Splitting Olympic and Garinger high schools into smaller schools produced some benefits in school climate but no clear academic gains, a CMS study has found.
Neither setting had a clear advantage, the study found -- a bit of a surprise to me, given that before Peter Gorman left as superintendent last year, he decided to reunite Garinger but keep Olympic as five schools on one campus.
"Given the wide variance in academic achievement within each group of small schools, it appears that this concept has a positive impact on the culture and climate at that school but does not greatly improve academic achievement," says the study, written by Samantha Kane Salvador and Kelly Dever.
The study doesn't look at small, free-standing specialty high schools such as Performance Learning Center or Cato Middle College High.
If you click to the study, you will note it's dated last summer. I'm posting it now because the arrival of a new superintendent means new discussion of the best ways to structure schools to boost achievement and graduation rates. Splitting up big high schools was a national trend when CMS dived in six years ago. Like so many reform efforts, that approach has generally fallen short of the major benefits hoped for at launch, though there have been glimmers of promise.
I have long thought one of the ironies of CMS is that the district does in-depth studies of its big initiatives, then "releases" them by quietly posting on a page that's five obscure clicks from the CMS home page. If I were queen of the universe, each of those reports -- on such topics as intensive reading, strategic staffing and Teach For America -- would get a thoughtful review and discussion at a public school board meeting (I'd gladly forgo some of the routine departmental updates to make time). Since I'm merely master of this blog, I'm adding a standing link to the research page in hopes that some of you eagle-eyed readers can help me spot when new items have landed. Look for "CMS research reports" under education links at right. Bright Beginnings, preK-8 schools and The New Teacher Project are among the topics being studied, with no release date announced.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Mixed results from CMS small schools
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58 comments:
Ann,
Subject: Thoughtful discussion by the board in public
In the last five years of attending board meetings, I’ve witnessed five times when great thoughtful discussion sprang-up. The first two were follow-ups to reports presented by staff. The third and fourth were watershed issues requiring a vote and a lot of preparation and thought in the days preceding a vote. Can’t say a staff report was involved.
1.
Trent Merchant, Pete Gorman, Andy Baxter. The topic was Pay for Performance.
2.
Dr. Chris Cobitz and Pete Gorman. The topic was whether to include retests when calculating “The Gap.”
3.
Tom Tate and the board before voting for the creation of the Central Zone as a Title I area.
4.
Richard McElrath, Tom Tate, Eric Davis during the vote for the Guiding Principles.
Ann, you’re correct about the need for discussion. Most things that happen at the meetings are nothing more than agenda items, usually non-action kinds. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you miss the parochial patter of Vilma and Larry.
I would like to see more discussion but that is a major problem with the current board. There are some very great forward thinkers. But they don’t work as a team. Without the teamwork there is no search for common ground; not even the common ground of education.
5.
The fifth time was a meeting where a report and a discussion was key was this past January when the L.I.F.T folks made their pitch.
The board discussed what they heard and then agreed to sign the papers. It was clear the board was tentatively behind the project but felt that to turn it down would have been heresy. So you had a unanimous vote that was sort of a 5-4 vote. That’s what good discussions in public reveal. In this case it sent a message to L.I.F.T that it had the full support of the board but it better not mess-up.
Better discussions. Better decisions!
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Ann,
This type of scenario has gone on for decades.
My ex-wife went through the same thing back in the 80's. She taught in some schools that were nearly 100% minority and very low income.
Programs would be implemented and touted as the next silver bullet that was going to revolutionize education, yet wind up dying a very silent death a few years later.
I would asked what happened to those kids that the program was supposed to help? Did they learn anything or did it hurt them in the long run?
All I got for a response was shrugged shoulders.
Public schools in urban settings are like that old shell game.
You can shuffle the coconuts around as many times as you like but there's still only going to be one bean underneath one of them.
No giant leaps in academic performance? Shocking!
You don't suppose the same problems that plague these students follow them wherever they go in the morning do you?
Another move by the GORMANATOR that proved 0 results in a positive manner. Go figure that on out. CMS needs a chapter in guiding principals on failed leaders like "Sweet Pete" and pictures as well. What ever he did CMS should have run the other way.
