Medora Fralick: A Hayden success story
Monday, January 28, 2013
With all of the negative press surrounding the Hayden School District recently, I would like to share a success story. It is the story of five young women on the high school’s speech and debate team and their principal. You see, while the newspaper and the community are focusing on the standardized test scores and the school report cards, there seems to be very little research into the numerous reasons for the disappointing statistics and what is being done to correct them. Although there is always room for improvement, and certainly that is true with the Hayden School District, it is also important to remember that the students have a lot to do with the results. Student test apathy and general educational apathy in Hayden is a serious problem.
Enter the speech and debate team. Principal Gina Zabel has been unquestioningly supportive of this activity. It seems that while the benefits to the participants, such as life skills, critical thinking skills, public speaking, research methods and many more are irrefutable, perhaps Mrs. Zabel keenly is aware of what these young women are doing for the academic atmosphere in the district.
Speech and debate typically attracts the best and the brightest students. This is a fact backed up by decades of study by the National Forensics League. In Hayden, this year’s team is made up of smart, motivated, dedicated individuals who do not apologize for being smart. These kids are the cream of the crop and they are proud of that. They work hard, already are successful (the two seniors can and have been accepted to any college they choose with substantial financial awards) and make no bones about it. They are leading by example and other students are starting to take notice. Not only is it OK to be smart, it is actually cool and takes you places. If the district can continue to grow this program and others like it that aren’t centered around sports or vocational training (both important and necessary), doesn’t it stand to reason that students may just start trying a little harder? Caring a little more? Performing a little better?
Of the five students, the team came home from the CHSAA State Speech Tournament at Heritage High School on Monday and Tuesday with a sixth place in Creative Storytelling from senior Ashley Otto, a ninth place in Poetry Interpretation from sophomore Sofia Rodriguez and an 11th place in Public Forum Debate from the team of Millie Delaney and Ryan Fralick. If we continue to value activities like these, who knows what else will come of it.
Medora Fralick
Hayden
Comments
Scott Wedel 3 months, 3 weeks ago
This is great that some students are excelling.
"there seems to be very little research into the numerous reasons for the disappointing statistics and what is being done to correct them."
Can you provide some of the missing research and describe the reasons?
The math proficiency scores for high school are dreadful and well below SB's excellent scores and Soroco's good scores. That has been an ongoing patterns for years.
A group of Hayden teachers last year went to the School Board saying they believed the lack of instruction time was an issue. They are using lesson books with more lesson days than the district has school days. That is not true in either SB or Soroco. And nothing significant was changed.
Research into economic development clearly shows that having good schools is critical to attracting people willing to invest. They want good schools for their kids and an educated workforce. It baffles me that those promoting economic development in Hayden are not at school board meetings demanding that the standardized test scores are at least comparable to Soroco's.
The standardized tests are relatively easy for the lower grades. So it is expected to have 90% or so proficient at 3rd grade.. But at the high school level the standardized tests expect a fairly demanding level where the quality of the district's educational programs and student motivation make a bigger difference. SB has 20% more proficient high school students than the state average and is among the top districts in the state. Soroco is about the state average which is good considering it is less wealthy than average. But Hayden's math proficiency has been around half of state average. That should be considered a big problem because there is no good reason it should be worse than Soroco.
Maybe if next the time standardized test scores are released then just as the local paper mentions the other well known high schools with test scores comparable to SB's then the paper could also list other high schools with scores comparable to Hayden's. That might be the sort of reality check that shocks people into demanding much better results.
Tammie Delaney 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Scott - insightful points. Our schools are working on this (and have been), but the ship takes time to turn around. And Medora has been at the school board meetings along with several other of us parents and community members to better understand the challenges. As I've understood it, our very small class sizes impact our test schools dramatically. One or two struggling students can really affect the scores. That said, it would be interesting to use those same small class size statistics to report out some of other statistics not on these report cards - for instance the percentage of seniors taking A.P./college level courses; percentage of students graduating with associates degrees and percentage of students graduating with professional trade certifications would likely knock the socks off of other schools. We have some impressive stories as well - (e.g. students graduating from CMC the week prior to HHS graduation and then entering into Junior year at Cornell - that sure saves some college funds!). Sure wish we'd hear more of these success stories.
