AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2005 > July
July 2005
Back to School…in July
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can you believe it? Some schools have already started up again. There’s a lot of parent backlash against shorter summers, but some districts are sold on the benefits. They say shorter breaks throughout the year are better for kids than a three-month summer vacation that can be an eternity for kids without constructive things to do.
Cross-blogination: One of our sister blogs, Sandy Springs Inc. has a good conversation going on whether the Fulton school district gives Sandy Springs’ overcrowded schools the shaft. Go here.
oooh…here’s another school-related blog on dress codes. Go here.
Also, I added some links to the “Links for Geeks” rail on the left … check them out.
Finally, sales tax holiday this weekend. This is a great time to shop if you can handle the crowds. Not only do you get a pass on the sales tax (for some items, such as clothes and computers), but stores mark merchandise they want to move way, way down.
Have a safe weekend, everybody!
Retaliation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails and phone calls recently from parents and teachers who say their school administration is retaliating against them for bringing a problem to light. Or they won’t complain about a problem at school for fear of retaliation.
I hear this when I try to quote parents about a problem at school: “I can’t be quoted, because the administration will retaliate against my child.”
Some examples of retaliation (which may be real or perceived): A teacher who has always gotten permission for her child to attend a different school from the one where she teaches said she suddenly had her request denied with no explanation. She believes it is because she pointed out to the principal some inappropriate behavior going on in another teacher’s classroom.
Then, a mother called saying her daughter was denied a promised leadership role on the school’s drill team. The mother believes this is because the mother complains often about things she observes at school.
Finally, in a case of clear retaliation, the story of the New York teacher who suddenly got terrible classroom evaluations after blowing the whistle on administrators who directed teachers to be overly leniant when grading essays on standardized tests. A link to this story may be found here.
Have you been retaliated against? Has your child? Have you kept quiet about something for fear of retaliation?
More Test Results
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
These days, summer is all about test scores. The most recent scores to roll in are the results of the state’s End of Course Tests, which are used to force teachers to cover the state’s curriculum and as a check against grade inflation.
According to Mary MacDonald’s story, at least a third of students failed geometry, Algebra I, physical science and economics.
Are these tests just another burden for already overtested students, or are they useful in pushing schools to teach students subject matter?
Hold the Fizz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Under pressure to support healthier lifestyles, the soft drink industry is considering a ban on carbonated beverages in elementary and middle schools during the school day. In high schools, at least half the slots in vending machines would be devoted to healthier drinks, such as water and juice. Here’s Caroline Wilbert’s story.
This would not be a huge change in what I already see in metro Atlanta high schools, with water and sports drinks typically available alongside Coke and Diet Coke. The move would largely be symbolic, seeing as the beverage industry has previously fought measures that would restrict vending machines in schools, Wilbert reports.
What do you think? Are the soda companies and their efforts to sell soda to kids contributing to the obesity epidemic? What about cafeteria food? Are reforms needed in that arena as well?
Teachers’ Credit Cards Getting A Workout
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Teachers are spending on average $466 a year for books, pencils, paper, art supplies, snacks and other classroom items, according to a survey of more than 1,000 public-school teachers in Michigan.
I have an image of teachers hitting Target for construction paper, pencils and crayons. But my teacher sources tell me their purchases are more targeted to what their students really need. For example, a teacher in a school near Buford Highway said he buys Spanish-language books on U.S. history off Amazon, so his new-to-English students can learn. Another source sent out an e-mail to her girlfriends requesting compact mirrors for a science experiment that’s part of the fourth-grade curriculum. If she doesn’t get enough, she’ll buy a few using coupons.
Georgia teachers, how much do you spend? What do you buy?
New Job for Neace and other news
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lots of education news for mid-summer:
First, Larry Neace, fired Dacula teacher, has a new job in Barrow County. He’s going to talk to officials there about his controversial policy of lowering grades of students who sleep or fiddle around in class. If necessary, he says he’ll change his policy. Here’s Laura Diamond’s story.
