Special math classes at THS a step forward
Tonganoxie High School Principal Mike Bogart is to be commended for taking steps to help improve math scores among students.
While much has been said about teaching for tests rather than for knowledge more than 75 percent of Tonganoxie High School sophomores should score at the satisfactory level or above on state assessments. If they don’t, they either don’t know the material or they don’t care about the test.
“We feel that the level of student concern for taking these tests is not as high as it should be,” Bogart said.
Either way, Bogart’s plan to hold “re-teaching” classes after after school next fall should help address the problem. Under his proposal, which school board members OK’d, some students would attend the special classes for 45 minutes on six consecutive Wednesdays.
It is unfortunate that in 2000, a total of 21 percent of THS sophomores scored at the unsatisfactory level on the Kansas math assessment. It is even more unfortunate that in 2001, a total of 25 percent of local sophomores scored at the unsatisfactory level.
But it’s commendable that Bogart and the school board are eager to reverse that trend.
The $200 cost for the “re-teaching” classes is a small price to pay if students are learning more math and if they are learning more about taking on responsibility.