Zip codes and demographics tell you the same thing as test scores

I couldn't have put it any better than Jeffrey Solochek of the Tampa Times when he wrote:  A closer look at its list of schools gives some credence to the critics who argue that test scores reveal about the same information as ZIP codes and demographics.

This is not a new thing either as people have been saying it for years. We cannot test or micromanage schools to success and instead we have to put in things that mitigate zip codes and demographics or what it really is, poverty.

We could take the hundreds of millions of dollars we spend on testing, that has sucked the joy of learning and teaching out of school for so many students and teachers alike and instead reinvest it into the high need schools. 

Those schools need a longer school day and a longer school year and enough electives so that school does not become drudgery. They need smaller classes and more individualized attention and they need, guidance counselors, social workers and mental health professionals because why a kid acts up or does poorly in school often has nothing to do with school. Then they need a broad curriculum that includes the teaching of trades and skills because not every kid is going to college.

The bottom line is we can continue to ignore poverty or treat it like an excuse and attempting to test kids out of it or we can do something. I am all for doing something.

To read more, click the link:  http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/what-does-20-percent-at-risk-of-repeating-third-grade-really-mean-in-pasco/2232451

Superintendent Vitti and Asperger’s syndrome

A long time reader who has worked extensively with children who have autism and Asperger’s syndrome sent me a note. They said they watched the video of his commencement speech at Paxon high school and the first thing they thought of was, does superintendent Vitti has Asperger’s syndrome? The second was that it was painful to watch.

Now before we continue I think you should know that people with Asperger’s syndrome or on the autism spectrum can be highly intelligent, and successful in life. Often people think of rain man or worse. To learn more about it follow the link:  https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/asperger-syndrome

If you have met superintendent Vitti or seen him in public I don’t think it would be a stretch to say he has low affect, his facial expression rarely changes, he’s not very animated and comes off as quite stoic, and again there is nothing wrong with having those characteristics.

However all this reminded me of something I had heard from several principals and district staff and that is he does not try and build relationships with his subordinates. They said Ed Pratt Dannals would work the room asking about families, events and how things were going. Vitti on the other hand presents his information and leaves. One district staff member of some note, who sees Vitti at least monthly said, I am not sure if he even knows my name.

Now it’s true a boss does not need to be friends with their subordinates, however education is as much about relaying information as it is about building relationships. Think about those teachers you admired or learned from the best, most likely they also took a personal interest in you as well.   

I think one of the main reasons I have been at least fairly successful is because of my relationships with my students, it creates buy in during those dog days when school bogs down or when we are covering subjects’ students might otherwise never do. It also helps with class room management. If a kid likes you they are less likely to disrupt the class and more likely to put in an effort to learn. Vitti to a lot of people doesn’t seem to understand the importance of these relationships either that or he does not care about forming them.

That’s not to say he doesn’t have relationships. He has cultivated close relationships with members of the city’s elite. People like the Bakers and Chartrands. It seems like when he got here he consciously decided to involve and court them while ignoring the staff in place. I said at a school board meeting a few months ago I wish he would have put in the same effort with the district staff that he did with the business community. Fifty million dollars, what the QEA is bringing to the district is nice but a staff that is motivated and has buy in is priceless.

Bad news for the QEA?

Just a quick refresher, the QEA is a 45 million dollar endowment made to Duval County over the next five years by local philanthropists.

The bulk of the money is going to a merit pay scheme that pays proven veterans to go to our struggling schools where inexplicably they will be supplemented by 200 Teach for America recruits. On one hand the district said we need these veterans and are willing to pay them substantially more and on the other it says, hey anybody can be a teacher.

The district and Vitti himself have a lot riding on it and I believe it experienced a pretty big hiccup today.

From the Times Union: In Jacksonville, 24 percent, or 2,519 of Duval’s third graders, scored in the lowest quintile in the state, subject to possible retention. That’s slightly more than the 22 percent, or 2,469, who last year scored low enough on Florida’s old FCAT tests to be held back.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-06-04/story/state-says-24-percent-duval-third-graders-need-extra-reading-help

So Vitti and the philanthropists got what they wanted, business solutions to education problems and at least in third grade we have done 8 percent worse.

The Times Union muddies the water about the district failing third graders or not.

I feel like the Times Union muddied the waters today of the fail third graders or not debate.

Denise Amos Smith wrote: Some parents and teachers on social media criticized Duval officials, saying the district shouldn’t hold any students back this year.

