Dear Ms. Rhee 29 August 2012

August 30, 2012 at 01:18 (Uncategorized)
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Dear Ms. Rhee,

I write to you often but I am not even sure you pay attention as you have never responded. If you responded, I would be shocked as it would mean you had to deal with facts which were presented. Since you are more inclined to manipulate facts, I am not expecting responses any time soon.

So, it would appear that Aspire Public Schools has taken a page, well maybe a chapter from the playbook of  regular public schools. This is not the first time I caught the problem; I have addressed this issue at other junctures. I just keep pointing out the facts so that you don’t lose track of them as you campaign against teachers.

https://rn11.ultipro.com/ASP1000/JobBoard/listjobs.aspx?Page=List&__SVRTRID=E95F1B34-D54F-4D0E-BD91-8AE59C55609E is the URL I used on 29 August 2012 to check that once again, Aspire was exceeding what a regular public school would be doing at this time in the school year as Aspire indicates IT IS SUPERIOR to what is down the street.

Here is what I found at 10:45 AM-

12 open teaching positions, including the sciences and language arts K-12 AND things such as music, Gr 9-12, journalism and so forth. This did not include the four open substitute position postings or the Dean of Educational Capacity (clearly a name for a position which is  in no way living up to its potential), two HR managers (assumedly it is their job to find the teachers to fill the classrooms), three residency campus recruiters (to find even more teachers to fill classrooms), five substitute positions-one of which was long-term, college readiness teacher (who knew that Aspire needed a teacher to do the task of a counselor….), Senior Manager of Talent (apparently also responsible for filling empty classrooms), two recruiters…. to find teachers which the residency campus recruiters could not find??, and two SPED teachers. I did not list every open position as I pretty much matched My true love gave to me (sung to the 12 Days of Christmas) chorus usually reserved for public schools.

And so I begin to ask myself the following questions, in no particular order:

(1) There is 8.5% unemployment in the U.S. (rhetorical of course as the RNC has been bandying this about for weeks).

(2) Why don’t teachers wish to work for a charter school (Aspire is not the only gig in town, just the most self promoted in CA and now TN)?

(3) How is Aspire’s problem different from regular public schools as charter schools are supposed to be better and these numbers of empty positions after school has started indicate equal to or worse than.

(4) Why are my tax dollars paying for this unacceptable level of administration of an education program and why is Aspire not shut down when it is NOT meeting its own goals?

(5) Does anyone else know or am I the only person  who has an actual interest in education?

(6) Did Ms. Rhee or James Wilcox ever manage to read “The First Days of School” by Harry K. Wong (the supposed handbook Aspire support(s)/supported?

The list continued, however it became general reflection as to why I still believe charter schools are not an answer to what ails the American education system.

I know you like the word anomaly and use it to explain data which you are unable to manipulate to your liking so I understand you might wish to use it in this example. My problem is that something is an anomaly when it happens once or rarely  (deviation from the common rule)- not regularly so it is not appropriate this time….the problem(s) cited above are regular and ongoing.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

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What happens when charter schools really can not do it on the same budget as public schools…..

March 2, 2012 at 06:53 (A Member of the 21st Century, Education Observations)
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Please note some things: (1) The blame is on the ‘adults’ (teachers) in this example and all the extra people Aspire required to suss out money (2) Aspire originally started out by stating they would STAY in CA….I guess they will be changing what they are really looking to do as a non-profit. Based on The Lion’s Aspiration from 2004 marketing materials, the ultimate goal was TO TIP CALIFORNIA. (3) Aspire found out that public schools (all the ones who just can not up and leave CA as the students are HERE) really are struggling with budgets.  Aspire PROMISED they could do better than any other public school in CA based on same finances, which is why principals were allowed to ‘manage’ their budget.  (4) It is almost impossible to believe the ‘need’ is more substantial in Nashville then Central California but apparently poverty is different(ly) funded in Tennessee.

Rosa Parks did something special in 1955. Most people would say it was something BIG.  In 1955, in my home state of Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. It was small action that rippled far and wide. When she got on that bus that day, I’m sure she knew it would be important, but most people (maybe even her) didn’t realize how important.  What she did was HISTORIC, and when we look back at the times we’re in now at Aspire, we will say the same thing.  What may appear merely important, is BIG. And it is for all of us—especially the 12,000 students we serve together and the team around us every day.

We are expanding beyond California, and we’ll first go to a place where the need is deeper than most people can imagine.  Memphis has one of the highest concentrations of poverty and one of the lowest performing school systems in the country. The work we will do there will make another loud statement to everyone who cares about kids, our country, and the foundation that our public schools represent for the future. It will be as loud as the statement we’ve made in CA from Sacramento to LA, from Stockton to the Bay.  Our kids aren’t the issue.  Nor is it “our schools.” We, the adults, need to serve them better, and eliminate all of the obstacles that keep us from doing exactly that.