Next, a charter school slated to open in Clayton County won’t be able to because the site isn’t up to code. Here’s Bridget Gutierrez’s story. (The board did vote to cancel the school’s opening, but the board did not revoke the charter. They’ll discuss that later, according to an updated story.) Finding a proper and affordable facility is a huge problem in opening a charter school.
Finally, the forced departure of DeKalb principal Cornelia King (Story here.) Rumors are flying about the reasons for King’s reassignment to another school as assistant principal. Does the public have a right to know why a school leader is transferred?
To Transfer or Not
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When No Child Left Behind first appeared on the national radar, the most revolutionary aspect seemed to be forcing schools with low test scores to offer students the option of transferring to a better school. Turns out, relatively few parents wanted to go.
In some cases, they said school districts made the process to cumbersome. In other cases, transportation was the obstacle. Either the bus ride would be too long or the district wouldn’t provide a bus, instead offering to reimburse parents for mileage. And in some cases, the schools offered as transfer sites barely made Adequate Yearly Progress themselves.
Here’s a story about the few transfers in Fulton.
Parents, would you transfer if your school offered a better school within, say, 20 miles? Or is it better to stay at the school wearing the “failing” label, because that school is under pressure to change?
Clayton Nixes Towels, Gloves and Trench Coats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clayton released a revised dress code that adds several things to the don’t-do-it list: No towels, washcloths or handkerchiefs outside of P.E., no gloves worn inside, no trench coats worn inside.
Not sure what prompted these particular items, but I know dress code is one of those things principals find themselves dealing with more often than they’d like. Others ignore rule violations in an effort to focus on academics.
I see little evidence of DeKalb’s disastrous dress-code-as-uniform policy when I visit their schools. Most principals do seem to crack down on the underwear-exposing baggy pants, or maybe that trend has mercifully gone the way of stirrup pants. How far should a school or district go in its dress code?
Accentuate the Positive…Please
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Donsky’s story about Atlanta Public Schools and their Chamber of Commerce-led effort to improve their image got me thinking about school districts and how much time and money they spend on PR.
Almost every metro district employs at least one public relations professional. Large districts have PR offices with staffs, and supervisors can earn six figures.
Does it do any good? School reputations are largely based on the neighborhood grapevine, aren’t they?
Atlanta school officials broadcast positive news about their schools on the district’s public television channel. But can a PR campaign really counteract the buzz that sweeps through a neighborhood about an incompetent teacher, a principal’s decision that defies common sense or a longstanding tradition of sending kids to private schools?
Can a school system really revamp its image from the inside out?
Dump Sports and Clubs, Improve Schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Letter writer Gary Kolar of Atlanta opines in today’s paper that high schools have too much going on to focus on academics. “We need to focus more and downsize schools: Scrap the clubs and teams and sideways activities that preoccupy so much student and community interest.”
Are sports and clubs a distraction? How about other high school programs like community service? Would academics improve if schools were all about core subjects? Or would uninspired kids lose interest?
School Board to Superintendent: We’re Through!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Please note that the DeKalb situation involving the generous buyout of former Superintendent Johnny Brown’s contract is NOT unique. It happens all the time when school boards decide they want a divorce from their superintendent rather than wait until the leader’s contract expires.
State law requires a superintendent’s contract to be at least one year but not more than three years. Herb Garrett, head of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, told me anyone being considered for a super job generally insists on a three-year contract.
But often board members can’t put up with the person they hired for even that long. That’s when a buyout gets discussed. The departing superintendent wants the “full value” of his contract, including benefits. That’s when the figure gets high, and the math, for me, gets fuzzy. Brown got a lump-sum payment of $250,000 when his contract expired. His annual salary was $225,000.
Parents interviewed for this story generally regarded the arrangement as “the cost of doing business.” Garrett defends current superintendent salaries, noting that they are far less than what a CEO of a private company would earn.
What’s your take? