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The citizens of the city of Pittsburgh should mount a class action law suit against Mark Roosevelt for the self-serving mess that he left behind. This is not a joke.
It will take longer but eventually problems with the IB school concept will become apparent. And then finally problems with the sci tech school Roosevelt's CMU class designed.
If he had renovated Schenley like everyone supported; kept the IB and Robotics programs there; kept it a diverse high school (white & black students)...then all the Peabody students would be happy attending Schenley High School. Now you are going to have two crappy high schools in the east end....UPrep and Westinghouse.
The only thing the district has going for it is CAPA and Allderdice's CAS Program. They could have had Schenley too. Inexcusable, a shame, irresponsible, stupid, arrogant, criminal.
Remember when MR and D-Lo said that the problem with Schenley wasn't really the asbestos, but that the "high achieving white students" were distracting everyone from the needs of the African American neighborhood kids?
And remember that they said that UPrep was a way to "focus a laser" on Hill District students, to give them what they really needed -- despite the scores of Schenley's black students being HIGHER than the scores of black students at any other PPS high school?
Remember all the Schenley parents and teachers (black, white and everything in between) said that we should boost up the already successful programs so that even more black students and free/reduced lunch students could take at least one IB class? That we should fix the building that housed generations of successful students, Hill District families, and decades of friendships that spanned racial and socio-economic barriers? That we should build up, not tear down, the legacy of Schenley?
Is it time for Schenley families from all over the city to say, "I told you so"?
I'm a little confused at what is yet another unsubstantiated claim...just what are the problems with the IB school concept? Please, share with the readers what those problems are. As a teacher at Obama, I get a little tired of people who want to start trouble to ostensibly shed light on their beliefs. That is, most of us bemoaned the fact that not only the building but the Schenley name is gone. Most of us saw Roosevelt as someone who targeted a prime piece of Oakland property more than anything else. But please. Your logic in torpedoing a good program is asinine. The Spartan program was a good one but let's face reality, shall we? It was another school within a school strategy. Everyone who thought the strategy was a good one and had a kid within was happy. Hey, IB works! Everyone on the outside saw it as having problems. I'd say offhand that the principal should have two groups at our school---a group that wants to work towards to IB diploma and a group that is happy just to graduate from a good school. Who am I to say what's right? And who are you to talk about problems?
Lots of things could work! Put the IB program at Schenley; have groups that do/ do not want to work toward the diploma; put U Prep at Schenley; put both at Schenley, at least for 9-12. Whatever it is, it will do better in a well designed building in a great location.
Obama teacher said: "I'd say offhand that the principal should have two groups at our school---a group that wants to work towards to IB diploma and a group that is happy just to graduate from a good school. Who am I to say what's right? And who are you to talk about problems? "
Your last two sentences are odd! If you don't have any sense of right and wrong, why are you teaching? Informed opinions are certainly welcomed.
I'm able to talk about problems because I have a kid there, knowledge of the program as it used to be, and I know and talk with parents with students from 6th through 12th grades.
So do you think that kids who want to go for the diploma are going to be as successful in the new structure? From what I see and hear, no.
My concerns are that it's hard to be as motivated and involved as you need to be in IB if your classmates are not. IB is based on participation and discussion and writing. Only one of those things can a student do on his or her own.
In certain languages, the teachers (or in some years, the lack thereof) have been mediocre to bad for years. There are non-IB trained teachers. There are teachers who have half their class quit midway through the year for a couple of years now.
Discipline in the 6-8th grades, from all reports, is uneven to non-existent. Bullying, kids in the halls during classes, rude and disrespectful, etc.
None of this is a problem that can't be overcome, but I am no longer telling people who ask me that they should send their kids there. And that goes for black and white, and all different levels of ability and interest.
What happens next year when the 9th grade has a big influx of kids who are only there to escape all the other East End changes and have no interest in IB?
Yes, that has been the traditional take on Allderdice. It was not how Schenley was talked about, until MR & co. needed to take it down.
They trumped up reasons to kill it, then felt they had to stick by them. They had to make an example of Schenley, once they realized the resistance. How would they be able to keep closing and opening and moving and experimenting if parents and the community had a voice?
So, they dug in their heels and created...a failing school at UPrep (or Milliones, as they like to call it now that it sucks), and may have sentenced the IB program to a long slow death.
But at least now other people that think about resisting know that it's pointless.
Obama teacher: Allderdice has at least 3 students going to Ivy League schools this year- and probably more. What about the IB students? Where are the super achieving kids these days? And if they are there, do the colleges and universities know?