I don't think that is accurate, no parent or teacher I know has a problem with failing a third grader who didn't make the grade or is so far behind it would be beneficial to them. I and I think most people have a problem with failing kids based on one test especially this test which hasn't been deemed valid or not yet. The state must have generated the list using the FSA test and everyone should have a problem with that. 

Smith Amos went on to say: But state officials said that would be unusual.

Notice the state official didn't say illegal, or would violate the law. they said unusual. Well the district has been making it sound like their hands are tied and they have no other recourse but to fail kids based on their test results. 

Well the state official mentioned in the article and several other districts disagree with that assertion. 

In the article Vitti said: Many of the lowest-quintile students will end up promoted anyway, though many likely will go to summer school.

 This isn't what people want to happen. They don't want the district to use the list generated from a test that may be invalid. They want the district to use their own metrics though honestly most people would prefer the district and state trusted the teachers in the classroom to determine who is promoted, failed or needs summer school.  

Finally Smith Amos wrote: State leaders, under pressure by school groups, parents and critics of the new state assessments, changed state law this year to give districts more flexibility, allowing them to decide who to retain or promote to the next grade. That decision followed criticism by those who said that the state’s new tests are untried; they have had technical glitches and they were not ready to determine who gets promoted a grade.

This begged the follow up question, Superintendent Vitti if you have permission to decide on your own, and you  know the test may be invalid, why are you using it to determine who passes and fails? 

Just to sum up, the Times Union reported, the state gave districts the power to determine how they fail or pass third graders and the district has decided to use a list generated from a test that nobody knows if it is valid or not. The Times Union did not ask why.

to read the article click the link
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-06-04/story/state-says-24-percent-duval-third-graders-need-extra-reading-help

Vitti bombs at Paxon's graduation, illustrates bigger problems.

A couple things, this blog will be five years old in three weeks, though I have been writing about local education issues for eight years. I was far from alone in thinking the pervious Super Ed Pratt Dannals did a poor job but as bad as he was things never approached the level of vitriol that superintendent Vitti creates. Huge swathes of staff absolutely despise the man. 

Look he's got a tough gig and being super is the type of job where you are never going to please everybody but he had better do something quick. 

I present below from a reader for two reasons, first because it's news and second because it shows the level of contempt Vitt has generated among his staff.

Had to attend Paxon's graduation last night and Vitti showed up, literally, 5 minutes before we went on stage. He addressed the crowd and was so overtly narcissistic and self centered I cannot convey it enough here. 

He was fully and thoroughly shown up by the three student speakers we had that it was embarrassing. He used the same address he used last year and earlier this year at another graduation (according to 2 different students). So glad to be retiring and moving away. Thought you'd like to know. Oh, this is the consensus of the entire student body of Paxon and the faculty. ask anyone.

I can't give you quotes, but I can get close to a couple of things; one of my favorites was, not exactly a quote but close, "Any story or play or book you've ever read written by an author..." Is there any other kind of story book or play? Weren't they ALL written by an author? And he pointed out his red cape (he meant hood...part of the graduation garb and regalia) that he got as a result of going to Harvard and getting his doctorate...then he added, "I don't tell you this to brag." I wanted to stand up and say, "But this is the very definition of bragging." I could swear I heard chuckles in the audience at this.

Here is a link to the graduation and you can judge for yourself. He arrives at 25:45.

 http://livestream.com/paxongrad2015/events/4080460

Above was sent to me by a long time veteran, the type of teacher who has both taught and inspired countless students. They are not the type to fly off the handle or engage in hyperbole and if the super has so utterly lost them then we have a huge problem.

I don’t expect Vitti to try and be everybody’s best friend but job one this summer should be him trying to repair his relationship with the district's teachers, we can’t afford to lose any more good ones and we’ll never be the district we could be as long as a good amount of the people doing the teaching loathe the him.

So much for Florida’s STEM push.

I am in kind of a precarious position. You see I believe in STEM education, I think we should encourage kids to go into those fields, however unlike hardcore STEM supporters, I think we should encourage kids to learn a trade or skill and go into the arts as well.

Two stories recently caught my attention that a STEM education may not be the ticket to prosperity that people like state board of ed member and grocer Gary Chartrand are selling it to be.

The first comes from Disney Land where they brought in cheaper foreign workers to replace the more expensive American ones. What jobs did they have? They were technicians and engineers. 

