UCF Annual Achievement Report Published

The Annual Achievement Report was presented to the Board this week.  The metrics serve as one of the ways to measure learning outcomes and reflects directly on the wonderful work, skills and character of all of our students.  The results provide further insight in to why UCF has gained broader national prominence as of late.

The detailed metrics help the administrators and teacher to evaluate programs and identify areas of greater emphasis.  The District is committed to continuous improvement and to unlocking the potential in all of us My two observations: 1.  The results are excellent, and we should be proud of what are students are able to achieve.   The dedication of teachers, parents, administrators, support staff, and of course the students themselves stand behind these great results.  I commend our teachers for their hard work. 2.  However, there is still plenty of room for improvement.  The administration highlighted several opportunities during their presentation.  One of those opportunities (watch the board meeting video starting at 1hr 14 min) is to better serve our high-achieving students.  This seem counter-intuitive at first, results show that students who start an academic year with high capability are not gaining a year's worth of knowledge.   So we are not providing the right challenges and opportunities for those students.   I know several families have experienced this first hand at Pocopson Elementary, and it is a source of frustration to them.  We should be helping all students to grow, and that includes those with the highest capabilities.   I have spoken up about this issue in private, and I raised it again at Monday's meeting.  I am encouraged that the administration sees the issue, and now it is time for us to make improvements. You can listen to my comments on the report by watching the board video, starting at 1hr 37 minutes mark.