Could this be part of the problem?

[callmeskywalker6]

Anyone hear of the EquityPlus program? Read about it here (http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/allschools/equityPlus/index.asp).

[Dave Pinard]

Here is a clip from the January 25th Board of Education meeting highlights talking about EquityPlus. The full highlights can be found here. (http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/includes/gfi.asp?fileHandle=2441.asp)

C. Report on the status of Achieving the CMS Vision: Equity & Student Success
The Board heard a report from Dr. Susan Agruso concerning the status of CMS’s initiative “Achieving the CMS Vision: Equity and Student Success,” which was developed in 1999. The document laid the groundwork for where CMS wants to be as a district in all schools and how the district plans to ensure that all students have equal access to high quality personnel, materials and supplies, media centers, technology, facilities, co-curricular activities and other educational opportunities.

Currently, CMS has 51 EquityPlus schools (31 elementary, 14 middle and six high schools). Areas which the district focused on and assessed included facilities, instructional materials, Exceptional Children instructional materials, technology systems, AV equipment, media center resources, instructional programs/course offerings, co-curricular activities, textbooks, faculty, and teacher/student ratios and staffing standards.

Highlights from the report include:

* Of the 11 equity focus areas, eight are improving (facilities, instructional materials, Exceptional Children/instructional supplies, technology systems, AV equipment, instructional programs/course offerings, textbooks, and teacher/student ratios and staffing standards).
* In the faculty area, improvements have been made in clear licensure, advanced degrees, average teaching experience and five or more years of experience. Steady improvements have been in teachers new to teaching; however, there is a slight decline in the number of National Board teachers in EquityPlus schools.
* The two equity areas that will require additional focus are Media Center books and co-curricular activities.

To see the full report, click here. (https://extranet.cms.k12.nc.us/news/stories/internetNews/pdf/2436.pdf)

[callmeskywalker6]

I am particularly interested in the "textbook" section. While our "EquityPlus" schools have 100% textbook access, my spanish and Pre-cal teachers were required to teach from worksheets for the entire first quarter because we had no books. Even then, some teachers had to offer extra credit to students who brought in a ream of paper because CMS was unable to meet the need.

The report does not list the student:teacher ratio in Equity Plus schools, but I have one mobile class that is packed with over 30 students.

I don't mean to sound selfish or closed-minded, but CMS needs to take care of the schools that are already achieving as well as helping the schools that don't make the cut. If they are not careful, CMS will see performance in suburban schools declining because of lack of resources. I don't know if anyone is aware that Hopewell did not make its Adequate Yearly Progress goal last year, and our 2 year performance on the 10th grade comprehensive test is declining. Only 63.1% of us passed this easy test. Much of the math should have been learned in middle school. Granted, our performance was higher than the district's, but I know we can do better.

Maybe someone else is familiar with the Spanish I teacher fiasco earlier this year. I do know that some students will now be unable to take higher-level spanish classes in high school because CMS could not find a first year teacher.

You can probably tell I like statistics. If anyone has more information on the spanish situation, please tell!