The dream of education reformers.

Ridiculous quote of the day, the power to tax is the power to destroy

The power to tax is the power to destroy, was originaly said by Daniel Webster but it has also become the catch phrase of many “outraged” republicans as they criticize the practices of the IRS. I get it though, nobody likes taxes but you know what the power to tax really is? It is the power to build bridges and establish parks; it is the power to maintain national defense and to give our neighbors who have experienced disaster a helping hand. It is the power to send a man to the moon and to educate our children. It is the power to do collectively all the things that we can’t do individually and even though we don’t like them, the power to tax forms the glue that holds society together.

I dare say all of our lives would be a lot worse without taxes.

Perhaps feedback from parents and students and if not perhaps a rock a rock to the head will improve teacher evaluations.

This former is one of the suggestions that a panel at UNF about teacher evaluations came up with. It’s similar to one of the suggestions that Bill Gates spent 50 million dollars to come up with. It was bad then and it is bad now.

Here is the thing. If teachers want to send home to parents or give their classes feedback forms them I think that’s great. The more information teachers have the better but only they should see it and under no circumstances should parent and especially student feedback be used in teacher observations.

Some kids today are to savvy not to use this little power to blackmail their teachers. Oh I can’t have an extension, extra credit assignments, what you expect me to study or do my work, well let’s just see whose evaluation suffers.

The entire notion is ludicrous.

Do you want to know how to have quality teacher evaluations and it doesn’t involve tying teachers to standardized tests either. It involves good leadership. It involves principals that are fair and knowledgeable, who have the pulse of the school and who knows how to motivate, develop and improve teachers.

Good principals more than feedback from students (a terrible idea) or standardized tests results (even worse) are what we need. They will know who is performing or not and they will know who can improve or not.

It’s not rocket science here people, let’s stop trying to make it so.

The silly things superintendents say

When talking about teacher evaluations, Superintendent Vitti said, he was open to using student feedback on evaluations because “the student voice has been missing” from the system.

When I read above I wondered what kind of “voice” he allowed his kids to have when they want to hit up the cookie jar, surely they get some sort of say right? I imagine after the kids pled their case the super and or his wife weigh all the relevant factors, proximity to dinner, behavior, status of homework etc. and then distribute or don’t distribute the cookies as they see fit. That’s the way it is done. Kids have their say, adults make the decision. The reality however is what kids say doesn’t always factor into what adults decide.

The problem with using student input on teacher evaluations as related to cookies is somebody not in the house, somebody the kids most likely had limited contact with, and somebody who has a limited understanding of what the cookie dynamic is, if the kids deserved cookies or not, would be making the decision if the input was relevant or not. That or the kids could bribe or cajole their parents into giving them cookies by holding something over their head (evaluations) whether they deserved it or not.

Do you want other people to decide if your kids get cookies or do you want kids who have no business getting cookies, getting cookies?

Neither do I.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-05-22/story/florida-teacher-evaluation-system-still-needs-tweaks-panel-decides#ixzz2U2YdG1Jb

Civics gets a fail in Duval County

From a long time reader:



God Bless Duval County Public Schools: Civics (new to 7th grade) is taught as a year long class with some geography and some economics included. In fact, 80-85% of the course is "Civics" and rightfully so is coded as a Civics class and 7th grade students are given credit for taking Civics. So the EOC (end of course) exam written by DCPS is given and counts as 20% of the students grade. What do my students say about this test?? Wait for it... It was mostly economics. Yes, the county tests the kids mostly on what the course is NOT called, coded, or given credit as. The FLDOE published guide lines for EOC's, silly silly me for thinking Duval would adhere to standards, benchmarks, and guidelines. No, DCPS grades these students on their knowledge of Economics and gives them credit for taking Civics, fails them for Civics because they don't know economics.. Either way epic fail!

Dear JPEF and UNF, its poverty stupid.

The face book post from the Jacksonville Public Education Fund started innocently enough: We’re co-hosting with University of North Florida a Round table on Measuring Teacher Quality this afternoon at 5 p.m. this afternoon. Join us for live coverage on Twitter via #JaxTVAM — and submit your questions for the panel!

