Repeated Message

Paraphasing former Notre Dame Coach Gerry Faust: " Even though we finished 0-11 this year, I'm proud of the efforts the kids put on the field, closing the gap to five games we were only 21 points behind in the fourth quarter. Next year our goal is to go 0-11, but only lose by 7 points in 50% of our games.

Today's Journal...

Middletown test scores lowest in county

NO CHANGE SINCE THE 80's.

Middletown City Schools had the lowest proficiency rate in Butler County, with fewer than half of sophomores passing all five sections of the Ohio Graduation Test.

But Superintendent Grag Rasmussen said the 47.1 percent passing rate, according to preliminary scores, is still good news in that it’s a marked improvement over last year, which had a 44.8 percent passage rate.

MARKED IMPROVEMENT?....SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT IS MORE LIKE IT, RIGHT?

“We were pleased with the increase we see in writing and reading, especially writing,” he said. “We’ve had a real focus on that in the high school.”

"PLEASED"?

SAME RESULTS, SAME REACTION FROM A SUPER. "WE'RE PLEASED THAT WE HAVE IMPROVED FROM A HORRIFIC PERFORMANCE TO A FEW PERCENTAGES ABOVE THAT HORRIFIC PERFORMANCE. IS THIS REALLY SOMETHING TO BE PLEASED ABOUT? SHOULD THE SUPER FEEL THAT GOOD ABOUT WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED? "WE'VE GOTTEN BETTER AT BEING BAD" C'MON.


“We recognize that we have some work to do,” Rasmussen said. “Our teachers recognize this, and so do the kids.”

THIS LINE HAS BEEN USED CONSISTENTLY BY EVERY SUPER SINCE HARRY EASTRIDGE BACK IN THE 80'S. IT IS A PROGRAMMED RESPONSE TO ATTEMPT TO APPEASE THE PUBLIC AND DEADEN THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THE REAL PERFORMANCE, IMO. IT HAS NO BITE BECAUSE THEY HAVE HAD "SOME WORK TO DO" SINCE THE 80's AND, JUDGING BY THE 40% + PASSING RATE, WE HAVE NOT MADE ANY STRIDES SINCE THEN. WE WERE IN THE 40 PERCENTILE IN THE 80's WHEN THIS ALL FIRST STARTED.

Middletown City Schools also has the lowest graduation rate — 82 percent — among public schools in Butler County in 2009-10, according to preliminary data from the ODE

THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FAR TOO LONG ALSO.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ross Local Schools had the highest passing rate in Butler County, with 86.7 percent of students who took all five sections passing all five sections

THEN JUMP IN THE CAR, MAKE A TRIP TO THE ROSS SCHOOLS AND FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING THAT YOU ARE NOT. ROSS ISN'T EXACTLY A HIGH END AREA LIKE WEST CHESTER AND MASON ARE. CAN'T USE THAT AS AN EXCUSE, RIGHT?

• Hamilton: 59.6 percent of Hamilton’s students who took all five sections of the test passed all of them, up from 52 percent in 2010. Mathematics showed a slight decline in students passing from 80.1 percent in 2010 to 79.4 percent, as did social studies, from 75.5 to 75.4 percent. There was a nearly 10 point jump in writing scores from 76.1 percent passing last year to 86 percent in 2011.

EVEN HAMILTON'S PERFORMANCE WAS 12.5% POINTS HIGHER THAN MIDDLETOWN'S. HAMILTON HAS SIMILAR DEMOGRAHICS AS MIDDLETOWN, DOESN'T IT? JUST KEEP FANNING THE FLAMES CITY LEADERS AND BRING IN MORE SECTION 8 TO EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN MAKING BABY STEP CHANGES FOR 30+ YEARS AND IT HASN'T SHOWN ANY REAL MEASUREABLE PROGRESS, PLEASE STOP DOING THOSE THINGS. REVAMP THE WHOLE SYSTEM, INTRODUCE NEW TEACHING METHODS,RESTRUCTURE THE LESSON PLANS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE RESULTS, START DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY, CHANGE THE ROLE OF ADMIN IN TEACHER SUPPORT, ADD SOME NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PARENTS TO GET THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL EACH DAY AND ON TIME, CALL THE PARENTS AWAY FROM THEIR JOBS EACH TIME THEIR KID ACTS UP IN SCHOOL, HAUL THE PARENTS AND THE PROBLEM KIDS INTO SCHOOL ON WEEKENDS, TAKING THEIR WEEKENDS AWAY FROM THEM, INVOLVE THE LEGAL SYSTEM MORE FOR PARENTS WHO CAN'T SEEM TO GET THE MESSAGE, START ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS IN A DIFFERENT MANNER AND STOP USING THE SAME OLD FAILED METHODS OF THE PAST AND EXPECT CHANGE. IT AIN'T WORKIN' JUDGING BY THESE RESULTS.