I think Ralph is spot-on, don’t bother comparing af-am’s in one school to another, because it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is how the school is compared to the district (& state & city) average, not just on API, but on SAT/other metrics. As Ralph said, in the real world they’ll compete with everybody.

My kids spend 30 mins/day on homework. I’m teaching my 5 year old how to read, the 7 year old is in 2nd grade and already through mult/div/fractions, so i’m beginning to prep her on algebra. Of course, she doesn’t realize it’s algebra, i use words like “ok, i don’t know what 12 x 11 is, so let’s just say this bottlecap is the answer. Now, . Ok, that bottlecap, eww that’s dirty, so let’s just write the letter B down and pretend it’s the answer to the question”.

My intention is to make sure my kid only tests in the 97th percentile if she has a bad day. In 12 years of school, i once tested out in the 98th percentile, other than that it was pretty simple to hit 99th percentile on only 1 hour/day of focused homework. I spent 2 hours/day watching TV, another few hours/day playing, so it was certainly a balanced childhood.

Every single kid at my kids montessori school is required to do something similar. Imagine how much better Oakland would be if we could mandate that level of discipline at home. Of course, then my kids would have to do 1 hour/day to kick your kids butts

And THAT, my friends, is what the public schools and af-am’s really have to compete with. And that is why any half-measures are doing them a disservice, because it insinuates a target that is so low, all they’re really doing is preparing the next generation of janitors. Hopefully they’ll get city of Oakland jobs, so at least they’ll have a great pension after 35 years of mopping floors .

and if you read through the disc, you will see that. i have consistently given credit where credit is due. i am not looking for the negative. i am stating the facts.

i am not trying to scare you and have even offered you a soln to solve the problem. truth of the matter is, you don’t need a magic pill to cure what ails OUSD schools. You change the culture at home, you change the culture in the school. it isn’t rocket science. there is a guy in Oakland who is doing just that. set and achieve goals and earn rewards.

quite frankly, from all the positive i’ve said i don’t get where you think i am promoting fear. i offer solutions and you ignore me. you my friend have failed to acknowledge my greatness and wisdom.

about the only other thing which goes thru mind, while i realize this discussion began as an offshoot to OPD, are we 3 the only ones who care about education.

As much as you’ve highlighted your disdain for OUSD and are always looking for the negative, the API scores of African American (and all the) students at these schools is WELL above the same at other schools, and above the average of all students in Oakland. Only if you’re looking for a negative would you say that’s bad.

The scores and examples of good schools and schools making progress speak for themselves. Luckily the students and parents who go there know that, and have already decided to not let negative fear mongers ignorant of the facts deter them from actually making the changes you only talk and dream of.

As it says on Calitics: “We remind voters the words of Bill Clinton: ‘If one candidate’s trying to scare you, and the other one’s trying to get you to think… if one candidate’s appealing to your fears, and the other one’s appealing to your hopes, you’d better vote for the one who wants you to think and hope.’ ”

To you, o candidate of fear, learn from the positive attributes and contributions parents have been making at the many improving schools in Oakland. Learn what works and emulate them and all Oakland will improve. It’s already happening whether you like it or not.

the answer is simple…fewer children having children, more pre-natal care, more books at home (greater emphasis and reward for book knowledge less emphasis on street /pop culture knowledge), academic enrichment programs during the summer and less liberal white guilt programs for poor black children. they wouldn’t send their own children to these programs so why do they think they are appropriate for disadvantaged black and brown kids.

except for sterilizing children at birth to stop the cycle and taking children away from failing parents, the implementation is easy.

“One of the interesting trends at OUSD is the increasing #’s of middle class parents willing to stick all the way through Elementary school and take a risk in Middle School.”

and

“Of course the big gap between the higher # of good Elementary vs. good Middle schools is reflective of dropping off points (from public to private). On the one hand that there are so few good Middle Schools (2, Brewer and Montera) vs. Elementary schools shows how far there is to go. But a few years ago it was Montera by itself so Brewer’s improvement means something positive (even if not enough).”

and
“the African American kids are on average below their piers but scoring higher than at other schools.”

