Anonymous wrote:
"Perspective
The smooth transition thus far at Westinghouse has been largely credited to sufficient counselors and social workers:http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2016/09/12/At-Westinghouse-a-smooth-transition-despite-early-challenges/stories/201609120050 "
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32 comments:
What a breath of fresh air. Gotta tell ya ,there were some vehement nay sayers on this partnership at the out start but leadership had the courage to move into the unknown, to embrace the unknown. This will be their gain. Choosing a new way because the old has not done anything for the students.
The attitude is one of cooperation and not conflict and as they all move forward "positive energy indeed begets positive energy."
It feels good. Hard work feels good and hopefully success will beget success and we all know how that feels.
You left out one thing only 66 Wilkinsburg students register for classes at Westinghouse
How are we going to get the rest of students which came to about 200+
Do PPS have a STRATEGY!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't HEAR no CONVERSATION about that PROBLEM
No I re-read the article-- what they were saying is that 66 students "appeared" on the first day-- the others had registered before-- those 66 werent all former Westinghouse students.
Some were PPS from other schools etc. Yes in a perfect world everyone is registered and settled and have a schedule at 8 a.m. day one. Reality in Pittsburgh: at every school families appear day one expecting a spot, a desk, a locker, a teacher, a room. Remember when we "right-sized" we put HUGE signs on closed buildings because people really didnt know! People in Pittsburgh assume that the school on the corner is theirs.
This is why we in Pittsburgh have a "re-boot" around Oct 1st-- what schools have extra teachers, which schools have a "bulge" if you will -- 20 more kids in 3rd grade than was expected etc. It happens. No one is blaming anyone, but wait til things balance out-- yes it is hard-- no one wants to change teachers, classes etc-- but neither do we turn away students and say, "sorry 6th grade is full " This isnt even counting people who went the first week and saw something they couldnt deal with, our transport issues with kids cross- city, etc. Yes there are issues-- but alot of them have going on- but only the bridge issue is "new"
7:36AM
Have you not heard the ancient saying? Nobody has the power to take two steps together, you can only take one step at a time. The powerful, the weak, the young, the old___it doesn't matter. And the saying goes, 'Just one step by one step, a man can go ten thousand miles'.
Maybe the folks from Palm Beach County school district have the answer to your comment 7:36AM.
They've traveled some distance to______________.
Obviously the school board thinks the Palm Beach folks have the answers. Unanimous.
Adding to 8:30, I am a teacher and a student showed up after Labor Day because that is when he (his family?) thought school began. Although we haven't started after Labor Day for quite a few years, not everyone seems to know this.
Palm Beach crew (new topic?) In every industry, new administrators bring in people they have confidence in, if openings occur. Since people on this blog seem to agree that many of our extremely competent employees have moved on over the last two administrations, and that the people that were hired since then, haven't had experience, or credentials- I think we have to understand that Dr. Hamlet brought in people who "had done the job"-- not the worst situation we've been in.
So you are saying, 1:46PM, that Dr. Hamlet is aware of the fact that he is surrounded by inexperienced and non-credentialed people in his administration?
9:23 AM
Would you had made that same remark if was Mark Roosevelt was the new Superintendent 😏I don't think so
Meaning Roosevelt gets a PASS Hamlet gets LAMBLASTED
Double Standard you know that's RIGHT
2:23 - Hoping that Dr. Hamlet, an EDUCATOR with credentials and experience in schools with students is able to replace and sur those who are NOT experienced or credentialed and move forward in search of those who have depth of experience with Pittsburh and with PA Core Standards which supersede and the current Common Core being promoted nationwide.
We need (desperately) the approach that Dr. Hamlet is currently in the process of bringing together with national and local collaboration and cooperation!
Who are those who have depth of experience with Pittsburgh and with PA core Standards?
Are they rooted in Palm Beach County, 7:24PM ?
Surely Dr. Hamlet's selection of his Deputy Superintendent and Perry Traditional Academy's Principal should reflect local collaboration and cooperation.
