Dorchester Times: SCHOOL REPORT CARD: How DPS Stacks Up To Its Neighbors In Reading Ability

Thursday, September 20, 2012

SCHOOL REPORT CARD: How DPS Stacks Up To Its Neighbors In Reading Ability

The Dorchester Times staff believes in accountability at all levels. We expect solid efforts and results from ourselves, our news media, our public officials, our public employees, and all our fellow citizens.

We are especially adamant that schools -- teachers and administrators -- be held accountable.

Consider that roughly 65 cents of every dollar you pay in property tax goes to your local Nebraska school district. That's a big bill. Since those dollars are supposed to be investments in our children and our future, we expect impressive returns on our money.

This week, the Times is comparing the performance of our own school district to surrounding schools, to see how our kids and our teachers are faring. To gauge performance, we have utilized data from the Nebraska Department of Education and its most recent State of the Schools Report. What you are about to read is official information.

Today we focus on reading ability.

Of our five area schools, DPS should always be in the top three in every category of study, we believe. We will let you decide whether our students and school are meeting expectations -- and what areas may need immediate attention.

3rd Grade Reading Percentage of Student Meeting or Exceeding Standards

Milford -- 68.52%

Crete -- 61.48%
Dorchester -- 61.12%
Wilber -- 58.53%
Friend -- 40.00%

4th Grade Reading Percentage of Student Meeting or Exceeding Standards

Dorchester -- 82.36%

Milford -- 78.43%

Crete -- 75.00%
Friend -- 72.00%
Wilber -- 37.50%

5th Grade Reading Percentage of Student Meeting or Exceeding Standards

Milford -- 85.71%
Crete -- 69.52%
Dorchester -- 68.75%
Friend -- 52.18%
Wilber -- 48.65%

8th Grade Reading Percentage of Student Meeting or Exceeding Standards

Dorchester -- 90.00%
Milford -- 83.34%
Friend -- 75.00%
Crete -- 66.97%
Wilber -- 51.16%

11th Grade Reading Percentage of Student Meeting or Exceeding Standards

Milford -- 78.47%
Crete -- 75.76%
Friend -- 72.41%
Wilber -- 67.57%
Dorchester -- 56.25%

6 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 20, 2012 at 3:19 PM
It would appear that Dorchester has some pretty good teachers.
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AnonymousSeptember 20, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Nice work on this report.
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AnonymousSeptember 20, 2012 at 8:49 PM
Good information. The 11th grade information gives me concern. The number proficient is barely over 50%. That is not good at all.
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AnonymousSeptember 21, 2012 at 12:25 AM
Nice work, Dorchester. Much better than your peers, save Milford. I am hoping the 11th graders were the exception. Still, overall, very good. Remember, Crete gets lots of redistributed state money to put 2 teachers in most classrooms due to all the Spanish speakers.
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AnonymousSeptember 21, 2012 at 5:52 PM
Some of the people that moved their kids to different schools, should of look at this before, just saying!
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AnonymousOctober 8, 2012 at 7:09 PM
HaHa, some of us that moved our kids to different schools are getting way better grades than they ever got in Dorchester. Please explain that. The truth is right there in the grade reports we receive. Just saying!!!!!!!
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."