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Old 08-05-2011, 08:14 AM
 
6,578 posts, read 25,396,445 times
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For 2009-2010 school year on AP exams, 36.0% of 11th-12th graders at Woodrow took at least 1 AP exam. Of all the exams taken 30.3% were "passing" - a score of 3-5. So there are more than just white kids taking AP exams at Woodrow if there are only 16.4% white kids in the school, unless the percentage of white kids increases at 11th and 12th grades, which I guess is possible considering the high drop out rates for blacks and hispanics.

I thnk the govt is the one who started looking at scores by demographic. They wanted to be sure minorities were being taught.
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Old 08-05-2011, 08:17 AM
 
Location: la hacienda
2,256 posts, read 9,735,920 times
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Ron Dreher wrote a column a few years back something to the tune of "Choose Woodrow, if you're white" that causes quite an uproar. The column is behind the DMN paywall, but here is some talk about it:

Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas: The DMN's Rod Dreher not-so-gently calls white Woodrow parents self-interested racists
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Old 08-05-2011, 09:45 AM
 
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Rod never visited the school. Never called any parent, never interviewed any of the teachers nor the principal. He lived in Junius Heights on Worth a few blocks down from exemplary Lipscomb Elementary, yet he never visited that school either and homeschooled his elementary-aged kids. At first he praised the neighborhood, then when he took a job up in Philly he put his house on the market at Thanksgiving and overpriced it - naturally it took a long time to sell. Then he starting criticizing the neighborhood.
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Old 08-05-2011, 10:04 AM
 
1,190 posts, read 2,623,187 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by biafra4life View Post
This is what I've been trying to say...if DISD would get organized, I see no reason why the Lakewood schools couldnt become a poor man's Highland Park as far as schools go...the money is there, the students are there, but the parents will continue to hold off as long as the quality is not perceived to be there...an example, Lewisville ISD has a big mix of wealthy and poor, yet Flower Mound schools are among the best in the entire metroplex. I think Lakewood could definitely assume that role in DISD.
But what are the demographics of FlowerMound? I am pretty sure the population is mostly educated to atleast the college level, parents have a high interest in their children's education and parents who speak English as their first language. Families move to FlowerMound because of the schools, the extracurricular programs and for the "family" environment.

Woodrow has those same elements when you look at Lakewood proper and some of the surrounding areas (east of Lake, Hollywood Heights, etc). but as you get closer to downtown or south of the school, the demographics are quite different - parents who are not educated beyond high school, parents working several jobs to make ends meet, parents who are not as involved, parents who might not have English as a first language, etc. They live where they live because of the affordability of housing and proximity to their jobs or to mass transit. How do you "fix" that?
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Old 08-05-2011, 10:26 AM
 
Location: Wylie, Texas
3,812 posts, read 4,397,061 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennifw View Post
But what are the demographics of FlowerMound? I am pretty sure the population is mostly educated to atleast the college level, parents have a high interest in their children's education and parents who speak English as their first language. Families move to FlowerMound because of the schools, the extracurricular programs and for the "family" environment.

Woodrow has those same elements when you look at Lakewood proper and some of the surrounding areas (east of Lake, Hollywood Heights, etc). but as you get closer to downtown or south of the school, the demographics are quite different - parents who are not educated beyond high school, parents working several jobs to make ends meet, parents who are not as involved, parents who might not have English as a first language, etc. They live where they live because of the affordability of housing and proximity to their jobs or to mass transit. How do you "fix" that?

Agreed that Lakewood's situation is not as cut and dried as that of either Flower Mound or Highland Park. This is why I said Lakewood can aspire to be a poor mans HP...as long as it's in DISD there will be far more kids from challenging environments than either HP or FM would have to deal with.
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Old 08-05-2011, 10:39 AM
 
16,087 posts, read 41,038,951 times
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Many people see it as a bad thing that Woodrow has a large population of poor kids who may not speak English. I see it as an asset. Those kids have a lot of opportunity by attending Woodrow. Many will not take advantage of it, but there it is...

When again in life will they be able to sit side-by-side, be peers and friends with affluent kids who have college-educated parents with good careers? And vice-versa. It's good for everyone.

When filming a documentary for the school's 80th anniversary in 2008-09, all of the alumni participants were asked, "what is the best thing about Woodrow?". Nearly all of them cited the wide-variety of friendships they made.

As a friend of mine said, "I can walk into any room anywhere and make friends with anyone".
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Old 08-05-2011, 02:52 PM
 
Location: DFW Metroplex. Not TX-born but never leaving.
301 posts, read 568,769 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennifw View Post
But what are the demographics of FlowerMound? I am pretty sure the population is mostly educated to atleast the college level, parents have a high interest in their children's education and parents who speak English as their first language. Families move to FlowerMound because of the schools, the extracurricular programs and for the "family" environment.

Woodrow has those same elements when you look at Lakewood proper and some of the surrounding areas (east of Lake, Hollywood Heights, etc). but as you get closer to downtown or south of the school, the demographics are quite different - parents who are not educated beyond high school, parents working several jobs to make ends meet, parents who are not as involved, parents who might not have English as a first language, etc. They live where they live because of the affordability of housing and proximity to their jobs or to mass transit. How do you "fix" that?
It's not the demographics of FM so much. It's the demo of Lewisville really. They are both part of LISD. That's why it's comparable in my mind. Lakewood and then outside of Lakewood.
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Old 08-05-2011, 03:09 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,154,575 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessKick View Post
It's not the demographics of FM so much. It's the demo of Lewisville really. They are both part of LISD. That's why it's comparable in my mind. Lakewood and then outside of Lakewood.
I see where your train of thought is, but the high schools that serve FM way out-perform the Lewisville schools. With Woodrow, all those kids are mixed together in one school, not different schools within a diverse district. So it's not really a relevant comparison, it's apples and oranges.
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Old 08-05-2011, 04:02 PM
 
Location: DFW Metroplex. Not TX-born but never leaving.
301 posts, read 568,769 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80 View Post
I see where your train of thought is, but the high schools that serve FM way out-perform the Lewisville schools. With Woodrow, all those kids are mixed together in one school, not different schools within a diverse district. So it's not really a relevant comparison, it's apples and oranges.
I see your point. I still think there is some value at looking at the comparison. While WW is one school, it's referred to over and over on here as having a school within a school. More like Macintoshes vs Granny Smiths.
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Old 08-05-2011, 04:15 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,154,575 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessKick View Post
I see your point. I still think there is some value at looking at the comparison. While WW is one school, it's referred to over and over on here as having a school within a school. More like Macintoshes vs Granny Smiths.
Well, just tracking the white students SAT scores (the most easily isolated component of the "school within a school" portion of Woodrow), the WW kids are already outscoring their white peers at every single Lewisville ISD except Flower Mound- and they're not far behind FM (1100 vs 1125). That portion of the school isn't the issue.

Woodrow's greatest challenge is elevating the performance of the low-performing students who comprise 70-75% of the student body. That's where Woodrow's Hispanics lag their Hispanic counterparts at the FM schools by 100-200 points on the SAT (they are on par with most of the Lewisville HS Hispanics, btw).
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