Published: March 18, 2009 06:04 pm      

LETTERS: March, 18, 2009

Indiana public schools making the grade



A legislator commented this past week and asked, For all the money we put into public schools, what do we have to show for it?

While the media often trumpets bad news about public schools, Indiana public schools are making real gains for the funds invested in the future of young Hoosiers. A number of Indiana public schools were picked by the National Assessment of Education Progress to take NAEP tests the week before I-STEP tests. NAEP is considered “the Nation's Report Card, and Indiana has scored well despite incredible odds.

Even though the explosion in the number of non-English speaking students has stretched funds to teach them English thinner and thinner, and even though remediation funds are now lower than 10 years ago, students, parents, and staff deserve an enthusiastic pat on the back for these results:

— Indiana fourth- and eighth-graders performed better than the national average every year tested from 1992 to 2007. (NAEP 2007, latest test reported)

— More than two times as many eighth-graders and two and a half times as many fourth-graders tested at the highest two NAEP levels in math as in 1990 and 1992 respectively. (NAEP, 2007)

—The number of students who did not achieve basic levels in eighth and fourth-grade math declined respectively by 44 percent since 1990 and 75 percent since 1992. (NAEP 2007)

— Since 2001, the number of Indiana AP exam scores of three or higher increased 105 percent even though the number of students participating in AP increased by 74 percent. (Indiana DOE, 2008).

— More low-income students took AP tests in 2006 than in 2004 and 2005 combined. (College Board, 2007)

— Using a tougher National Governor's Association criteria for graduation rates, Indiana's graduation rate still increased 2.4 percent in a single year. (In. DOE, 2008)

— High school graduates pursuing college educations increased 7.5 percent to 75.2 percent from 2000-01 to 2006-07. (In. DOE 2008)

— Indiana teachers are the second most educated and fourth most experienced in the United States. Indiana teacher preparation and licensing meet tough national teacher quality goals. (NCTQ, 2007)

— In a 2008 report, Achieve.org commended Indiana for exemplary high college and career ready standards for high school graduation.

I think that it is far past time that taxpayers and public school educators be commended for providing an outstanding education for all of Indiana's children who wish to take advantage of a free quality public education!

I also think that it is long past time for those people who continually attempt to find fault with our public schools to get involved and become a part of a solution aimed at helping our public schools to become even better, rather than criticize and exemplify every negative thing that they can dream up.

— Mark Kessans, President, New Albany-Floyd County Education Association, New Albany