When I think about our work today, and the 12,000 lives in our care every minute, every day, I know that this action– going to Memphis—is bpth small and BIG.  Going to another state will make another loud statement about what we know is possible. It will ripple far and wide, much like the ripples that moved across the South and our country when a 42 year old Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus.  What started with a small action, moved to a boycott, and grew to be a BIG movement that literally moved our country.  I don’t pretend that our schools in Memphis will be as historic as that simple action on cold day in Montgomery in 1955—but it will be important. It is historic for our organization, and it is BIG…even though for some time it will feel small.

This decision to expand to Memphis is part of a much bigger, longer term process to take control of our future. It sets us on a new path; a path that is as focused as ever on our kids here at home, and a path where we will be—over time—less at the mercy of a state that’s lost its way and forgotten that our public schools dictate our future. I want to share a few of the reasons why this small step, is BIG and IMPORTANT in many ways for all of us…both in the near term, and the medium term.

In the near term:

- Keep the funding we have that pays for the support our schools and our students share: today these funders pay for about $5M-$6M per year in support of our schools and our kids. From counselors to college classes, from coaches to our Residency program, from our Godzilla team to our payroll team, they pay the bill that our schools can’t afford to pay. With this decision to open schools in a place where public funding is sufficient to pay for the support they require, we can serve more students and likely keep this private funding in place.

- Keep growth opportunities for our team: many, many people in our organization are interested in new professional growth opportunities, whether it’s a chance to be a mentor teacher, a coach, a lead teacher, a principal, or a role at the Home Office.  When we continue to grow, these opportunities are created.  The chance to continue to grow, and take on new and different things, grows with our organization.

In the medium/longer term, the expansion is just as BIG, and IMPORTANT:

- New ways to get help for California, based on new and national impact:  with growth in a national hot spot for education reform like Memphis, we enter into a new realm with our supporters.  The highest performing, large CMO that leads in so many ways (us), is now part of a team in a place where policy, funding, federal, and state policy are aligned to do incredible work for kids—redefining what it means when we say “serve all kids well” and actually make strides towards doing it.  Coupled with the incredibly deep need in Memphis, and the history of a place known for an assassination that shook our country, and decades upon decades of poverty, racism, and “forgotteness,” it is a historic confluence of events. With our presence there, we have the ability to ask (and expect to be heard) for new ways and new sources of HELP for California.  One important one is what I’ve called “paying down our mortgage” or at least refinancing it.  Because we are able to help create great schools where our impact will ripple far and wide, we have our best shot to get a bold request filled…refinance “our mortgage” for our schools, and help us take dollars we pay today in interest payments, and give it to our team.

- Attract more funders, because we’re doing work “nationally” in more than one state: the fact that we are present in another state puts us on the national radar in a compelling way that may not seem appropriate given our success and scale in California—but it is real.  This national level of work helps us attract new partners and funders.

- More oars rowing, not the same boat…but a bigger boat: Just like our long time strategy in California, when we open more schools we’re able to offer more and better support for everyone. Think about Godzilla, our IT team, and others. When we were just a few schools, we didn’t have these things—ask the 7 and 10 year Aspire veterans and they’ll tell you.  Until this budget crisis, serving more students well meant better support for every school, and over time it meant the support our schools received cost even less.  Growth over time, in Memphis, will make this true again.  Over time we can shift to raising money for what we want for our kids, not just the basic needs we know they (and we) have.  This will take time, but it will again be true.

So what does all this mean for pay and compensation, James? Plain and simple, it’s unclear.  But know this—I go to bed every night thinking about our team, our sacrifices, and our determination. And it makes me ever more determined to make progress.  This remains a top priority, and our commitment to 75% of every dollar and recovery going to compensation remains strong (the last 25% goes to rebuilding our reserves). Over the next few months, we’ll get more clarity on projected funding rates for this year (yes, we still don’t know), and for the next school year. As soon as we know what they are, we’ll know what they mean for compensation.

To close, I am incredibly proud of what Memphis represents for all of us and our kids in every Aspire school.  It is a small, IMPORTANT, and BIG thing…all at the same time.  Like Rosa Parks, we are sitting down in the front of the bus…and the ripples from this decision will be both direct and indirect for all us, and for our kids.  Wait and see.   Here’s to all of us, and the work we do every day in spite of the odds and the challenges.  We’re changing futures and life opportunities for thousands…together.

And together we can, and will continue to do exactly that.

James Wilcox

Updated 25 April 2012:

http://www.edsource.org/extra/2012/out-of-state-expansion-of-california-charter-school-companies-could-affect-in-state-growth/7701

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Understanding the New New Job Market and What Not to Expect from HR

March 24, 2010 at 08:03 (Economy and Me, Outside, Take Aways, What might this person(s) be thinking?)
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I returned from Kenya on the 22 of December 2009.  In a very brief period of time I was able to access my computer, update my resume and LinkedIn Profile and begin applying for jobs.

Initially I had high hopes as who wouldn’t want some one who recently worked abroad, has a graduate degree, did Peace Corps, has an impressive array of work experience and volunteering. It seemed reasonable anyone would want to hire a competent, enthusiastic about life, educated person.  I have been keeping up the positive attitude as I know it will get me further then actually sharing the sadness and demoraliztion I feel both over being unemployed and the craziness of the job market.

