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1. There are multiple problems that were enlightened in the case study. First off the concern from critics who claims that there is to much focus on closing the gap between green and red zone student that the gifted or very talented students gets overlooked or doesn't get enough challenge and attention.
Then there is the concern from parents who thinks there is to much standarized testing. The study also states that "viable alternative strategies to foster improvement in struggling school districts are difficult to develop".
NOTES:
How teachers use the information they recieve.
Not all teachers like the IS.
Three to four hours of weekly work. Even harder if your "against IT".
- Many parents in Montgomery County have expressed concern that the new systems are an excessive and unnecessary expenditure. In the short term, President Obama’s stimulus plan provides increased funding to schools over the next two years. Projects like these are likely to become more popular as it becomes clearer that a data-driven approach yields quantifiable results.
- In Montgomery County, one of the primary goals of the implementation of data-driven systems was to close the achievement gap between white and minority students in the lower grades. Teachers and administrators would use different types of information organized by the DSS to identify gifted students earlier and challenge them with a more appropriate course load of more advanced placement (AP) classes.
- The results are very impressive. In Montgomery, 90 percent of kindergartners were able to read at the level required by standardized testing, with minimal differences among racial and socioeconomic groups.
- Also, the system has effectively identified students with abilities at an earlier age.
- The number of African-American students who passed at least one AP test at Montgomery has risen from 199 earlier this decade to 1,152 this year; the number of Latino students went from 218 to 1,336.
- Some critics claim that the emphasis on closing the achievement gap between different student populations is shortchanging gifted students and those with disabilities. “Green zone” parents question whether their children are receiving enough attention and resources with so much emphasis being placed on the improving the red zone.
- Green zone districts in Montgomery County receive $13,000 per student, compared with $15,000 in the red zone. Red zone classes have only 15 students in kindergarten and 17 in the first and second grates, compared with 25 and 26 in the green zone.
- School administrators counter that the system not only provides appropriate help for underperforming students, but also that it provides the additional challenges that are vital to a gifted child’s development.
- The data-driven implementation has been responsible for some large improvements over past statistics. Some of the red zone schools have seen the most dramatic improvement in test scores and graduation rates.
- Some parents and educators complain about the amount and frequency of standardized testing, suggesting that children should be spending more time on projects and creative tasks. But viable alternative strategies to foster improvement in struggling school districts are difficult to develop.