tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post4639016166276108407..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Open FridayMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-50600510315859351362010-08-29T09:55:26.510-07:002010-08-29T09:55:26.510-07:00Part 4:
The report’s co-authors are:
Eva L. Bake...Part 4:<br /><br />The report’s co-authors are:<br /><br />Eva L. Baker, Professor of education at UCLA and Co-Director of the National Center for Evaluation Standards and Student Testing (CRESST)<br /><br />Paul E. Barton, former Director of the Policy Information Center of the Educational Testing Service<br /><br />Linda Darling-Hammond, Professor of education at Stanford University, former President of the American Educational Research Association<br /><br />Edward Haertel , Professor of education at Stanford University, former President of the National Council on Measurement in Education, Chair of the National Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment, former Chair of the committee on methodology of the National Assessment Governing Board<br /><br />Helen F. Ladd, Professor of public policy and economics at Duke University, President-elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management<br /><br />Robert L. Linn, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, former President of the National Council on Measurement in Education and of the American Educational Research Association, former Chair of the National Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment<br /><br />Diane Ravitch, Research Professor at New York University and historian of American education<br /><br />Richard Rothstein, Research Associate of the Economic Policy Institute<br /><br />Richard J. Shavelson, Professor of Education (Emeritus), former dean of the School of Education at Stanford University, and former president of the American Educational Research Association<br /><br />Lorrie A. Shepard, Dean and professor at the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, former President of the American Educational Research Association, immediate past President of the National Academy of Education<br /><br />The report is available at: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/6276/<br /><br />You can also make comments about this (or anything else about education) at:<br /><br />http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/<br /><br />where this is posted with links.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36188288412414445392010-08-29T09:51:43.163-07:002010-08-29T09:51:43.163-07:00Part 3:
There are further negative consequences o...Part 3:<br /><br />There are further negative consequences of using test scores to evaluate teacher performance. Teachers who are rewarded on the basis of their students’ test scores have an incentive to “teach to the test,” which narrows the curriculum not just between subject areas, but also within subject areas. Furthermore, creating a system in which teachers are, in effect, competing with each other can reduce the incentive to collaborate within schools-and studies have shown that better schools are marked by teaching staffs that work together. Finally, judging teachers based on test scores that do not genuinely assess students’ progress can demoralize teachers, encouraging them to leave the teaching field.<br /><br />Evaluating teachers accurately is an extremely important piece of the effort to improve America’s schools, and VAM methods are appealing in that they seem to offer an objective and simplified way of comparing one teacher with another. However, as EPI’s report makes clear, “There is simply no shortcut to the identification and removal of ineffective teachers.” The authors conclude that that, “Although standardized test scores of students are one piece of information that school leaders may use to make judgments about teacher effectiveness, test scores should be only a small part of an overall comprehensive evaluation.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-73912401667549256942010-08-29T09:51:00.742-07:002010-08-29T09:51:00.742-07:00Brita, exactly one of my points as well. The plan ...Brita, exactly one of my points as well. The plan will not be useful at all to suss out weak teachers in advanced classes, weak math teaching in schools where kids get tutored at home, or other similar cases.<br /><br />What I suspect might happen is that some kids, especially middle and high school kids, will figure this out and get low scores on purpose to try to spite teachers they don't like or don't think are doing a good job. <br /><br />My son got a 4 on the 10th grade Reading Wasl that he took in 9th grade. However, his 9th and 10 grade Language Arts teachers were by far the weakest teachers he had in high school. (And if he were in this system, I am pretty sure he'd be willing to purposefully do poorly on the HS Wasl Equivalent in order to ding his 10th grade LA teacher. Having to take the exam over again to graduate would have been worth it, in his estimation.)<br /><br />In fact, can you see frustrated parents of elementary school kids, who have to teach or reteach math at home, hinting or telling their kids to not necessarily do their best on the MAP.....?Dorothy Nevillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17108759281089768738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-28559995893180795322010-08-29T09:50:50.616-07:002010-08-29T09:50:50.616-07:00Part 2:
"The distinguished authors of EPI’s ...Part 2:<br /><br />"The distinguished authors of EPI’s report, Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers, include four former presidents of the American Educational Research Association; two former presidents of the National Council on Measurement in Education; the current and two former chairs of the Board of Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; the president-elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management; the former director of the Educational Testing Service’s Policy Information Center and a former associate director of the National Assessment of Educational Progress; a former assistant U.S. Secretary of Education; a former and current member of the National Assessment Governing Board; and the current vice-president, a former president, and three other members of the National Academy of Education.<br /><br />The co-authors make clear that the accuracy and reliability of analyses of student test scores, even in their most sophisticated form, is highly problematic for high stakes decisions regarding teachers . Consequently, policymakers and all stakeholders in education should rethink this new emphasis on the centrality of test scores for holding teachers accountable.<br /><br />Analyses of VAM results show that they are often unstable across time, classes and tests; thus, test scores, even with the addition of VAM, are not accurate indicators of teacher effectiveness. Student test scores, even with VAM, cannot fully account for the wide range of factors that influence student learning, particularly the backgrounds of students, school supports and the effects of summer learning loss. As a result, teachers who teach students with the greatest educational needs appear to be less effective than they are. Furthermore, VAM does not take into account nonrandom sorting of teachers to students across schools and students to teachers within schools."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-25295235306570836122010-08-29T09:49:34.272-07:002010-08-29T09:49:34.272-07:00Part 1
A report from the EPI, the Economic Policy...Part 1<br /><br />A report from the EPI, the Economic Policy Institute was released this morning about the<br />heavy reliance on the use of test scores in teacher evaluations.<br /><br />A summary of the report is below:<br /><br />"Student test scores are not reliable indicators of teacher effectiveness, even with the addition of value-added modeling (VAM), a new Economic Policy Institute report by leading testing experts finds. Though VAM methods have allowed for more sophisticated comparisons of teachers than were possible in the past, they are still inaccurate, so test scores should not dominate the information used by school officials in making high-stakes decisions about the evaluation, discipline and compensation of teachers.<br /><br />The Obama administration has encouraged states to adopt laws that use student test scores as a significant component in evaluating teachers, and a number of states have done so already. The Los Angeles Times recently used value-added methods to evaluate teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District based on the test scores of their students, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supported the paper’s decision to publicly release this information, asserting that parents have a right to know how effective their teachers are. But the conclusions of the expert co-authors of this report suggest that neither parents nor anyone else should believe that the Los Angeles Times analysis actually identifies which teachers are effective or ineffective in teaching children because the methods are incapable of doing so fairly and accurately."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-44090875833050338692010-08-29T09:47:53.675-07:002010-08-29T09:47:53.675-07:00That's an excellent point, Brita. Success in t...That's an excellent point, Brita. Success in teaching to the test (whether it was the classroom teacher or the whole school (as schools focus more and more on test scores) will mask other weaknesses.<br /><br />And its corollary: "Good" teachers will be those who can teach to (or prepare the students for) a narrow test. So much for a rich curriculum and vibrant learning...<br /><br />But of course this is just way too obvious for the Broad foundation folks.seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-72760544781650999082010-08-29T09:45:21.630-07:002010-08-29T09:45:21.630-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-10372514470590555142010-08-29T09:43:09.475-07:002010-08-29T09:43:09.475-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-90712017044732034452010-08-29T09:43:07.600-07:002010-08-29T09:43:07.600-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-38683861927725940532010-08-29T09:41:57.874-07:002010-08-29T09:41:57.874-07:00Part 1:
A report from the Economic Policy Institu...Part 1:<br /><br />A report from the Economic Policy Institute, EPI just came out this morning regarding the heavy reliance on the use of test scores in teacher evaluation<br /><br />Below is a summation of that report:<br /><br />"Student test scores are not reliable indicators of teacher effectiveness, even with the addition of value-added modeling (VAM), a new Economic Policy Institute report by leading testing experts finds. Though VAM methods have allowed for more sophisticated comparisons of teachers than were possible in the past, they are still inaccurate, so test scores should not dominate the information used by school officials in making high-stakes decisions about the evaluation, discipline and compensation of teachers.<br /><br />The Obama administration has encouraged states to adopt laws that use student test scores as a significant component in evaluating teachers, and a number of states have done so already. The Los Angeles Times recently used value-added methods to evaluate teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District based on the test scores of their students, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supported the paper’s decision to publicly release this information, asserting that parents have a right to know how effective their teachers are. But the conclusions of the expert co-authors of this report suggest that neither parents nor anyone else should believe that the Los Angeles Times analysis actually identifies which teachers are effective or ineffective in teaching children because the methods are incapable of doing so fairly and accurately.