In talking to a few friends, I realized I was not alone in having difficulty reading the tea leaves of current corporate speak.  It is somewhere between we know we need to hire some one, maybe you, maybe not you, but some one like you and until we actually decide what we want to do, can you just hang out (you have nothing else to do as no one is knocking on your door to come work) AND look, we have spent all this money doing a mega-hiring campaign so we better get our monies worth and we are going to drag this process out until the cows (and chickens and most likely ground hogs) come home.  Get it – no one is making decisions nor are they being professional.

Cases in point of my own and then I will relate some of what my friends are going through:

(1) Applied for job in February 2010.  Had first interview on 26 February. Second interview with another person was two days later.  Nothing happens for 10 days except I am offered another job, which I am then unoffered (I don’t even understand) but in between I check in with the people I have interviewed with as I might want to take the now unoffered job.  Suddenly reference checks are done.  Interview three is to be for somewhere around the week of 15 March but nothing specific. Interview three occurs as I am walking into the library, completely catching me off guard and I fumble, but not badly.  Interview three leads to interview four, which was really a check in to make sure I knew what job I was applying for and what was going on. It was essentially a Skype (sight and sound live call) call.   I was then informed there would be an interview five. That was 10 days ago. Interview five has not happened – not sure why, tried to find out as I am scheduling other things around the possibility of interview five. Not only has there been no interview five, when I sent a check in e-mail stating that I am guessing no one is able to make a decision at this time, however, would it be possible to continue accessing the website past the ten day free trial (so I can review all of it in  case I am offered the job), there has been no response.  There continues to be no response so I posed the question on an HR group website I belong to through LinkedIn to see what the professionals would have done. Thus far, the professionals have stated it would have been valuable for the potential employer to keep in contact and tell me what was going on.  Since I don’t want to assume it was only the potential employer, I put out a phone call to ask for information regarding what it was I did which prevented me from both interview five and obtaining the job. I stated it was a matter of house cleaning and I wanted to know for future reference so I did not repeat the mistake. Upshot? No response.  Would I be able to reasonably state this company is one a teacher should use for a resource??? Are you kidding….they can not communicate.

Monday morning quarterbacking with friends was something like this – it is probably between you and one or two other people and maybe there is an internal struggle within the company so the decision makers are deliberating.  I asked if it seemed reasonable that some one would tell me at this point if another person was selected and that does seem reasonable. Still don’t know.  Position was to be filled by end of March 2010. That leaves until Wednesday and after that I am not sure how company functions but feeling this does not bode well for their future.

(2) Applied for job with temp agency. Sent all of the relevant paperwork via .pdf files on e-mail, filled out on line application.  The people at the temp agency contacted me for an interview and told me what to bring to the interview the following week.  I show up for the interview a little over 1 hour early as there is always paperwork to fill out and tests to be taken. Person in office is truly upset that I came early – it seemed to ruin their morning. When they get ready to conduct interview with me, they can not find the paperwork, which I confirmed with the employee who made the appointment. Apparently this company has a protocol and procedure for intake and some one did not follow it.   I dig around on my iPhone, find the file and forward. Sending from an iPhone is not as efficient as sending from a computer so there was a time delay.  The person who was to interview me was somewhat upset that I expected their office to print out the necessary documents they originally asked me for in the e-mail – which I would have understood if they had not asked for the documents and told me to send via snail mail the copies or bring them with me and if the person who made the appointment had not confirmed each and every item.  The fact that this violated the protocol was very upsetting to the person who was to interview me. The interview happens, the person received the I-9 documents and a copy of something else in their hand.  Today I get called they can not find the documents I put in their hand during the interview, might I know where they are.  Meanwhile, they contacted one of my references and then thought maybe they could do some marketing with my reference. Fortunately my reference was smart enough to ask me what was going on.   Temp agency found the documents after I asked them to go back through the file. They now have everything they need.  Of course, this was all my fault because I was organized and on time. Follow up – I asked for the on line tests to take for typing speed, MS Software, etc.  Finally received that Friday afternoon, ten days after original request but who is counting or trying to be professional.

I have talked with a couple friends. The Monday morning quarterbacking is this – maybe the temp agency needs a new person at the front desk. Grin and bear it, get a temp job to have cash flow.  Under no circumstances do I accept the job of the office assistant as apparently they have created a bonafide mess and the other person is covering for them. Don’t get caught having to clean up the mess, even though you are highly qualified for the job and would turn the whole business around.

(3)  Blind ads from local charter schools being run. The ad states what the charter school needs, which is lengthy and does not say anything about pay, location, whether they are a small school within a school district or a bona fide charter school (these are two different phenomena).   If this were a job in Silicon Valley, surely I would send off a resume – people in Silicon Valley are always on the search for talent and run blind ads to see who is looking and determine if they have enough venture capital to pay persons X, Y, Z.  Schools have a set budget.  There is no mystery that schools are looking for talent, or in the case of charter schools, generally people who can work 14 hour days, need no sleep and eat belly button fuzz.  A public school not being forthright about naming themselves borders on sketchy. If they are proud of what they do, why do they need to do the fog and mirrors?

