Mainland children in Kauai

[Lohena]

Originally Posted by LoveSummer7

This is so true!

re: Hawaii public school system's poor reputation

Correct my if I'm wrong, but this is what I've heard...

A higher than average percentage of the students in Hawaii public schools speak english as a second language.

A higher than average percentage of the students in Hawaii public schools move there part way through the school year (therefore a higher than average percentage of the students in Hawaii public schools at a given time will not be there for the full school year)

IF this is all true, I wonder how much of the poor reputation of the Hawaii public school system is due to these challenges.

If one is struggling with English as a second language, of course one's test scores will be lower and drag down the average. (I'm not saying that everyone for whom English is a second language will struggle, just saying that it might be the case that there is a significant portion of ESL students who have difficulties due to language barrier issues.)

If one is struggling due to moving in the midst of a school year, one is more likely to have lower test scores and drag down the average.

Your comments and thoughts?

Are these issues a large part of the problem? Or is the main cause of the poor performance in Hawaii public schools due to other factors such as the quality of the teaching, lack of funding etc?

Good questions. I've been working at a public high school here for about a decade and you are right on about ESL students. We have a huge influx of Marshallese and rural Filipino students that sometimes have almost little to no educational background, let alone English exposure. The majority of students here speak pidgin as their primary language and have a difficult time articulating in proper English.

The indisputable reason why our schools are so low performing is for one reason and one reason only: apathy. It is absolutely mind-boggling.

I believe the demographics breakdown to be around 40% Filipino, 20% Caucasian, 20% Japanese, 15% native Hawaiian, and 5% other. Most locals are extremely mixed with the little bit of everything, but by and large we are more like Manila than anything else.

On average, our public elementary schools are okay, but junior high and high school is horrendous. The average incoming freshman performs 3 to 5 grade levels behind in reading, writing, and mathematics. The problem is we give just as many or more A's than anybody else, so many parents think that because their child has good grades there isn't a problem. Reality usually doesn't set in until college and they get placed in remedial classes and struggle. Only a small percentage of high school graduates make it through college for various reasons. That is not to say there are exceptions to this.

Island school is known to be pretty good for the elementary grades, but questionable beyond 7th. There are many top-rated private high schools on other islands.

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by KrisKrisKris

I have heard it's 30%ish native / 30%ish asian / 30%ish caucasian distribution on other islands - how about in Kauai?

Here are the distributions (according to City Data) for Honolulu on Oahu, and the two cities listed on Kauai (scroll down):

http://www.city-data.com/city/Honolulu-Hawaii.html

http://www.city-data.com/city/Kapaa-Hawaii.html

http://www.city-data.com/city/Lihue-Hawaii.html

There are exceptions, like Princeville:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Princeville-Hawaii.html