In a move that is sure to make waves throughout the MIAC, if not the greater academic community, Carleton College announced yesterday that it will end legacy admissions.
The new policy is not a surprising one. After the Supreme Court struck down Affirmative Action programs in June, it was widely assumed that the consideration of an applicant’s legacy status, or someone who has a family tradition of attending a certain school, would have to end for colleges and Universities across the country as well.
In a letter to the Carleton Community, Carleton President Alison Byerly said “Legacy status has historically not played a significant role in decisions at Carleton. It has at times merited a slight advantage within a pool of academically qualified applicants, where other characteristics are generally comparable. Nevertheless, we recognize that in a highly competitive process, even a slight advantage can have an impact on outcomes.”
Byerly acknowledged that the idea might not sit well with members of the Carleton alumni and did note that an applicant with family ties to the school would not be penalized for those connections.
Hillmann sees ‘room for improvement’ in high test scores
Last week the Minnesota Department of Education released the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Test scores. Overall, the results, which are measurements of how Minnesota students are doing in the areas of math, science and reading were flat, and continued a regression in scores that began with the Covid-19 pandemic. The math and reading tests are given to 3rd-8th grade students. 10th grade students take a reading exam, 11th grade students a math exam, and 5th, 8th, and 10th grade students are given an exam in science. The statewide results showed a 1% increase in math scores, a 1% drop in reading scores and a 2% drop in science scores.
Northfield Superintendent of schools Dr. Matt Hillmann, however, reported a different scenario to the Northfield School Board on Monday night. While he acknowledged that there is always room for improvement, he was quite pleased with the results of tests given to Northfield Students.
Hillmann said, overall, Northfield scores were double digits higher than the state averages and led all schools in the Big 9 Conference in all categories.
The 3rd grade students, he said, ranked 21st out of 310 school districts in the state, and showed a 10% increase in proficiency over 2022. This is especially good news, he said, because studies have shown a student who can read at grade level by the time they reach third grade will be exponentially more likely to excel in academics through 12th grade. The 7th grade students, he said, ranked 22nd in reading, and 29th in mathematics.
Hillmann said the scores show that Northfield Public Schools are headed in the right direction.
“We really made some good strides. We’re essentially back just a stitch under where we were. We had made some really great strides from 2016 to 2019. Then the pandemic came, and we regressed a bit. We are now almost back to the pre-pandemic levels and it’s just going to keep getting better.”
Much of the success in reading is due to the commitment more than 50 teachers have made to enrolling in the specialized course on how to teach reading skills. The LETRS program (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling), has shown real success and it will continue to be offered to all the district educators.
While all the scores were far ahead of state averages, Hillmann said the district would like to see the same sort of success in mathematics that they have seen in reading, and action is being taken to make that happen.
“We know that we need to strengthen our mathematics curriculum. We have not had a mathematics curriculum update in some time. It was scheduled to be reviewed two years from now, but we have accelerated to where that review is going to start this year. That is the kind of work that we do when we see results that we think could be better because we’re committed to continuous improvement. We take a look at them, we say, ‘Okay, what’s the piece that we think we can do here?’
The success of the students, Hillmann said, is not something to be taken for granted, and he said the district will continue the work to help every student in the Northfield School System to reach their potential.
Northfield Police Department will receive help in staffing DJJD
The 75th celebration of The Defeat of Jesse James Days is set for next week, and the Northfield Public Safety agencies are all preparing for what are always the five busiest days in Northfield.
Members of the DJJD organizing committee estimate that some 200,000 people take part in the celebration each year. Northfield Police Sergeant Kevin Tussing, who coordinates the work done by the police, fire and emergency services departments said there is an enormous amount of work to be done, but much of it is what he called “mundane tasks.” Barricades and traffic cones need to be scheduled. There are many No Parking signs that must be made and taken to the right places. Staffing schedules have to be created.
Northfield Fire and Rescue Service Chief Tom Nelson said there are several meetings leading up to the celebration among the First Responders, and plans are made for every scenario and every possibility.
“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes things that people shouldn’t know about because hopefully nothing ever happens. We all have roles, and we all walk through those. We have meetings, we talk about that for the ‘What if this happened? What if that happened?’ And so again, hopefully that never happens. But just so that the folks in the community and those that are coming into town know, we’ve thought of those things, and we have plans for them.”
Tussing said the staffing is proving to be the most difficult chore this year. Typically, the Northfield Police Department depends on its Reserve Members to assist in much of the non-enforcement responsibilities. However, he said, right now the Reserve Program membership is down by two-thirds compared to years past. Because of that, they have had to contact other law enforcement agencies around the area, and this year those attending the celebration will see officers from a variety of Rice and Dakota Counties law enforcement agencies filling in for the lack of reserves. Tussing said, while those officers will wear the uniforms of their departments, it will be left to the Northfield Police Department to enforce the law.
“I would say 99% of the time our reserves and police explorers are there to assist the public. That could be a medical emergency, or it’s looking for directions on how to get somewhere, or they want to report a missing child. And then they report to us and we’re still handling the enforcement end.”
While this is the busiest time of the year in Northfield, and the crowds can swell to extremely large numbers, Tussing said a typical situation tends to run very peacefully.
The 75th edition of the Defeat of Jesse James Days will begin with the annual memorial ceremony at the grave of Joseph Lee Heywood at noon on Wednesday.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