(4) This one is from a friend. Applies for ad which is run on Craigslist.  Receives a call saying the resume is great but would they be interested in job Y, not X, which they applied for. Sure, no problem.  Receives call for interview. Goes to interview. Asks if they would be interested in job Q, not the Y they applied for or job X that they came to this interview for. Sure, no problem.  Has interview for job Q the following week.  Has round two interview for job Q.  Doesn’t hear anything for two weeks.  Get’s call they are being offered the job as soon as back ground check and health clearance done.  Length of process – four weeks.

(5) Another friend applied for a job in December 2009.  Interviewed in January. Had second and then third interview in February (two different cities, two different offices).  Has been told they will know something in a week (repeatedly for the last three weeks).  Again, no indication person does not have job or some one else was hired.

All I am trying to figure out is where did these HR people go to school and who taught them to vett potential employees by driving them nuts?  Is it unreasonable to expect the same level of professionalism on the otherside of the interview desk?  I keep reminding myself of the saying that you will see everyone on your way up and you had better be nice in case you need to see them on the way down.

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The Amazingly “Professional” Manner In Which Some East Bay Teachers Are Treated

August 9, 2009 at 13:31 (Education Observations, What might this person(s) be thinking?)
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Aside from the fact I have my own horror stories of school districts in the East Bay, I was recently provided other stories from teachers I used to work with. The names are not important of the people involved, the schools or the districts as all of it can be verified.  In my personal situation, there is a pending court case  by a former teacher colleague of mine against one group so I am not a liberty to state their name.  After the issue is resolved in the eyes of the court, I will be able to comment fully as I have the complete documentation for my personal situation.

I was victim of the conundrum that charter schools are public schools without unions and since they are usually not for profit, the people who run charter schools believe that employment law just does not apply to teachers.  It creates an interesting dilemma as most new teachers do not understand the nuance of getting paid ‘more’ to work more (substantially more) and the fact that employment law does pertain to each and every employee of charter schools which are non-union shops, even though charter schools are ‘non-profit’ or in some eyes a charitable cause.

In my situation my principal and the staff above him allowed such things as a student to simulate poll dancing at a middle school spirit week function; my principal to talk directly to a teacher colleague of mine about how much women can bleed when I presented papers from my doctor at Kaiser explaining why I needed to have a hysterectomy; my principal and those above him telling me there was no money in the budget for accomodations to help me pack up my room at the end of the year (when there was a doctors note stating I was not to lift more than 10 lbs., prior to my hysterectomy and then telling me after surgery there was still no money in the budget to help me unpack my room even though the doctor told me not to lift anything so I did not get adhesions and this was also documented in writing. The VP above my principal was actually bold enough to put in writing that I should consider the ‘friend’ route and if so, she would help.  I have the documentation (including a deposition) for all of this.

At another school district where I had worked but left, I found out a former teacher colleague of mine was ‘transferred’ to the high school from the middle school.  The logic used was that the middle school, where the teacher had worked for 8+ years was apparently not able to ‘schedule’ this teacher based on her credentials.  The reality is everyone at the school and in the district new the new (as of last year) principal was harassing this teacher. Yes, this teacher did file a union grievance on some of the issues.

Said teacher above was to be given boxes to pack – one set for school text books to be returned to book room. They were never delivered.  Teacher was so stressed/burned out at end of year, so teacher decided to wait further through the summer to pack. When teacher and recently retired teacher friend went to school to start packing, teacher found her personal belongings – teaching materials, etc. which were purchased out of pocket for students, thrown in trash bailer bin. Teacher climbed in and retrieved the items.  Notes were put up around classroom to ‘please call me’ and do not throw out my personal posessions.  Teacher was so upset they decided to come back in a few days to pack.  When both teachers went back, vice-principal was in the room once again dispersing teachers personal teaching materials to the bailer/garbage bin.  No professional phone call was made (before or after first event of trashing teacher items) to even say, hey, I know it is summer but if you don’t do X, we will have to throw it away.

Later I found out another teacher at the same school who had asked to put stuff in storage at school the summer before as their room does not have cabinets, came back in the fall to find everything which had been put in storage was summarily thrown away over the summer.

These are only the stories I know about. They happened in an east bay school district and a charter school within a different east bay school district.

Is it any wonder at all why teachers might not be feeling the love?

If this has happened to you or some one you know, share a comment.   I believe the public needs to be more aware of the professionalism denied teachers and how it affects their personal and work life.

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A Pure Nugget of Truth

May 21, 2009 at 01:19 (A Member of the 21st Century, Education Observations)
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Most Educators Do Not Understand Importance Of Critical Thinking, Author Says. The Des Moines Register (5/15) features an interview with Tony Wagner, the co-director of the Change in Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of the book, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach The New Survival Skills Our Children Need – And What We Can Do About It. In the book, Wagner asserts that “the seven survival skills…all students should master are critical thinking and problem solving; collaboration across networks and leading by influence; agility and adaptability; initiative and entrepreneurship; effective oral and written communication; accessing and analyzing information; and curiosity and imagination.” Those skills, he says will help teach “students how to think.” When asked why the push to teach critical-thinking skills has not “taken hold” in schools, Wagner said, that “most teachers, parents, and employers don’t understand the importance of critical thinking.” Some contend “that critical thinking is too fuzzy. Therefore, it’s not tested. If it’s not tested, it’s not going to be taught.”

