Friday, June 18, 2010
CEP being transformed
There does not seem to have been any sort of official announcement, but based on comments at this week's Agenda Review it appears that the CEP program is being changed to a dropout prevention program for the 2010-11 school year. Mark Brentley recommended that the district officially close the existing program rather than sliding into a new program. From the Agenda Review comments it was not clear if existing credit recovery locations are to be closed and consolidated at CEP.
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Seriously? I will watch the agenda review of course, but did anyone say out loud, "CEP is NOT working as we expected and we are ready to cut our losses"? Did anyone think to play the theme from Rocky as Mr. Brentley exited the buidling?
Strangely, one Board member spent quite a bit of time describing a lovely event held at CEP to celebrate the progress of its students (much nicer than anything recognizing the achievement of students who have earned an IB diploma, AP credits or national merit commendation). Ending the program was mentioned only obliquely.
I have seen a shift to spotlighting the achievements of students who previously struggled and turned things around. That focus is great, but it should not mean overlooking the accomplishments of other kids who might be left to wonder if anyone noticed what they were able to do. Add to that the kids at the middle who may have worked extra hard to get or stay there.
A lot of time the decisions seem to be based not so much on what type of kids or achievements to emphasize, but on which programs to shore up- ie, big celebrations at CEP and U Prep but not at Perry or Peabody.
This is a perfect example of what has happened in this district with Mark Roosevelt running the show.
And, make no bones about it - it is a show.
So many of the initiatives he has brought in have fallen flat and short of the mark. Millions on new curriculum (Kaplan) - gone at the window. Millions on creating a program that was PROVEN not to work (CEP) and now it sounds like those in power are teetering on the line of admitting what a mess it is - And it is a MESS. Many resources spent on creation of the ALA's which have proven to be nothing but chaos (see examples of MLK on another section - or just ask an ALA teacher). Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a deputy superintendent who had the audacity to disagree with the current dictatorship and is now gone (Lynn Spampinato - spelling may be wrong).
Why, WHY would the board of education agree to a program that has been proven ineffective in other cities? I can answer that...
Mark Roosevelt says something and the Board gets out their big, red, rubber stamp that says "YES". There are no checks and balances in place. Only one school board member that I know of has some background in education and the statements that come out of her mouth are useless.
Every school board member should be required to go into school buildings a minimum number of times every year. All school board members should be required to have conversations with teachers.
Hey Mark R. - why don't you take some of that Gates money and get another program proven not to work and pay for that. Oh yeah - you did - performance pay - PROVEN not to work in education over and over again. Thank you BOA & Tarka for approving yet another trend proven ineffective. Wonder how long it will take them this time to actually admit they screwed up again.
It is incredible that at the Agenda Review, much time was devoted to a Board member praising CEP and no time was spent on any kind of acknowledgement of problems or explanation as to why the program is closing.
The "new" program is being modeled after the NovaNet (spelling?) program already used at the Student Achievement Center. Students make-up credits using computers. Like summer school courses, it is much easier and faster than sitting in a classroom every day for a semester.
My personal opinion is that CEP isn't doing what it was supposed to do so let's switch gears and change the program. The question is though, are we still going to pay the CEP people the same money? If the SAC already does this, why not just expand their role with our own staff members?
The whole idea of CEP was to take the really "bad" students out of PPS, "rehabilitate" their behavior so they could return to their PPS school as a "good" student. It didn't work for everyone though. Am I correct?
Since so much of bad behavior revolves around the "student" needing attention and an audience in the classroom, why don't we provide "long distance learning" for the individuals who impede their peers' education? Provide them with a computer and have them do NovaNet from home or some centrally located, low maintenance building. CEP only could house so many students. This way we could accommodate more behavioral problems for less money.
I realize the BOE points to the teachers as the problem. Those in the trenches know student discipline is a major problem. This would help alleviate that problem on a major scale.
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