Many teachers were not fans of Mr. Roosevelt, his methods, and his hiring of inexperienced consultants. Union leaders and board members totally ignored what teachers were saying. No one listened to parents or teachers when they spoke out against "the script." Most teachers of that era had been through a number of superintendents-- and saw that some had been teachers and then administrators in this and other districts. You can read and learn PA standards- people move and learn all the time. But you cant instantly gain credentials and no matter what state's standards you follow-- teaching is teaching-- you break down a skil or a concept into steps for a student. I've taught kindergarten through graduate school-- without consultants to tell me how to do the task. I hope this city welcomes Dr. Hamlet's former colleagues-- and no folks we don't lose a bridge that often :)
There is no "depth of experience with PA Core Standards" in PPS; and yes you can read them but if can't apply or teach them in any situation or lesson that arises momentarily and with relevance to life and "thinking" you will fail to educate the students.
Even reading the "PA standards" is not a short nor simple task. To KNOW (standards) and how, if internalized, they will change "thinking" for living productive, creative, and successful lives is the key----reading PA standards will not accomplish that!
It is beyond my comprehension or "thinking" skills, if you may, how Pennsylvania can develop such standards with out any plan to disseminate and embed them into all aspects of curriculum and professional development across the state. They should be part of the 'credentials' required as an educator in Pennsylvania schools.
Regardless the size of the building addressed 333 Market St.
Who are the cadre of educators who developed these standards for PA and what were they "thinking"? What was their strategy for what should be the' required' application and teaching of these standards?
Who was lacking in the critical thinking skills required to undertake and mandate the PA Core Standards?
Here we go again: PA Standards - The Holy Grail of Education.
If as a teacher I can't teach my students to think and be problem solvers thru the natural process of examining and questioning text (adopted or otherwise), posing questions that make them think, facilitating their conversations about rigorous topics, etc etc then I'm not well acquainted with the "art" of teaching.
For years, the PA standards had to be hung on our doors, written into our lesson objectives, and now have been aligned to the curriculum lessons - so we are well versed in and intimately know the standards. How much further has PPS gone because of PA Standards?
You have to know by now 9:50 that the art (and the science) of teaching naturally incorporates what those standards propose - it's not the other way around. PA Standards (and Eligible Content) don't solve the problem in PA education. Good teachers do.
7:45AM - Well said and Amen.
9;50 Totally agrees with your statement 7:45! It is absolutely TEACHERS who solve the problems and make the difference!!! (Also, it would be hard to disagree with the need for "thinking skills" PPS has errored egregiously in the implementation of "standards".
The evidence is everywhere.
Read 7:45 comment again.
It clearly indicates that the PA Standards HAVE been implemented in PPS and as a result teachers HAVE been teaching standards-aligned lessons for years.
The other day in the paper they named all the admin. staff who have left PPS.
How many are being kept on as special consultants? A sweet gig that keeps on giving.
Thosw were different "standards" that were hung on doors. Yes, they were impemented successfully. However these were in place in Pittsburgh before PA Core or Common Core. Mark Roosevelt, Linda Lane & Company moved away and more "out"of than "in" the Pa Department of Education's SAS.
Believe it or not, that is a FACT, not an opinion.
Meetings with officials responsible at PPS Central Office revealed that they were egregiously ill-informed about the PA Standards for which PDE held them accountable. Everyone calls what they do "standards" but too frequently are NOT aligned with those for which all districts are held accountable. This puts teachers and students in an untenable position, most pointedly due to lack of alignment regardless of what is being claimed by C.O.
These statements are verifiable if effort is made, but first you must believe that "standards" are necessary for quality in any endeavor. There appears to be NO such belief by many bloggers here. Enough, enough . . . ???
Are you kidding! A TON of evidence can be found to show we at PPS have been digging into PA Core Standards for years! Who are you? What is your hidden agenda? To make PPS look ridiculous??? You are point blank incorrect. We know it's not the same standards. In fact, we can take you from CCCS to PA Core to Eligible Content. We can take you to strategies that break it down for instruction. If someone in PPS cannot do this, shame on them. However, not sure about newest CO folks, but previous CO curriculum and instruction was not only on it but ahead of other districts. So much so that other districts sought PPS curriculum and instruction out for guidance. Suburban districts friends -- because we not only know the standards, we know how to deconstruct them and turn them into actionable work at the classroom level. If current CO is not moving forward with this work, then there is a problem. This work was started and strong a year ago. What's going on here?