Most educators with professional expertise/credentials recognize ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy’.   Unfortunately, as wonderful as Mr. Bloom was in pointing out the obvious, most teachers are not ‘allowed’ (I am using this term loosely as allowing some one to do something, according to Merriam-Webster means everything from “to give consideration to circumstances or contingencies” to “forbear or neglect to restrain or prevent”) to reach out to students and expect the top levels of the taxonomy as, indeed, as noted above – it is not tested, or more clearly, not easy to test in a multiple choice version of a test.  Due to the labor hours required to correct written out, thoughtful and dynamic answers, this methodololgy of instruction is rarely used in classrooms, well up to AP classes and sometimes in college.

It is not that long ago I remember  different principals telling me there was this ‘test producing software’ I could use to make my life easier and it is also easier to score/grade.  The questions are in a bank of questions from various sources (often, the same people who put poorly worded garbage in text books) and you pick out the ones you want to use, ‘align’ the questions to the standards at hand and viola’, a quiz, test, etc. that is scientifically proven.  I usually shrugged my shoulders, said thank you for the advice and went back to creating quizzes and tests where students had to not only answer the questions at hand but use justification or reasoning as to why they selected their answer. It took forever to grade, however, I was sure at the end if a student did or did not understand something.

The problem with what I was doing was a  triple-fold threat: (1) It was difficult to explain to parents in a conference why their child did not understand concept X or Y (the parents themselves were often not educated enough to understand the concept – anywhere from soccer mom without college degree to people of extreme poverty and equally lacking in formal education) when the teacher across the hall could show similar students understood concept X or Y on a multiple choice test. I became the horrible teacher because I would not settle for the ease of multiple choice tests or the symbolism of a 1/4 right answer just by luck (25% of the time a student randomly penciling in a,b,c,d would ‘get’ the right answer) and expected students to THINK.  (2) I was the exhausted teacher as I made it a personal goal to myself to grade quizzes/tests the day they were taken for quick  and appropriate feed back. This often meant staying up well through the early morning hours with coffee to grade upwards of 90-120 papers to turn them back to students the next day if I was so unfortunate as to have not given a test on a Friday.  (3)   I was the shamed teacher because other teachers did not want to put in the effort so the best they could do was bully me (typical in a school setting where tenured and/or teachers with more longevity set the expectations, not the new, young upstarts) and make me feel bad about actually sticking to Bloom’s Taxonomy and the value of critical thinking. I became the teacher few principals would  support as I also made their lives difficult expecting more of myself, my students and in effect competing with my colleagues.  I was the teacher others valued and feard for I would do what I knew was correct, without shortcuts or excuses (KIPP schools should value this, however, they use the multiple choice testing software also – not sure the excuse….convenience?).

While I asserted in my own way that children needed in -depth learning, I was chastised by the very people that should have supported me. In a few situations I ran across like minded teachers, we banded together and spent many, many hours after school perfecting our craft by sharing lesson planning ideas, strategizing creative ways for students to express their knowledge, improving/scripting/writing out better lessons, sharing material resources and grading – using rubrics to make sure we as individuals were grading our students fairly (we sometimes graded each others student work we had personal misgivings about our own grading).  This created horrific problems with the union as we were ‘breaking’ rank and making other teachers look bad. We were ‘ruining the data’ at non-union charter schools because how on earth could you compare a multiple choice test result to a written out test result. We were ‘insulting’ our students by expecting the appropriate, grade level work out of them and being willing to help every step of the way.

Teaching was a labor of love – it was about having all the awesome  aha! moments along with the magic of seeing a student take an idea to the next level. 

It was the reason I left teaching.   After being told indirectly (so know one would get caught knowing it was actually what we did) to teach to the test so the scores could go up, being denied the time within a subject for depth instead of  merely breadth of concepts on the test, being asked to ‘follow’ what the other teachers were doing and most of all, being exhausted to the point of not being able to even enjoy what little vacation time I had (charter schools go almost all year – by professional development expectations and teaching days), I decided the best I could do was walk away proudly and know in my heart, one day the tide would change.

I keep seeing this word innovation bantered about.  I have found in Judy Estrin’s book Closing The Innovation Gap a common thread with what I have believed all these years.  I want to hug her for saying there is truth to what I have thought and practiced.  Most of all I want to thank her for planting the seed that will hopefully grown to a beautiful tree which will change the way education is ‘performed’ in America.

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Teacher Satisfaction Up? What Drugs Does Mr. Kress Take?

April 20, 2009 at 00:19 (Education Observations, What might this person(s) be thinking?)
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Job Satisfaction Among Teachers Said To Have Peaked In 2008.

