NAEP testing continues to show Catholic schools outperforming public schools significantly in Math. In 2008, Catholic school 17 year olds averaged 317 on the Math test, vs. 305 for 17 year old public school students, and outperformed public school students 293 vs. 280 for 13 year olds.
The differences are even more pronounced for the NAEP reading test, which shows Catholic school students outperforming their public school peers by an even greater margin.
The latest NAEP report on the educational progress of US schools (for 2008) has just been released. For the three ages that are regulary tested, the report shows improvement in math for those aged 9 and 13 but not at age 17.
For the oldest age of the three, age 17 ( presumably those nearing High School graduation, and thus soon to enter college and the workforce), the percentage who scored at 300 or above is at the lowest level (59%) since 1990. The higher threshold, those who score at 350 or above, continues to be at its worst level (6%) since 1982 (soon after I graduated from High School!). Although continued progress in the younger grades is great to see, it is disturbing to see no progress in the older grades – despite improvements in math education through elementary and middle school. Math preparation in our High Schools is clearly “worse” if better prepared middle school students, upon High School graduation are less prepared than those who graduated 20 years ago.
We need innovative High Schools with strong Math programs, like Dominic Savio High School, now more than ever!
I was pleased to see in the news today that some US Catholic Schools were the first to carefully monitor and protect against the recent swine flu epidemic.
The Washington Post editorial yesterday on the plight of inner city Catholic schools was interesting to read
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/20/AR2009042002816.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
Unlike poorly funded inner city Catholic schools which are having a very tough time now (despite their strong track record in providing opportunity to disadvantaged children) Dominic Savio is likely to be around for many years. I like the positive tone of this article toward Catholic Schools, and the plea from a well known liberal newspaper to the Obama administration to help Catholic schools more.
Even with the problems in inner city, poor Catholic schools, innovative suburban schools like Dominic Savio and many of Austin’s Catholic schools seem to be doing well, and we can be proud of their contribution to the community and church.
St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School held an open house on March 29th. Although we missed part of it, we did find it interesting and helpful. Some quick impressions, in no particular order:
1) the faculty seems better than I expected (at least for the 1st year of a school) and more articulate/professional than expected (with few exceptions). Surprisingly they have been able to staff with faculty that are all Catholic so far, and the faculty seems VERY excited to be involved.
2) the bishop gave a wonderful talk on the importance of Catholic schooling, and eloquently describing the school as a partner with the family in the education and spiritual development of the child. I sense that he considers this school as a huge priority for him personally, and for the diocese, and is fully committed to its success. He alluded to Fr. Guzaldo’s (the assigned priest) qualifications without mentioning him by name, but did give me the impression that the spiritual life at the new school is likely to be great.
3) attendance at the open house was about what we expected
4) I also am so pleased to see the sense of community which is rapidly developing among the parents and future students. This may be hard to achieve, at least to the level of the close community that we see in our Catholic grade school (St. Theresa), but I am optimistic based on what I saw at the open house.
5) The proposed girls uniform looked uglier than I expected (but then again … there are probably better judges of this …)
6) Kevin very graciously gave a last minute tour to my wife and son at the end of the event, and they were surpised at the rapid construction progress (looks like it will be a cool facility)
7) It was nice to see some familiar faces, in whom I have complete trust and confidence there, including Bea Pojman (Foreign Language chairperson).
8 ) The descriptions of Academics, Sports and details about the school were about what I expected.
9) The likely enrollment numbers seem well above the minimum needed to make the 1st year a success (perhaps 50% or more higher than the minimum which I estimated would be needed).
10) They believe that the High School will reach capacity faster than I would have expected (ie be full by about the time my 4th grade daughter would be applying) which would be a nice problem to have.
11) There is a strong group of parents, including a newly formed Home School Association
12) They have nice coffee mugs and carafes and even shirts with the school logo on them 
13) Some teachers show obvious strong Math and Computer Science background, but I would love to see some with strong Biology or Chemistry or Physics background hired in future years
14) Kevin seems like he will have a good rapport with the students.
There are lots of risks involved in choosing a brand new school, but it looks like the positives (including a better than expected faculty, reasonable tuition, strong spiritual life and good community) will outweigh the risks and to-be-expected 1st year problems.
I noticed in the St. Theresa school newsletter that 7 of the school’s current 7th graders will be recognized at the State level (at Texas A&M next month) for their high scores on the SAT while only in 7th grade. This is great news, and combined with the outstanding performance at the distict PSIA competition last month, it shows that our Catholic Schools here are doing a great job. I hope that some of these students will continue to grow and be challenged as they go through Catholic High School, and that SDS HS can help them be the best servant leaders that they can be.
Summer courses have been announced:
http://www.saviochs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/summer-school-registration-form.pdf
and
http://www.saviochs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/algebra-i-registration-form1.pdf
Interestingly my 7th grader has expressed interest (strongly) in taking the summer algebra course … I wonder if it would be open to prospective students?
This is very exciting – students will be able to get some of their requirements out of the way, leaving more time for harder courses during the year.
The SDS HS web site states 32 credits will be required to graduate, while at public high schools the Texas recommended and “distinguished” requirements are 26 credits. The list of required courses are very similar except for the addition of 4 credits of Theology and 2 additional electives. I expect that some credits can transfer from middle school (presumably Health and/or Communications Applications or perhaps the 1st year of a foreign language or Algebra I).