PDE is egregiously lacking in any ability to hold accountable it's failing school districts. Until that is remedied sub' standards' and lack of alignment will be optional.
Really, 6:44? Surely that post is tongue-in-cheek! First, we are NOT aligned to PACS, as those writing curriculum are NOT credentialed curriculum writers able to consistently and with integrity align the two. There is an entire discipline dedicated to the art/science of writing relevant, effective and well-designed curriculum. I would be interested in knowing how many of the PPS curriculum writers possess that certification. Wait, I can answer that, or at least make an educated guess. LESS THAN 10% at best. Instead, PPS posts for teachers to write--teachers who naturally bring biases to the process based upon their own strengths and weaknesses. With that said, I will give credit where credit is due--those inexperienced, under-educated writers sit with a copy of the PACS and take great liberties in manipulating the work to appear as if they've actually considered those standards. Those plans are then sent to under-educated, inexperienced supervisors for review. As time is always of the essence, those supervisors hire "editors" to whom they pass the work. Those editors are paid workshop rate, use the system to collect a few extra dollars and rubber stamp whatever is placed in front of them, save a few changes in grammar and punctuation. Knowledge of, or ignorance of, the standards, however, will have no bearing in Hamlet's success or failure in his new role. The standards are a ridiculous attempt to somehow level a playing field that will never be truly flat. We simply cannot expect every child to grow intellectually at the same rate. Any mother with more than one child can attest to the fact that each child is an individual who should be assessed for ability, then monitored for progress based upon that assessment. We are not going to educate well-versed, emotionally stable children unless we take into account from whence they came; with what baggage, successes and failures. Nowhere in Common Core or PA Core Standards will you find anything that allows for remediation or intensive instruction based on deficiencies precipitated by societal influences. The ignorance spewed here is frightening, especially if it's coming from educators. Hamlet's promise to address the community and to see the child as more than a data point on a chart is what will ensure his success, in spite of state standards.
Half truths. 7:21 Yes. Currently, it seems that those in charge of C & I are not certified. Is new leadership credentialed to do this work? But there were people with certification in previous CO positions. Yes. Correct. There is a study and even art to curriculum development. But regardless of where you go with this conversation, you can take any curriculum unit and see the alignment to PAC. Do that then come back and respond. And study further, there is much written on SAS about PAC and remediation and intensive instruction so all students reach their fullest potential. Only someone with half knowledge and information of what has occurred can write what you have written. Do some more research in historical changes over the past 20 years in PPS C & I and the evoluation of where we are today. We can start the blame with MR who brought in Kaplan. From there is was downhill. Why? People did not do their homework. Groundhog day here in PPS. Anyway, best to Westinghouse. The students and staff will thrive and achieve. I have faith in that.END
I also have faith in the future of Westinghouse! PPS/Wilkinsburg District officials, principal, social workers, counselors, and teachers all working to enlighten, equip, and enrich those precious students with rigorous, relevant, and real world learning experiences without reducing them to data points. Kudos to all involved!!
As teachers are we not meant to inspire 'self trust'. To guide each child's eyes to the spirit that lives with-in them. Is this not the "art" of teaching that 7:45 so beautifully speaks to and Dr. Hamlet seeks to find in each child and community as he looks , listens and learns?
Permit the teachers to teach they way and what they know to be the best. Teaching is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Teachers need latitude and autonomy, not RISE administrators 'better suited to working for the KGB, to "evaluate" an educator with a snapshot of what they perceive as unsatisfactory teaching practice for about a 10 minute observation. Westinghouse can and will achieve success only if the PELAs and anyone else who drank Tarka-Roosevelt Kool-Aid go away and hide in their offices where they are most comfortable. I heard that Walmart is looking for greeters and baggers. Maybe they could apply there.
6:33! You are totally correct!
Yes! there is no doubt!
I understand that many of the PELA's have moved on. How many are there? What schools do they lead?
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