High school standard-bearers of excellence?

[Mosiah]

High school standard-bearers of excellence?
BY DR LASCELVE GRAHAM
Saturday, May 11, 2013

RECENTLY, one of our daily newspapers printed a ranking of high schools based on English and Math CSEC results (30/4/13). These are the two most basic subjects in high school, and while there are other schools that are not performing up to the standard we would expect, what immediately startled me was the very low ranking of two of our most prestigious traditional high schools — Calabar and Jamaica College.

Coincidentally, these schools placed first and second at our recently concluded extravaganza of high school track and field — Champs. If my memory serves me correctly, these schools have produced more prime ministers than any others in Jamaica. They boast some of the highest-status, most powerful and successful alumni of any high school in Jamaica. They potentially have the wherewithal to do what any school in Jamaica can do, and more than many can even dream of doing.

Why then should Calabar be ranked 36th in Mathematics and 38th in English, and Jamaica College ranked 29th in Mathematics and 32nd in English among 64 secondary high schools? The other groups were upgraded high schools and technical high schools.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2SwWo5si1

[Mosiah]

Keep up the good work, Muggy! If only some tings coulda talk!

Willi, mi haffi link yuh soon pon some a dese tings. Your alma mater is not as squeaky clean as yuh tink!

Schools are not sports academies! And even if they are, stop exploiting the students!!

[Time]

High school standard-bearers of excellence?
BY DR LASCELVE GRAHAM
Saturday, May 11, 2013

RECENTLY, one of our daily newspapers printed a ranking of high schools based on English and Math CSEC results (30/4/13). These are the two most basic subjects in high school, and while there are other schools that are not performing up to the standard we would expect, what immediately startled me was the very low ranking of two of our most prestigious traditional high schools — Calabar and Jamaica College.

Coincidentally, these schools placed first and second at our recently concluded extravaganza of high school track and field — Champs. If my memory serves me correctly, these schools have produced more prime ministers than any others in Jamaica. They boast some of the highest-status, most powerful and successful alumni of any high school in Jamaica. They potentially have the wherewithal to do what any school in Jamaica can do, and more than many can even dream of doing.

Why then should Calabar be ranked 36th in Mathematics and 38th in English, and Jamaica College ranked 29th in Mathematics and 32nd in English among 64 secondary high schools? The other groups were upgraded high schools and technical high schools.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2SwWo5si1

Don

[Don1]

The writer makes some interesting points worthy of examination. He also makes some speculative assertions regarding student intake and the supposed sports-centric objectives of Jamaica College... with zero data to substantiate his statements.... a very curious approach for a scientist.
I guess he wants to create attention....he will succeed

I can speak with authority re JC but not Calabar of which I know nothing...just that it was always a bigger school and very competitive

In the mid 1980s JC was a relatively small school with ~800 students mainly from a solid middle class background. Because of the tremendous pressure for student placement by the MOE and the campus size...by the early 2000s JC was literally forced to more than double to ~1700 students...
The students were largely from poor or challenged homes. JC was not prepared for this transition and failed miserably to assimilate the new cohort properly..and alumni largely abandoned the school to its existing poor leadership.
JC didn't even have enuff classrooms for that massive student increase....the assembly hall, canteen etc were used as classrooms and the plant was 100% run down to shiit. So by the late 1990s - 2000s we saw gross indiscipline and falling academic standards.... this had little or nothing to do with sports contrary to the writer's uninformed speculations,

By 2006 in comes the visionary Danny Williams as board chairman-- who flips the script... starts to energise alumni and raise serious money...not for sport but to re-establish a quality product. A capital campaign among alumni is started with $400m spent to date...and more in the pipeline. Some highlights:

Buys out the contracts of the ineffective principal & vice principal as well as gets rid of dense, do-nothing teachers

Finds and appoints a dynamic principal. Improves the teacher ranks with incentives and proper management systems

Renovates the entire 100+ year old physical plant. Builds new classrooms, auditorium, teacher housing etc No fancy sports upgrades..well a nice gym was just built

