Monday, November 12, 2012

A Plus report on progress or lack thereof

On another post Anonymous wrote:

NEW POST

A+ Schools Releases 2012 Report on School Progress

Pittsburgh Public Schools Stumble as Achievement-Gap Widens and College and Career Readiness Drops

http://www.pittsburghurbanmedia.com/A-Schools-Releases-2012-Report-on-School-Progress-in-Pittsburgh-Schools-Stumble-as-Achievement-Gap-Widens-College-and-Career-Readiness-Drops/ 

74 comments:

Questioner said...

Is any information available on whether the percentage of students qualifying for a free or reduced price lunch has changed? These stu dents typically have a lower percentage of proficiency. Could the results simply reflect a change in the composition of the district? Of course, if the composition is changing because more of those who are able to leave are doing so, that is also a problem.

Anonymous said...

A+ report gives Pittsburgh Public Schools mostly bad grades

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/a-report-gives-city-schools-mostly-bad-grades-661866/#ixzz2C6fO6xPb
From the article:
"Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane knew she would get bad news in the annual report of A+ Schools, which Monday outlined declines in achievement, the graduation rate, number of students qualifying for Pittsburgh Promise scholarships and reduction in college readiness in her district."
But she said the district is already working to stem the tide."

The question remains: HOW is the District working to "stem the tide." WHAT, specifically, is being done differently than it has over the past six years?

Linda Lane states:
"I believe problems have solutions. We have to find out what the answers are."

Typically, Superintendents are hired because they HAVE the solutions! PPS needs to hire educators who have demonstrated that they KNOW the answers and CAN IMPLEMENT the solutions and are not continuously looking to FIND consultants who CLAIM they can provide answers, collect high fees, and then move on to greener pastures, leaving a trail of failures behind.

Pittsburgh must HIRE EDUCATIONAL LEADERS!

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/a-report-gives-city-schools-mostly-bad-grades-661866/#ixzz2C6gPBGAo


Anonymous said...

The Trib quotes Regina Holley who understands PPS:

"Board member Regina Holley was not taking excuses.

“We’ve spent millions of dollars of district money, and we don’t seem to be making any headway,” she said.

Holley called for the district to use different contractors and activities to boost achievement."

It's time for the Board and Administration to heed the words and advice of its minority members, Holley and Brentley!

http://triblive.com/news/education/2942834-74/district-students-schools-percent-pittsburgh-state-percentage-report-black-points

Anonymous said...

The Post Gazette should bring use Mary Niederberger instead of Eleanor Chute to cover Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Mary N. seems capable of some independent thought.

Questioner said...

The independent thinkers seem to get reassigned.

Anonymous said...

The A+ report section on incidents of disciplinary action show we are fairly consistent across all schools in our numbers. Survey non-PPS families and I think you will see that perceptions are where they were 8-10 years ago, or at least, not yet safe and welcoming enough. All the experts working on the performance issues and all the analysis of the methods in use, especially those that extol the right choices have been made so far, seem to be a bunch of baloney, no? Oh well, at worst, pps can be seen as a job creator.

Anonymous said...

The schools have become more and more segregated. Without a diverse population, how does one know that there are different options in life? Milliones - or what some call University Prep- is one of these travesties where the students are sequestered away from any world different from their own.

Questioner said...

Mark Roosevelt said that was a good thing because it would enable the district to focus on those students like a laser.

Questioner said...

Sure enough the percentage of students eligible for a free or reduced priced lunch increased from 68.3 to 71.3. If about a third of free or reduced lunch students are not proficient, that would correlate with a 1 percent increase in lack of proficiency.

Questioner said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Odd that the results show a decline when you consider that A+ made such a big effort to alter the way layoffs are decided. Didn't the teachers touted by A+ as the most effective contribute to the performance last year? Don't get me wrong, no teacher layoffs should ahve occured, class sizes should not have increased and struggling students should be getting more attention, but the strategies employed by A+ to exert influence on the topic were not always nice.