<br /><br />The distinguished authors of EPI’s report, Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers, include four former presidents of the American Educational Research Association; two former presidents of the National Council on Measurement in Education; the current and two former chairs of the Board of Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; the president-elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management; the former director of the Educational Testing Service’s Policy Information Center and a former associate director of the National Assessment of Educational Progress; a former assistant U.S. Secretary of Education; a former and current member of the National Assessment Governing Board; and the current vice-president, a former president, and three other members of the National Academy of Education.<br /><br />The co-authors make clear that the accuracy and reliability of analyses of student test scores, even in their most sophisticated form, is highly problematic for high stakes decisions regarding teachers . Consequently, policymakers and all stakeholders in education should rethink this new emphasis on the centrality of test scores for holding teachers accountable."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-50007423405578104532010-08-29T09:37:43.604-07:002010-08-29T09:37:43.604-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-1160907513772556232010-08-29T09:36:21.960-07:002010-08-29T09:36:21.960-07:00Part 1:
This report was released this morning fro...Part 1:<br /><br />This report was released this morning from EPI, the Economic Policy Institute.<br /><br />In the report, leading educational testing experts caution against heavy reliance on the use of test scores in teacher evaluation.<br /><br />Below is a synopsis of the report.<br /><br />"Student test scores are not reliable indicators of teacher effectiveness, even with the addition of value-added modeling (VAM), a new Economic Policy Institute report by leading testing experts finds. Though VAM methods have allowed for more sophisticated comparisons of teachers than were possible in the past, they are still inaccurate, so test scores should not dominate the information used by school officials in making high-stakes decisions about the evaluation, discipline and compensation of teachers.<br /><br />The Obama administration has encouraged states to adopt laws that use student test scores as a significant component in evaluating teachers, and a number of states have done so already. The Los Angeles Times recently used value-added methods to evaluate teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District based on the test scores of their students, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supported the paper’s decision to publicly release this information, asserting that parents have a right to know how effective their teachers are. But the conclusions of the expert co-authors of this report suggest that neither parents nor anyone else should believe that the Los Angeles Times analysis actually identifies which teachers are effective or ineffective in teaching children because the methods are incapable of doing so fairly and accurately.<br /><br />The distinguished authors of EPI’s report, Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers, include four former presidents of the American Educational Research Association; two former presidents of the National Council on Measurement in Education; the current and two former chairs of the Board of Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; the president-elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management; the former director of the Educational Testing Service’s Policy Information Center and a former associate director of the National Assessment of Educational Progress; a former assistant U.S. Secretary of Education; a former and current member of the National Assessment Governing Board; and the current vice-president, a former president, and three other members of the National Academy of Education.<br /><br />The co-authors make clear that the accuracy and reliability of analyses of student test scores, even in their most sophisticated form, is highly problematic for high stakes decisions regarding teachers . Consequently, policymakers and all stakeholders in education should rethink this new emphasis on the centrality of test scores for holding teachers accountable.<br /><br />Analyses of VAM results show that they are often unstable across time, classes and tests; thus, test scores, even with the addition of VAM, are not accurate indicators of teacher effectiveness. Student test scores, even with VAM, cannot fully account for the wide range of factors that influence student learning, particularly the backgrounds of students, school supports and the effects of summer learning loss. As a result, teachers who teach students with the greatest educational needs appear to be less effective than they are. Furthermore, VAM does not take into account nonrandom sorting of teachers to students across schools and students to teachers within schools.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-77548974652090190042010-08-29T09:28:11.252-07:002010-08-29T09:28:11.252-07:00My daughter, who graduated 4.0 from Garfield and i...My daughter, who graduated 4.0 from Garfield and is now in a Ph.D. program, pointed out that basing teacher evals. on student test scores will also give a falsely positive picture of weak teachers whose students do well in spite of them. Students and parents know who they are. More food for thought.Brita Butler-Wallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-66039847234739149832010-08-28T21:26:10.020-07:002010-08-28T21:26:10.020-07:00Linda Shaw is at it again.
