Seattle Public Schools news alert! The district promises to be more transparent henceforth. Yes, I know, you’ve heard it all before, but you might as well hear the latest version: On Tuesday, Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson will give her State of the District address, which will include shiny new report cards for every school for the first time.
These reports will compare a school’s individual growth with other schools in the district, and the information will be used to rate them on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest score. They will measure whether students are making individual gains on the state reading and math tests in relation to their peers. Schools that are stuck at level one for more than three years will be flagged—the district will investigate what’s causing the problem, perhaps even borrow a page from the high-performing schools, and if all else fails, change the principal and teachers.
Student growth indicators will be used in the district’s new four-tiered teacher evaluation system (.pdf), district spokesperson Patti Spencer said at a media roundtable today.
Poor student growth will trigger teacher evaluations—the subject of much controversy—which could lead to probation or suspension in case there’s no improvement. Teachers who receive good evaluations will be awarded stipends and a chance to move up the career ladder.
How is this report different from No Child Left Behind’s Adequate Yearly Progress report (which expects all schools to reach 100 percent proficiency in math and English by 2014)? “NCLB doesn’t measure individual student growth,” said SPS Director of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment Brad Bernatek.
And what new information can parents expect? Bernatek said that the reports will have state test data in one place for the first time. It will also include “school climate data,” which will tell parents whether their kids are behaving themselves or setting off stink bombs in hallways.
Teacher evaluations, as a concept, should not trigger controversy. Not all teachers are good teachers, and the bad ones should be removed to make way for good ones.
That said, the evaluations themselves need to adequately account for the many factors that can affect student achievement (parent involvement, school resources, etc.).
Once again, poor student growth may trigger teacher observations. Teacher evaluations are based on observations, not test data. (It would be nice if the “education reporter” could get this straight.)
And tossing administration and teachers? Though I have no doubt that MGJ would like nothing more than to fire the entire district as a strong arm tactic, she can’t.
Do teacher evaluations take into consideration the difficulty in achieving growth with special ed students? It’s pretty much a given that growth with those students tends to be slow at best, so I hope different criteria is used to evaluate special ed teachers.
I hope these school Report Cards also document the degree of support each school gets from its PTSA, or equivalent community support organization.
Some schools get huge support from parents and neighbors, raising tens of thousands of dollars to fund missing essentials, and even amenities. And other schools don’t even have a functioning PTSA, let alone one capable of raising significant money.
I expect these disparities affect school performance, and therefore they should be noted in the Report Cards.
At this point the WA genome has pretty much sunk into the double digits of IQ, and school per se is no longer an option.
At best you could persuade some brainy males to come in and impregnate your local honeys to try and raise standards, although the high cost of housing and terrible weather means they’d get a better deal almost any where else.
Hey Stranger, this is all interesting, we can’t wait ’til Tuesday, but where’s your report on the hijacking last Wednesday of the Seattle Public board by Teach For America?
Man, you HAVE to watch the video
http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/vid…
of the board meeting: All the testimony, first hour or so, and then the “discussion” about Teach For America at about hour Three to Four.
So here’s the deal: State law says that in order to have a conditional cert instead of a qualified, full cert in a classroom, there needs to be a shortage for the position, or it needs to be a special skill. SPS itself says it will not use TFA Conditional certs in shortage areas, and “unusual skill” refers to things like auto mechanics class, where there is no program to certify a teacher for that.
Now, the district has to have tried to exhaust all possibilities to get a full cert into a position before it tries to use a conditional cert. But the district wants to allow TFA conditional certs to apply along with all the regular certs in open hiring.
So it turns out, according to SPS Legal, that, get this, Conditional certs are certs, so they can apply with anyone else during regular hiring! Get it? “Conditional Cert” has the word “Cert” in it, so they can apply along with the qualified full certs!
It is the most ridiculous abuse of logic one could ever see.
Also, it turns out that the superintendent sat, until very recently (probably until just before trying to bring TFA in SPS) on the Broad board, along with president of TFA, Wendy Kopp! And then the superintendent didn’t do any research about what problem they face that TFA might supposedly fill, didn’t research solutions, didn’t research other contractors if we supposedly have to contract out, then went ahead and sole-source contracted with TFA! I mean, they’re buddies, she HAD to give the contract to TFA!