PPS performance will not improve until all kids believe in the value of the education they are getting.

Anonymous said...

Surely, you are not implying that poor children cannot learn !?!

Or that middle class white children are smarter than others? Surely that is not an implication of the question and comments? Right?

Questioner said...

Right, that is not the implication, it is just an observation that to date poorer children have not done as well and so until that changes, more poor children will mean a decline overall in test scores.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:55 AM

Don't believe any PPS disciplinary figures for a second. They are manipulated to keep the numbers low.

Suppose a staff member sends a disciplinary referral to a school administrator. And let's suppose that the misbehavior is serious enough to deserve a suspension from school.

Now, it's in the administrator's own best career interest to keep the school's suspension numbers low.

So here's what the administator can do (and often will do) instead of suspending the student:

The administrator might talk to the student for a couple of minutes, then send the student back to class with a note saying "conferred with student".

Or maybe the administrator might simply send the student right back to class with a note saying "teacher, contact the student's parents."

Or maybe the administator will student sent the student to the school's in-house room (that's sort of like a time-out room).

In all these cases, the student will most probably continue to misbehave.

And the student will have learned that there are no real consequences to the original misbehavior.

But the school's suspension rate sure will look good!

Maybe the administrator will even get a bonus at the end of the year!

And one more thing. The teacher who wrote the referral might well be asked by the administrator: "Why do you write so many referrals? Can't you control your own classroom?"

The teacher will get the hint. Stop writing suspension referrals.



Anonymous said...

Teachers in the past -- prior to roosevelt -- worked with students they had -- certainly they didnt think about being poor-- the buzz phrase was monitor and adjust-- teachers guided the learning not the script-- remember no Gates money given without managed curriculum -- teachers know why things got worse--and yes segregation is a big part of it. When we got comprehensive middle schools in the early 70's neighborhoods mixed and there were enough students to have teachers in lots of varied subject matter. Sure roosevelt felt they couls laser in on black kids and just givevthem more and more remedial classes. Remember when Mlliones was the technology academy and south hills kid and squirrel hill kds were bussed ro there and chose it? Roosevelt was plotting segregation.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:55 is totally correct. The only thing left out of ths true scenerio is the affect day and day on the students who sit through the misbehavior, or joy of joys sit through a teacher writing referrals. Students arent waiting or superman, but they sure are waiting to learn in many classrooms. And yes lets be honest, kids who sit and wait while a kid with a serious behavior issue performs-- does grow racist as time goes on. And parents who walk about in a school, see things rhat cause this too. When prinicipals could build a career on not letting incidents happen in their schools -- schools were orderly and surprise learning occurred. A+ can look to the PELAS directly for lack of learning.

Anonymous said...

Students should NEVER be SUSPENDED from school. Period.

What are the GOALS of SUSPENSION? (For the child?)

WHAT GOOD, specifically, ever comes from suspension? Really? Think about it, please think about it!

How does suspension EDUCATE a child for a better life?

Anonymous said...

There is no doubt that the Roosevelt regime has devastated the education of Pittsburgh's urban student population---no doubt at all!

How long, I wonder, will it take for Pittsburgh to realize the harm that is being perpetrated on city's children?

How long before we have the kind of system that is all about educating our children?

How long before there is a laser on education that shows achievement?

Anon 1:30 said...

Anon 2:09, you asked "how does suspension EDUCATE a child for a better life?"

Well, it doesn't do anything to educate the child. But please understand that a child's misbehavior harms EVERYONE around that child.

Keep in mind that we're talking about gross misbehavior here. Things like interupting class by coming in late all the time, assaulting someone, yelling in class, screaming in class, etc.

You can blame the teacher, blame society, etc., etc.

But at some point, the child must take some responsibility for his/her actions.

If a child simply will not behave, suspension is a last option.


Anonymous said...