Anon, why am I teaching? Let me get this straight, you are relying on hearsay and reporting it as gospel and then resorting to insults? I'm teaching because I believe in the program, because I love kids and because I tend to see the good in all of God's children before I see the 'bad'. I am teaching because I prefer to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. I'm teaching because I believe that all kids can achieve, whether via the IB diploma path or another. I am teaching because no matter how much administrators who are not even in schools label me and fellow teachers as 'the problem in schools', the reality is that at the end of the day, I am the person most likely to move the great majority of kids towards their goals and towards better lives. My comment that asserts "who am I to say" reflects on my belief that my building administrators likely have a plan and see a bigger picture that logistically I cannot. I am teaching at a high level in spite of the fact that parents on the outside will have a negative view of me, my colleagues, my school and my administrators, no matter what successes may come. My focus is now and has always been the kids that are in my classes. I know of no teacher in our building or in this district who would say or think any other way. I am glad that you are blessed with kids at the middle school level who are not going through growing pains and I am glad that your older children enjoyed the school within a school method of our old IB style. I acknowledged in my previous posting that perhaps such a method would be something that should be contemplated again. However, I will not make a bold statement from the outside--as someone who simply cannot see the bigger picture. I will leave that to you. Someone once said that perception is reality. It's a shame that your perception taints your commentary. Someone else said that the grass isn't always greener someplace else. What you see and what you hear, dear parent, simply don't represent the reality of our school. Perhaps you ought to spend a little time in our school before you seek to defame.
Anon at 10:33, I am glad that your school is producing Ivy League material. That's wonderful. In light of the fact that 'Obama' kids will not be graduating its first class until next year, I am wondering just what type of comparison you are looking for. If what you are seeking is a rendering of where Schenley kids have gone with IB diplomas, perhaps I can oblige you with the knowledge that many students have gone on to tremendous schools. Please know that my writing here is not to knock Allderdice. On the contrary, it is to correct gross misrepresentations.
Allderdice will have many kids going to Ivies, and they seem to have a lot more free time than IB students ever did. Someone focuses on high achievers at that school within a school. It's hard to say that was ever the focus at Schenley. My kid never got any college counseling, and at awards ceremonies every kid who participated on a sports team was called up on stage but there was no mention of the merit finalists or honors students.
Obama teacher, do not make assumptions. I am a parent of a Schenley grad who never wanted to go to Allderdice. I am just stating the facts of the state of the PPS high schools as it appears at the present time.
When it comes to focusing disproportionately on achieving students, it seems like Schenley got a bad rap. There were good teachers (in ALL of the programs and leading activities open to all) and a CAS limit on class size but otherwise achieving students seemed to fend for themselves. The principal was busy with students who were fighting.
"Let me get this straight, you are relying on hearsay and reporting it as gospel and then resorting to insults?"
I'm not sure who you think is insulting you? You did say "Who am I to say what's right?" which seems an odd sentiment. Of course, everyone's views are filtered through their perceptions -- talk to a TOK teacher! -- perceptions are all we poor humans have to go on. But honestly, I'd prefer that you did have some well-thought opinions that you hold to be right or true. That's another thing kids are taught to do well through IB -- develop an opinion and support it.
Which of the things I mentioned do you feel are untrue? Is discipline good in the middle school? Are students who are not interested in the diploma holding back kids who may be? (You were the one who alluded to that.)
You say, "parents on the outside will have a negative view of me, my colleagues, my school and my administrators, no matter what successes may come."
I don't have a negative view of 90% of the HS IB teachers -- particularly those who have been with this program more than a year or two. In fact, the teachers are WHY I have a kid in the school still. I have a negative view of many (particularly newer, particularly bought into Bellefield) administrators, it's true. I don't like it when administrators get in the way of teachers and a good program rather than facilitating it.
I talk regularly to teachers in your school and to other parents who are also regularly in your school. Why would I want to think that my child's school isn't good?! Ask yourself that question and really think about it. I've chosen the school and the program, I didn't realize that meant I could no longer see a big picture or have any but a positive impression.
Obama Teacher, "My focus is now and has always been the kids that are in my classes. I know of no teacher in our building or in this district who would say or think any other way"
Do you or your fellow teachers question why you can't be an individual and have to adhere to a script? If you are happy with Jerri Lipert, Bill Gates, and Eli Broad what will happen when you get "audited" by the dedicated ciriculum police? I believe the vast majority of teachers want what is best for kids. Falling in line and being a good Broad/Gates Solidier does not equal a good teacher.
I'm teaching because I believe in the program, because I love kids and because I tend to see the good in all of God's children before I see the 'bad'. I am teaching because I prefer to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. I'm teaching because I believe that all kids can achieve, whether via the IB diploma path or another
Do you miss writing lesson plans, or are you comfortable "believing" in a program? I have no doubt that you are a good, great or exceptional teacher simply because you care. I have nothing but my gut to back this up, but your post reads like a Pittsburgh teacher academy graduate post.
