Achieve, Inc.
- The purpose of the American Diploma Project Network, the group that runs the Achieve.org website, is to prepare high school students to graduate "college and career ready." I found a PowerPoint on the site that provided data for Virginia. Here, Virginia does not look too bad when compared to national averages. One statistic that I thought was interesting was that Virginia was better than average for college attainment for young adults in 2000. A quote from the slideshow that I agree with is "Students who take challenging courses and meet high standards in middle school are much more likely to enter high school ready to succeed." Unfortunately, my school did away with our Advanced Geography courses this year and I do not anticipate their return in the near future. I believe we need to set the bar much higher for all students, not just those that are most likely to go to college. This website was very interesting and I think it demonstrated that Virginia is on the right track in terms of preparing students for life after high school, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
Thomas Fordham Foundation
- The article I looked at under the Testing and Accountability section of the website was "The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?" In this article, every state received a grade for certain criteria. For Education Reform (Curricular Content, Standards-Based Reform, and School Choice), Virginia received a grade of C- and a rank of 25 out of 50. For Black, Hispanic, and Low-Income achievement in fourth and eighth grade tests, Virginia received a grade of D+, a rank of 1 out of 44, and an achievement trend of "limited progress." Virginia was praised for its state standards (B+) and its high-stakes exams. However, the "state's minority students are still achieving at low levels and have almost no gains over the past decade" on NAEP testing. The article criticized Virginia on its lack of charter schools and a nonexistent voucher/tax credit program. I do not agree with these criticisms because I feel tax dollars should be used to fix schools that are not performing and to better prepare teachers for the ever-changing needs of their students. Overall, I found this website to be very informative and interesting.
- The purpose of the American Diploma Project Network, the group that runs the Achieve.org website, is to prepare high school students to graduate "college and career ready." I found a PowerPoint on the site that provided data for Virginia. Here, Virginia does not look too bad when compared to national averages. One statistic that I thought was interesting was that Virginia was better than average for college attainment for young adults in 2000. A quote from the slideshow that I agree with is "Students who take challenging courses and meet high standards in middle school are much more likely to enter high school ready to succeed." Unfortunately, my school did away with our Advanced Geography courses this year and I do not anticipate their return in the near future. I believe we need to set the bar much higher for all students, not just those that are most likely to go to college. This website was very interesting and I think it demonstrated that Virginia is on the right track in terms of preparing students for life after high school, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
Thomas Fordham Foundation
- The article I looked at under the Testing and Accountability section of the website was "The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?" In this article, every state received a grade for certain criteria. For Education Reform (Curricular Content, Standards-Based Reform, and School Choice), Virginia received a grade of C- and a rank of 25 out of 50. For Black, Hispanic, and Low-Income achievement in fourth and eighth grade tests, Virginia received a grade of D+, a rank of 1 out of 44, and an achievement trend of "limited progress." Virginia was praised for its state standards (B+) and its high-stakes exams. However, the "state's minority students are still achieving at low levels and have almost no gains over the past decade" on NAEP testing. The article criticized Virginia on its lack of charter schools and a nonexistent voucher/tax credit program. I do not agree with these criticisms because I feel tax dollars should be used to fix schools that are not performing and to better prepare teachers for the ever-changing needs of their students. Overall, I found this website to be very informative and interesting.