Thank you 4:20 for clearly stating that SUSPENSION "doesn't do anything to educate the child".

It is terrific that you agree!

None of the other things that you state are relevant. The issue being addressed was suspension. If suspension does nothing to educate the child then he is not learning, not learning about the effect of what you define as "gross misbehavior" or its effect on others NOR does it help him see the need for responsibility for his/her actions.

Suspension does nothing to improve behavior, learning, or responsibility so why should it be even a last option?

Questioner said...

4:20 seems to be saying that the detriment to other children in the classroom outweighs the benefit to the misbehaving child of being in the classroom, which seems to be a fair issue to consider.

Anonymous said...

If ALL students have a right to learn, how is it fair in any world to have students who totally disrupt learning? My heart goes out to the student sitting and waiting...while someone turns on their ipod to disrupt, overturns chairs to disrupt, assaults another student, just keeps screaming out. Please share your bright ideas for stopping this behavior-because admin isnt going to stop it-- but removing the student means that for that one period- learning will occur.

Anonymous said...

Again, we are talking about suspension here, right?

Certainly, you do not allow a misbehaving child disrupt the learning of a classroom full of children; but, why would the solution be a suspension?

Teachers, principals, and even other students can provide multiple options that do not send a child out of school for even one day.

Suspension for even one day should not be an option for the situations described here since it solves nothing and frankly does nothing to improve behavior, learning or responsibility.

Anonymous said...

I agree it is a fair issue and bet many kids who are working twice as hard to concentrate would agree. What alternatives exist? Any innovative idea floated by a consultant the district may have spent thousands of dollars to take under consideration? Maybe Dr. Nogura has an idea. His anyalysis leaned toward validating what PPS had already developed, but was this an item he looked at?

Anonymous said...

There are dozens of solutions that have been successfully implemented by teachers, students, and principals individually as well as collectively in the best interests of all.

Too many times people look for patent solutions that in the final analysis serve no one. Good teachers, good leaders, good problem solvers tailor the solution to the problem, the situation and the student.

Questioner said...

To what extent can these solutions be implemented by a teacher on his or her own, with no support from administration and with the student remaining in the classroom?

Anonymous said...

Surely, Dr. Noguera will have many ideas, just as most experienced and competent teachers and administrators.

Many persons just try to get rid of a problem (suspension) instead of thinking through the problem and identifying a productive solution.

There are as many solutions as people that are asked for one. Some are obviously productive and others just as obviously counterproductive.

Anonymous said...

All of the solutions that have been witnessed or implemented here were done without administration.

But you question begs another. Are you equating out of the classroom with out of school?

Suspension is out of school and that is what is not an option.

No one said the student MUST remain in the classroom. There are too many alternatives to mention here, especially without a description of the incident, no two of which are the same.

Questioner said...

The question is, what can a teacher do without administrative support; it sounds like neither out of the classroom nor out of school are real options.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely not true at all 8:34. The teacher has the best and often the only option for really solving classroom problems with a student.

There isn't a good teacher who would not agree with that.

Each of us has the capacity to solve most, if not all problems, in our sphere of influence if we really want to solve them for the good of the order!

Questioner said...

We seem to be hearing about teachers with the best intentions and strong motivation to resolve an issue but who are not receiving the support they needl

Anonymous said...

There are many people who are very much dislike paying their taxes.

You could talk to them all day long about their civic duty, and they still would not want to pay their taxes.

So how can you get them to pay their fair share? It's simple. It's called penalties, and jail. Nothing else will work for those people.

The same goes with some students. Nothing - and I mean nothing - will get their attention except suspension.

It's unfortunate that some people have to go to jail for tax evasion. And it's unfortunate that some students have to be suspended.

But this is the real world. This is not some pretend world where some secret phrase will magically change behavior.

And the PPS is not some exclusive private school, where the entire staff can drop everything and work all day with one disruptive student.

It's unfortunate, but many people only respond to penalties.