From the New York Times: The employees who kept the data systems humming in the vast Walt Disney fantasy fief did not suspect trouble when they were suddenly summoned to meetings with their boss.

While families rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and searched for Nemo on clamobiles in the theme parks, these workers monitored computers in industrial buildings nearby, making sure millions of Walt Disney World ticket sales, store purchases and hotel reservations went through without a hitch. Some were performing so well that they thought they had been called in for bonuses.

Instead, about 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off. Many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on temporary visas for highly skilled technical workers, who were brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India. Over the next three months, some Disney employees were required to train their replacements to do the jobs they had lost.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/us/last-task-after-layoff-at-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html?

Insert scrooge McDuck joke here. It seems what companies are really looking for is to pay its employees less. 

Next from PRI:

Then on Monday I listened to a story on PRI’s the world which said we are soon to have a glut in stem jobs. The selection below isn’t from Monday but it echo’s that sentiment

We’re “graduating many more STEM graduates than there are STEM jobs,” says Hal Salzman, a professor of public policy at Rutgers who makes it his business to track the success of young job-seekers.

He says that two to three times more students get science degrees than actually find science-based jobs. In engineering and computer science, the picture is rosier, though not great: two-thirds of grads get jobs in their chosen field.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-23/how-many-stem-grads-does-it-take-screw-light-bulb-not-many-we-might-think

Oy vey, and Jacksonville just opened a STEM hub.

Look I don’t think there is anything wrong with encouraging STEM education I just think its past time we stopped treating it as the holy grail of education and it’s to our detriment that we do. The facts seem to back me up as well.

More proof that Superintendent Vitti makes it up as he goes along.

The Times Union just finished up a massive piece about the single gender leadership academies at Butler middle school and the gist is Superintendent Vitti is really excited and we will be seeing a lot more of them in the near future.

You might be shocked but I think this is a terrible idea but after you read below I think you will agree.

From the Times Union: Many students still aren’t reading on grade level. There are still discipline issues. Parent involvement could be better. Teachers sometimes feel burnt out or overwhelmed.

The girls and boys alike are frustrated with their peers who still aren’t buying into the new school. Ti’lar said many of her classmates still pull the same antics, and YMLA seventh-grader Ahmareon Ellis said peer pressure contributes to misbehaving.

“They start picking on you if you’re doing the right thing and the only way you can get cool points or whatever is getting kicked out of class, being funny, class clown, doing things that you’re not supposed to be doing,” Ahmareon said.

“There’s a large sum of people who still don’t act right,” Aaron Wetherington, an YMLA eighth-grader, said. “They don’t want to be an outcast so they follow the herd.”

The boys proposed a solution to the problem: sorting classes by behavior instead of academic ability. That way, the kids who do want to learn aren’t distracted.

“Most people want to be a leader and want to make a difference in this school,” Hiram said. “To be honest, it’s kind of tiring when one kid does bad and everybody has to suffer for it. It’s not fair.”

YMLA Principal Truitte Moreland said he’s gotten comments from the community about what’s happening at Butler and how wonderful it is, but he replies: “We’ve got a long way to go.”

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Dozens of kids sat quietly in Butler’s auditorium, some heads bobbing along to an original rap two of their peers had penned on lined notebook paper.

“What would we be without black history?” they rapped at the Night at the BOLD Museum of Black History event on Feb. 27. “What would we be without black history?”

As the girls finished their performance, flashed big smiles and quickly sat down, the audience burst into applause.

Noticeably absent from the crowd — parents. Only a small handful attended the event that Friday evening, hosted by the “Building our Limitless Dreams,” or BOLD, after-school program through the Boys and Girls Club. Students began planning the event in December or January and decided what kind of performances the show would include.

“Honestly? No,” parent Pamela Roberts said when asked if Butler has strong parent involvement. “Look around,” she said, surveying the auditorium.

Data collected in January showed that just 8 percent of Butler students were reading at grade level based on district standards. While that’s above the Duval Transformation Office average, which includes schools in the Raines, Ribault and Jackson feeder pattern, it’s below district average, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said. The transformational middle schools had an average of 6 percent while all district middle schools averaged 23 percent of students reading on grade level.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-06-01/story/transforming-butler-school-remains-work-progress-duval-has-plans-expand

Note: The state says 23 percent of butlers kids read at grade level and no school approaches the six percent number sited. I asked the reporter for some clarification but she never got back to me.

