" is clearly putting the needs of those 14 kids above the needs of the 700 other students who would be impacted by music program cutbacks, and above the needs of the 100 or so students who benefit from the C&E program.

My guess is that she is putting the needs of these students ahead of the others because the special ed. population is the one group that is not making her look good on the CMT's. They are not meeting AYP, she doesn't look good, so their needs must come first. Thank you for pointing out the difficulties re measuring progress of special needs children via a standardized test. I believe most educators would say that the CMT's, or any standardized test for that matter, are an imperfect measurement tool for ANY student, never mind special needs children.