If you do not believe that, you are a very humane person. But your way will lead to utter chaos.

Anonymous said...

8:18 please share one alternative option if you can. I would like to be able to ask the kids I know if they have ever seen it tried. Hopefully you have one that can be immediatedly employed without learning time lost for the rest of the kids.

9:12 I agree that all problems have a solution but how many people have to agree on the solution and make it the standard procedure? If a kid shows up back in class with a note that says "Conferred with student" that isn't good enough for me. It undermines the teacher and devalues him. How long before misbehavior increases?

Anonymous said...

Everyone is expressing their own truths and more than likely what you believe determines the life you live.

Some of us have never seen suspension be a productive solution.

And some of us have never seen the chaos that was spoken of here when many, many alternatives were implemented very successfully.

So live what you believe and be okay with the results, good, bad, or indifferent.

Questioner said...

Some concrete sollutions and specifics about the extent admin needs to be on board would help.

Anonymous said...

8:41, you have my ear, please share a productive solution. I know many parents who are grateful for The Promise and are looking forward to having it help so tremendously when their kids graduate. However, even a kid who has never had a disciplinary action has the potential of losing Promise eligibility with a suspension if they are caught up in the misbehavior around them. Maybe maintaining Promise eligibility is the reason admin does not use the suspension option as frequently as was done previously. Maybe there should be a meditation room for offenders? Give me one proven alternative to suspension, please.

Anonymous said...

The Administration NEED not be on board. If the teacher has a good relationship, they may want to share with Admin.

Good teachers do not need either parents or principals to run their classrooms. Really! These teachers know their students, and have established an environment where there is mutual respect that has evolved from a teacher's leadership, expectations, professionalism, demonstrated respect for the strengths of EVERY student, and a genuine caring for the success of each person in the room.
Students in this environment do not want to disrupt it in any way. All are thriving!

Many may think that is not a possibility; but, seeing it is believing it. And it happens with teachers who know their profession and their students.

(And yes this includes classrooms in the so-called "bad" neighborhoods.)

Questioner said...

Given that many teachers (most teachers?) have simply not reached this ideal what do we do in the meantime?

Anonymous said...

Yes, a mediation room is one alternative; and, there are many, many others. Sometimes just the right type of security guard can escort an "offending" student out of the room and talk with he/she in a way that calms.
Often grandmother types make the best security guards, believe it or not.

There are so many productive ways of defusing or preventing misbehavior that they are really too numerous to list. Defusing, redirecting, and/or preventing must be the purpose of the strategy NOT "getting rid of the problem" by suspension.

Can it be challenging? Yes, of course it can be. Yet, setting a successful precedent could change the outcomes to where all benefit for the long haul.

Questioner said...

So let's hear it teachers are your principals on board with staffing a meditation room and can students be sent there without any negative reflection on the teacher?

Anonymous said...

10:07 - If teachers have not reached that ideal then maybe they are not ready for the classroom.

It is certainly the expectation that teachers are prepared to "run" a successful classroom.

If not, perhaps it is the teacher who should be "suspended" until they are ready for the task at hand.

It currently appears to be the case that teachers are not well-prepared instructionally, psychologically, philosophically to take on the challenges of being a good teacher much less a master teacher. (That is the problem for administration, professional developers, and university certifiers.)

Anonymous said...

Many schools have a mediation room or process.

Again, that is only one of dozens of ways to address the problem, so lets not make it the be all and the end all because it is NOT.

Questioner said...

Ok so a teacher who can successfully reach 29 students in a classroom but is having trouble with one disruptive student gets suspended. And what if that leaves classrooms unstaffed or constantly churning as different teachers are tested out looking for that one who is always at 100 percent? We need practical solutions.

Questioner said...

Of course the mediation or meditation room is not the only solution but sometimes it helps to take a specific example and see how it is actually working rather than just speaking in generalities.

Anonymous said...

