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Laney: Did you ask the principals if they had site-based management'?
Miller: I didn't personally ask them.
McCall: I would have liked to have seen some balance given to the site-based management
issue. We are making an attempt in this area. In addressing truth and balance in the report,
some terns were used. These were: social engineering, brainwashing, situational ethics, and
bias against truth. I would like for the committee to explain these terms and how they were
derived.
Eudy: Admittedly a lot of evidence we looked at were trends both statewide and on a
national level. In looking at this we looked at the end result. We didn't start the study to
say whether this administration was doing a good job. We were essentially looking at the
students or the outcome that comes out of the system. We looked at statistics on the
national/state level, and we saw very little where we couldn't compare. In reference to the
terms you are asking about, this deals mostly with comments from parents. People came to
us and told us what was happening with their children.
McCall: Without giving names, could you be more specific? As a school board member,
these terms concern me, and I feel we should take action to eliminate these perceptions.
Turner: We saw so much information. In one of the elementary schools (5th grade), there
were magazines available and one of them said: "Is it incest to have sex with my step-
brother?" Another situation occurred when we looked at writing on bulletin boards -- the
writing was atrocious.
McCall: I agree we need to understand where we are. I guess I need to understand that the
data/information you received justifies these terms.
Turner: We have gotten away from the three Rs. Our children are being told to express
themselves; however, they do this by not using proper grammar and punctuation.
McCall: I would like to remind you that our writing scores have improved substantially
over the past year. This takes into account the whole gamut in terms of writing. I still want
to know what you mean by these terms.
Williams: In terms of social engineering -- where do you put our Bible classes? Is this
social engineering?
Turner: Maybe it's all social engineering. I'm told by principals that a lot of emphasis is
placed on children expressing themselves, and I'm being told that we have gotten away from
spelling and punctuation.
McCall: I don't see how our writing scores have improved if we didn't teach writing skills
Turner: Skip, are you satisfied with our school system?
McCall: No, I am not, and I never said that. I thought the purpose of the report was to
assess where we currently are. I just have some real concerns with using terms like these,
especially when they have been given to the public.
Boone: I have read this report, and I read the minority report that was presented. In regard
to the writing scores, or when the article first came out in the paper, I just assumed the
scores had increased a lot. When I examined this more closely there was a large increase in
fourth grade scores, but the statewide average increased which means the scoring system
changed or the statewide curriculum changed. If you examine Iredell-Statesville scores in
relation to the state scores, there is very little change. Three years ago we were slightly
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