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1.12.2012

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I posted this comment this morning in response to a thread that was making wild accusations about Kent-Meridian High School and I feel it deserves its own post.

Please be careful about the comments that you make on this blog. I do NOT want to be in the business of censoring people but if people aren't going to think about what they post before they do it... I won't have much of a choice.

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Whoa whoa whoa. Let's not get carried away here people. It is very irresponsible to be running around making comments about things like this anonymously.

You can't go running around making anonymous comments and acting like they are "facts". If you want to provide a source where a parent was quoted in a paper or something like that... be my guest.

As for the MC article.  I would seriously question the journalistic integrity of a reporter who will ask questions that are based on opinion and treat them as though they are facts.

It is pretty tough to "factually" define a school because there are so many different ways to evaluate education. Great Schools lists KM as a 4 out of 10 which would be slightly below average. The reviews give it 4 out of 5 stars which is excellent.

School Digger rates KM as 2 out of 5 stars (again slightly below average) but it also shows that test scores are on the rise and statewide performance is on the rise.

KM is also the only High School in Kent with an IB program.

Based on those facts... I could then formulate an opinion about the school just like everyone else can but it would still only be my opinion.

I'd really appreciate it if everyone would please stick to facts and opinions and make sure that we are clear on the definition of both.

Let's try not to make wild speculations (anonymously) about the intentions of players and their parents and represent it as a fact.

6 comments :

Anonymous said...

Thanks Tyler.
Also, it should be noted, that there have been exceptions where because of credit transfer issues players have been allowed to do online high school course work. I would imagine that if school were the ONLY concern holding a player back from signing the team would work with the family to find a remedy that would work for the player.

Dee Klem said...

Tyler,
As a mom With 2 kids who will some day attend KM, I appreciate you giving some data about the "ranking" of KM and asking people to separate opinions from facts. My kids currently attend some of the "toughest" schools in Kent - what does that mean? To me it means that they have the opportunity to attend school with kids from varied backgrounds - cultural, economic, racial etc.....I think that experience adds greatly to their education, but that is simply my opinion.

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Good job Tyler! KM's IB program is an international program and as such has to meet the requirements of that program to stay accredited with IB. As a parent of a former IB program graduate I can say I think IB is the best program to prepare students for the rigors of college.

Anonymous said...

One point of reference is the Washington State Report cards for schools. KM doesn't fair well compared to many other areas schools. If you compare KM with Kentridge for instance you will see dramatic differences in scores.

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?groupLevel=District&schoolId=1555&reportLevel=School&orgLinkId=1555&yrs=&year=2010-11

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?groupLevel=District&schoolId=1567&reportLevel=School&orgLinkId=1567&yrs=&year=2010-11

A test, of course, is not the only measure of a school.

Thunnex said...

Agreed and good facts. They are also trending up... so they must have things going in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

One thing that many people don't take into account when looking at test scores is that the overall numbers include all students populations so that a school that is considered to have an excellent program in say ELL or Special Education may have lower overall test grades because they have a larger population of those students. The state requires all students whether they are in special education or ELL to take the HSPE (formally the WASL) and fail before they can take a more appropriate test. That means a student who comes with absolutely no English and arrives the day before the test is required to test and their scores are counted. Same with the IEP student who functions at a 1st grade student.
If you look at the State Report card K-M actually has a greater number of teachers with Masters degrees or higher 70.2% than Kentlake - 66.3%.

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