But the truth is this buys into the narrative that all it takes is a highly effective teacher for a child to learn and nothing could be further from the truth. You know what a highly effective teacher cannot overcome? If a kid has had enough to eat or not; if they are worried about violence in their house or neighborhood and/or if the students parents care about or discount education, along with dozens and dozens of other things and as long as we continue to ignore poverty then we can have these Round tables till we are blue in the face an nothing will happen, nothing will get accomplished. It’s despicable how the powers-that-be ignore poverty.

Dear JPEF and UNF, its poverty stupid. Now instead of wasting more time, why don’t you do something about it?

Charter schools counsel out poor performing students.

Don't think for a second that the same thing doesn't happen here. -cpg

From WSMV.co by Dennis Ferrier
Leaders with Metro Nashville Public Schoolshave serious concerns about what is happening at some of the city's most popular charter schools.

Students are leaving in large numbers at a particularly important time of the school year, and the consequences may have an impact on test scores.

Charter schools are literally built on the idea that they will outperform public, zoned schools. They are popular because they promise and deliver results, but some new numbers are raising big questions about charter schools.

One of the first things a visitor sees when stepping into Kipp Academy is a graph that shows how Kipp is outperforming Metro schools in every subject.

However, Kipp Academy is also one of the leaders in another stat that is not something to crow about.

When it comes to the net loss of students this year, charter schools are the top eight losers of students.

In fact, the only schools that have net losses of 10 to 33 percent are charter schools.

"We look at that attrition. We keep an eye on it, and we actually think about how we can bring that back in line with where we've been historically," said Kipp Principal Randy Dowell.

Dowell said Kipp's 18 percent attrition is unacceptable.

MNPS feels it's unacceptable as well, because not only are they getting kids from charter schools, but they are also getting troubled kids and then getting them right before testing time.

"That's also a frustration for the zoned-school principals. They are getting clearly challenging kids back in their schools just prior to accountability testing," said MNPS Chief Operating Officer Fred Carr.

Nineteen of the last 20 children to leave Kipp Academy had multiple out-of-school suspensions. Eleven of the 19 are classified as special needs, and all of them took their TCAPs at Metro zoned schools, so their scores won't count against Kipp.

"We won't know how they perform until we receive results and we see. We would be happy to take their results, frankly. The goal is getting kids ready for college. The goal is not having shiny results for me or for anyone on the team," Dowell said.

Kipp Academy has started new counseling groups to try to retain children. MNPS said it constantly sees charters being held up as the model, but feels these numbers prove the two different types of schools play by different rules.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/22277105/charter-schools-losing-struggling-students-to-zoned-schools

Al Roker joins the anti-teacher bandwagon

It's a slow news day and I just saw it again on TV. -cpg

NBC has those, The More You Know segments, Al Roker says what the country needs is more good teachers. I reject the epidemic of bad teachers narrative. The real problem with teachers is they don’t have a magic wand, or magic beans or fairy dust, because that is what it will take for many to be truly be successful as they are saddled with bad policies and a lack of resources, doing their best with children who don’t come from much. Instead of demonizing them for not being able to completely overcome the dehibilitating effects of poverty, we should get on our knees and thank them because their students would undoubtedly be much worse off with out them. Its poverty Al, not a lack of good teachers that is holding us back.

Shame on you Al Roker, you just pooped your pants again.

Teacher says, I quit!

To All it May Concern:

I’m doing something I thought I would never do—something that will make me a statistic and a caricature of the times. Some will support me, some will shake their heads and smirk condescendingly—and others will try to convince me that I’m part of the problem. Perhaps they’re right, but I don’t think so. All I know is that I’ve hit a wall, and in order to preserve my sanity, my family, and the forward movement of our lives, I have no other choice.

Before I go too much into my choice, I must say that I have the advantages and disadvantages of differentiated experience under my belt. I have seen the other side, where the grass was greener, and I unknowingly jumped the fence to where the foliage is either so tangled and dense that I can’t make sense of it, or the grass is wilted and dying (with no true custodian of its health). Are you lost? I’m talking about public K-12 education in North Carolina. I’m talking about my history as a successful teacher and leader in two states before moving here out of desperation.