Pretzel logic. Patronizing commentary. I've read my fair share of individuals on this site over the years, but you seem to be well versed in the area of twisting words and drawing inaccurate conclusions. In fact, I find your logic downright insulting. Again, what is the end game in defaming an entire school? Your bottom line seems to be that Schenley Spartan teachers knew IB inside and out and those that have come over with Frick are an affront to the IB idea. You also go on to say that the IB philosophies are at loggerheads with the current PPS philosophies. And speaking on philosophies, you toss in a little TOK to illuminate your argument as being someone in the know. You know nothing beyond your own perceptions, which seem to be aided by a disgruntled Schenley staffer who whispers in your ear. Please friend, I can handle your mentality and your approach any day of the week. Just who do you think you are fooling? I'm hopeful that the 'parents' who look to you for recommendations for their child's schooling are smart to sense the baggage and agenda in your explanations. What a load of manure you are peddling.
"Do you or your fellow teachers question why you can't be an individual and have to adhere to a script?"
honestly, I believe teachers question everything. I believe they are doing the job of parents who are just happy that the major chnges that come down don't impact their kid too, too, much. You must also believe it's all a money issue. There is not enough to go around and where the biggest philanthropists should be saying "here is a grant, let's see what you can do with it" the money comes with rules on how to spend it.
This is definitely a tough time where the blame game is most likely in full swing. Cuts to budgets mean cuts of people programs, activities, purchases, events, and increases to class size and the stresses of being inside a classroom for kids.
By the way, it's not like the argument that "high acheiving kids were distracting attention from neighborhood kids" was ever made out in the open to CAS and IB parents. If that had been the case there could have been a discussion and administrators could have explained what special attention they saw particular groups of kids getting, with an eye toward remedying any imbalance. These arguments were instead made behind closed doors to select listeners, while the public argument was based on asbestos.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing about OT not sounding like any IB teacher I've met!
The answer at the diploma level, at the very least is that they aren't following scripts, because they have a different curriculum. They have an actually rigorous curriculum rather than one that only pretends to be so like the rest of the district.
Also, OT, there isn't just one person posting here about Obama.
I'd really suggest you reread your posts and the responses when you are in a calmer mood. Any program (or people in that program) that feels it can't be improved and must not be questioned isn't as strong as it could be and is set up for a fall.
Also, I truly don't see the benefit to you in calling parents liars and their experiences untrue. Do some lie? Sure -- but again ask yourself why parents would even want to say bad things about the school their child is in. Parents should (and could) be your biggest promoters.
I don't think Obama Teacher was calling parents liars. On the contrary, he/she was calling one parent on the carpet for fabricating situations which aren't true. I have to agree that there is a goodly amount of "pretzel logic" being used here by that one parent. Why? Why twist words? Why make claims which are simply not reality? Where is the individual getting his or her info and to what end? As a teacher myself, I've read and re-read this thread and will say that the teacher is cognizant of what's going on in PPS at this point in time. Yes, IB has its own agenda but the trick is connecting PPS into it. It's done on a daily basis. it has to be and if you don't believe that, please call Dr.Lippert and let's listen to her take. I'm taken aback by the idea that teachers at any PPS can fly outside of the radar these days without fear of repercussion. That's patently insane. If your content area has a curriculum within PPS--and certainly most teachers within IB fit this scenario--then sure, you use PPS curriculum and infuse IB curriculum. After reading all of this, it sounds a lot like an attack not only on a school, but also its teachers. I didn't get the idea that the teacher was angry in the least. In fact, I found him or her downright eloquent.I did see the responses as being comments aimed at a troublemaker. To the parent, let me say this: we all hear about teachers who are brazen enough to "do their own thing" all over the district. We hear that they won't conform, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then we read the board minutes. I salute the chutzpah of the teachers you speak to who apparently have some bitterness about being jettisoned from Schenley--the building and the school. Sounds like you are using a combination of big talk and vitriol all wrapped up in one. We can just have a few more professional development sessions if we need that.
Do you mean the same science books (yes); history books (yes); math books (yes)? Or do you mean the selection of books for English? That seems to be yes too, although teachers might lean more toward choosing books with some international connection. It seems like projects are often using an IB rubric (which unfortunately is sometimes difficult to understand and seems to be based on a tough European grading scale).
Well there are certain classes that must be taken that are not part of the normal PPS curriculum, such as "Theory of Knowledge," and there is an extended essay requirement. And subjects are to be looked at through the lense of different "areas of interaction" (one of them is "human ingenuity" and another is something like "community and service"). There are frequent requirements to reflect on work that is done, which can valuable except when questions get repetitious and/or out of proportion to the original project itself. And of course students take IB tests at the end of 12th grade.