Supports the ~50% of the student cohort which is from poor and very challenged backgrounds with lunch subsidies, school fee subsidies/waivers, extra lessons, summer programs, health services, job training & mentorship etc ...many, many millions spent annually to support needy students who have almost no parental help

Now all the systems are in place for JC's return to greatness with a focused mission, great leadership, improving student intake quality and very high morale. One piece of this new paradigm should be the establishment of a JC prep school ..which I have recommended to the powers that be. With that there is an assurance of a quality intake...a phenomenon which clearly benefits those schools which have a prep establishment

So the school with the unmatched and unassailable record of being the greatest contributor to Jamaica is in the middle of a renaissance and a return to all-round excellence... AND as the generally recognized "Most Innovative school in Jamaica" (probably the Caribbean ) ... is also leading the charge for the absolutely critical REFORM in secondary education.... i.e. a pivot to STEM knowledge applications to support economic development

If this is a picture of a sports academy....sign me up...mi support dat academy full hundred

JC PR Dept

[Skeng DX]

Lascelve ‘Muggy’ Graham High school standard-bearers of exce

RECENTLY, one of our daily newspapers printed a ranking of high schools based on English and Math CSEC results (30/4/13). These are the two most basic subjects in high school, and while there are other schools that are not performing up to the standard we would expect, what immediately startled me was the very low ranking of two of our most prestigious traditional high schools — Calabar and Jamaica College.

Coincidentally, these schools placed first and second at our recently concluded extravaganza of high school track and field — Champs. If my memory serves me correctly, these schools have produced more prime ministers than any others in Jamaica. They boast some of the highest-status, most powerful and successful alumni of any high school in Jamaica. They potentially have the wherewithal to do what any school in Jamaica can do, and more than many can even dream of doing.

Calabar High and Jamaica College secured the top two spots at the end of the 2013 season of Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championship at the National Stadium. (OBSERVER FILE PHOTO)
1/1
Why then should Calabar be ranked 36th in Mathematics and 38th in English, and Jamaica College ranked 29th in Mathematics and 32nd in English among 64 secondary high schools? The other groups were upgraded high schools and technical high schools.

These schools, it appears, pull out all the stops to do well at sports. Both schools are allegedly strong supporters of giving great weight, where they can, in the admissions process, to a youngster’s sports prowess. A number of stories have been making the rounds in this regard.

There is no gainsaying that they have been consistently very successful at sports. However, what about what many, the world over, regard as the core function of high schools — the academic/technical aspects? Is it that these schools are out of kilter with respect to the balance between sports and education? Is it a matter of emphasis?

One would suspect that the intake of students to these schools would not be any worse and, in fact, may be much better than the intake of many of the schools that ranked higher up the academic scale. In fact, one must ask, with their abundance of physical, human and historical assets, why aren’t these schools getting the best intake of students possible?

It is said that winning at sports will do a lot of wonderful things for a school, like making the more academically able youngster want to attend the school. In that case, these two schools should have absolutely no problem with respect to the academic aptitude of their students; they should be getting the cream of the crop beacuse they have been sports champions so often.

It is also said that winning makes it easier to raise funds for the school.

Hence, these schools should outstrip their peers with respect to fundraising, a perennial bugbear of our high schools. The question remains then, what is the problem? Why are two of our most acclaimed and illustrious high schools so poorly ranked in these two basic high school subjects? Is doing well in these subjects not important?

There are, of course, those who would have us believe that education has changed so drastically, that stressing languages (English) and Mathematics at high school level is anachronistic. If they are not of this view, why are these schools languishing so far down the academic pecking order here?

I think the answers to these questions are important since they may help us get a better understanding of some of the problems in our education/socialisation system of high school and therefore give us a better chance of finding solutions. Is it that these two schools have evolved seamlessly and unnoticed into sports academies and, if so, is this the most efficient use of Jamaica’s scarce, specialised academic/technical resources?

Sports academies focus on and emphasise developing sports talent and youngsters are admitted, understandably so, based primarily on their sports potential/ability. High schools, on the other hand, are specialised academic/technical institutions. They are established to serve educational purposes.