When you split a school into 5 schools, the costs go WAY up. Instead of paying 1 principal, you pay 5. Lots of overlap. Needs to die, especially if gains cannot be proven.
8:41, this has been going on since I came to this school system in the 1980's. I even had a confrontation with Louise Woods when she insisted our middle class neighborhood was the board's instrument to keep certain schools from looking too bad. It even came to our neighborhood having 3 middle school assignment changes 3 straight years.
Thank goodness for Cappichione and Gauvreau.
Ann, your article though is heresy. Discussion and debate on the BOE is regularly criticized by this editorial staff and race because it almost always falls to race in this town even if the discussion is about any other matter.
Bottom line, basic R's is what this demographic needs as well as how to become civilized.
This study is complete B.S. Ann. I graduated from the International Studies and Global Economics (Global) at Olympic. Our EOC test scores went from low 50's to high 80's (percent of students passing). Prior to Olympic spliting up it was a failure. 50% of students passing tests, teacher and student morale hit an all time low. The split up was needed. The Math, Engineering, Technology and Science School (METS), Biotechnology, Global and Renaissance have outscored alot of schools in the district: Mallard Creek, Hopewell, South Meck and Butler who would be considered "better" schools. Look up the data on testing and you'll see these schools have put in the work! I hate how such people write studies about things they know nothing about. I would like to thank Matt Hayes (now principal of North Meck) Angela Bozeman (Biotech principal) Ayinde Rudolph (now principal of James Martin) and Melody Sears (now principal at Northwest) for coming in and making the well needed changes at Olympic High!
Anonymous 9:40, what you wrote is total B.S. The small schools have proven no more academically successful than the big ones. If you ask me the small schools have done nothing more than commit academic fraud. Some scores at Garinger and Olympic jumped from the 50s to the 90s in two years or less. How is this statistically possible? When you have an average of 8 - 10 students per teacher I believe that you can be more successful, but my my how that success quickly fades when you compare it to scores from schools with an average of 30 - 33 per class. You pay 5 head principals per school? The costs do not justify the results! IT IS TIME TO END THE SMALL SCHOOL EXPERIMENT!!! The prinicipals you name are all B.A. as well. Those principals have built their reputations on a base of false data acccumulated from those same small schools!
I see the word experiment alot in CMS findings. We cannot afford to experiment with our childrens future educational needs. They are not mice and should not be treated as such. I feel and accept new methods of teaching students when applicable. CMS is not to the point that it should be looking at "new" methods since the output grade is decreasing. Let the teachers teach and we can try new methods once we see gains from the Gormanators changes.
Here's an experiment that I think would work:
Break into 3 school districts.
9:50 and 9:54, that's part of what makes it so challenging to sort this all out. I, too, remember hearing about (and seeing) some big jumps in EOC results at some of the Olympic schools. Some were in the "too good to be true" range for one-year gains, though I have no evidence that anything fishy went on. As we all know, smaller schools tend to have bigger fluctuations in any data and are most likely to land at the extremes. Plus the state was changing the mix of tests and added the retesting requirement during this stretch, which made it extra hard to figure out what year-to-year changes really meant.
9:13, I agree that multiplying the principals by five poses challenges, not only for cost but for stability. Some of those mini-schools were flipping principals almost every school year, which can't be good for building a close-knit climate.
I believe that the five schools in one was driven by money from Gates. It was to help with one on one contact with students and teachers to make the students more accountable. Due to the initial staff at Olympic the technical hurdles involved were jumped. This did not happen as well at Garinger.
The scheduling, etc. is a nightmare for the schools and there is duplications of services that is not necessary.
It was right to combine Garinger back but the jury is still out on the Olympics.
Maybe it's time to let the Kushite Institute run an "Afrocentric" school.
Minister (Dr.) Gyasi A. Foluke has the ear of the Superintendent and probably has some novel ideas on educating these poor urban black kids.
Because, see, he's a minister AND a doctor, so that means he knows a lot of stuff.
His website, books, and prior interviews give us some clues to his thoughts.
His stuff really motivates kids by building their self-esteem.
Never mind if it's actually true or not.
I wonder if he still gives his "Chitlin Test" to see if people are "qualified" to teach black kids.
