Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I'm posting this link mostly because putting it here works better for me than a bookmark. I have a lot of things going on - including a massive reorganization and clean up of my office (way way way way way long time coming), mulching the garden (the only thing I want to be doing, and this weather is making it really hard to wait until tomorrow) and working on my study. So I can't immerse myself in this report, but I will - before I put the links and commentary in my summer class. I will have to do that by July 18, when we start to cover educational policy.

Just a couple of quick notes on it, though. First, it's great that some districts and parts of the state have seen an increase in high school graduate rates. However, just like with the "Did you know?" poster campaign, I have a really hard time not focusing on the remaining slice of the pie, the 27 percent who do not graduate! What is there today in terms of opportunity for young people without high school diplomas? It isn't like the early or even mid-20th Century.

Also - no surprises here. Working on college readiness used to be a big part of my life. That was the whole point of the program I directed back in the '90s (if you are wondering, "He Has a Way with Words" was not about that program). I found that 49 percent of SUNY students who participated and 59 percent of all students who participated (when they were juniors in high school) would place in remedial math in college.

Also, unrelated: S'ville house is back on the grid! YAY!

No comments: