After our post ran a week ago about Lake Highlands High School dropping from Recognized to Acceptable in the TEA rankings, comments have run the gamut from threats of home school to calls for smaller student/teacher ratios to testimonials on behalf of LH to disdain for the testing system in general. (I even posted my own comment, finally unable to restrain the rah-rah within me. I love LH.)
To get the Richardson ISD’s position, I spoke to Bob DeVoll, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools, and Debbie Deaton, Executive Director for Curriculum Instruction.
“LH schools are making real progress and our expectations remain high,” said DeVoll. “LH is on our radar.”
DeVoll had praise for Peggy Dillon, who replaced Walter Kelly after his abrupt departure for Highland Park High. “Peggy lives in the community and she made a good first year start. She is working diligently to continue the growth we have achieved.”
DeVoll told me there are plenty of indicators of success at LHHS, and that RISD administrators carefully watch those trends. “LH’s exit level scores are at the state level for English/Language Arts and above state level for the other core subjects. We use the National Student Clearing House, and in 2010, 66% of LH graduates attended college the fall after graduation. Of LH’s 2008 graduates, 91% of college freshmen returned as sophomore. We have a large percentage going off and a large percentage returning.”
DeVoll attributes the ratings drop at LHHS, LHFC, FMJH and Forest Lane Academy to a change in the way failures are counted. For the last two years, Texas Projection Measure (TPM) allowed districts to count students as passing TAKS even when they failed it, provided they were reasonably expected to pass when they tried again. TPM has now been eliminated.
“After these last two years with TPM, we didn’t know what was going to roll out,” said DeVoll. “When they changed the playing field, the impact was felt all over the state. Garland, Wylie and Irving ISDs all dropped from Recognized to Acceptable.” Richardson remains a Recognized district for the sixth consecutive year. The 4 LH schools – particularly Forest Meadow – came very close to retaining their Recognized status.
“I admit to being a little frustrated when I read some of the blogs,” DeVoll told me. “We always encourage parents to go sit down with principals and teachers one-on-one, and I encourage those considering home school or private school to share their concerns and start that communication process now. My experience as a principal was that, once they have that opportunity, they walk away feeling great about that school.”
One factor the RISD will work to tighten up is cooperation and communication between LHFC and LHHS, especially since the other high schools have all 9-12th grade students, teachers and counselors in the same building with one principal over all. “Our challenge is to help the separate leadership at LHFC and LHHS to work together,” DeVoll said.
Deaton was enthusiastic about several new programs in the pipeline, including the 21st Century Grant, which will fund SAT prep classes, after school programs & other enrichment, and the addition of two new instructional specialists, who will collaborate with teachers to increase the rigor of instruction.
“The transition from TAKS to EOC [end-of-course exams] is a positive thing,” added DeVoll. We understand the rigor of coursework will be much greater. We are really glad TAKS is in our rearview mirror.”
“Vision 2020, which we rolled out last year, is all about college and career readiness,” said DeVoll. “It’s an exciting time. I am confident about where we are and where we’re going.”
