October 1st, 2007 class blog

Discussion of powerpoints and their effectiveness. I am going to blog and take notes with the presentation.

Presentation of Group 1
What graduation and dropouts means to you. 7000 amaericans drop out of school.
What are the factors: race, special needs,ethnicity, etc.
Unqualified teachers.
Studies show hispanics and blacks are more likely to drop out.
Bar graphs are helpful in communication.
Pennsylvania:
Urban areas are not drawing qualified teachers.
This group offers solutions to their findings. This is a positive presentation.
Their presentation spurred lively conversation.
Interesting information regarding cyberschool.

Presentation 2:
PSSA Reading Scores 5th Grade / Is testing fair?
Are the tests valid.
Their conclusions were in line with the other presentations. Latino and Black populations are not fairing well in these test.
They did not answer their own question of whether the tests were valid.
They discussed at length the problems with the students. Lanquage, unqualified teachers, specail students etc.
Later in the presentation, the group did question the format of the tests and how they are designed.Thus they did anser their original question of whether the tests were valid. My conclusion is that they were not and that the tests should be customized to each sub-group.

Third Group:
PSSA Scores and the problems associated.
Determined that the enviorment has a large influence on the scores.
They offered very valid " things to consider".
They finally adressed the at home issues.

Fourth Group
This group reviewed reading scores of 9 year olds and 17 year olds.
Concluded education is not in crisis.
They also looked at graduation rates.
They concluded that men need to go to work to contribute to the income of the family.
Females graduate more than males.
Presentation was to wordy.
Does politics influence our perceptions of whether education is in crisis.