In New Mexico, I led a team of underpaid teachers who were passionate about their jobs and who did amazing things. We were happy because our students were well-behaved, our community was supportive, and our jobs afforded us the luxuries of time, respect, and visionary leadership. Our district was huge, but we got things done because we were a team. I moved to Oregon because I was offered a fantastic job with a higher salary, a great math program, and superior benefits for my family. Again, I was given the autonomy I dreamed of, and I used it to find new and risky ways to introduce technology into the math curriculum. My peers looked forward to learning from me, the community gave me a lot of money to get my projects off the ground, and my students were amazing.

Then, the bottom fell out. I don’t know who to blame for the budget crisis in Oregon, but I know it decimated the educational coffers. I lost my job only due to my lack of seniority. I was devastated. My students and their parents were angry and sad. I told myself I would hang in there, find a temporary job, and wait for the recall. Neither the temporary job nor the recall happened. I tried very hard to keep my family in Oregon—applying for jobs in every district, college, private school, and even Toys R Us. Nothing happened after over 300 applications and 2 interviews.

The Internet told me that the West Coast was not hiring teachers anymore, but the East Coast was the go-to place. Charlotte, North Carolina couldn’t keep up with the demand! I applied with three schools, got three phone interviews, and was even hired over the phone. My very supportive and adventurous family and I packed quickly and moved across the country, just so I could keep teaching.

I had come from two very successful and fun teaching jobs to a new state where everything was different. During my orientation, I noticed immediately that these people weren’t happy to see us; they were much more interested in making sure we knew their rules. It was a one-hour lecture about what happens when teachers mess up. I had a bad feeling about teaching here from the start; but, we were here and we had to make the best of it.

Union County seemed to be the answer to all of my problems. The rumors and the press made it sound like UCPS was the place to be progressive, risky, and happy. So I transferred from CMS to UCPS. They made me feel more welcome, but it was still a mistake to come here.

Let me cut to the chase: I quit. I am resigning my position as a teacher in the state of North Carolina—permanently. I am quitting without notice (taking advantage of the “at will” employment policies of this state). I am quitting without remorse and without second thoughts. I quit. I quit. I quit!

Why?

Because…

I refuse to be led by a top-down hierarchy that is completely detached from the classrooms for which it is supposed to be responsible.

I will not spend another day under the expectations that I prepare every student for the increasing numbers of meaningless tests.

I refuse to be an unpaid administrator of field tests that take advantage of children for the sake of profit.

I will not spend another day wishing I had some time to plan my fantastic lessons because administration comes up with new and inventive ways to steal that time, under the guise of PLC [Professional Learning Community] meetings or whatever. I’ve seen successful PLC development. It doesn’t look like this.

I will not spend another day wondering what menial, administrative task I will hear that I forgot to do next. I’m far enough behind in my own work.

I will not spend another day wondering how I can have classes that are full inclusion, and where 50% of my students have IEPs, yet I’m given no support.

I will not spend another day in a district where my coworkers are both on autopilot and in survival mode. Misery loves company, but I will not be that company.

I refuse to subject students to every ridiculous standardized test that the state and/or district thinks is important. I refuse to have my higher-level and deep thinking lessons disrupted by meaningless assessments (like the EXPLORE test) that do little more than increase stress among children and teachers, and attempt to guide young adolescents into narrow choices.

I totally object and refuse to have my performance as an educator rely on “Standard 6.” It is unfair, biased, and does not reflect anything about the teaching practices of proven educators.

I refuse to hear again that it’s more important that I serve as a test administrator than a leader of my peers.

I refuse to watch my students being treated like prisoners. There are other ways. It’s a shame that we don’t have the vision to seek out those alternatives.

I refuse to watch my coworkers being treated like untrustworthy slackers through the overbearing policies of this state, although they are the hardest working and most overloaded people I know.

I refuse to watch my family struggle financially as I work in a job to which I have invested 6 long years of my life in preparation. I have a graduate degree and a track record of strong success, yet I’m paid less than many two-year degree holders. And forget benefits—they are effectively nonexistent for teachers in North Carolina.

I refuse to watch my district’s leadership tell us about the bad news and horrific changes coming towards us, then watch them shrug incompetently, and then tell us to work harder.

I refuse to listen to our highly regarded superintendent telling us that the charter school movement is at our doorstep (with a soon-to-be-elected governor in full support) and tell us not to worry about it, because we are applying for a grant from Race to the Top. There is no consistency here; there is no leadership here.

I refuse to watch my students slouch under the weight of a system that expects them to perform well on EOG [end of grade] tests, which do not measure their abilities other than memorization and application and therefore do not measure their readiness for the next grade level—much less life, career, or college.