"honestly, I believe teachers question everything. I believe they are doing the job of parents who are just happy that the major chnges that come down don't impact their kid too, too, much. You must also believe it's all a money issue. There is not enough to go around and where the biggest philanthropists should be saying "here is a grant, let's see what you can do with it" the money comes with rules on how to spend it. "
You misunderstood me. I want the venture philanthropists, and NCLB out of here and I want teachers to have the freedom to do what they do best, teach.
So many questions.... Most IB courses have PPS curricula, as well. Most have PPS books, as well. Since they are IB, they augment PPS with various IB areas of interaction on a daily basis. They tie the instruction into areas like health, environment, social, human ingenuity, etc. Materials, instruction and books augment PPS. Ancillary books are often read. In the IBDP, IB IS the curriculum used. In the lower grades, PPS sets the framework but IB ties that curriculum into a global way of thinking each day. It is a very enriching and rewarding process and one that makes lemonade out of PPS's lemons. I would want my kids to go this route if I had children of this age, to be frank. Methods of teaching are much different than PPS---expectations are higher, teachers again are looking at a bigger picture, the element of rich conversation is much better utilized....
As far as the original question as to 'why would a parent cast disparaging comments at a school, etc...', please know that I liked the Schenley principal and her way of conducting IB. I also like the Obama principal and his different take of conducting IB in grades 11-12. Some simply do not like him or his methods. It seems to me that this is the reason why a few teachers and a few parents try to torpedo a good school. A very good school. Lastly, your comments about the middle school are rather humorous. I don't have a lot of dealings there but I'm obviously in the vicinity quite often. The kids are not evil, they are not mean, they are not in halls after bells. The VP in charge of that area has to be...has to be...the most proactive administrator I have ever seen. She is literally everywhere, at all hours of the day. I've seen this now for two years. After reading your comments about 6-8th, I have to wonder just which school you are referring to. It's not Obama. Is it Fantasy Island, are you simply hallucinating or is there something else behind your posts?
If Obama is such a great school why isn't there a waiting list?
I know some familes that have kids going there and they are ok with it, but wanted their kid in another magnet. It is viewed as the lesser or two evils by many parents. What will happen when it moves to Peabody? Are the bus routes easier for high school kids, has that been considered?
I would not feel safe sending my children to a school that has had 2 shootings so far this year.
When the district did enrollment projections it always assumed 100% enrollment at its new 6-12 schools and as a result few students left at the old schools.
I think there was an assumption on the part of the district that the IB program would be a big enough draw to keep the school full and the parents happy. But maybe now they're learning that things like physical plant, school leadership (or lack of thereof) and school safety have to factor in as well.
Yup -- they seemed to think that it was totally portable and rearrangeable and that somehow the demand would grow without anything else.
Nope.
If they'd promoted it as "gifted-type" or "gifted-style" education available to all children, they might have gotten further. If they'd explained the IB program better, if they hadn't mixed it in with the 6-12 thing, if if if...
Also they need to look into why the program is not working out for some students who are going to class each day and working hard what can be done for them.
PPS needs to look into the reason that almost NONE of their programs are working. The decline seems to have come with RISE, PELA and the new CORE CURRICULUM. These have been in place long enough for there to be improvement somewhere, don't you think.
So, if these are the reason for the problems, what are some the possibilities for solutions?
If you are an educator or if you do the research, you will know that it is a long established fact that 1) the more experience and expertise of educators, the more success for students; 2) one-size-fits-all "scripted" curricula never produces the best results.
The lack of experienced, credible educators and the corresponding lack autonomy for curricula and instruction that meets the needs of various populations has been the downfall of PPS.
Gates, Broad, Rand, & Company are corporate entities who are terrifically successful at expanding wealth; but dismally unsuccessful at expanding minds. The models are mutually exclusive.
42 comments:
Remember when MR said he was leaving because he had done everything he set out to do?
The citizens of the city of Pittsburgh should mount a class action law suit against Mark Roosevelt for the self-serving mess that he left behind. This is not a joke.
It will take longer but eventually problems with the IB school concept will become apparent. And then finally problems with the sci tech school Roosevelt's CMU class designed.
If he had renovated Schenley like everyone supported; kept the IB and Robotics programs there; kept it a diverse high school (white & black students)...then all the Peabody students would be happy attending Schenley High School. Now you are going to have two crappy high schools in the east end....UPrep and Westinghouse.
The only thing the district has going for it is CAPA and Allderdice's CAS Program. They could have had Schenley too. Inexcusable, a shame, irresponsible, stupid, arrogant, criminal.