I also wonder if the black kids can pass the "Chitlin Test", too.
If so, then maybe we need to close THAT performance gap as well and teach more about Chitlins and other things the good Doctor Reverend thinks are important to black people that our Eurocentric education system suppresses.
We should investigate this.
We can use reparations money to pay for it all.
I wonder how his discussion with the new superintendent went.
Anonymous at 9:00 and 9:13, let me speak to this 1) as an Olympic parent and 2) as the SLT chair for Renaissance:
In 2000, the overall EOC composite for Olympic High School was 38%, and the State came in to "help." They managed to raise that to 54% over the next few years but eventually performance plateaued. Since the split, results have been varied across the five schools because of demographic variations across the populations. (More on that to come.) Renaissance increased their performance from %42 (if I recall) to roughly 90%, which is, by any standard, a significant improvement.
Anonymous 9:13, your statement about costs vs. performance is incorrect. It certainly seems that way on an intuitive basis, but when CMS developed its Performance Cost Index a couple of years ago to justify the school closures, the PCIs for the five schools at Olympic were among the lowest in the district, i.e., OHS delivered better performance for the cost in spite of the additional overhead. I know, who'd have thunk it, and it certainly surprised me as well. But you are correct going forward. Let me come back to that.
Now ... to the present situation, should the schools be re-consolidated? Well, that comes back to a couple of issues. First, why did the small schools "work" at Olympic but not so much at Garinger? Second, has the cow been milked for all it's worth?
First, from an affected parent's perspective, the reason why the small schools "worked" in the short term is mixed. They were billed as being targeted towards the student's particular interests, but the fact is that is utter nonsense. Yes, students in the OHS assignment zone are "guaranteed" a home school at Olympic, i.e., somewhere in the building, but student assignment internally is based on solely on a lottery, just like a magnet school. In other words, you get the absolute worst of every aspect of CMS student assignment. Want see utter dejection on a student or parent's face? Tell them they got assigned to the Business school instead of METS. Right or wrong, it doesn't matter; that's the reputation of the schools.
Therefore, what the small schools created at Olympic is, quite simply, the de facto internal segregation of the school, just like busing used to do. If the parents are even remotely engaged in the process, everyone, and I do mean everyone, "knows" that you need to pick METS or Renaissance as your first or second choice in the lottery and Biotech as your third if you plan for your kids to go to college and you want them to go to a good college. Even then, for reasons I'll also explain further, that's not a guarantee of success.
This is the first I've seen of this CMS report (imagine that, CMS not sharing these results with the SLTs of the affected schools!), but I can tell you why the small schools only work up to a point. They have worked up to now at Olympic because of the culture change that resulted. The Gates Foundation money has been assumed by the community to have paid for the additional administrative costs, but in reality, it paid for professional development. The other aspect of culture change that occurred is that the staff, through attrition and recruitment, came to be comprised of "true believers," i.e., they are there because they have bought into "the mission." In my opinion, this works in this type of school demographic because the level of caring about the individual students augments whatever deficits in parenting these students may have experienced. Thus, this type of arrangement would be nearly worthless if implemented at a Providence or Ardrey Kell.
As the wife of a small-town Southern white guy, I think chitlins are more of a rural/poor Southern thing than a black thing. I'd pass the test if it means knowing what they are. If it means being willing to eat them, fail.
Sorry for the length of all this; I had to break it up into two comments to get it all in.
The culture change was effected differently at Garinger than at Olympic. I am told there has been far less cooperation between the schools internally at Garinger, even to the extent of "sibling rivalry" that has been detrimental to the overall success of the school in aggregate. At Olympic, the teamwork among the staff and between the administrators is readily apparent. However, even at its best, it is still a school that effectively is "run by committee," and it eventually suffers from the limitations of the old adage that when everyone's in charge, no one's in charge.
And that brings me back to why second, in my opinion, Olympic has plateaued again. Once a school reaches the 90% plus EOC composite level, each incremental improvement is that much harder to attain. Also, the low bar of expectation set by the State of North Carolina kicks in, and the schools begin to measure success, not in real, concrete terms but in terms of "growth," i.e., if I can move a school X%, then look at how well I am doing, even though a 90% composite still means 10% of the kids are not performing on grade level.
