School Improvements?!

In schools they take something like state tests every year just to make sure students are where they should be. A kind of way of keeping the teachers in check if you will. Just kidding. Anyways our school took their tests about a month ago and we recieved what is called the Report Card for our school. What I read has me greatly concerned about what my child is learning at this school. The link to check out the report card is http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/servlet/srcICreatePDF?pSchCode=348&pLEACode=260&pYear=2007-2008

Now when I recieved D's Report Card for this nine weeks it said that he is on 'Grade Level'. However according to the school report card our 3rd-5th grade students are well below the district heck even the state level of 'Grade Level' in both Reading and Math. So is D really on grade level and what exactly does that mean to the teachers at this school. I for one would like to know. It's not like as soon as they hit 3rd grade they all of a sudden get stupid. Some where along the lines our children are falling behind before getting to third grade. That or else our standards for 'grade level' go up considerably by 3rd grade.

Now we have some great teachers at our school. His Kindergarten teacher last year for one. She was great well her and her assistant. D was behind when he started school and they sat me and my husband down and showed us the extra steps they were taking in school and what we should be working on at home to get him up to 'grade level'. But the teacher this year it is like pulling teeth to find out what I need to be helping with at home other than his handwriting. He is a boy! His handwriting is never going to be great! It definetly needs improving but are you really telling me that is the only thing that I can do to help further my child along in his education?!

Now our school is under some kind of School District Improvement thing. I got a nicely typed letter saying we missed our yearly adequate progress targets for 2 years in a row!! Not 1 but 2 times now this school has been behind the curve. I didn't get a letter about this last year. They didn't have a school board meeting about this last year either! So what we just ignored it and hoped that the testing would go better for this year?! The letter also states that they will be revising the Improvement guidelines that are currently out and we will be in Impovement status "until all target goals in reading and math in grades 3 through 5 OR 6 through 8 or high school for two consecutive years". That to me says they are only going to worry about and work with the students in those grades but something had to have gone wrong somewhere along the way! Why would we not put things in place at an earlier age while we are trying to improve our schools? Does this not make sense to anyone but me?

Sorry about the ranting but thanks for listening or reading I guess. You all have my e-mail address let me know what you think! Love to all and God Bless!!