Raise
1. Service Before Self: A respect for the beliefs and the worth of others; to listen and understand first, before seeking to be understood; a commitment to preserving and striving for something bigger than ourselves.
2. Wisdom: Knowledge that is gained from an unbiased understanding of the world and the study of its great thinkers; the ability to recognize the difference between right and wrong and make the right choices, which may sometimes go against popular opinion.
3. Self-Control: Having discipline over one's words and actions. Thinking before acting or speaking, while being considerate of how one's actions and words may help or hurt another person. Keeping one's cool when others are losing theirs.
4. Citizenship: The study and appreciation of what it means to live in this country; that the freedoms we enjoy as Americans come with a responsibility to not abuse them; awareness of our National and State Constitutions, the structure of our government, and how our government system compares with those of other countries.
The first question from looking at this chart should be: What has happened to Science since 2015? We have had quality teachers in the district throughout. Online instruction during the COVID years of 2020-21 can likely be to blame for those years, but how to explain the decline before then? After the overall performance began to plummet beginning in 2017, how was this addressed in the district?
Data Source: Show-Me Institute MO School Rankings
Decline in Math generally corresponds to that of Science, once again bottoming out in 2020-21. Rebound in scores between 2021-22 is encouraging; was it due to the return to in-person learning, adjustment of teaching methods, or adjustment of grading criteria? That makes the rapid decline from 2022-23 even more puzzling.
Data Source: Show-Me Institute MO School Rankings
The ability to effectively read and write the English language is the cornerstone that supports all other areas of learning. Education experts have widely accepted that if grade-level proficiency in reading and writing is not achieved by the end of the third grade, the student will continue to have problems at succeeding levels and will likely continue to fall behind in other subjects. That is why the chart above shows a disturbing trend; what has happened? Is it a reflection of our culture's over-emphasis on the role of technology or Artificial Intelligence in our education system? Have our kids been relying too heavily on machines to do their thinking instead of their own brains? This is why I feel Reading, Writing (includes cursive writing), and Comprehension should be a top priority in the success plans for all students. Re-introduce the practice of evaluating the works and thoughts of past and present thinkers of all ages, reasoning, drawing and effectively supporting one's own conclusions.
"If you can read, you can think; if you can think, you can be free" - Byron Clark
Data source: Show-Me Institute MO School Rankings
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