Eureka!! 10:18 you got me thinking now. We have statistics that are read into the record at every legislative meeting; number of students suspended/X days and other categories. Let's identify repeat offenders and assign a security guard or a volunteer grandmother to spend their day as a shadow as an alternative to out-of-school suspension. I am elderly, female and highly annoying and if being attached to me would not cure behavioral ills I don't know what would.

Questioner said...

Seriously that just might work!

Anonymous said...

The effective grandmothers were NOT highly annoying. That is NOT what made the successful with kids!372

Anonymous said...

it's ok 5:07. i only meant that the G'ma-s who serve as an alternative to suspension had to be highly annoying in order to prevent future misbehavior. i volunteered with some of the BEST Grandmas education ever saw. If many were still around we might not be in this predicament.

Anonymous said...

When I was in school if I would have gotten suspended I would have had to deal with the repercussions when I got home. My parents would have made my life a living hell. Why does everyone blame the teachers, administrators, bad kids, etc... The problem is at home, it all starts at home, why is this so hard to understand. You cannot force a child to learn or behave, period. That whole nurturing and encouragement talk only goes so far. I know it's impossible to understand but you can't help everyone.

Anonymous said...

Yes, 6:07, you are right, if those "Grandmas" were still around we might not be in this predicament. If some of the old school principals and teachers were still around the same would be true. Kids did not need to be "bad" to feel good at something.

The nurture and encouragement went a long way to keeping behavior within boundaries.

The homes they came from are not the influence that keep kids within
expected boundaries in classrooms or schools. It is how kids feel about themselves within these spaces. It is that simple, believe it or not!

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can help everyone if that is your purpose, your goal, your belief, your behavior, your determination!

And it doesn't take much. Kids respond to a little positive attention! Try it!

Questioner said...

Many people whose motivation, etc seem beyond reproach have said that is not their experience. Trying hard is not always enough.

Anonymous said...

You people are all crazy if you think encouragement and positive attention will change these kids. They are a product of their environment, and it's a horrible environment. I do applaud your spirit though.

Anonymous said...

Some of us have watched/facilitated/educated these kids (as you call them) in the move from being a so- called product of their environment to being a successful product of a positive school environment.

And that makes us proud to be called crazy by those who have not been able to provide the encouragement and positive attention necessary for that kind of transformation.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how some people on here have escaped the radar of fame.

All of their students always achieved at high levels -- no one had a bad attitude, a bad year, had something go terribly wrong at home that year. No one had a mental or physical illness that interfered. No one was absent as often as they were in school due to family issues.

You'd think we'd have heard of this miracle occurring year after year, no matter what kids were in class or what was happening in their lives.

Why you'd expect someone like that to have a book, an appearance on Oprah, possibly a high level position to influence policy. Or at least a glowing "personal interest" story.

I know many excellent teachers, teachers with great relationships with students, teachers with excellent classroom management. And yet, NONE of them describes it as easy. It may come more easily for them now, but there are still daily challenges, issues that go unaddressed, and children that are not learning what they need to learn.

Until this one poster can get past this belief that it's EASY and only takes some love and belief, rather than unending hard work, it's really hard to read here!

Questioner said...

And even with unending hard work how often is it possible to reach 100% of students?

Anonymous said...

"Until this one poster can get past this belief that it's EASY and only takes some love and belief, rather than unending hard work, it's really hard to read here!"

Don't be discouraged, it is probably someone from admin. i am a parent and we support teachers not central admin!

Anonymous said...

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/education-should-prepare-students-for-life-after-high-school-not-for-tests-660769/

We have got to really start talking about charting a new direction. I can hear the voice of a purereform moderator at an EFA meeting floating the idea of expanding options for those students who are not college bound. It was at least 4 years ago. Is it too late?

Anonymous said...

6:15 - No. its not from admin; its from teacher(s) and not once was it stated that it was easy because it is not. Its hard, hard work (unending is a good description), and lots and lots of time; but its worth it!