For the last two years I have preached what I call my "sermon on the bell curves," but it continues to fall on deaf ears because it's a downer, and no one wants to hear it. The sermon, in a nutshell, is this--how can Olympic have a 3-4% delta between EOC composites with Providence and yet have a staggering 300 point delta in SAT average between the schools? The fundamental inability of many education professionals to grasp basic statistics is gobsmacking at times. A 90% EOC composite means, simply put, that 90% of the students are above Level 3, and 94% EOC composite means that 94% of the students are above Level 3.
But if the 90% bell curve is skewed over to the left of the Level 3 box, and the 94% curve is skewed to the right of that box, then some pigs are still more equal than others. That's the hard truth no one wants to hear because it's a downer. That's why there's such a huge delta in SAT outcomes. Are any of these tests the be all and end all of effective education? Of course not, but they're not irrelevant either. When the day is done, colleges still use SAT performance as an admissions criterion, among other criteria, and all things being equal, if UNC-CH has a cap on admissions from CMS, whom will they choose, the straight A student from Olympic with an 1800 on the SAT or the straight A student from Ardrey Kell with a 2100?
And this is why the small schools have, in my opinion, jumped the shark, Anonymous 9:13, and why at THIS point you ARE correct. CMS has taken Olympic as far as they are going to go, and until the CMS culture recognizes that "growth" is not enough, that real performance in absolute, criterion-based (rather than norm-based) terms must be achieved, nothing further will come of the small schools. There will be incredible resistance from the parents, staff and administration to changing things for the same reason we get inordinate pushback every time we try to end a magnet program in this district. People are invested in the small schools for the same reason they are invested in the magnets--they offer everyone their own little "silo of special," and people in this community will defend their right to be special to their dying breath. Add to that the fact that CMS has established a fundamentally adversarial relationship with the community it says it serves, and all I can say is good luck trying to change anything.
Rev. Mike.
Don't talk about bell curves.
Racists use that kind of talk.
Pyramids are more Afro-Centric than bells.
I've heard that, 11:04. Sure makes it difficult to analyze statistics, but I guess they'll just have to go.
I AGREE WITH MIKE
Growth measurements mask failures while somebody tries to correct the problem. And on the other side, growth measurements are insignificant when the system is already cranking on all eight cylinders.
Example: teachers at IB schools want nothing to do with evaluations heavily weighted for growth.
This is what bothers me about L.I.F.T. and puts me in Richard McElrath’s camp. It’s not just what the kids do in school, it’s what they can do later.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
PS:
Just what is a year of growth for an A+ student with a TFA instructor?
You think it is possible for Ericka to have a thought other than how to get a free vacation?
How in the hell is Andy Baxter still employed. What does he do all day again?
Is your husband from Salley, SC?
http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com/products/1536.aspx
Chitterlings:
In colonial times, hogs were slaughtered in December. During slavery, in order to maximize profits, slave owners commonly fed their slaves in the cheapest manner possible. At hog butchering time, the preferred cuts of meat were reserved for the master's use. The remains, such as fatback, snouts, ears, neck bones, feet, and intestines were given to the slaves for their consumption.
In 2003, the Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture accepted the papers of Shauna Anderson and her business, The Chitlin Market, as part of its emerging collection of materials about African American celebrations, foods and foodways.
Maybe LaTarza lost him along with that principal.
If you separate the troublemakers from the rest of the kids, the non-troublemakers will be able to learn and the troublemakers will continue to be troublemakers. If you then average the two groups, of course there is no improvement.
BTW: Even in mid-twentieth century the less desirable parts of the hog were made into scrapple, headcheese, liver puddin', sausage, and all manner of stuff. This occurred in central Pennsylvania with nary a black person in sight.
Ann how does Heath feel about alternative schools/classrooms?
Yeah, but the Black Amish built the first oak pyramids in Pennsylvania.
And they passed the Chitlin Test witn flying colors.
Bolyn, That would be a A + and 6-8 college credits. Yes even a LIFT school could have a student willing to challenge themself. And I said a student and maybe. Much like a old person from Pineville could have a hobby rather than showing his lack of knowledge with local education system. He could have another hobby , but I am sure everyone has told him to leave.