Remember when MR and D-Lo said that the problem with Schenley wasn't really the asbestos, but that the "high achieving white students" were distracting everyone from the needs of the African American neighborhood kids?
And remember that they said that UPrep was a way to "focus a laser" on Hill District students, to give them what they really needed -- despite the scores of Schenley's black students being HIGHER than the scores of black students at any other PPS high school?
Remember all the Schenley parents and teachers (black, white and everything in between) said that we should boost up the already successful programs so that even more black students and free/reduced lunch students could take at least one IB class? That we should fix the building that housed generations of successful students, Hill District families, and decades of friendships that spanned racial and socio-economic barriers? That we should build up, not tear down, the legacy of Schenley?
Is it time for Schenley families from all over the city to say, "I told you so"?
Schenley fans can still come together to call for the return of Schenley.
Yes, the prevalent attitude is disgust, and "I just want to get my kid out and be done."
But some things are worth fighting for. Drop an email to PURE if you're in. And don't leave it to someone else- it takes everyone.
I'm a little confused at what is yet another unsubstantiated claim...just what are the problems with the IB school concept? Please, share with the readers what those problems are.
As a teacher at Obama, I get a little tired of people who want to start trouble to ostensibly shed light on their beliefs. That is, most of us bemoaned the fact that not only the building but the Schenley name is gone. Most of us saw Roosevelt as someone who targeted a prime piece of Oakland property more than anything else.
But please. Your logic in torpedoing a good program is asinine.
The Spartan program was a good one but let's face reality, shall we? It was another school within a school strategy. Everyone who thought the strategy was a good one and had a kid within was happy. Hey, IB works! Everyone on the outside saw it as having problems.
I'd say offhand that the principal should have two groups at our school---a group that wants to work towards to IB diploma and a group that is happy just to graduate from a good school. Who am I to say what's right? And who are you to talk about problems?
Lots of things could work! Put the IB program at Schenley; have groups that do/ do not want to work toward the diploma; put U Prep at Schenley; put both at Schenley, at least for 9-12. Whatever it is, it will do better in a well designed building in a great location.
Obama teacher said: "I'd say offhand that the principal should have two groups at our school---a group that wants to work towards to IB diploma and a group that is happy just to graduate from a good school. Who am I to say what's right? And who are you to talk about problems? "
Your last two sentences are odd! If you don't have any sense of right and wrong, why are you teaching? Informed opinions are certainly welcomed.
I'm able to talk about problems because I have a kid there, knowledge of the program as it used to be, and I know and talk with parents with students from 6th through 12th grades.
So do you think that kids who want to go for the diploma are going to be as successful in the new structure? From what I see and hear, no.
My concerns are that it's hard to be as motivated and involved as you need to be in IB if your classmates are not. IB is based on participation and discussion and writing. Only one of those things can a student do on his or her own.
In certain languages, the teachers (or in some years, the lack thereof) have been mediocre to bad for years. There are non-IB trained teachers. There are teachers who have half their class quit midway through the year for a couple of years now.
Discipline in the 6-8th grades, from all reports, is uneven to non-existent. Bullying, kids in the halls during classes, rude and disrespectful, etc.
None of this is a problem that can't be overcome, but I am no longer telling people who ask me that they should send their kids there. And that goes for black and white, and all different levels of ability and interest.
What happens next year when the 9th grade has a big influx of kids who are only there to escape all the other East End changes and have no interest in IB?
About the school within a school and "Everyone on the outside saw it as having problems." Wouldn't that describe Allderdice?
By the time problems can be substantiated it is often too late.
Yes, that has been the traditional take on Allderdice. It was not how Schenley was talked about, until MR & co. needed to take it down.
They trumped up reasons to kill it, then felt they had to stick by them. They had to make an example of Schenley, once they realized the resistance. How would they be able to keep closing and opening and moving and experimenting if parents and the community had a voice?
So, they dug in their heels and created...a failing school at UPrep (or Milliones, as they like to call it now that it sucks), and may have sentenced the IB program to a long slow death.
But at least now other people that think about resisting know that it's pointless.
Obama teacher: Allderdice has at least 3 students going to Ivy League schools this year- and probably more. What about the IB students? Where are the super achieving kids these days? And if they are there, do the colleges and universities know?
Anon, why am I teaching?
Let me get this straight, you are relying on hearsay and reporting it as gospel and then resorting to insults?
I'm teaching because I believe in the program, because I love kids and because I tend to see the good in all of God's children before I see the 'bad'. I am teaching because I prefer to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. I'm teaching because I believe that all kids can achieve, whether via the IB diploma path or another. I am teaching because no matter how much administrators who are not even in schools label me and fellow teachers as 'the problem in schools', the reality is that at the end of the day, I am the person most likely to move the great majority of kids towards their goals and towards better lives.
