It appears the Oxford school district has lots to celebrate given the latest MEAP results (see story on page 1).
A solid majority of students in grades 3 through 9 met or exceeded state standards in reading, math, English language arts, science and social studies.
If one were to translate those percentages into letter grades, the district’s report card would be full of A’s and B’s.
Of course, the lion’s share of the credit goes to those in the trenches ? the hard-working teachers, paraprofessionals and students who obviously put in many long hours together preparing for these important tests.
Parents should be proud of the top notch education their children are receiving on a daily basis.
Taxpayers should be proud that their investment in the future is yielding such rich dividends.
The entire community should be proud that Oxford’s continuing a tradition of quality education that dates back to its roots in small rural schoolhouses.
That being said we are troubled by the percentage of fourth-graders who met or exceeded the writing standards.
Frankly, these numbers weren’t so hot for something that’s absolutely essential to success in both the academic realm and the real world.
We understand the scoring for this portion of the MEAP is subjective and judging by percentages from around the state, it appears there might be some issues with the fourth-grade test. But even so, we can’t afford to take any chances when it comes to writing.
Being a newspaper, we cannot stress enough the importance of being able to communicate ideas clearly and effectively via the written word.
We trust the district will do everything in its power to find out what’s going on with the writing portion and take corrective measures where appropriate.
Education is all about striving to do better. That’s why learning is a journey, not a destination. We trust Oxford Schools are doing all they can to make our students? journey a fruitful one. Again, bravo on the MEAP results. ? CJC