I can't believe ho...Linda Shaw is at it again.<br /><br />I can't believe how ignorant this woman chooses to be about what is going on in Seattle.<br /><br />No wonder newspapers dont sell anymore.<br /><br />http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012751141_teachercontract29m.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-91165127978075931022010-08-28T19:24:36.354-07:002010-08-28T19:24:36.354-07:00Part 2
Signatories
Natalie Beyer, Durham Allies ...Part 2<br /><br />Signatories<br /><br />Natalie Beyer, Durham Allies for Responsive Education (DARE), NC<br /><br />Caroline Grannan, San Francisco public school parent, volunteer and advocate, CA<br /><br />Pamela Grundy, Mecklenburg Area Coming Together for Schools, NC <br /><br />Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters, New York, NY<br /><br />Sharon Higgins, public school parent, Oakland, CA<br /><br />Susan Magers, Parent Advocate, FL<br /><br />Mark Mishler, active public school parent, former president, Albany City PTA*, NY<br /><br />Bill Ring, TransParent®, Los Angeles, CA<br /><br />Lisa Schiff, San Francisco public school parent, board member of Parents for<br />Public Schools*, member of Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco*,<br />"School Beat" columnist for BeyondChron, CA<br /><br />Rita M. Solnet, President, CDS, Inc.; Director, Testing is Not Teaching, FL<br /><br />Dora Taylor, Parent and co-editor of Seattle Education 2010, WA<br /><br />Julie Woestehoff, Parents United for Responsible Education, Chicago, IL<br /><br /><br />I'll let you know if we receive a response.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-4000066909308538882010-08-28T19:22:38.325-07:002010-08-28T19:22:38.325-07:00Part 1
Because this is an open thread I am assumi...Part 1<br /><br />Because this is an open thread I am assuming that I can post something that is in the same vein but a slightly different subject.<br /><br />Below is a letter to President Obama that education activists and bloggers around the country signed onto. The name of the organization is Parents Across America and it is truly grassroots. We are also forming Parents Across Seattle in response to all that is going on in our city and state. <br /><br />Anyway, below is the letter:<br /><br />August 26, 2010<br /><br />Dear President Obama:<br /><br />Several weeks ago, we wrote to you about our concern that your proposed “Blueprint for Reform” did not acknowledge the critical role parents must play in any meaningful school improvement process. We also expressed our serious reservations about some of the Blueprint's strategies. <br /><br />Our goal is simple – to ensure that our children receive the best possible education. As parents, we are the first to see the positive effects of good programs, and the first line of defense when our children's well-being is threatened. Our input is unique and essential. <br /> <br />Recently, Secretary Duncan announced that he would require districts that receive federal school improvement grants (SIG) to involve parents and the community in planning for schools identified for intervention. We appreciate this response as a first step; however, more needs to be done.<br /><br />First, leadership must come from the top. We would like to see meaningful, broad-based parent participation not just in our local districts, but at the U.S. Department of Education, where critical decisions are being made about our children's education.<br /><br /><br />Second, we need more than rhetoric to feel confident that only educationally sound strategies will be used in our children's schools. The current emphasis on more charter schools, high-stakes testing, and privatization is simply not supported by research. Disagreement on these matters is not a result of parents clinging to the “status quo,” as you have recently asserted. No one has more at stake in better schools than we do – but we disagree with you and Secretary Duncan about how to get them. <br /><br />We need effective, proven, common-sense practices that will strengthen our existing schools, rather than undermine them. These include parent input into teacher evaluation systems, fairly-funded schools, smaller class sizes and experienced teachers who are respected as professionals, not seen as interchangeable cogs in a machine. We want our children to be treated as individuals, not data points. And we want a real, substantial role in all decisions that affect our children’s schools. <br /><br />More specifically, and urgently, we insist on being active partners in the formulation of federal school improvement policies. The models proposed by the U.S. Department of Education are rigid and punitive, involving either closure, conversion to charters, or the firing of large portions of the teaching staff. All of these strategies disrupt children’s education and destabilize communities; none adequately addresses the challenges these schools face.<br /><br />We also insist on being active partners in reforms at the school level, with the power to devise our own local solutions, using research-based methods, after a collaborative needs assessment at each individual school.<br /> <br />Our voices must count. If you listen, you will make real changes in your School Improvement Grant proposals as well as your “Blueprint” for education reform.<br /> <br />We look forward to your response and a brighter future for our children and our nation.<br /><br />Sincerely, Parents Across America (signatories attached)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-39085344850608948092010-08-28T19:15:54.729-07:002010-08-28T19:15:54.729-07:00As Albert Einstein said:
"Not everything tha...As Albert Einstein said:<br /><br />"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-74086028735099505862010-08-28T19:15:07.213-07:002010-08-28T19:15:07.213-07:00http://www.edexcellence.net/index.cfm/news_Ohio%20...http://www.edexcellence.net/index.cfm/news_Ohio%20at%20the%20Crossroads<br /><br />Hill (PhD Political Science) was lead author on the six-year, $6 million, Gates-funded, nationwide study Facing the Future: Financing Productive Schools. This report, issued in December 2008, is the most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted, prepared by more than 40 economists, lawyers, financial specialists, and education policy makers. It was comprised of more than 30 separate studies, including in-depth looks at Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and Washington. <br /><br /><br />Much of Gov. Strickland's evidence-based approach to school funding runs counter to what the Gates report recommended in December. That study shows that "schools and systems that work best, especially for poor and disadvantaged youngsters, are not all alike: they use funds, teachers, students' time, materials, and technology very differently." <br /><br /><br />Hill provides four recommendations for improving the Governor's school funding plan:<br /><br />•Drive funds to schools based on student numbers and needs through a process called weighted student funding.<br />•Encourage experimentation with the uses of funds and imaginative new instructional programs.<br />•Hold all schools and school districts to account for student performance and continuous improvement. <br />•Gather and use data on the uses of funds and the results produced, so that alternative methods of delivering instruction can be compared on cost and effectiveness.kprugmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02126184111625382040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-76265561233509060552010-08-28T13:01:43.484-07:002010-08-28T13:01:43.484-07:00Link to article on the Billionaire Boys and their ...Link to <a href="http://gothamschools.org/2009/03/11/eli-broad-describes-close-ties-to-klein-weingarten-duncan/" rel="nofollow">article</a> on the Billionaire Boys and their packaging plan.<br /><br />Really interesting thoughts from a Colorado fellow <a href="http://theeducationonion.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> follow:<br /><br /><i>"Colorado, which finished 17th among 19 finalists, had been widely viewed as the <b>top contender</b> in the competition, and Mr. Duncan said Tuesday that he wished he could have funded the state. Dwight Jones, Colorado Commissioner of Education, said he was "shell-shocked" that <b>his state didn't win and he pointed to the lack of teacher union support</b> as one reason."</i><br /><br />Extortionists clearly practicing extortion.<br /><br /><i>"The <b>union withdrew support in the second round</b> after lawmakers passed a teacher evaluation law that make it easier to get rid of low-performing teachers. "They want to blame us no matter what," she said."</i><br /><br /><i>"This whole process is indicative of how <b>money is the cocaine in education circles</b>. More money for education is the primary goal of everyone in education from the public schools to the education schools to the consultants and book publishers, and to the politicians whose campaigns are financed by education power groups."</i><br /><br /><i>"When it comes to improving things for our kids, throwing out the content-free curricula and replacing them with content-rich curricula tied to much more rigorous standards and achievement tests would have immensely bigger positive impact than firing some bad teachers. Am I saying that the bad teachers should be ignored? Of course not, but I am saying that the priorities of actions do not in any way match the power of the potential improvements to be gained. <b>Fixing the curricula is the only thing that will substantially impact the achievement gap favorably.</b>"</i><br /><br />============<br />I have ZERO confidence in the Board or the Superintendent to fix the instructional materials and instructional practices so that they have a content rich focus.<br /><br />Seattle spends well in excess of $10,000 per student annually and yet for around $50/kid per year for at best four years ... these supposed leaders jump on a train to nowhere without even checking the destination.<br /><br />Randy Dorn and Gov. Gregoire are still on board as well.<br /><br />It is time for all these leaders to get off the train to nowhere.