Split up into 3 zones. They would be called as follows.
1) North End
2) South End
3) Kojo's End (he wants his won so lets just give it too him) With a agreement that if less than 70% are not passing at grade level that we can come take over when he fails.
Team nicknames for 1 and 2 would be the tax payers. Local level boards with local level responsibilities.
1:23, the average will go up. And the graduation rate will go up. I have said all along that cull out the 2 to 3% causing the issues and graduation rates and EOC passing rate will explode.
One bad apple will spoil the barrel. Other kids see the unwillingness of administration to support the teacher with discipline issues and the kids lose all faith, for anything, in the teacher.
Bolyn, there are 3 to 5% of the kids in LIFT schools that are superb students and can blast out for our society. Do we leave them in this atmosphere like a boat anchor around the neck, do we transport them to a school with more opportunities, or do we take the handcuffs off the teachers and let them really work with these students.
Bill, If Bolyn does not come up with the idea then its no good. Thats what a slow thinker from Pineville is all about.
Bill, I can't give a definitive answer on that, but I saw quite a few different types of settings for students in Reno (some he inherited, some he helped create). What I heard him say several times about charter schools would probably be pretty close to his philosophy on other options: He said he's neither for nor against charters in general; he supports excellent charters and opposes bad ones.
Ann, What has Heath said about TFA teachers in Project LIFT zone schools? Will their be any allowed? Or should I say Selected?
I assume since a majority of his meeting time has been spent with Ms. Watts , Kojo/NAACP , Ericka so far thats top of house. Keith W. Hurley
Bill, you’ve opened up a good discussion.
Turn loose the teachers on the 3% to 5% superb L.I.F.T students?
I’ll buy your guestimates on the low percentages because the published 2011-12 A/AB honor roll numbers for similar middle schools like Cochrane and McClintock are in the 8% to 23% range. For comparison AG, Robinson and Community House are all north of 50% by the same published reports.
So, what are the instructions to the teachers of the students not at the top of the honor rolls in the southern schools? Does CMS cut those children loose? Hardly. I don’t think the logic behind cutting out 95% of L.I.F.T students makes sense for any school.
Got any ideas about the services that should be offered the non-superb students at all schools?
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Interesting study. One needs to understand the inner working of school reform if one is to understand the Olympic experience.
The first question in regards to the Olympics is that most of the original staff who set those schools up is gone. I was one of them and know that there are very few originals left.
Second, one needs to understand how test scores and scheduling of certain students can influence those scores. The creation of certain courses offered some of the Olympic schools to "hide" those students who the principal knew were not going to pass the EOC tests. That was how Matt Hayes' school did so "well." Sears' school, Renaissance, was the last hold out in creating a schedule that hid those poor students.
The other issue was each of these schools inability to adhere to the Coalition of Essential Schools small schools model. While they tried to adhere, none of these schools were able to stick with that. Like a river knows which way it wants to flow, educators always revert back to behaviors that they are used to.
Rev. Mike's reporting is very accurate. While he knows some of the testing history, he does not have much knowledge about the emotional history and the early days. The amount of time we spent in discussions, conferences, after school work, etc, was extraordinary. Names like Lester, Hitt, Range, Lawler, Newsom, Hill and others, knew that what was happening was very positive as it related to the climate of the Olympics. Sad to say that it is probably time for a something new to take it to the next level. I don't see that happening. More likely is that they will combine them back into one and they will put a fool like the BIOT principal in charge.
Bolyn 4:04- Their are certainly numerous ideas/options CMS should have ready for LIFT Honors students. Surely we have online classroom study with a teacher present with expanded courses? CMS could transport these kids out of the LIFT zone for half a day to a school with a trade or Honors program course? By all means we need to challenge the students who show the aptitude and drive to learn. Districts have been doing this for decades CMS is way behind on alot of this. LIFT zone schools should not be a "harbor for the kids" to just improve by 3-5% in grade point or "just graduate". Keith W. Hurley
Keith, you won't get any argument from me about those opportunities for any honor student. Life shouldn't be without horizons.
But my response was to Bill's thoughts about the other 95%. He seemed to be writing about them as discards. My point was that if you draw the line for discards at one school it should be at all schools. An explosive concept.