Education takes many forms and some of the most valuable learning experiences take place outside the classroom. However, academic and intellectual rigour is central to the academic enterprise. As Rene Simoes, the Brazilian coach who took us to our only football World Cup final appearance, recently put it, schools are for building good citizens. Clubs, sports academies, etc are for building sports talent.

Some of the more cynical Jamaicans posit that many of our educators have given up, and since it is easier to recruit readymade sports talent and assemble a winning sports team than to develop Jamaica or Rhodes Scholars, they have taken the former route.

Some educators apparently hold the view that since only a relatively small number of students are affected adversely by recruiting for sports purposes, these can be treated as collateral damage in the scheme of things and the injustice done to them can be overlooked.

The many other, often unintended, negative consequences to our education/socialisation process that sports recruiting at the high school level help to fuel are downplayed, covered up, and simply excused as symptomatic of the wider society. At the same time, it is felt these educators spout beautiful-sounding phrases like, “every child can learn, every child must learn” to camouflage what is really happening.

I sincerely hope that the educators of Calabar and Jamaica College are not numbered among the group described above.


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2T5r6233Y

[Mosiah]

Wrong forum and already posted correctly.

[Time]

The writer makes some interesting points worthy of examination. He also makes some speculative assertions regarding student intake and the supposed sports-centric objectives of Jamaica College... with zero data to substantiate his statements.... a very curious approach for a scientist.
I guess he wants to create attention....he will succeed

I can speak with authority re JC but not Calabar of which I know nothing...just that it was always a bigger school and very competitive

In the mid 1980s JC was a relatively small school with ~800 students mainly from a solid middle class background. Because of the tremendous pressure for student placement by the MOE and the campus size...by the early 2000s JC was literally forced to more than double to ~1700 students...
The students were largely from poor or challenged homes. JC was not prepared for this transition and failed miserably to assimilate the new cohort properly..and alumni largely abandoned the school to its existing poor leadership.
JC didn't even have enuff classrooms for that massive student increase....the assembly hall, canteen etc were used as classrooms and the plant was 100% run down to shiit. So by the late 1990s - 2000s we saw gross indiscipline and falling academic standards.... this had little or nothing to do with sports contrary to the writer's uninformed speculations,

By 2006 in comes the visionary Danny Williams as board chairman-- who flips the script... starts to energise alumni and raise serious money...not for sport but to re-establish a quality product. A capital campaign among alumni is started with $400m spent to date...and more in the pipeline. Some highlights:

Buys out the contracts of the ineffective principal & vice principal as well as gets rid of dense, do-nothing teachers

Finds and appoints a dynamic principal. Improves the teacher ranks with incentives and proper management systems

Renovates the entire 100+ year old physical plant. Builds new classrooms, auditorium, teacher housing etc No fancy sports upgrades..well a nice gym was just built

Supports the ~50% of the student cohort which is from poor and very challenged backgrounds with lunch subsidies, school fee subsidies/waivers, extra lessons, summer programs, health services, job training & mentorship etc ...many, many millions spent annually to support needy students who have almost no parental help

Now all the systems are in place for JC's return to greatness with a focused mission, great leadership, improving student intake quality and very high morale. One piece of this new paradigm should be the establishment of a JC prep school ..which I have recommended to the powers that be. With that there is an assurance of a quality intake...a phenomenon which clearly benefits those schools which have a prep establishment

So the school with the unmatched and unassailable record of being the greatest contributor to Jamaica is in the middle of a renaissance and a return to all-round excellence... AND as the generally recognized "Most Innovative school in Jamaica" (probably the Caribbean ) ... is also leading the charge for the absolutely critical REFORM in secondary education.... i.e. a pivot to STEM knowledge applications to support economic development

If this is a picture of a sports academy....sign me up...mi support dat academy full hundred

JC PR Dept

... "appointed an armed Dean of Discipline' who searched for arms at the front gate and isolated the bad boys from the good boys.

JC has a good plan but Rome was not built in a day. You are still a sports academy until further notice.

[Mosiah]

When did JC last win Boys Champs?

[Assasin]

Let me say this that if many of these people writing would use some of their influence and education gained and work for some of these athletes in basic ways they wouldn't be writing this.