That said, it really is time for our district to seriously consider our school calendar. Selfishly I love our summer and the long break, but reality has it once our kids are in A.P. courses it is a cram session to complete the coursework in time and the students who struggle in standard courses need the additional classroom time. We have some exceptional teachers integrating 'flip system' learning with videos/etc of lectures for learning outside the classroom, yet to really improve the scores it's likely time to step up to what we can do to ensure all kids are exceeding standards.
Scott Wedel 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Tammie,
"One or two struggling students can really affect the scores."
That can affects by +/-5% the results of a particular year. It cannot explain a long term trend like high school math proficiency. The high school math proficiency issue is more like the entire class not being proficient except for a few exceptional students.
And no, it should not require years to turn it around. That is true for the situation where the students are doing well below average from grade 1. The standardized test scores at early grades are fine. The scores drop off dramatically for students at higher grade levels. Fixing math instruction at those grade levels to not let more students fall below proficiency would yield strong results in 1 year.
If Hayden schools dislike bad publicity then clearly state that high school level math with 20% or so proficiency is not acceptable. And that more and more severe changes will be made until that is fixed. The standardized tests get more demanding at the higher grades and the most depressing part is that no credible plans are in place to do anything about the weak test results.
Instead, it appears that Hayden accepts that it's schools do a miserable job at having proficient high school students, but it is okay because standardized tests don't matter and the administrative can pull out other justifications arguing that it is okay. Bad standardized test scores are attempted to be explained away by talking about anything other than the standardized tests. It is simply not credible that Hayden schools are doing a great job and only 20% of high school students score proficient in math.
Sorry to say, but other justifications don't pass the grade outside of Hayden. Many professionals and business owners moving to the area are going to see the standardized test scores and eliminate Hayden as an option. The best thing going for educational opportunities in Hayden is that SB accepts out of area students.
Tammie Delaney 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Scott - agreed that 'other justifications don't pass the grade outside of Hayden'. Many looking to relocate to our region aren't going to take the time to look at what's going on beyond the standardized scores or that we've had some of the higher ACT scores in the state, etc...
There's several of us parents that have attended school board meetings for 'the rest of the story' on why are scores are terrible. A big part of this, (and also with 2 kids currently in Hayden High School), is the kids really don't care about the State standardized tests and a good part of the parents don't care either - State tests don't affect their personal grades nor their college acceptance. The same kid that scores at 80% or more on their class test will often put little to no effort into the standardized test - why bother? When tests are taken that affect a kid personally, it's relevant and important (and also sometimes incentivized by parents/allowances, etc.)
At a recent board meeting, staff was planning to do visits to a couple of the highest achieving schools in State to see what they're doing right - turns out several (evidently including Steamboat) are incentivizing students for good scores on the standardized tests. We need to know how to incentivize to get both kids and parents understanding the importance of the tests... a recent conversation is maybe we make our school calendar considerably longer until we are a school of excellence! Seems it is indeed time to really consider our classroom hours.
Reality is it should be important to all - regardless of if we have kids in school or not - as it ripples out to affect our property values; business development and more. Apathy is not just in the classroom - if more folks turned off their TV, volunteered for school board, planning commission, town boards, etc. we'd be a far better country. That goes for internet too... actual presence and participation at all of our civic meetings is desperately needed and welcomed. We'd really welcome your attendance at any of our Hayden meetings.
Once more communication and understanding of why these scores have relevancy, perhaps we can get more folks engaged - both kids and parents - on success with it as I agree - 20% is miserable!
Scott Wedel 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Tammie,
So it is the fault of the standardized test that fails to show the true level of knowledge of the students? Hayden accepts excuses such as: Hayden students, year after year, have no personal or school pride and make no effort to do well on the standardized tests (lack of school pride from the same high school with barely enough boys to field a football team, but was able to beat SB! (before going to 8 man team)); Hayden students know so much more than is covered on the standardized tests; and the teachers that thought the lack of instructional days was an issue were wrong.
