[The following guest post was submitted by Ann Marie Banfield]
The state NECAP science scores are out and unfortunately NH students didn’t perform well. The 4th grade students in Bedford showed 68% proficient or better and the 8th graders showed 47% proficient or better. Good thing the 11th graders weren’t tested!
After checking the Fordham Foundation’s web site, science experts gave NH science standards a grade of an "F". Which means that 1/2 of our 8th grade students couldn’t meet "F standards. Hardly comforting news to Bedford parents.
A few years ago I happened to hear one of our current school board members discussing how proud she was of the science curriculum in Bedford. She mentioned all the "hands on" science the kids were participating in. Now as a parent, that sounded like a lot of fun, but after talking to several teachers in private schools where their students excelled in the sciences, the common warning was: look out for schools that use a lot of "hands on" science. Kids need basic science knowledge and one way they stressed was out of the old fashioned text book. "Hands on" might be a lot of fun, but they still need the core academic instruction found in science text books and materials.
I keep wondering how we can spend so much money on education in this town and still get such abysmal results. We pay large salaries to Curriculum Coordinators and Superintendents for what again? These people have advanced degrees in education, but continue to bring in controversial math programs, science programs that do not meet poor state standards and an English curriculum that has also failed these kids.
At what point will we start demanding more for our tax dollars we send to this school district? When the kids bomb the SAT exam? Or when they get to college and are placed in remedial classes? That’s when the real assessments begin. A little late, I’d say.
It’s time for our school board to demand high quality programs in this school. I hope that instead of rubber stamping controversial programs like Everyday Math that’s been thrown out of countless districts, this board will look critically at these proposals and let this administration know we deserve a high quality education for our money.
Ann Marie Banfield lives in Bedford and is active in her children’s education. She has appeared several times on the radio version of the ‘Grok, Meet the New Press. Click here to listen to a podcast of her most recent visit.