Try getting a video of a player from one a these schools, ISSA etc, Ask the athlete about their SAT scores and they have none, not because they are dunce but they never took it.. Do these people actually recommend some of these players to get scholarship since they have access and eductation???

The athletes who have their subjects we choose not to talk about them, even if they came from first form in these institutions. ah bwoy.

[Mosiah]

Huh!?!

Firstly, get what? Video?!?

The numbers are staggering, Sass. Poor Muggy wouldn't know where to start.

[Assasin]

Regardless of the numbers, there are still some good one who are in need of help, and it is annoying when you recommend a kid and can't get nowhere. Highlight the scholars too.

[Muadib]

Tek it up wid Robot Man.. he will explain that it's actually a Good Thing.....

JC pickney nuh have time fi Maths and English.. Robot haffi build !

[Mosiah]

Let's keep it all in one thread please.

Maudib, can you plz repost in the other thread as I prepare to delete this one?

Thanks!

[Karl]

All those who understand exactly what Dr. Lasceve Graham is

on about please explain?

Among the things I think he is claiming:
It is wrong to accept children at schools if they are talented at a sport or more than one sport?

Any athlete who transfers from one school to another and 'makes' the latter school's team in a sport discipline unfairly denies a place on that team to a child who attended at the school for greater number of years?

Playing a sport makes for failure at academic studies?

A focus on excellence at sports is detrimental to focus on or inhibits or detracts from focus on academic excellence?

Any school that strives for excellence in a sport discipline is short-changing the community as it must fail at providing academic excellence?

Students should only be transferred if the benefit to the recipient school, the children and parents is limited to/is for academic pursuit?

----

Dr. Lasceve Graham suggests there is a correlation between -
i) the poor performances in academic pursuits with playing sports?

ii) students are being transferred who do not qualify to be in our high schools?

Finally:
Can any of The Massive post the stats on Dr. Lasceve Graham's 'sports related transfer' v each transfer in each discipline...for each of our high schools? ...and also the impact on availability of school places?

If there is measurement on impact academic transfer has on exclusion from school-team's of students who had attend the recipient school more years...e.g. exclusion/loss of place on "School's Challenge Quiz team", Chess Team, Robotics Team, etc?

...maybe even displacement in academic classes - An example: Transfer of student/acceptance of student impact on availability of place in an academic course by a student who had been at the institution for more years.
A possible example: Math class can support 30 students - 1 transfers in...student who may be at the bottom of the class who would have been promoted being forced to find alternate course i.e. shifted out of the math course?

[Karl]

All those who understand exactly what Dr. Lasceve Graham is

on about please explain?

Among the things I think he is claiming:
It is wrong to accept children at schools if they are talented at a sport or more than one sport?

Any athlete who transfers from one school to another and 'makes' the latter school's team in a sport discipline unfairly denies a place on that team to a child who attended at the school for greater number of years?

Playing a sport makes for failure at academic studies?

A focus on excellence at sports is detrimental to focus on or inhibits or detracts from focus on academic excellence?

Any school that strives for excellence in a sport discipline is short-changing the community as it must fail at providing academic excellence?

Students should only be transferred if the benefit to the recipient school, the children and parents is limited to/is for academic pursuit?

----

Dr. Lasceve Graham suggests there is a correlation between -
i) the poor performances in academic pursuits with playing sports?

ii) students are being transferred who do not qualify to be in our high schools?

Finally:
Can any of The Massive post the stats on Dr. Lasceve Graham's 'sports related transfer' v each transfer in each discipline...for each of our high schools? ...and also the impact on availability of school places?

If there is measurement on impact academic transfer has on exclusion from school-team's of students who had attend the recipient school more years...e.g. exclusion/loss of place on "School's Challenge Quiz team", Chess Team, Robotics Team, etc?

...maybe even displacement in academic classes - An example: Transfer of student/acceptance of student impact on availability of place in an academic course by a student who had been at the institution for more years.
A possible example: Math class can support 30 students - 1 transfers in...student who may be at the bottom of the class who would have been promoted being forced to find alternate course i.e. shifted out of the math course?