I agree with you a lot more progress needs to be made, including closing the gaps between all students. In the meantime the scores are going up for all students in these better schools and I really don’t know how that’s a negative.
As I’ve said the trend in the areas I’ve mentioned (and only in those areas) is “positive (even if not enough)”. Even while we acknowledge progress we need to make A LOT more.

You might decide “there is no way on god’s green earth that i am going to place them in a school with kids who place in the 20th percentile” and all kids have already reached the percentile that you deem necessary. But that does not mean that other families need to do the same, esp. when they’re balancing the economic necessity with how good the school needs to be to go there.

Obviously Brewer has made improvements and convinced increasing #’s of Middle Class families (with high API scoring students) because they ARE going there. (BTW, this is having a snowball effect as students from other high scoring Hills Elementary schools transfer away from Claremont, etc.).

I also think that most schools in Oakland need to continue improving for ALL their students. So rather than repeat the negative with how poor OUSD schools are, let’s look where there are positive things to report and see if and how we can spread what’s working.

I totally agree with you that “if we could educate our young people they would not be on the street and we would not need more cops”. This is one of the KEY reasons that neighborhood associations, NCPC’s, businesses and merchants, and families (with kids going to ANY school, or even no kids at all) need to consider how to support their local schools in some fashion. It will HELP lower crime in Oakland…

Of course it needs to be combined with other factors, like more OPD (esp. Community Policing) and a comprehensive Economic Policy. But that’s a whole nother can of worms…

about the only thing that would make me convince me to send my child to any middle school would be high number of high achieving students. if my kid tests in the 97th percentile, there is no way on god’s green earth that i am going to place them in a school with kids who place in the 20th percentile.

i do love this discussion on education. quite frankly it is probably the one thing that if we got right would go a long way to making this a better oakland. because if we were completely honest, if we could educate our young people they would not be on the street and we would not need more cops. we would have children who have options. when i go into stores and restaurants, i am overcome with an eerie feeling that the students i work with could not obtain one of these jobs because they never learned the socialization skills to communicate with the public. without even a basic education what are your options

The API of 674 is for all OUSD. 609 is for African-Americans.

That’s a good question about Claremont, but the # of feeders going to there must be lower than Brewer or Montera or it would be improving. Claremont would also be a good place to offer enrichment programs so they could show the feeder schools the special efforts they’re making. Just that might help convince some of the high scoring API elementary students & parents to go there.

They should supplement that with a business and Jane Brunner supported effort at fundraising for both the programs and facilities. That’s what other schools have done to help reach the next level. And they (esp. Jane Brunner) should be embarrassed by Claremont, again given where it’s located and the quality of the feeder schools.

Yes, noted it was 3 and not 4. From what I understand O-Tech is divided into 3 or 4 smaller schools (like several of the High Schools are), and that probably has something to do with the disparities.

Curious what is the percentage of students in the feeder schools who actually attend Claremont?

PS: As long as we are handing out MIT props, I had noted a total of 3 from 2007. Probably not an O-Tech guy/gal but I do want to acknowledge the success of OUSD even as I think it is failing a number of students. (The irony is not lost on me.)

Why I said it’s showing signs of changing for the better is I’ve heard the School Site Counsel is looking at good programs to -Increase oversight, safety and mental health for students on-campus; -Work with “at risk” students who need focussed attention and who create a negative learning environment for other students.

IF they are able to implement such programs it will be a big step for the school. Since they’ve already acknowledged that these problems need addressing they’re on the right track. Of course successful funding and implementation are the most important.

It’s amazing to me that a school in the middle of Rockridge, surrounded by good feeder schools, has so many problems. I think any school looking to make major changes needs to find support in local community groups (NCPC and Neighborhood Assoc.), businesses, and esp. City Councilpeople if it wants to replicate the changes and introduce programs that will fuel this turnaround. Business and esp. Jane Brunner can help fund such programs, but only if they decide it’s important for their constituents and therefor themselves…

If half the people that have shown an interest in the Rockridge Safeway show interest in Claremont Middle then they’ll be able to get those changes started.
Of course that’s a big IF…