My comment that asserts "who am I to say" reflects on my belief that my building administrators likely have a plan and see a bigger picture that logistically I cannot.
I am teaching at a high level in spite of the fact that parents on the outside will have a negative view of me, my colleagues, my school and my administrators, no matter what successes may come.
My focus is now and has always been the kids that are in my classes. I know of no teacher in our building or in this district who would say or think any other way.
I am glad that you are blessed with kids at the middle school level who are not going through growing pains and I am glad that your older children enjoyed the school within a school method of our old IB style. I acknowledged in my previous posting that perhaps such a method would be something that should be contemplated again. However, I will not make a bold statement from the outside--as someone who simply cannot see the bigger picture. I will leave that to you.
Someone once said that perception is reality. It's a shame that your perception taints your commentary.
Someone else said that the grass isn't always greener someplace else.
What you see and what you hear, dear parent, simply don't represent the reality of our school. Perhaps you ought to spend a little time in our school before you seek to defame.
Anon at 10:33, I am glad that your school is producing Ivy League material. That's wonderful. In light of the fact that 'Obama' kids will not be graduating its first class until next year, I am wondering just what type of comparison you are looking for.
If what you are seeking is a rendering of where Schenley kids have gone with IB diplomas, perhaps I can oblige you with the knowledge that many students have gone on to tremendous schools.
Please know that my writing here is not to knock Allderdice. On the contrary, it is to correct gross misrepresentations.
Allderdice will have many kids going to Ivies, and they seem to have a lot more free time than IB students ever did. Someone focuses on high achievers at that school within a school. It's hard to say that was ever the focus at Schenley. My kid never got any college counseling, and at awards ceremonies every kid who participated on a sports team was called up on stage but there was no mention of the merit finalists or honors students.
Obama teacher, do not make assumptions. I am a parent of a Schenley grad who never wanted to go to Allderdice. I am just stating the facts of the state of the PPS high schools as it appears at the present time.
When it comes to focusing disproportionately on achieving students, it seems like Schenley got a bad rap. There were good teachers (in ALL of the programs and leading activities open to all) and a CAS limit on class size but otherwise achieving students seemed to fend for themselves. The principal was busy with students who were fighting.
Obama teacher, please reread what you've written.
"Let me get this straight, you are relying on hearsay and reporting it as gospel and then resorting to insults?"
I'm not sure who you think is insulting you? You did say "Who am I to say what's right?" which seems an odd sentiment. Of course, everyone's views are filtered through their perceptions -- talk to a TOK teacher! -- perceptions are all we poor humans have to go on. But honestly, I'd prefer that you did have some well-thought opinions that you hold to be right or true. That's another thing kids are taught to do well through IB -- develop an opinion and support it.
Which of the things I mentioned do you feel are untrue? Is discipline good in the middle school? Are students who are not interested in the diploma holding back kids who may be? (You were the one who alluded to that.)
You say, "parents on the outside will have a negative view of me, my colleagues, my school and my administrators, no matter what successes may come."
I don't have a negative view of 90% of the HS IB teachers -- particularly those who have been with this program more than a year or two. In fact, the teachers are WHY I have a kid in the school still. I have a negative view of many (particularly newer, particularly bought into Bellefield) administrators, it's true. I don't like it when administrators get in the way of teachers and a good program rather than facilitating it.
I talk regularly to teachers in your school and to other parents who are also regularly in your school. Why would I want to think that my child's school isn't good?! Ask yourself that question and really think about it. I've chosen the school and the program, I didn't realize that meant I could no longer see a big picture or have any but a positive impression.
Obama Teacher,
"My focus is now and has always been the kids that are in
my classes. I know of no teacher in our building or in this district who would say or think any other way"
Do you or your fellow teachers question why you can't be an individual and have to adhere to a script?
If you are happy with Jerri Lipert, Bill Gates, and Eli Broad what will happen when you get "audited" by the dedicated ciriculum police? I believe the vast majority of teachers want what is best for kids. Falling in line and being a good Broad/Gates Solidier does not equal a good teacher.
I'm teaching because I believe in the program, because I love kids and because I tend to see the good in all of God's children before I see the 'bad'. I am teaching because I prefer to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. I'm teaching because I believe that all kids can achieve, whether via the IB diploma path or another
Do you miss writing lesson plans, or are you comfortable "believing" in a program? I have no doubt that you are a good, great or exceptional teacher simply because you care. I have nothing but my gut to back this up, but your post reads like a Pittsburgh teacher academy graduate post.
I am constantly confused.