They say it doesn’t matter, because the district doesn’t have to pay…it costs SOMEONE $40,000 per TFA candidate to train them, TFA says, and they get $36,000 from “local foundations” (can you say “The Gates Foundation”, the ones paying for performance management and all the other reformers’ wet dreams they’re bringing to Seattle? ) and then they need someone to pay $4000, ten percent, which is usually paid for by the district, but in this case SPS has generously said it will ask for donors, and hey, there’s already an anonymous donor all lined up to pay! Regardless, this is a public entity, and they have to use due diligence and research before they bring the superintendent’s Broad agenda into SPS….don’t they?
So the superintendent, who sat on the Board of NWEA, the company SPS is paying millions to for the “MAP” test (more reform that keeps money out of the classroom), and didn’t tell the board she was on the NWEA board as she sold the board on NWEA’s product, this same superintendent was sitting with TFA’s Wendy Kopp on the Broad board, and here she is giving Kopp a sole-source contract.
It’s crazy. And the kicker is, when you watch the meeting (the discussion about TFA) is that they said, no worrries about sole-sourcing, the superintendent has some sort of board policy, designed just for her, I guess, that allows herself to grant herself an exemption from policy! She can do whatever the heck she wants! With our public district, the one ruled by our elected board…she can just exempt herself!
Go git ’em, Stranger, it’s the biggest warping of democracy we’ve seen around these parts since…since..well, it’s been a LONG time!
@3: just about all teachers are special ed teachers. There are only designated special ed classes for Reading, Writing, and Math. The percentage of students with IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) in mainstream classes, say, science for instance, is quite high – up to 30 percent or so.
I should add that unfortunately Teach for America, Inc. and charter schools do not show any significant gains in these “low performing” basically minority communities and if nothing else create churn and destabilization of these communities as well as disappointment.
See: http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2010…,
http://www.greatlakescenter.org/docs/Pol…
http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/news/ind…
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/11/ch…
Certain segments of the community are simply beyond help. Don’t blame the teachers for their fucked up offspring. Teach them what the are capable of: flipping burgers and making change for a $10.
rara avis, that’s like saying all fast food workers are chefs. I’m not impugning general education teachers but drop by the Experimental Education Unit. That is where you see special educators in training…and it’s a sight to behold.
The District would LIKE to eliminate special educators, substitue instructional assistants (save $$) and just increase the already heavy workload on gen ed teachers. This is their half-baked Integrated Comprehensive Services model. Now the youngest, most vulnerable kids are not getting the services they need WHILE learning reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. But, y’know, money’s tight and the Superintendent wants to use it for standardized tests, performance management reports, teacher coaches and school closures.
Sorry Slog, you got scooped again. See a preview of what this Superintendent thinks will save our struggling students, right here:
Your tax money spent on this
Note, the District has applied the MAP software for a purpose for which it was never intended.
Apparently my first post had too much information in it.
What I was saying is that this is opening the door for Teach for America, Inc. and charter schools to walk through thanks to our Broadie superintendent Dr. Goodloe-Johnson who is a Broad Foundation gun for hire. The Broad Foundation is all about charter schools.
See: http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1…
and http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index…
Charter schools hire Teach for America as cheap labor to keep down their cost. Labor is the highest cost for a charter school.
Teach for America, Inc. and charter schools go into the”low performing” areas, read, minority communities, get Title 1 money and make a fortune.
Unfortunately, they don’t do much for the students and families who have to endure this latest craze.
See:
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/1…
and
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/educ…
and
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/…
and
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/06/new-o…
Read Diane Ravitch’s excellent book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education. She was a believer in the currently fashionable reform methods, then realized they are failures. She provides a history of these approaches and explains the bogus foundations of “improvement” that underlie Broad’s, Gates’ and others devotion to testing and “accountability”.
Lessons in Chaos by Dr. Goodloe-Johnson
http://mathunderground.blogspot.com/2010…
Dr. Goodloe-Johnson is the classic example of a person who is committed to making things work the way she philosophically believes they should work. She is completely detached from reality. Her plans do not work, but she refuses to make any adjustments because of reality. Reality is not going to get in the way of her ideology … ever. Valid Data reports are rarely used.
She said:
“Assessing every student and placing them according to ability sounds like tracking and discrimination…and we’ve moved light years away from that.”