 

In an opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News (4/17), Sandy Kress, an attorney and former senior adviser to President George W. Bush on No Child Left Behind, writes, “Teachers today are more satisfied, optimistic and encouraged than at any time during the last 25 years,” results of the 2008 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher show. The latest results illustrate “a picture in stark contrast to the fearful account used by some special interests for political advantage,” according Kress. For instance, “in 2008, a full six years after No Child Left Behind was signed into law, the number of teachers who were ‘very satisfied’ with teaching as a career reached an all-time high of 62 percent. This is up from 40 percent in 1984.” In addition, 75 percent of respondents said that they likely would “advise a young person to pursue a career in teaching,” up from 45 percent in 1984.

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, conducted by Harris Interactive since 1984, tracks the opinions and outlook of teachers, principals and students. The survey’s latest report, “Past, Present and Future,” details interviews of 1,000 teachers and 502 principals across the nation.

MetLife has no agenda in education politics. It has simply put out the facts – objectively.

Uh, let me dig out my college stats book…..something appears contrived with the stats represented in this article.  Caveat emptor!

I will begin with the obvious and work my way to obtuse. 

Were the same 1,000 teachers interviewed year over year? Was this a credible longitudinal study?  How many of the 1,000 teachers were idealist first year teachers and how many of the 1,000 teachers had made it past five years of teaching?  Do the stats hold true for inner city teachers as for urban teachers? Were any of the teachers at private schools or were they all at public schools? What grades did the 1,000 people interviewed teach?  How many of the teachers interviewed had tenure? Where were the 1,000 teachers selected from and why such a small sample? Can this research be verified?

 One thousand teachers interviewed out of  x total teachers in America.   From 1984 to 2008, the PERCENTAGE of “very satisfied” with the career choice of teaching went from 40 to 62%  This means that anything below very satisfied (satisfied, not satisfied, extremely dissatisfied) went from 60% to 38%.   So, reframing this, anything over10% of your work force not merely hitting satisfied would be a concern.  What is the composite breakdown of the other categories? How was the percentage change calculated?

Teachers in 1984 recommended students pursue the career of eduction at a rate of 45% and in 2008, 75% advised students to pursue education.  Net change of 30%.  Sadly, 25% would not recommend pursuing a career in education – what might the reason be for that?

 Teachers who rate schools’ academic standards as “excellent” – 53 percent in 2008 from 26 percent in 1984.   That means almost 50% (47% rounded) do not view the academic standards as “excellent”.  This means about 1/2 of those interviewed believe the standards are excellent. Albeit, it is an improvement, however continuing to have about 50% who do not see something as excellent also tells you something.

Out of 1,000 teachers, 54% of the interviewed teachers report that at least 3/4 of their students more prepared for their lessons  an arrive able to tackle grade-level material. In 1992, this figure was 44 percent.  This means the perception of teachers ‘feeling’ 3/4 of their students are more prepared went up 10% points.  It also means that 46% of teachers interviewed believe LESS than 3/4 of their students are more prepared for their lessons and arrive able to tackle grade-level material.  If I round 46% up, it is almost 50%.  So, in this case approximtely 50% of teachers on either side of the issue perceive 3/4 of their students to be prepared for their work and able to tackle grade-level material….so, some where from 1/4 to who knows what number (remember, only about 54% of the teachers perceive 3/4 of their students are on target) are not……this would explain why teaching is so difficult.  I would like to add that if one were to look at API scores and the sales of programs to improve literacy, there is no way 3/4 of the students in the U.S. are adequately ready to perform at grade level.

Teachers feel better supported by their schools, with 83 percent rating the availability of teaching materials and supplies as “good” or “excellent,” up from 64 percent in 1984.   Since the teaching materials available are not listed, does this include things such as Read 180, REACH and other literacy programs? Does this include pre-packaged kits for science such as FOSS and anything from a text book company (essentially cookbooks for teaching for new teachers).  Again, looking at sales from various textbook companies and companies with scientifically proven materials, it would seem we are not seeing the high end education materials necessary for students to think beyond  PROFICIENT.  Proficient is the mark of test scores which also means a student is on grade level and does not need to be ‘pushed’ further (also, improving test scores of a student who is proficient does not make standardized test scores go up as much as a student below proficient so most materials are geared to students below proficient).  I would like to know of the teachers interviewed, how many are past their first five years of teaching which is the time period when most teachers begin to get past the kit form of delivery for teaching instruction and really get creative.

Schools’ physical facilities also garner higher marks, as 79 percent of teachers believe their schools’ facilities are “good” or “excellent’.  Again, this means 21% of teachers believe the school facilities they teach in is LESS THAN GOOD.    Are the less than good school facilities in poor communities?  Were the teachers who were interviewed  aware of what good and great facilities look like?   My own recent experience provided middle school facilities which were no where near safe nor appropriate to teach middle school science at grade level (including no fire extinguisher IN the classroom).  There are schools I have subbed in which are marginally better than the schools I taught in during Peace Corps in a third world country – and this is in the bay area, not rural communities.   Of the 20% of the schools which are not good or excellent, what is the story?  In addition,  is this an indicator that the 1,000 teachers interviewed may not have been inner city teachers?  I am not convinced LAUSD has working phones in every classroom yet.