Pretzel logic. Patronizing commentary. I've read my fair share of individuals on this site over the years, but you seem to be well versed in the area of twisting words and drawing inaccurate conclusions. In fact, I find your logic downright insulting.
Again, what is the end game in defaming an entire school?
Your bottom line seems to be that Schenley Spartan teachers knew IB inside and out and those that have come over with Frick are an affront to the IB idea. You also go on to say that the IB philosophies are at loggerheads with the current PPS philosophies. And speaking on philosophies, you toss in a little TOK to illuminate your argument as being someone in the know.
You know nothing beyond your own perceptions, which seem to be aided by a disgruntled Schenley staffer who whispers in your ear.
Please friend, I can handle your mentality and your approach any day of the week. Just who do you think you are fooling?
I'm hopeful that the 'parents' who look to you for recommendations for their child's schooling are smart to sense the baggage and agenda in your explanations.
What a load of manure you are peddling.
This doesn't really sound like an Obama teacher. Does the City Paper article defame uprep?
Anonymous 1:16:
"Do you or your fellow teachers question why you can't be an individual and have to adhere to a script?"
honestly, I believe teachers question everything. I believe they are doing the job of parents who are just happy that the major chnges that come down don't impact their kid too, too, much. You must also believe it's all a money issue. There is not enough to go around and where the biggest philanthropists should be saying "here is a grant, let's see what you can do with it" the money comes with rules on how to spend it.
This is definitely a tough time where the blame game is most likely in full swing. Cuts to budgets mean cuts of people programs, activities, purchases, events, and increases to class size and the stresses of being inside a classroom for kids.
By the way, it's not like the argument that "high acheiving kids were distracting attention from neighborhood kids" was ever made out in the open to CAS and IB parents. If that had been the case there could have been a discussion and administrators could have explained what special attention they saw particular groups of kids getting, with an eye toward remedying any imbalance. These arguments were instead made behind closed doors to select listeners, while the public argument was based on asbestos.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing about OT not sounding like any IB teacher I've met!
The answer at the diploma level, at the very least is that they aren't following scripts, because they have a different curriculum. They have an actually rigorous curriculum rather than one that only pretends to be so like the rest of the district.
Also, OT, there isn't just one person posting here about Obama.
I'd really suggest you reread your posts and the responses when you are in a calmer mood. Any program (or people in that program) that feels it can't be improved and must not be questioned isn't as strong as it could be and is set up for a fall.
Also, I truly don't see the benefit to you in calling parents liars and their experiences untrue. Do some lie? Sure -- but again ask yourself why parents would even want to say bad things about the school their child is in. Parents should (and could) be your biggest promoters.
I don't think Obama Teacher was calling parents liars. On the contrary, he/she was calling one parent on the carpet for fabricating situations which aren't true. I have to agree that there is a goodly amount of "pretzel logic" being used here by that one parent. Why? Why twist words? Why make claims which are simply not reality? Where is the individual getting his or her info and to what end?
As a teacher myself, I've read and re-read this thread and will say that the teacher is cognizant of what's going on in PPS at this point in time. Yes, IB has its own agenda but the trick is connecting PPS into it. It's done on a daily basis. it has to be and if you don't believe that, please call Dr.Lippert and let's listen to her take.
I'm taken aback by the idea that teachers at any PPS can fly outside of the radar these days without fear of repercussion. That's patently insane. If your content area has a curriculum within PPS--and certainly most teachers within IB fit this scenario--then sure, you use PPS curriculum and infuse IB curriculum.
After reading all of this, it sounds a lot like an attack not only on a school, but also its teachers. I didn't get the idea that the teacher was angry in the least. In fact, I found him or her downright eloquent.I did see the responses as being comments aimed at a troublemaker.
To the parent, let me say this: we all hear about teachers who are brazen enough to "do their own thing" all over the district. We hear that they won't conform, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then we read the board minutes.
I salute the chutzpah of the teachers you speak to who apparently have some bitterness about being jettisoned from Schenley--the building and the school.
Sounds like you are using a combination of big talk and vitriol all wrapped up in one. We can just have a few more professional development sessions if we need that.
Do the IB kids read the same books as in the PPS curriculum?
The classes offered through IB which do not have PPS counterparts -- what are they following?
If it's true that IB is exactly the same as PPS then why is there even a different program?
Do you mean the same science books (yes); history books (yes); math books (yes)? Or do you mean the selection of books for English? That seems to be yes too, although teachers might lean more toward choosing books with some international connection. It seems like projects are often using an IB rubric (which unfortunately is sometimes difficult to understand and seems to be based on a tough European grading scale).
PE2 said "On the contrary, he/she was calling one parent on the carpet for fabricating situations which aren't true."
Can either you or OT clarify what those fabricated situations are?