I’m tired of watching my students produce amazing things, which show their true understanding of 21st century skills, only to see their looks of disappointment when they don’t meet the arbitrary expectations of low-level state and district tests that do not assess their skills.

I refuse to hear any more about how important it is to differentiate our instruction as we prepare our kids for tests that are anything but differentiated. This negates our hard work and makes us look bad.

I am tired of hearing about the miracles my peers are expected to perform, and watching the districts do next to nothing to support or develop them. I haven’t seen real professional development in either district since I got here. The development sessions I have seen are sloppy, shallow, and have no real means of evaluation or accountability.

I’m tired of my increasing and troublesome physical symptoms that come from all this frustration, stress, and sadness.

Finally, I’m tired of watching parents being tricked into believing that their children are being prepared for the complex world ahead, especially since their children’s teachers are being cowed into meeting expectations and standards that are not conducive to their children’s futures.

I’m truly angry that parents put so much stress, fear, and anticipation into their kids’ heads in preparation for the EOG tests and the new MSLs—neither of which are consequential to their future needs. As a parent of a high school student in Union County, I’m dismayed at the education that my child receives, as her teachers frantically prepare her for more tests. My toddler will not attend a North Carolina public school. I will do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.

I quit because I’m tired [of] being part of the problem. It’s killing me and it’s not doing anyone else any good. Farewell.

CC: Dr. Mary Ellis

Dr. June Atkinson

Superintendent Vitti changes his tune on the teacher academy; goes from mandatory to if you miss it there won’t be retribution.

The first letter to teachers read: All of this, and more, will be shared with you in detail at the 2013-2014 Teacher Academy this summer. You will have a choice of attending one of two weeks: the week of July 29^th, or the week of August 5^th. For those who miss both weeks, you will be expected to make-up the 5 days during the first semester of school by participating in five Saturday sessions.

A few hours later after I am sure a few inquiries from the union we got this:  As a follow up to the email below, please be advised that attendance at the Teacher Academy is strongly encouraged, but not required. Participation, or lack thereof, will not be factored into your evaluation. We strongly encourage you to attend one of the sessions and look forward to seeing you there.

Another change was point’s teachers would get for attending. The union initially said: No, you will not get your daily rate because this is not mandatory. No points will be offered.

But the latest e-mail form the super said: You will earn Master Plan points for participating in the Academy, and while participation is not required, it is strongly encouraged.

If your head is now spinning yours isn’t the only one.

Welcome to Duval County

School Board member Becki Couch late to the party again!

The super announced he wants to get rid of grade recovery. For years I have been writing about how some students game the system and making it available to all of them regardless of behavior and effort has handicapped student accountability.

I thought the best plan was to reserve grade recovery for these students who legitimately missed a lot of classes or for students who came consistently, behaved and tried hard but just needed a little more. To be honest though I am not so worried about the later group because teachers have a way of making sure those students have the opportunity to pass.

This is where Mrs. Couch comes in. She said in a Times Union article, “This has been a complaint for a very long time, even back when I was [teaching] in the classroom,”

Um, Mrs. Couch you have been on the board going on three years now. If you knew it was a problem, even from way back when you were in the classroom (3 years ago) maybe you could have done or said something. Maybe you could have fought for a change. I am confused what are we paying you for? Were there any other problems, like discipline, administrators acting like bullies, a one size fits all curriculum, that maybe we should address? SHEESH!

I was very optimistic when Couch was elected but the truth is she has been hit or miss.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-05-16/story/duval-superintendent-wants-do-away-grade-recovery-program#ixzz2TaxzlQSj

Duval County asks its teachers to take it on the chin

Here are the facts. Once again members of the school board received a 2800 dollar raise. They went from making what a first year teacher makes to making what a 9th year teacher makes. Also a teacher would have to work 20 years to see that kind of raise.

Next the super wants to pay teachers a stipend well below their normal hourly rate to attend a week long teacher’s academy.

Finally the board wants to sit on 3 times the reserves it is required to or an additional 50 million dollars.

My question is why are teachers most of whom already spend a lot of their own money on their students and classrooms and who when compared to teachers nationally are grossly underpaid supposed to take it on the chin?

This is absolutely disrespectful.