BELLEVUE BREAKFAST ROTARY CLUB

 IN THIS ISSUE:

Vol. 15, No. 20, November 11, 2002

The State of the Bellevue School District

A frequent visitor to the BBRC, Mike Riley, Superintendent of the Bellevue School District since 1996, brought the Club up to date on the state of education in the Bellevue community. Mike, introduced by his former Deputy Superintendent, Howard Johnson, is beginning his seventh year as leader of the school district.

After having taught and worked as a school principal in Chicago and then in administration at the Fredrick, Maryland, Baltimore County School District, where he served over 100,000 students, according to HoJo, Dr. Riley arrived in Bellevue with “grand ideas, hinging on the elevation of duties of school principals and a program to increase academic performance. All of this costs money, and as Deputy Superintendent, it was my job to warn Mike about the lack of funds. At least he called me to his office and listened every year. Now that I’m retired, my boss, Judy, never listens to my dire warnings about lack of money and she doesn’t call me her into office!”

Kuechle, Hemphill, Riley
L-R: Jane Kuechle, Dale Hemphill & Friday’s speaker, Mike Riley

“The larger issue for the country is how we prepare our high school graduates for whatever awaits them,” observed Riley. “In 1950, only 50% of kids graduated from high school. Now, we’re in a new century and there’s a pretty significant shift taking place. Now, 70% of kids who graduate from high school go on to college. In Bellevue, we send 90% on to some kind of higher education, be it community college or university. In another 25 years the goal is to have every child finish college.”

This is called ”universal college education.” It’s a proposal that’s contained in a report of the Association of Colleges and Universities. The report says that the elements of ”obtaining a college education are democratic values, moral imperatives, and economic necessities. Possession of a college degree today means substantially what a high school diploma meant a hundred years ago.”

At issue is the fact that less than half of high school graduates complete even a minimally defined college preparatory program in high school. Simply put, when students get to college, there are not completing their work. They are not adequately prepared for what lies ahead. “There is something missing from high school and college readiness programs,” Dr. Riley said.

“Easy courses, poor counseling, and low expectations of teachers and students alike contribute to the current situation. Kids are not reading the amount they should be. Bellevue Public School’s job is to get them ready for college,” says Riley.

The Superintendent said that few programs are on hand to help. A downward cycle of lowered expectations of reading achievement is to blame. “We’re now doing kindergarten reading assessments to give extra support early to our students.”

“I love this quote from the report,” says Dr. Riley. “’Expectations for greater success are not utopian dreams. Research confirms that when much is expected, much is achieved. Raising expectations, however, means confronting the common perception that native ability counts more than hard work.’”

“Americans think that we can’t achieve in certain areas because my ‘family couldn’t do math.’ There is no research to support that view.”

A Model of Excellence is the Bellevue Public Schools: “65% of our students go on to 4-year colleges, 25% to 2-year schools. That’s 90% on to college … 70% or our students took at least 1 AP (Advanced Placement, i.e., college credit) course … 85% have completed 3 or more math credits … 76% have completed 3 or more credits in science.”

Dr. Riley said, “If you increase standards, you get a better buy-in from kids. We are now giving World History for sophomores in an AP class. The pass rate for this class is average across the country. Kid’s minds are a lot more powerful than we give them credit for. Nearly 400 Bellevue students earned 1,973 college credits in 2001-02 without leaving their high schools … these are in career technical programs.”

There’s a Microsoft Academy beginning in the 9th grade, with Microsoft licensing, plus college credit. BCC offers Associate Degrees while still in high school. If the charge is true that the senior year of high school is a wasted year, then it’s up to us to make the K-12 experience as powerful and substantial as it can be.

In summary, Dr. Riley says that movement is away from tests. Colleges now want to see what courses are taken. The question now being asked: Are students leaving high school with the proper tools for college. SAT and State testing scores will go up, because you’ve aimed higher.

Shrader, Riley
President Kim Shrader, with speaker Mike Riley.

Question from the audience on the reduced funding of Higher Education:

A: I don’t foresee college being free, but access is the question. A student can go to BCC and transfer to a State university and, even with loans, it can work.

Question on how to get rid of bad teachers:

A: I think we do a good job on that. We lost a suit on age discrimination. Claims that we never fire anybody are not necessarily correct. We won’t have to fire anyone if the programs in place work. Sub-par teachers will retire if they can’t make muster.

Question on why require four years of math and science:

A: A vast majority of our students are already taking these courses … upper level science is a course in logical thinking. A new set of graduation requirements will improve skills and give a kid a ticket for life.

For his presentation, Superintendent Riley was presented with a certificate showing the BBRC has donated 240 doses polio vaccine for Rotary’s effort to eradicate polio.

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