Do you see any similarities between the bottom 25% at L.I.F.T and at Community House? Easy answer. Tough policy decision!
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Bolyn, I dont think any schools in CMS have "discards ". I think CMS should take the time to challenge those lower 25% in any regional school. As we could with Honors kids we could isolate the "discards" as well. LIFT has paid a grant to a "mentor firm" I assume to Mentor students in that bottom 25% to motivate them? I also feel if the bottom 25% are challenged and shown what their future WILL look like if they dont stay with a education plan that may motivate some of them. CMS has the resources so this is not a issue. I know back in the 70's/80's schools simply gave you a number of chances then sent you to a isolated slow learners area of the county I grew up in. Let me tell you that you did not want to be in the isolate group. I actually think CMS can rach some kids this way. I also think their are kids that really dont want to be in school so a trade to engage them is necessary. Just some thoughts on the lower 25%. Keith W. Hurley
Keith, I haven't seen anything to make me think Morrison would overturn the Project LIFT plan, which not only maintains TFA in those schools but uses private money to expand its presence.
I don't think it's accurate to say a majority of his meeting time has been spent with that handful of people/groups, but anyone can check the list and run their own fairness tally: http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/superintendent/Pages/MorrisonMeetings.aspx
...I also feel if the bottom 25% are challenged and shown what their future WILL look like if they dont stay with a education plan that may motivate some of them.
Why use money for mentors?
All they have to do is look at their parent(s) and understand where they will be if they don't get an education.
...generational. Again, been doing the same thing for over 40 years.
Keith,
So, I tentatively support L.I.F.T for some of the reasons you mention. I have no idea why CMS didn't keep the L.I.F.T inhouse. Well, I do know the reasons but I'm talking about the ones of why a huge organization would farm-out its most difficult tasks. In the business world that would be a QA nightmare.
I believe CMS could have done L.I.F.T and still lowered the budget(minus startup cost). I do see the advantage of not having L.I.F.T being a hot button at board meetings.
CMS could not have done Summer School medicine. Technology wasn't a problem. After school and expanded hours isn't a problem, especially with the removal of after school subcontractors. Summer reading is a problem at every school.
I'm scheduled to visit a L.I.F.T school mid-July. I'm wondering if it will be like Hawk Ridge? Well, it could be! It should be!
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
How many of you realize that North carolina's curriculum is designed for all students to be able to enter college? It is really unfair for DPI to believe that every student should be on a college track. Mecklenburg county needs a program for those who just want to learn a trade.
Ann, I got my data on the LIFT/MORRISON/Meeting with from your link. Divide the number of meetings (total) with the number met with that are linked to LIFT. I think you will agree with me its a HUGE percentage. (to date meetings) Keith W. Hurley
Wiley/Bolyn- I agree with CMS can bring that 25% up in necessary in house ways/programs. I think a trade school is certainly one way. My item on "paying mentors" was a qoute from Project LIFT in that they funded a $175,000 "mentor firm" just last week. I am against them funding business ventures with the program. Its more like a business incubator they way they "throw money" at vendors so far. I would like more to go towards educating children. As both of you know many of CMS schools get mentors such as the 3 of us to come in and speak from time to time for free. (many other business people in he community do this as well) If LIFT can show me a 20% graduation increase in 5 years call me a fool. If the program can not cause alot of RIFT in the community in the process over the next 5 years call me a fool. I wish it success , but I still dont see a accoutabilty measure thats proven. Keith W. Hurley
Keith, the bottom 25% will float up with just removing the 3 to 5% troublemakers. Teachers will be more free to teach, tutor and mentor when they are not frustrated with incompetent administration.
Secondly, any small business incubation that goes on will be the nepotist way as Denise helps others of her ilk to the pot of money the foundations are throwing in.
Lastly, how are we to believe any number for improvement coming from this crowd? We all have seen all these "silver bullets" promised by educrats only to see them dissolve a few years later with some other new silver bullet.
Bill, I agree and have communicated and questions those exact items. The only push I here is " can the other parts of town organize and get pledges of $55 million"? I say yes that can be done if we can have control of our schools like LIFT does. Did Mr. Hendrick say " oh the donation forsports I am saving can only go to these 5 schools" NO he did not. So LIFT has no answer or any accountability. I gone to a few meetings to learn and I cannot see it. Its a bibb and a bottle noting of substance. Keith W. Hurley
Keith,
As in LIFT?