Parental and community support has earned higher marks recently. Teachers believing support was “good” or “excellent” increased from 54 percent in 1984 to 67 percent today.  Again, the converse is 33% of teachers interviewed believe community and parental support is less than a minimum of good.  While it is up 13 percentage points, it is not indicating our communities are anywhere near on board with parental and community support of education in general.

My final comment would be this study does not indicate the parameters of the teachers interviewed, including:

Age of teachers

Years of experience

Location – inner city, urban, rural

Type of school – public, charter, private

MetLife has no agenda in education politics. It has simply put out the facts – objectively.

Without this information, this article, at best, provides low level correlation. Objective?  How about objectionable evidence for FACT….. Evidence to me that this is ‘spin’ by SandyKress as opposed to reality.  If this is an indication of how insurance companies represent factual data (this is not even an actuarial table), it may explain the skyrocketing costs of insurance – you can spin any data to your choice of interpretation.  

Mr. Kress would be well served to align himself with a major university which does educational research so his study could be more believeable.  At a minimum, I would not want a person such as himself being a senior advisor since it does not seem he adequately passed college stats – or he truly believes the American public is stupid.  With an advisor such as this, who relies on companies such as Harris Interactive for data, one leaves themselves open to all manner of scrutiny – the least of which is my opinion.

This was found on 4/22/09 

Education Week (4/22, Sawchuk) reports that “the nation’s oft-criticized systems for evaluating the quality of its educator workforce are poised to receive increased scrutiny, thanks to an Obama administration plan to require school districts to disclose how many teachers perform well or poorly.” The guidelines, issued earlier this month by the Education Department in conjunction with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, require states “to report on the number and percentage of teachers and principals scoring at each level on local districts’ evaluation instruments. States must also disclose whether the evaluation tools take student performance into account.” According to some experts, “the initiative’s success will depend on the administration’s follow-up steps — including the metrics the Education Department sets for reporting evaluation data, and what steps it expects states and districts to take with the resulting data.”

Stimulus Guidelines Require Districts To Report Teacher Performance Data.

http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2009/06/03/060309tln_marshall.h21.html?tkn=WTUFI3g9E7qTrkw%252FwKuOYa%252F29zCdA8FrV6nY

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/business/economy/05view.html?hpw

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Is This Part Of The NEW ‘Transparency’?

April 17, 2009 at 22:30 (Education Observations)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

 

 

California High School To Inform Parents When Crimes Occur On Campus.

 

 

 

 

California’s Mercury News (4/17, Oakley) reports, “Berkeley High School administrators have pledged to start informing parents of assault, theft, robbery and drug dealing at the school following formal complaints made in January and February.” This month, Vice Principal Maggie Heredia-Peltz sent a letter “to the school safety committee,” saying that “the school would notify parent and employees of violent crime via e-mail, it will implement a confidential reporting process for kids who are victims of crime and it will work to bring down incidents of theft at the school.” Berkeley will also “make a better effort to enforce restraining orders concerning people at the school.” Meanwhile, school officials maintain that Berkeley High “has less crime than other urban high schools of similar size.” Still, “parents said they should at least know about it so they can protect their children.”

 

I read this blurb this morning with mixed emotion-glad administrators were being taken to task, sad that a group of parents had to ask for this transparency, happy there will be some truth to the numbers, sad for the fact the teachers have had to be in some unsavory situation until the parents stepped it up.

Myself and many other teachers KNOW that there are many instances of criminal (and not so criminal behavior – simple bullying) behavior that get ‘buried’ since schools must show statistics.  This occurs at public schools and private schools, albeit often for varying/different reasons.  While principals are attempting to ‘protect’ the so called innocent victims and make nice, the principals are in effect creating a hostile work place for teachers AND sending the message to the student population that it is okay to behave in manner X ( not much will happen, so being great teenagers, they raise the bar and do something worse). 

 My question is why would a group of parents have to ask administration to be TRANSPARENT?  Doesn’t this seem strange – the very people charged with protecting our most precious asset (children) have been allowed to misrepresent (lie) factual data…Schools can do ‘damage control’ to keep the numbers nice?

The most recent situation I know of is a close friend of mine who teaches HS in the east bay.  A student used the N word on her in front of the whole class (she is bi-racial). Even though she asked the student to leave the room, the student resisted. Ultimately the student left. The student was written up and guess what – back in class the next day. There was nothing from administration in any way to indicate to this student or the class or the school that this behavior will not be tolerated. You can guess what started happening after that – the kids had been given a free pass to use the N word, the G word, the R word and a few other choice words, all equally offensive and disruptive to learning, never mind making this teacher feel embarrassed for being part black.  Imagine all the other students at the school who get to have these words used on them for surely if it is okay to say it to a teacher, it must be okay to say it to another student.