We find:
Light years away from positive results for many students despite greatly increased spending on a Strategic Plan that does NOT work.
Yet MGJ blames Teachers and sees TfA as the solution.
To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data. The Superintendent needs to resign ASAP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyYtBw360…
These kind of “data-based” reforms are just too problematic in the real world. Massive waste of time and money. Though not a perfect solution, I believe that the most effective way to increase teacher-quality is simply to give administrators more say over who is hired or fired.
Has anyone read any of the behavioral economics data on motivating professionals in complex, creative jobs? Carrots and sticks DO NOT WORK. In fact, they lead to poorer results. I know, I know, “but Japan does it.” Japan has been stuck in the economic dolldrums for a decade.
Read Dan Ariely’s “Predictably Irrational,” or Daniel Pink’s “Drive.” The evidence is solid, decades old and uncontroverted. It just happens to be ignored. We are heading in exactly the wrong direction all in the cause of “accountability.”
Will there be any evaluation/observation of crappy parents?
On a separate note, what about vocations? Do Seattle Public Schools offer a chance for teenagers to get into pre-apprenticeship programs for the trades? Those are some of the best paying jobs out there, and there are shortages in almost every trade. Not every child is meant to go to college (I certainly wasn’t) and it’s time we actually acknowledge that.
“Not every child is meant to go to college (I certainly wasn’t) and it’s time we actually acknowledge that. “
Oh no, that would be too European, you know, perpetuating classes. America is all about equal outcomes now, even if it means sinking the whole ship.
Unfortunetly there’s some groups of kids who only need to learn how to get in line for prison dinner. Can we teach that?
Actually, limousine liberal, I would argue for a vocational curriculum that combines technical training with some traditional liberal arts schooling. Everyone needs a base understanding of geography, history, civics and the fine arts. Math and science are over-rated. People learn what they need for the job that they do, and forget the rest. Ironically enough, most trades have a fair amount of both.
As for your assumption that some people are destined for prison, I know a guy who was a budding gang banger in LA. His mother sent him north to live with some people in Seattle, and he got straightened out and put in a vocational program. He’s now married with a little girl, and a productive member of society. Would you have pigeonholed him into the “how to get in line for prison dinner” track?
“He’s now married with a little girl, and a productive member of society. Would you have pigeonholed him into the “how to get in line for prison dinner” track?”
Sending any kid to Whitopia in Seattle is good for them. Btw I know a guy like that too; it wasn’t until he started hanging out with white college educated liberals and not with his ‘homeys’ that he turned his life around.
It’s really a coin-toss as to whether Seattle will ever fix its school system (or even agree what needs to be fixed, let alone how to address that need) or if it’ll deal with the viaduct first. Whenever the school system is brought up a chorus of “It’s the teachers/union/superintendent/kids/parents/funding!!!” comes up which leads to…a need to study the problem. Any findings are promptly attacked. Meanwhile, the system deteriorates further, and anyone who can afford to do so puts their kids in a private school.
Seattle Public Schools are currently caught in a web of technophiles and dataphiles, blowing gobs of money, coding and troubleshooting their buggy software programs while foisting unnecessary, incredibly unreliable, time and resource consuming MAP testing on our children, most of whom see no benefit to it whatsoever. One class at my kid’s school is already 5 weeks behind last year’s schedule because of MAP testing, paperwork, and district inter-meddling (micro-managing). It’s as if Newt Gingrich is acting behind the scenes, endeavoring to make the entire system as inefficient as possible in order to later complain about it’s inefficiency in order to create a consensus to kill it.
The state of technology-based & computer-based testing is miles behind its promise, and there is no justification or hard evidence justifying the implementation and use of all this computer-based MAP testing at this time. To use it as high-stakes data upon which to rate teachers is outright fraud.
The only reasonable explanation is that our kids are the lab rats for NWEA & Co to work out the bugs in their products on the backs of our kids and teachers, while punishing and firing teachers based on their unreliable, massively over-valued “data.” We are paying a heavy price for this right now, and the future looks incredibly bleak as third class educational software is permeating schools and classrooms everywhere, with the idea of eventually surplussing many union, and HUMAN teachers.
This will not end well.
But it will make a lot of people very, very wealthy.