<br /><br />Clearly logical thought processes based on evidence are not used by our leaders when it comes to educational decision-making.dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-81457691028436957172010-08-28T12:24:26.278-07:002010-08-28T12:24:26.278-07:00As a bit of weekend relief, enjoy Tom Chapin's...As a bit of weekend relief, enjoy Tom Chapin's take on using standarized tests to measure kids & teachers...Maybe someone could make this more public? Eric?<br />http://www.myspace.com/notonthetestkaryn kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370286067103785050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-91191424987716871852010-08-28T09:44:06.788-07:002010-08-28T09:44:06.788-07:00For those who think that teaching cannot be de-pro...For those who think that teaching cannot be de-professionalized, think again. I have seen any number of jobs which used to be regarded as professional replaced with call centers and self-service.<br /><br />Look at financial services, and you will see Loan-by-phone, online loan applications, online stock trading, and even call centers for trust accounts.<br /><br />The fact is that the standard version of things works well enough for about two-thirds to three-quarters of any given population. Most of us can buy our clothes off the rack.<br /><br />That's not to say that the standard version is OPTIMAL for even those folks, but it is servicable. Once we have diminished everyone's expectations enough they will be perfectly satisfied with it. When no one expects to be able to take a Shakespeare class in their junior year of high school, no one will miss it. When no one expects teachers to be creative and create tailored lessons for students, no one will miss it.<br /><br />I took college classes in lecture halls with 400 students. I wasn't expecting any individualized instruction, and I didn't miss it.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-56028766023601643172010-08-28T08:17:16.207-07:002010-08-28T08:17:16.207-07:00Teachers will NOT approve a contract with SERVE in...Teachers will NOT approve a contract with SERVE in it. It's not going to happen. <br /><br />More than that, teachers will vote no-confidence in Dr. Goodloe-Johnson. I would be surprised if that passes by less than 95 %.<br /><br />On Charlie's questions: Yup. That's where the Billionaire Boys Club is trying to take this. <br />Deprofessionalize public education and create revenue streams fro entrepeneurs.Eric Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17663977355241677800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-50103378456556006222010-08-28T07:47:08.423-07:002010-08-28T07:47:08.423-07:00Now a *positive* thing that the district did to Ro...Now a *positive* thing that the district did to Roosevelt was to put in a decent principal -- not retired, not interim, but an honest to goodness regular principal and let him stay.<br /><br />Mr Vance started getting rid of the egregiously bad teachers right away. One was gone at the end of his first year. Two or three more have been shown the door since then. I spoke with a teacher there who was pleased and as far as he knew, these folks were really gone from the district and not just shuffled around. I do not have corroboration on that though. <br /><br />(But I agree with everything Maureen said.)Dorothy Nevillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17108759281089768738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-16025271607827900722010-08-28T06:20:09.446-07:002010-08-28T06:20:09.446-07:00Maureen, thanks for the observations about RHS.
I...Maureen, thanks for the observations about RHS.<br /><br />I am interested because I am starting there this fall. I'll be teaching computer science and digital media. The tentative plan is to offer the AP Computer Science A course at Roosevelt in 2011-12.Andrew Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10464320952187145297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-65271912836140021522010-08-27T21:26:50.868-07:002010-08-27T21:26:50.868-07:00Andrew, re Roosevelt. I expect much of it is as go...<b>Andrew,</b> re Roosevelt. I expect much of it is as good or better than it has ever been (drama, sports, the physical space). <br /> <br />My personal issue with RHS is that they seem committed to decreasing rigor in the name of increasing access. About half of sophomores used to take AP European History, that was cancelled and replaced with AP Human Geography for ALL sophomores (whether they want it or not). Same with replacement of Language Arts Electives with AP LA/Composition. Also ALL freshmen have to take 9th grade science now--no way to go straight to Bio as a freshman like you can at Garfield and Ballard (no matter what kind of science you had in middle school). There are no separate Honors classes (except in math) -- If you want LA Honors can you take the same class as everyone else and do extra work, no Honors at all in science (and SS I think). Math has been great, but the adoption of Discoving is undermining that as well.<br /><br />Just my (no doubt warped) perception. Note that I am a huge fan of increased access to rigorous work--but I think that there should be some choice involved and that it shouldn't mean that kids who want to be challenged are held back.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18444916440000921599noreply@blogger.com