Another friend of mine, in a slightly more well to do part of the east bay, had a situation where a school supervisor (after school type program) lost a key to the school buildings. Rather than report the missing key (which would have been costly and required the entire school to be rekeyed), this person asked some students to help find the missing key…..oh, the key was found and ultimately used to perpetrat multiple thefts on campus. Did administration inform the staff at the school? No. In fact it was not until a couple computers, purses and ultimately my friends personal LED projector was stolen that the administration told staff-by then the staff had talked to each other and realized something was up. The worst part was that rather than administration expressing to my friend they would like to try to help the teacher out in obtaining another LED which was used regularly in the science classroom to show a variety of media from the computer, they didn’t say anything.   The students involved violated the trust of their teachers and made the teachers feel just slightly more defensive and ‘aware’ of behaviors – the administration showed a complete lack of respect to their teachers.  I am not even sure if this made the local newspaper as the school didn’t want to broadcast what they had done.

When I taught/long term subbed in Los Angeles (after returning from Peace Corps but waiting to get into grad school and had a 5 month layover of time), I had a knife pulled on me in front of the whole class by an 8th Grader. I do not know how, even today, I had the wherewithall to count to 10 in my head and not react, but I was able to get the student to walk out of the room and go towards the office. Of course this school did not have a functioning phone in the classroom.  I ended up sending another student out the opposite direction to run to get some one (school security, etc.) so we could get the kid with the knife safely away from campus -  as I watched the one with the knife walking down the hall one way and facing me (walking backwards).

When all of this was reported to the dean and principal, the student was asked to sit in the office at school, was allowed to eat lunch with his classmates and it was not until I INSISTED that a police report be made that anything was done.  Because I made the police report, the kid was removed from the school.  I was severly chastised by administration for taking it so ‘seriously’ and needing to instigate things by making a police report.   No one asked if I wanted to go home for the day, just when I was going back to my classroom. I later found out this same student had assaulted a teacher with a chair which is why he got put in my class – I was the long term sub after 13 other subs).  Needless to say, when I was accepted to graduate school, I was eternally grateful – both for being accepted and being ALIVE to attend.

Students are not held accountable in most situations as it would mean the principal/dean actually has to meet with parents and state to parents why the behavior is unacceptable and what has to change. At a regular public school, students get multiple opportunities to do bad things (only severe things lead to actual suspension or expulsion) which range from mentally abusive (bad/threatening language, bullying) to dangerous but not actually something which kills another person (this seems to be the bottom line for expulsion).  At a charter school, principals/deans can amp it up a little bit as charter schools are schools of choice, although charter schools can’t amp it up too much for they run three risks (1) declining school enrollment (2) not serving the very students they have promised to educate/rehabilitate (3) make the school seem too difficult so other students will not ‘choose’ to come there – the school is not fun enough.  In private schools, principals/heads of school can not afford to lose the tuition so a great deal of things are tolerated and, in fact, many parents ‘donate’ money to the school to cover up some of the lesser student indiscretions, often involving drug use.

When a student is suspended/expulsed, it is shown by school and by district. If a principal obtains too many, the principals job can be on the line so the principal works diligently to qwell the  various ‘situations’ rather than actually have to suspend a student.   A principal will do just about anything to sanitize a situation. 

The sad part about the sanitizing and lack of transparency is the very fact that the behaviors teachers document, point out, discuss in school meetings, call parents about and are avoided by administration are the very behaviors which get us Columbine and other horrible situations. 

Do not ever assume ‘know one knew’ – I can assure you there were a ton of teachers who knew but the administration was busy making nice with the teachers (denying tenure if untenured, move you to a position with more preps or at a less savory school if tenured, letting you go if at a charter school or private school) in the way only administration can play when they are not asked to be accountable and transparent.

Hopefully more parents will stand up to administration and demand they have a conscience and do what is in the best interests of education – not the numbers.

This was found on 4/22/09 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (4/22, Matteucci) reports, “Most schools across the metro area — and across the nation — have a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy against fights, which means both the bully and the victim are disciplined, said Steven Teske, president of the Council of Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia.” Judge Teske said, “Zero tolerance is zero intelligence,” adding that “administrators won’t investigate to see who the primary aggressor is … So it is difficult to identify who the true bully is.” He plans to “start enforcing a chronic discipline policy, which will require parents to follow the school’s recommendations” regarding bullying. The recommendations “can include everything from court-mandated counseling to intervention from the Division of Family and Children Services.”

This was found on 6/11/2009 and seems to be the best form of transparency ever!!!

 

Hillsborough County, Florida, To Allow Students To Post Complaints On District, School Websites.

The Tampa Tribune (6/10, Peterson) reported that beginning “next fall, Hillsborough County students who are being bullied will be able to post their complaints anonymously on a school district Web site.” In addition, “students and parents with a complaint will also be able to make a report at the school site, using a new form the district has created especially for bullying cases.” District leaders “say that giving students anonymity will embolden them to reveal incidents they have seen or experienced and been afraid to talk about.” Site planners have thus far “decided they want each report to go directly to the school involved. The school will then investigate and report back to district officials.”

 

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