So let’s examine things, first the article never mention the huge staff which I believe probably had more to do with any success than a leadership academy and single gender classrooms, but even if you disagree you have to admit the success is shaky, but you know what, that isn’t going to stop superintend Vitti from heading full speed ahead.

Also from the Times Union:

 “I’m not ready, at this point, to signal victory,” Vitti said. “But I am willing to say that we are on a shorter road to victory than we were just a year ago when it comes to the educational experience that takes place in the building at the old Butler school.”

Cohen is glad the district recognized something needed to be done differently at Butler. While the schools have the right leadership, Cohen said he’s anxious to see where the schools will be in five years. Everyone starts out the gate running fast, he said.

“Progress being slow, I don’t want that to be an excuse for people to not operate at max capacity,” Cohen said. “Our children deserve to have everybody in that building operating at max capacity, and if you’re not operating at max capacity, we need to get people in there who can.”

The new model at Butler has been so successful, the district has fast-tracked its plans to expand single-gender education in Duval classrooms. More kids will be sitting in girls-only and boys-only classes this fall.

At the end of March, Vitti said a high school wasn’t likely for 2015-16 and the district was instead exploring single-gender classes or schools at the elementary level and possibly expanding Butler to include ninth grade for 2016-17.

But by the end of May, Vitti said five to 10 elementary schools had expressed an interest in creating single-gender grade levels or classrooms, which would be opt-in for parents, for 2015-16. Even more schools are considering professional development for gender-specific strategies, he said.

So he is not ready to declare victory but he is ready to expand to five to ten more schools. Hmm what’s wrong with slowing down and making sure things are working and it is a victory? Why is making sure we get things right to much to ask for this superintendent?

Remember last year when open enrollment was the greatest idea ever before it crashed and burned? Vitti is not data driven, he just goes with his gut and often students and teachers pay the price.

So at the end of the day I believe we do have some encouraging signs but the credit isn’t going to where it is due and expansion isn't something we should even be considering at this point.

The district insists its hands are tied, must fail 22 percent of third graders.

That's what assistant superintendent Mason Davis says at the 3:26 mark anyways.



I would like to remind everyone the test hasn't determined to be valid or not, yet the state feels it is okay to put the bottom 20 percent of scorers on the chopping block and instead of saying no thank you, we'll find another way to determine who passes or fails the district seems determined to go along.

 The error of failing third graders is also compounded because they are not saying students scoring below a certain point will be retained, they are saying the bottom 20 percent will be retained no matter what.

I believe the district will work hard to avoid failing students, sorry make that make teachers work hard. The problems however here are both legion and unfair to students and families. The district has alternate tools to be able to ascertain passing or not, ones that don't stretch into the summer causing more heart ache and angst and like other districts are doing should use them. 

Tessa Duvall, Times Union reporter or district Shill. The disappointing coverage of Eugene Butler Middle school

The Times Union did a massive three day story on Eugene Butler Middle school where they claimed to cover what was happening there from all angles. Then in case a few questions went unanswered they schedule an on-line community talk where they asked for questions. 

I sent the reporter a dozen questions that weren't covered in her piece, for the on-line conversation about what was happening at Butler Middle school which was converted this year to two single gender leadership academies. Instead of answering mine which had to do with Teach for America, class sizes and reading scores, she led with, what inspired her to do the story and what she would like to see happen as a result of her coverage.

Before I continue let me say, I believe there are great things going on at Butler and I open to uniforms, single gender classes and a leadership curriculum helping with the schools improvement too, though I think the 60 plus staff members for 471 kids, something not mentioned in the ten thousand word piece, has more than anything to do with any improvement.

I also believe schools not just have a right but a responsibility to try new things. That being said I think the district began to salivate when they saw this doe-eyed features reporter coming, because they knew she was not the one to let us know what was really happening at Butler, instead her one job would be to put a cherry on top of whatever the district told her  .

The next question she had was, how did you keep plugging away for four months, a question I am sure many teacher ask themselves daily. The reason she replied was because she saw big implications for our urban schools. She said in her response: So, when you talk about schools like Butler, remember you're ultimately still talking about kids. And they know what adults and kids alike say about their school, and they know the stigma that goes with that. I've been an education reporter for over a year and have talked to a lot of kids, and the kids at Butler are just as smart and articulate as any other kids I've met. Give them a chance to make progress.

