re: EBR Area School Grades Released - EBRPS Lags

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Many of the "F" schools are newly formed Superintendent's Academies, where students who are at risk of not graduating (and may be a few years older than peers at their grade level) may get more help though smaller classes. At least one of the "F" schools (Arlington Prep) has an extremely high rate of special ed kids (85%). Since these kids are already at risk of not graduating in 4 years if at all, and most probably will not go on to college, the schools they attend will never be able to get high School Performance Scores (SPS). SPS in high schools are based on graduation rates, types of degrees earned, and standardized test scores (including the ACT, which if you're not going to college, there's not a lot of motivation to score well on it anyway). I hate to say it, but it doesn't matter what school district these kids are in, they will never be high achievers. It's hard to teach to apathy, and that's the environment where many of the lower-performing students which make up these failing schools come from. So as Lsupimp said, how do you educate them, and how can anyone do a better job at it? I guess you could try and start at the bottom when they're in kindergarten before they get lost in the system and somehow give them extra help (assuming you could identify which ones will be at risk later). But how will that help get their families to care enough to give them the tools and support necessary to succeed

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I agree with the strategy that are discipline problems, or just won't do the work and hopefully they can be motivated elsewhere since their parents aren't doing it. And I am not going to criticize teachers and the administrators for those schools doing poorly.