In contrast The Catholic prep school that I attended required 24 credits (six courses per year for four years, instead of 8 courses per year) to graduate (of which all but 5 semesters of coursework were in required categories). Harder courses were the norm, with the majority of students taking at least 3 or more AP exams, so having fewer courses may be helpful in allowing them to focus on the hard courses such as AP Chemistry, BC Calculus and other college level courses. They required one semester less for Religion (3.5 instead of 4) which seems fine (it still allows time for the core religious curriculum: Old Testament, New Testament, Catholic Theology and Church History).
St. Michael’s Catholic Academy in Austin requires fewer credits, 28 (similar to SDSHS for requirements, but it requires only 0.5 credits of electives instead of 4.5).
My first impressions of the curriculum:
1) It seemed crazy to require “World Geography” (when I was younger, that was taught in grade school, and “geography” seems like a “soft” course that could easily be replaced with a more advanced European History or World History course, or for a Catholic school, perhaps a History of Christianity). On looking into this further, it seems like this is required because it is part of the “Recommended” curriculum for the public schools. Assuming that it is necessary to teach this to match public school requirements, is there any way that they can get this “easy” course out of the way over the summer though? Geography, ethnography and comparitive cultures are interesting topics, but are far less important than understanding the history of the US, Europe and the World which forms the more important foundation. Good history classes form the basis for later social science courses, and for understanding our world and its many conflicts, and help students learn to think and write by analyzing past conflicts and problems. On the other hand the requirement for introductory courses in US an World History, government and economics seems fine (the latter two fortunately are mini-courses, only one semester long, and will be covered in more detail in college). What really bothers me about the “World Geography” requirement in Texas public and private schools, is that it precludes them from taking one of the “easy” Advanced Placement courses, AP US History, without having to go through scheduling difficulties or summer school. I got a 5 in AP US History as a Junior when I took it years ago, and it remains one of the easier AP tests, useful for college admissions and credit, and it is fairly interesting material (at least among the AP tests).
2) 4 years of science is great to require, but encouraging Physics as a Junior, unless the student has demonstrated proficiency in trigonometry and (at least) pre-Calculus, seems a waste of time. Teaching physics without proper math background would be a nightmare for the teacher and student. Many, including the author of my old physics text, would say 1 semester of Calculus should be required, or else the physics teacher will waste much time “reteaching” Math in physics class. I love the change to drop “IPS” (Introductory Physical Science) from the state requirements which SDSHS also drops (allows room for 4 good years of science, and removes one of the most boring courses many had to go through in years past). I wish the typical science curriculum looked more like:
Freshman: Biology
Sophomore: Chemistry
Junior: AP Chemistry or AP Biology (for those most advanced with science department approval) or Physics (if demonstrated proficiency in Algebra II, Trig, and concurrent with PreCalculus) or science elective (such as Anatomy and Physiology, perhaps Computer Science given the strength of the SDS HS faculty in that area) for others
Senior: AP Physics (with department approval; must have AP Calculus already or be taking AP Calculus) or Physics for others who have not taken it yet
3) I am glad that Health and Speech are offered as options over the summer to get these state requirements out of the way
4) The number of electives seem like about the right number (about 1 per year), although the course load (eight courses per year) could be fairly high, especially for Juniors if any of these are AP courses – but with summer school and credits transferred from middle school, Juniors could reduce to 7 courses to allow more time for study hall.
5) I have mixed feelings about “seminar-like” science classes in High School, but it may allow the school to play to its strengths (at least 3 seem to have strong computer science background for example).
6) In general I like the idea of using optimally the teaching talent which the school can get rather than trying to be all things to all people. If the school can’t hire a great teacher in one of the normally popular electives, don’t offer that elective. If the school can’t hire a great teacher in one of the 3 science disciplines (Biology or Chemistry or Physics) with the right background and/or advanced degree then don’t offer an AP class in that subject. If the school has teachers with strong Computer background – offer an additional AP class – in Computer Programming instead of perhaps AP Chemistry. Use the strengths of the faculty, and those which could be added to the faculty easily. It is ok to limit AP classes to those areas where they can find right faculty as long as the students have the opportunity to take at least 1 science (e.g. Chemistry or Biology) and one non-science (e.g. US History) AP test during their Junior year and as long as the advanced students have the opportunity to take at least 4 AP tests by the time they graduate.
7) Math, Math, Math … This is a STEM school. Math background is the key. We have to find a way to allow students to accelerate as much as reasonably possible in Math (perhaps by breaking Math into semester rather than yearly units, with strict testing requirements; perhaps by allowing overlapping Geometry and Algebra II, perhaps by allowing Algebra II in summer school). Many years ago, before the age of personal computers, and tailored computerized assessment (which should make this easier) – I, along with six of my classmates (out of 100 in my graduating class) took AP Calculus as Juniors and were able to take Linear Algebra in High School as an elective our senior year. Math can be fun, if we challenge the students at the right level for each, offer them opportunities to see Math as useful, and to accelerate where possible. With Calculus early enough – Physics and even AP Statistics can be taught. With strong Algebra II background, Computer Science and Chemistry will be easier to understand. In many countries, some Calculus is expected of all students by the time they finish High School. Calculus describes the world that we live in – not straight lines, and constant rates – but real world objects, curves, areas, acceleration, forces.
The Dominic Savio administration is doing a good job of keeping us up to date on the progress on the new High School by posting a monthly newsletter.
The newsletter for April has just been released: http://www.saviochs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/newsletter.pdf
Previous newsletters include biographies of some of the impressive staff that have been hired, and profiles of some of the students:
For March: http://www.saviochs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/march-newsletter3.pdf
February: http://www.saviochs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/february-newsletter.pdf
January: http://www.saviochs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/january-newsletter.pdf