LIFT cannot and will not be replicated. The model is not sustainable.
There aren't enough tax dollars to expand the massive undertaking of more layers of social programs, that public education and LIFT have no business being in now as it is.
Until we get off the diversity mantra and stop telling these kids they can't learn because of where they live, their skin color and what their household income is, not a damn thing will change.
We've already had 40 years of the same thing over and over again.
The Observer has run contradictory stories, one about how great TFA "teachers" are by working in high poverty, low performing schools and make no money, yet LIFT will only hire the "best" teachers and pay bonuses to get them to teach in the same type low income, high poverty schools.
So which is it? Which scenario is supposed to be the best? TFA or "quality teachers"? How many TFA "teachers" are in LIFT schools?
It boils down to what goes on in the home and culture, much of it being generational.
Until we, as taxpayers, demand CMS change its approach and stop placating parents, students and special interest groups and demand accountability from parents and students themselves, nothing will change.
Wiley, L.I.F.T is NO LONGER hiring CMS teachers for the existing openings. I had an extremely "qualified" friend apply for a recent opening and was turned away because the "internal transfer period was over". Therefore I am wondering how they are going to "find" high quality teachers at this late date? I would conclude that they do not want experienced teachers. They want "obedient" bodies to do what they are told. Free thinkers not welcomed.
10:12, I assume your friend was of the correct skin color.
10:12, "obedient" bodies????
Would that be because they will artificially create grades and then diplomas to show how successful LIFT is and Denise will be invited to join the Department of Education to suck on more tax dollars?
10:12 p.m.
CMS Policy is that there are no transfers excet during the transfer period- LIFT or not.
But tell your friend that s/he dodged a bullet since even though your friend may be well intentioned her highly competent skills would not do her any good. She would be seen as a threat.
So your friend should count her blessings that she won't have to look for a knife in her back every day she went to work at any school that Sharmel "Denise" Watts has anything to do with and breathe a sigh of relief.
Student populations in different schools require different interventions to accelerate the high achievers and lift up the low achievers. The mistake CMS has made is to focus on the middle, mediocrity, that keeps the high achievers from soaring and the low achievers from moving up. Everyone except CMS knows that when you raise the top, all levels will rise with it. With the focus on testing results in a young teacher's preparation, there are going to be fewer teachers who have the skills to do this.
So here's what has to happen with some urgency. Form teacher groups at each school to honestly evaluate themselves, discipline, instructional practices, administrative practices, performance data and the needs of the students. Empower these teachers to reach consensus on and implement a "reform plan" for their school. Most principals have neutered their school leadership teams and faculty advisory committees by not following CMS policy for setting them up or using threat and intimidation to silence them.
CMS lost this internal analysis at each school when it opted for a system accreditation process instead of an individual school process.
African American Teacher
I'm Anon 9:30 - Ann - Nothing "fishy" went on at Olympic. Hayes made doing your work cool. When our fellow students didn't do their work we the students pointed them into the right direction. So did the teachers. It has always been interesting to me that people in Charlotte like to talk so much about things they have no clue about (Not talking about you Ann as it is your job to start discussions). Take a visit to Olympic next school year to see what it is all about before getting online and judging things. That's why Charlotte and CMS is in the shape it is in now
Anonymous July 6, 2012 3:22 PM, the allegation was made with regard to how classes are set up in the master schedule. As a significantly involved parent, it is not readily transparent to me how that happens, but it would not surprise me in the least to see CMS administrators gaming the system in the manner alleged. I'm not sure how it is so clear to you from a student's perspective how it absolutely did not occur.
Rev Mike- The whole master schedule in scheduling technique that was used at Indpendence (I know what you mean) year long classes for students that made majority of the lowest performing students ineligible from taking the EOC didn't occur at my school at Olympic. The budget cuts made it impossible. We we're down to 3 teachers per subject with 400 kids. So again their claims were invaild. My claim that people are talking about things they know nothing about STILL claims to be true.
3 districts. Sooner the better.
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