And the love and belief is returned (along with success) twofold!

Anonymous said...

Read the posts under "fiscal cliff"-- all of that love and compassion for students is hard to maintain when you see all your colleagues exited, and you are living under threatening conditions every day-- it isnt healthy folks-- and if you think you are "safe" because you are loved, exalted, etc-dont believe it-- the climate for you can change in a heartbeat. The truth is- admin are put on improvement plans if they DONT target somebody- its their family or yours eating....we have no union/ they have no more association to at l;east be a voice...and when they run out of seasoned teachers and admin and this is their only strategy-- who will be next?

Anonymous said...

Linda Lane is not getting the job done and we all know it. Either we bring someone in who can do the job or we lose our school district under her leadership. She simply is not the right person to lead us out of our troubles? Do you agree or disagree?

Anonymous said...

Sadly it it like a monster-- hydra?-- where if you chop off hee head -- we get another broadie flying monkey! The only hope is new board members running on total reform -- oust consultants-- take the few admin and seasoned trachers left, gather them and ask - what can we do today that is real teaching and helping kids-- throw out rise-- and go back to running classrooms and schools_ not like the olden days but like the rest of the world where schools are working-- either toss pelas or tell them-- their training didnt teach them how to administrate a school. Somehow the rest of the state does it without getting rid of the best teachers and admin-- pps dug this hole themselves. Start having meetings again where teachers arent afraid to speak out!
Stop a district of fear of reprisals! Remember when teachers paid dues for a say and some protection. This isnt necessarily a step backward-- cause 400+ districts do it in this state alone. 2

Anonymous said...

PPS would benefit tremendously if they would bring back the old school principals to mentor the pelas.

It might not help given the arrogance that seems to substitute for a serious lack of experience.

We might hope that mentoring could be the answer for teachers and administrators in the same way that it is expected to be for the students.

Anonymous said...

The arrogance is also planned-- one example -- old school principals didnt like to have alot of calls to the hotline-- even in thecearly Roosevelt years-- spring 2006ish-- Rosie himself checked the hotline. PELAs were told -- dont worry that is just a sign of change when parents are upset about things like chaos. They were told only obligation was to their pela coach. Old school principals would have been personally embarassed by many of the acts that invilved parents withness daily.

Anonymous said...

When my last kid graduated I lost interest in PPS and the A+ Report. Lately, it seems like the Report is getting a lot of attention and parents around me are talking a lot about it. Unfortunately, many don't think they understand the recent history and developments enough to speak out. The district is also a big employer and some are connected to employees and feel that it might be damaging to speak out.

It is time that the RISE system be suspended. I defy anyone to prove to me that its practices did not contribute to the poor performance of the district. The seeds planted in the minds of the kids that there are almost no teachers worth their salt, that the best teachers are on unemployment, and that the observations they see happening mean the quality of the education they are getting is crap, must be contributing in some big way to an attitude of "why should I work hard, my teacher is not getting a good grade" anyway. Something went terribly wrong here and RISE has to be a big factor. You know what? Suspending RISE, even for the rest of the school year won't happen because too many will be left with nothing to do. Just how many RISErs are employed by PPS?

Anonymous said...

Good comments/questions 1:19.

Anonymous said...

Excellent comment 1:19--It is hard to imagine in this day and age a corporate environment who works this hard to demoralize staff.I keep feeling like teachers did nothing but their jobs-- and yet they are in a punishment and abuse situation. What did teachers do to deserve this attitude? Teachers know that this doesnt get the best work out of kids. Why would anyone think this is the best way to get results out of teachers? Anyone who sees RISE as fair let alone empowering- is LYING to suck in-- It wont work folks. We all had great teachers and so so teachers in life-- who can say that great teachers walked around looked beaten downas PPS teacghers do. Can we rally against RISE?

Bram Reichbaum said...