I guess my question is what makes the program IB if there is to be no difference in the books and the method of teaching?
Well there are certain classes that must be taken that are not part of the normal PPS curriculum, such as "Theory of Knowledge," and there is an extended essay requirement. And subjects are to be looked at through the lense of different "areas of interaction" (one of them is "human ingenuity" and another is something like "community and service"). There are frequent requirements to reflect on work that is done, which can valuable except when questions get repetitious and/or out of proportion to the original project itself. And of course students take IB tests at the end of 12th grade.
7:17
"honestly, I believe teachers question everything. I believe they are doing the job of parents who are just happy that the major chnges that come down don't impact their kid too, too, much. You must also believe it's all a money issue. There is not enough to go around and where the biggest philanthropists should be saying "here is a grant, let's see what you can do with it" the money comes with rules on how to spend it. "
You misunderstood me. I want the venture philanthropists, and NCLB out of here and I want teachers to have the freedom to do what they do best, teach.
From, anon 1:16 AM
So many questions....
Most IB courses have PPS curricula, as well. Most have PPS books, as well. Since they are IB, they augment PPS with various IB areas of interaction on a daily basis. They tie the instruction into areas like health, environment, social, human ingenuity, etc. Materials, instruction and books augment PPS. Ancillary books are often read. In the IBDP, IB IS the curriculum used. In the lower grades, PPS sets the framework but IB ties that curriculum into a global way of thinking each day.
It is a very enriching and rewarding process and one that makes lemonade out of PPS's lemons.
I would want my kids to go this route if I had children of this age, to be frank.
Methods of teaching are much different than PPS---expectations are higher, teachers again are looking at a bigger picture, the element of rich conversation is much better utilized....
As far as the original question as to 'why would a parent cast disparaging comments at a school, etc...', please know that I liked the Schenley principal and her way of conducting IB. I also like the Obama principal and his different take of conducting IB in grades 11-12.
Some simply do not like him or his methods.
It seems to me that this is the reason why a few teachers and a few parents try to torpedo a good school.
A very good school.
Lastly, your comments about the middle school are rather humorous. I don't have a lot of dealings there but I'm obviously in the vicinity quite often.
The kids are not evil, they are not mean, they are not in halls after bells. The VP in charge of that area has to be...has to be...the most proactive administrator I have ever seen. She is literally everywhere, at all hours of the day. I've seen this now for two years.
After reading your comments about 6-8th, I have to wonder just which school you are referring to. It's not Obama. Is it Fantasy Island, are you simply hallucinating or is there something else behind your posts?
If Obama is such a great school why isn't there a waiting list?
I know some familes that have kids going there and they are ok with it, but wanted their kid in another magnet. It is viewed as the lesser or two evils by many parents. What will happen when it moves to Peabody? Are the bus routes easier for high school kids, has that been considered?
I would not feel safe sending my children to a school that has had 2 shootings so far this year.
When the district did enrollment projections it always assumed 100% enrollment at its new 6-12 schools and as a result few students left at the old schools.
Does that make any sense?
I guess so when one knows everything and plays fast and loose with facts.
I think there was an assumption on the part of the district that the IB program would be a big enough draw to keep the school full and the parents happy. But maybe now they're learning that things like physical plant, school leadership (or lack of thereof) and school safety have to factor in as well.
Yup -- they seemed to think that it was totally portable and rearrangeable and that somehow the demand would grow without anything else.
Nope.
If they'd promoted it as "gifted-type" or "gifted-style" education available to all children, they might have gotten further. If they'd explained the IB program better, if they hadn't mixed it in with the 6-12 thing, if if if...
Also they need to look into why the program is not working out for some students who are going to class each day and working hard what can be done for them.
PPS needs to look into the reason that almost NONE of their programs are working. The decline seems to have come with RISE, PELA and the new CORE CURRICULUM. These have been in place long enough for there to be improvement somewhere, don't you think.
So, if these are the reason for the problems, what are some the possibilities for solutions?
If you are an educator or if you do the research, you will know that it is a long established fact that 1) the more experience and expertise of educators, the more success for students; 2) one-size-fits-all "scripted" curricula never produces the best results.
The lack of experienced, credible educators and the corresponding lack autonomy for curricula and instruction that meets the needs of various populations has been the downfall of PPS.
Gates, Broad, Rand, & Company are corporate entities who are terrifically successful at expanding wealth; but dismally unsuccessful at expanding minds. The models are mutually exclusive.
PPS chooses to address its "problem" in a very different manner. Move them at a cost of 3.8 million.
At a cost of 3.8 million, will the 315 students at Clayton be made "promise ready" under the new management?
City changing operator of alternative school
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11108/1140202-100.stm
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