Superintendent Vitti is great at making excuses.
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2015/02/superintendent-vitti-is-great-at-one.html
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2014/07/vittis-excuses-about-davis-promotion.html
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2014/10/is-anybody-buying-vittis-principal.html
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-vittis-grade-excuses-arent-good.html
Well today when talking about the transformation schools he made some more.
From the Times Union: Vitti said the district’s mid-year reading and math scores show that students in transformation schools, from kindergarten through fifth grade, have exceeded a year’s worth of expected growth in reading, with fourth and fifth grades making the most headway. Likewise in math, students in transformation schools in grades three through five exceeded a year’s growth, while kindergartners, first- and second-graders made about 80 percent of a year’s growth.
Vitti however threw most of his eggs in the merit pay basket because that's what the businessmen who gave the money wanted. They don't understand that education is so much more than a good teacher in front of a class and instead of being the adult in the room and explaining it to them Vitti just went along.
His whole spiel seems to be setting us up for disappointment.
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2015/02/superintendent-vitti-is-great-at-one.html
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2014/07/vittis-excuses-about-davis-promotion.html
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2014/10/is-anybody-buying-vittis-principal.html
http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-vittis-grade-excuses-arent-good.html
Well today when talking about the transformation schools he made some more.
From the Times Union: Vitti said the district’s mid-year reading and math scores show that students in transformation schools, from kindergarten through fifth grade, have exceeded a year’s worth of expected growth in reading, with fourth and fifth grades making the most headway. Likewise in math, students in transformation schools in grades three through five exceeded a year’s growth, while kindergartners, first- and second-graders made about 80 percent of a year’s growth.
Despite the advances, the transformation schools’ achievement
levels are far lower than at other schools, mid-year data show.
For instance, 75 percent of Duval’s fifth graders district-wide
are on target for grade-level proficiency in math. But at transformation
schools, only 38 percent are at or near that level, data show.
And in reading, 81 percent of Duval’s third graders are on
target, but only 44 percent are, at the transformation schools.
It’s worse for fourth and fifth grades, where about half of
Duval’s students score at or near grade level in reading, but only 16 percent
of fourth-graders and 26 percent of fifth-graders are at grade level in the
transformation schools.
“We cannot view the work in DTO as a one-year fix,” Vitti said,
“but (it’s) a commitment to sustained and aggressive growth to accelerate
student performance to grade-level standards.”
He is right it's not a quick fix but it's not a three year fix either which is what the QEA is going to pay for. Furthermore it's not just a school fix, we should have behavioral supports and wrap around services going on if we really want to make a difference too.Vitti however threw most of his eggs in the merit pay basket because that's what the businessmen who gave the money wanted. They don't understand that education is so much more than a good teacher in front of a class and instead of being the adult in the room and explaining it to them Vitti just went along.
His whole spiel seems to be setting us up for disappointment.
Vitti has said he's working on a grant to get behavior specialists/interventionists and social services into middle schools as part of his fix plan. Let's give him credit for that but eventually we need to stop relying on grants and come up with a better system that is sustainable from general funds.
ReplyDeleteHow about removing all the dead weight downtown? People whose job it is to criticize and devalue teachers should be eliminated. We could get rid of every regional dictator, coach, testing person, etc. I guarantee that morale would improve and we could use the money for people who actually work in the schools.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a very SENSIBLE/EFFICIENT PLAN...GUARANTEED. But Vitti does not have that sort of wisdom. Besides, bureaucracy helps to shield immaturity/or incompetence in top leadership by providing diversions and AT LEAST ONE FALL GUY. Notice that it is never the CEO; it is always the CHUMP. Then too, Vitti is trying to acquire some experience; he is doing OJT (i.e, On-the job-training).
DeleteHow about more than one dean per school. I mean, seriously.
ReplyDelete