Give them a chance to make progress, wow, reading that I was speechless because I guess up to this point she doesn't think they had a chance. She’s implying they were labeled failures and nobody in the school system cared or lifted a finger to help them, quite the assertion for a features reporter who has been covering education for a year and in the city for less than six. Friends, all they needed was a chance (to make progress). It sounds like a Taylor Swift lyric.

Are the kids in the inner city schools, heck throw in the Westside and Northside at a disadvantage? Sadly yes. Families wracked by poverty tend to do worse than those that aren’t and it doesn’t help that we live in a state that treats poverty like an excuse rather than the number one measurable factor influencing education, but to imply they haven't a chance is insulting. I have spent the last 14 years working in those schools side by side with teachers who give it their all and then some. They have given their students a chance while often saddled with poor district leadership and a lack of resources and support.    

Her next question and probably toughest was, is her last name really Duvall? My hope that maybe a serious and tough question would be answered started to dwindle, despite the fact I had sent several to her, several times. It seemed like she and by extension the Times Union weren't interested in finding out what was happening and why but just reporting the equivalent of who made the prized jam at the fair. Except in this case decisions that are going to effect thousands of children's lives and cost a considerable amount of money are at stake. 

You see Superintendent Viti seems to be ready to rush head long into multiple single gender schools with just one year of mixed data at one school or you know the opposite of what any responsible superintendent would do. The article gives him the cover to do so and that not informing people was I believe the real reason behind it. It kind of reminds me of the time the Bush administration leaked information to the press and then used the press reports as a reason to go to war. See single gender schools work Vitti and the school board can say, the Times Union says so.

For the record the results with single gender schools are very mixed but whats not mixed is they almost invariably happen in mostly minority schools because you know poor black boys and girls can't be around each other and be successful. I am a white guy who can't jump and I am insulted by that notion.

Then Tessa Duvall's conversation came to an end and looking back the toughest question she received was, yes, is that really, Duvall, your last name.  The questions I asked and I think the city deserved answers to were never brought up. Here they are in case you were wondering.

How many teachers students and parents did you speak to outside of Butler where they might be more relaxed?

How come no mention of the Valor academy, the charter school that has the same program.

Is the Times Union advocating for poorly trained non education majors who rotate in and out every two years in our schools over having professional teachers?

What is the class size average?

What is the student staff ratio?

Could either of those things played a role in Butler's improvement?

The district says 8 percent of students are at grade level while the state says it is 23 percent, why the discrepancy?

The district says the transformation schools average 6 percent reading on grade level, while the state says we have zero schools scoring that low, why the discrepancy? 

When you talked about suspensions was that individual suspensions, 154 or suspension days? You indicated it was better this year but you didn't say how many students were at Butler last year.

Did you talk to anybody who left Butler during the year to find out why? 

How are single gender schools doing elsewhere?

Are single gender classes exclusively happening at minority schools?

Nothing crazy, nothing unfair.

The entire talk was over in thirty minutes and we did not get an expose or I believe even truly informed and instead we got a puff piece from a rookie reporter that pushed the district agenda in and attempted to give them a much needed win despite dubious evidence and cover for a juries still out expansion of single gender classes.

Like I said above there are undoubtedly great things going on at Butler but you know what? There were undoubtedly great things going on at Butler last year too. Dedicated teachers showing up with their sleeves rolled up to teach a lot of great kids. I believe the difference is this years staff is getting a lot more help.

The sad truth is we have problems in education and a lot of those are the fault of the media, they don’t ask tough questions and they just regurgitate what they are told, it’s shameful and embarrassing and it's holding our schools and city back. Tessa Duvall and the Times Union should be ashamed for printing such claptrap and calling it news.

 To see the joke of a conversation, click the link:  http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2015-05-29/story/coming-tuesday-transforming-butler-conversation-reporter

Duval County has nearly 450 instructional openings.

As of today Duval County has nearly 450 openings or over five percent of the teacher force.
http://duvalschools.org/Page/12056

In years past around this time of year I would be writing about all the teachers who had been surplussed, that's temporarily let go because there wasn't a position for them but I don't think I will need to cover that topic this year.

I think Duval may be a little worse off than most places but the truth is we are shortly going to be facing an unprecedented shortage of teachers nation wide unless things changed. More and more people are deciding it isn't worth the stress, low pay and lack of support. It used to be teachers could find solace in helping kids but even that with scripted lessons, teaching to the test and a lack of discipline, has gone to the wayside.

Eventually we will reach a tipping point and the entire profession will go away, that is if we're not on that road already.