Hi, everybody. I noticed some time ago my blog was referenced in a comment. I'm *really* curious what you guys think of what I just wrote about the school district. It was buried within a longer post.

Meanwhile, School District Superintendent Linda Lane is putting a brave face on an institution that seems chronically broke, has not for a long time been high-achieving, and now seems to have suffered some discouraging performance setbacks just as things were supposed to be improving.

While there are a host of challenges over which the District has only meager levels of control (including its own past mistakes and other sub-optimal practices which are apparently human nature), an undercurrent among many seems to be: "Well, what else can we do to give these kids some kind of an edge?" And that gets to the bitterly controversial idea of using what measurement data is at our disposal to attempt to manage our crucial teaching force more optimally and intentionally. Such a move would not provide an ironclad guarantee for a panacea -- but it's trying something that has a clear and scientific rationale, that is within our control, and that instinctively most parents desire.

[There was a pic of a tweet here by @PghReporter

The Pittsburgh Promise might really become the huge game-changer it was hyped to be, but if and only if our District inspired confidence. Right now it does not, and has not, and we're a long way from it. The reasons for that are structural and systemic (including the politics of attaining proper funding). Let's introduce something structural of our own, something that's good news, something for which we and only we are responsible.

Sorry for the flagrant self-promotion. It strikes me by the way that suspension, although necessary sometimes to remove a temporarily acute learning obstacle from other children, should not be used repetitively if it's been used very much on the same student and it's not getting through. I remember at Allderdice 89-93 there was some kids who just seemed to be suspended all the time and it just wasn't any good for them.

Anonymous said...

Each school that has not seen substantial progress over the last six years (and there are many) must RALLY together a COMMUNITY GROUP that takes on the establishment that is in place at PPS.

The Hill District Education Council has rallied such a community group that is demanding, committing, rallying the the needed volunteers to dramatically change/improve the achievement at the three Hill District Schools. They have been relentless in their quest for equity and excellence in Hill schools. It is a "whatever it takes approach" and they are expecting results this school year.

Every underachieving school needs a community effort that is similarly relentless in demanding the best for its children and schools.

Anonymous said...

Question for anon 1:21--are these Hill schools still wasting teachers time-- showing evidence for RISE's 49 pages? Prior to 2006, teachers spent their time working hard to teach students necessary content-- of course there were discussions, group projects etc. but students expected teachers having soething to teach and that they would do it.and most teachers knew the most efficient way to get most students learning-- and then, maybe struggles a bit with students who needed more. "Student centered" has becoe letting students find their way, while adults play with evidence, papers, rise, and laptops.

Anonymous said...

Curious question, 5:26,"are these Hill schools still wasting teachers time"?

Schools are teachers (and students, of course)so, the idea of progress wastes the time of neither, right?

And where was RISE's 49 pages even mentioned? Nor was "student-centered" as in letting students find their way, etc.?

The post that you reference was about the community becoming a productive part of ensuring that progress is made. It would require a few independent elements to be sure, but collaboration with a committed community can get schools there. That is the focus, it seems.

Other posts focused on RISE, etc., but not community as in the one you are speaking about at 5:26?

(It is not a good idea to throw all of the posts into one pot and draw your own conclusion based on such a mixture.)

Anonymous said...

Let's look at ideas presented here, as separate from each other.

Maybe there are some ideas that when considered seriously and tweaked to serve each (or different) circumstances will work.

Don't give up before you start to think independently. Or complain before you have tried to solve problem situations.

Progress for the city's children is worth the effort. ALWAYS!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone gotten all the way through the stateofthedistrict.org video on youtube?

Anonymous said...

I didn't get why Mr. Ghubril was speaking to the development of the principal recruitment and training piece of pps during his opening remarks. At least he got in the important part about the LRDC at Pitt (Learning Research Development Center)and the charts he showed.

Is admin.office of teacher effectiveness still crafting the definition of effective teacher?

Nogura (sp?) spoke of people not working together? Who specifically?