Dobson Montessori School
Top Stanford 9 scores
again in 2011 !!!
What the numbers say:
Once again, Dobson Montessori students placed far above the state and national norms! Our small school has outscored the tens of thousands of students attending public and charter schools in the valley and the nation! Our scores show student achievement well above grade equivalents in all areas! Since we took the test at the end of the 5th month of the school year, 3rd grade students testing at grade level would receive a 3.5 or 3rd grade-5th month score to show solid achievement. Likewise, a 7th grade student would receive a 7.5 to show solid achievement for their age. Check out this year’s exceptional scores below:
3rd grade students tested at 4.8 4th grade 8th month!
4th grade students tested at 7.1 7th grade 1st month!
5th grade students tested at 9.2 9th grade 2nd month!
6th grade students tested at 10.4 10th grade 4th month!
And our upper division students, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, averaged Past High School scoring beyond the end of 12th grade into college level!
What the numbers mean:
Obviously, these are phenomenal scores! It is great for our parents to know that their child attends the top academic school in the valley! We do not “teach to the test” or feel rote learning is an appropriate teaching method. Our scores are almost a side product of our environment where the main focus is a love of learning, individualized curriculum, and low student teacher ratios with an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning and problem solving.
Parents often ask why our outstanding scores are not listed in the newspaper. The media will only list public schools. Charter schools are public schools so they are listed as well. Unfortunately, none of the valley private schools are included in the newspaper listings each year.
All the numbers can be a bit confusing for parents. The Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert public schools report the percentage of students achieving better than last year, which tells us nothing about their actual level of achievement on a national scale. Arizona currently ranks 50th in the nation in quality of public schools. The charter schools, which are also public schools, are usually scoring even lower than the public school districts but often have more students with learning challenges enrolled. Even those who advertise high academic standards have difficulty delivering the results. For instance, a school for “gifted students” here in the valley reported 4th grade students scoring in the 37th percentile while their 7th graders scored in the 28th percentile! Our students score in the 85th-99th percentiles!
Another alarming trend in Arizona is the decline in scores as the students proceed from year to year, especially as they enter the junior high years. As you can see, our students make more than a year of progress each year with our junior high students soaring past high school equivalencies.
Many parents have concerns about the AIMS test required for high school graduation. The AIMS test is only given in Arizona and has become quite controversial. While students from Dobson Montessori leave our Jr. High as proficient test takers who do not have difficulty passing the AIMS or other tests, we feel that education is much more than merely passing one test. New research recently released has shown students whose education has focused on learning answers for such tests as the AIMS actually do poorer on college entrance exams and have not mastered important skills such as problem solving, research, creative writing, team and leadership abilities, analytical thinking, communication, and learning how to learn.
It is also important to keep test scores in proper perspective. Some children do not test well and cannot “show what they know” in a standardized test situation. We feel writing is a very important part of a good education and the Stanford 9 does not have a full writing sample component; nor does it test listening skills, social studies, research abilities, thinking skills and other components. The test does not measure other very important educational aspects such as communication, real life skill applications, getting along with others, creativity, or team and leadership abilities. Clearly, it is important for teachers, parents, and students to remember test scores are just one way of evaluating a portion of a student’s achievement. At Dobson Montessori, our goal is to educate the whole child as they prepare for a happy and successful future.
Congratulations to Dobson Montessori School, its students, teachers, and families on their continued achievements!