I think you have clearly demonstrated the fundamental problem with the Hayden schools. Despite the miserable results of the standardized tests for high school students, the Hayden School administration, the parents and the general community all disbelieve the standardized test results. That everyone accepts the claim that bad results cannot be accurate and so are ignored.
The important lesson to learn from the SB school district is to accept that the standardized tests as a reasonable indicator of student knowledge. And so test results year after year showing math proficiency going from about state average in the early grades to about half of state average in high school shows there is a real problem that needs to be fixed.
Currently, the Hayden school district is an example of how under performing schools can be defended by the school administration, the parents and the community so that the issues are never fixed.
Go ahead and keep the short school year. But stop accepting bad results and demand better results Have the football team's #1 goal to be every player will test as proficient in math and have them as a team spend the first 20 minutes of practice working on math proficiency. Maybe the business community needs to set their main goal as working with the schools to get better results. Take some of that Hayden pride and refuse to let SB win by 60 to 20, or Soroco win 40-20. Just like when there was a football rivalry, list all the reasons why Hayden has no chance against bigger richer SB and then practice harder and work better as a team to sometimes win and always be competitive.
Aaron Cramer 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Scott: As a student of HHS, member of the student council, and also an athlete on the football and basketball team, I would like to interject my thoughts and ideas on this issue. On the topic of our scores, a huge percentage of the students in our high school do not care about how well they do on the TCAP test. It is a test that ultimately is not going to be a deciding factor in getting into the college they would like or a job they want out of high school. Sadly, this is the truth. The students do not bother to take these tests seriously. There is no incentive for them. Sure, it makes the school look better, but what does that matter? The school is going to still teach them, the teachers are going to continue to care about our education, and the students are still going to learn. The idea of giving students an incentive to take these tests to the best of our ability needs to be taken seriously. I know for a fact that if the students of this school had incentive to take these tests seriously, the school would look better and people would be happier with the results. Also, I find it offensive to hear this negativity aimed towards our school from somebody who is basing their judgment on a number. I do not think that is fair to do and truly do not believe that your judgment or this number is an accurate representation of Hayden high school. I am here at this school taking these tests, watching them race through to see who can fill in their bubbles fastest. I do not know if you can say that we are doing a miserable job at teaching the students if you have not been here. Have you watched the students “prepare” for these test or seen their motives when taking them? It is an awfully big assumption to say that these scores are defining us as a school full of kids who are below average. On your point about our football team, we are not a bunch of no brains meat heads that do not know anything other than route combinations or blocking schemes. Since the time I entered Hayden I have seen numerous members of our athletic programs go out and do big things. We have athletes that are going to wonderful schools such as the Colorado School of Mines, Cal Poly, and Cornell to name a few. This year some of the top members of the teams are also among the top scholastic students in our school. I don’t think that it is even a realistic thought to take away from our practice time to teach what are teachers are already doing very well in the classroom.
Aaron Cramer 3 months, 2 weeks ago
I would also like to point out that we are not a bunch of below average students. This may be a contradiction from this test, but until you come into our school and see that we are producing successful students, I ask that you do not base your opinion on this one test. Base it on the number of students that are receiving great jobs and entering into the honors programs in universities across this country. You could also base it on the fact that we have dozens of students that are finding a career directly out of high school as a result of their vocational classes here at Hayden. There are students that have come out of this school making six figures as under water welders. These students may not have scored where you think they should in order to be defined as successful, but in my mind they are certainly successful. There are also students that may have done extremely well on these tests, maybe even students from Steamboat or Soroco, that do not have jobs and are unemployed. My point is to define the success of an individual on the score that they got on a test their freshman of sophomore year of high school may be a little bit drastic. These students still have every opportunity in the world to succeed, and I believe that Hayden High School has given me and every other student in the school every opportunity to succeed. I want the public to know that this school is a wonderful place for a student to grow and learn. The opportunities that the teachers present us with are something that maybe unseen, but I will have you know that the teachers, administration, and parents have given us every tool that we need to be successful.
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