Thursday, August 30, 2012

Bus service eliminated and parents not notified

From wpxi: 

"School officials said they only notify parents and students of what their new bus routes are going to be. In this case there was no new route, so parents weren't notified."

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/school-bus-policy-leaves-some-pittsburgh-public-sc/nRPwq/

!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

PG graphs PSSA results

On another post Anonymous wrote:

NEW POST


http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/143110829171011580/site/default.asp



PPS GRAPHS PROGRESS ON PSSA OVER LAST 10 YEARS . . . .

Notice the Pittsburgh Public School Chart that graphs the district’s progress (or lack thereof) on PSSA over the past ten years. You will see that the progress during the Roosevelt/Lane years was a point or two per year and 15 to 20 points below the PA minimum target!

However prior to the Roosevelt/ Lane regime, the progress in Reading was 10% in one year and the progress in Math was 20% in one year.

After Roosevelt arrived continuing progress dropped off dramatically, while minimum achievement targets rose by 9-10 points every three years!

(The 2012 PA minimum target in Reading is 82% and in Math it is 73%.)

In 2003, PPS MET the STATE’S MINIMUM TARGET in READING and MATH. (Before Roosevelt/Lane)

In 2012, PPS is 20 pts. SHORT of the PA MINIMUM TARGET in READING and 15 pts SHORT of the PA MINIMUM TARGET in MATH !

Remember that the skills assessed by the PSSA remained the same over 10 years, so you would assume that each year students would move forward as the same skills were taught year after year. Yet in PPS students fell further behind each year during the Lane Administration in terms of making progress. Unbelievable! ???







Friday, August 24, 2012

Equity workshop

On another post Anonymous wrote:

"Equity Workshop"


on Monday at 5:30

Conference Room A

Board of Education


Please try to attend the Equity Plan Workshop next Monday evening.

The Human Relations Commission has extended the review of "practices" that are discriminatory for African American Students for two (2) more yeas. years. ( The Advocates for African American Students in Pittsburgh Public Schools filed a “complaint”against the district many, many years ago. for multiple discriminatory practices.



Last year the EQUITY presentation, which is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, included the following:

1. Human Relations Commission Report

2. PSSA Results for all schools.

3. Achievement Gap disparities

4. Graphs demonstrating a comparative analysis of academic achievement results for Black and White students in PPS schools.

The EQUITY PLAN proposal will tell those interested how the PPS District plans to improve achievement for African American students in PPS.

Be there! Look for details. specifics, and changes in past practice! Ask questions of your Board members.





Thursday, August 23, 2012

Gates grant

On another post Anonymous wrote:

New Item


At about 52 minutes into the board meeting I was knocked over by a feather to hear that the Gates grant does not have the very narrow guidelines for its use that I swear, as a parent, I always heard existed. It is well worth watching the discussion started by Dr. Holly. I have not watched the vote portion pertaining to the item. There are a lot of places where we need definitions from admin, including the "define what is an effective teacher" as Dr. Holly pointed out.







Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Fadzen fired

From the Tribune:

http://triblive.com/home/2460694-74/fadzen-board-police-chief-pittsburgh-district-schools-vote-dismissed-public

"10 things you should never say to your kid's teacher"

On another post Anonymous wrote:

New post?




I came across something fun to read on yahoo during my morning scan.

This is for my teacher friends.

The tides are changing? I hope so, but the change is slow and too late for me.



Saturday, August 11, 2012

PSSA cheating reforms lead to lower scores across PA

On another post Anonymous wrote:

"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "PPS does not make AYP":
At the end of this article Pittsburgh is listed as still under investigation. This could get ugly!

http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-30/news/32924357_1_erasure-patterns-education-ronald-tomalis-pssa-results "

- The Pittsburgh mention was hard to find at first-  note that this is a 7 page article.

Friday, August 10, 2012

PPS does not make AYP

On another post Anonoymous wrote:

NEW POST:


Pittsburgh Public Schools Fail to Make Adequate Yearly Progress

"We are extremely disappointed and puzzled by these results since the reforms we have put in place have shown promising results for our students over the past several years," Superintendent Linda Lane said in a prepared release."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/pittsburgh-schools-fail-to-make-adequate-progress-648459/#ixzz23AMphin7

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/pittsburgh-schools-fail-to-make-adequate-progress-648459/#ixzz23ANit0Ym

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/pittsburgh-schools-fail-to-make-adequate-progress-648459/



Wednesday, August 8, 2012

A Plus strategic plan

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Scholarships for students in low performing feeder...": 

NEW POST:
http://www.aplusschools.org/about_strat2.shtml

Please check out Judy Johnston’s A+ Schools Strategic Plan 2012-2015.

The MISSING PIECES in this Strategic Plan are the keys to advancing academic achievement for African American students. 

The “keys” are critical to progress and imperative to any and all strategic educational plans. 
Respectfully, read, analyze and identify the missing pieces. 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

New Broad resident

On another post Anonymous wrote:

Off topic...Looks like we got a new Broadie! Seriously?


http://www.broadcenter.org/residency/network/profile/brian-smith.

What is Brian's 95K getting us?

Friday, August 3, 2012

On another post Anonymous wrote:


Today's PG article on Closing the Racial Achievement Gap quotes Pedro Noguera, a highly regarded consultant from NYU.

Critical requirements include the following:

"While the report calls on central office to provide better support to schools, it is not a top-down approach, noting that "cultures cannot be imposed externally upon a school" but instead must be developed "organically."

(Note that it is NOT the one-size-fits-all approach currently mandated by PPS.)

"That is done through "strong, distributed leadership; a clear vision; buy-in around that vision from staff, students and parents; a willingness to use data to monitor progress and ensure internal accountability; and a deliberative, collective process to support planning, as well as the implementation of timely interventions and reflection."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/pittsburgh-schools-work-to-close-racial-achievement-gap-647376/#ixzz22ULaAEMV

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Alum dedicates book heading to film to Schenley

Quote about Schenley from the article:  "I'm so happy my parents sent me there, it made me who I am. This is a way to keep its memory alive a little bit.""



http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/movies/schenley-grad-jesse-andrews-book-headed-for-big-screen-647018/

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Sale of Prospect

On another post Anonymous wrote:

New topic: Does anyone know about the selling off of Prospect Middle School in Mount Washington? It is the second building in that area to be sold. Boggs Avenue Elementary was the first. And the word on the street is that both were sold on the cheap to the same contractor.