Brookfield Pupils
Perform Poorly

Brookfield students are not performing well in comparison to their peers across the state. Despite the feel-good rhetoric of school officials, the evidence does not support their empty claims of progress.

Evidence of our students’ learning struggles are compellingly illustrated within the results of the Vermont Developmental Reading Assessment (VTDRA). This reading assessment has been administered to every second grader in Vermont since 1999.

Since its inception Brookfield’s average on the VTDRA is 67%, and has been trending down since 2005. The statewide average is 80%, and has trended up, every year, since 1999.

Reasonably, folks will point to Brookfield’s small class sizes, and remark that the poor performance of a couple of students can have dramatic results on averages. Then we need to examine the median of the data. The median eliminates the outliers, meaning the lowest and highest scores. Since 1999, Brookfield’s median score on the VTDRA is 71%. The statewide median is 82%.

For those interested in the most recent results, in 2007 54% of Brookfield second graders passed this assessment. Statewide, the result was 85%.

Despite the evidence, Brookfield’s long-time school directors refuse to look beyond their mutual admiration society. Rather than take action, they backslap each other in ignorant bliss, while our community’s children see their learning potential squandered.

It’s time for our community to take a different course. It’s time to elect school directors who have a stake in the school’s future.

Charles Herzog

Brookfield