EDITORIAL : FAILED LEADERSHIP; SUPERINTENDENT RUBEN ZACARIAS CAN'T CONTINUE DUCKING QUESTIONS ON IMPROVING STUDENT TEST SCORES.IT'S no secret that a lot of people are fed up with the performance of the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. . But it is discouraging to see the LAUSD's leaders succumb suc·cumb intr.v. suc·cumbed, suc·cumb·ing, suc·cumbs 1. To submit to an overpowering force or yield to an overwhelming desire; give up or give in. See Synonyms at yield. 2. To die. to a fortress mentality as they continue operating a sub-par school district. When the district released new standardized test A standardized test is a test administered and scored in a standard manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" [1] results at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon, showing students scoring below average, Superintendent Ruben Zacarias was nowhere to be found. School board President Julie Korenstein didn't return calls. Other officials didn't bother to make themselves available to shed light on the standardized test and the district's poor performance on it. Dropping the results late Friday to minimize media coverage Saturday, offering no assistance in understanding them, minimizing public knowledge and discussion - that's how the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) deals with its problems, that's how it regards the parents, children and taxpayers of this community. Such a lack of professionalism at the top is a sign of just how troubled this district is. But then, it's understandable that anyone responsible for the education of nearly 750,000 children would want to run and hide after seeing the Stanford 9 test results. The results showed nearly half of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. students in grades 1 through 10 scored below the national level in reading, language, spelling and mathematics. Only 9 percent were above average. Until 1995, the district used the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. But that test was replaced last year with the Stanford 9 after critics said the CTBS CTBS Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills CTBS Certified Tissue Bank Specialist CTBS California Tests of Basic Skills was arcane ar·cane adj. Known or understood by only a few: arcane economic theories. See Synonyms at mysterious. [Latin arc and failed to test true learning. While the 1996 CTBS scores were poor, with most students ranking below the national level in all subject areas, the results of the Stanford 9 exam were worse. Board member David Tokofsky is the only person to accurately describe the situation: ``The most fundamental element of the district, student achievement, is in deep crisis.'' The question stands: What is the district going to do about it? Immediately after being named the new superintendent, Zacarias proclaimed: ``I want to be held accountable.'' Here's his chance. We're waiting for his lesson plan to turn this district around. |
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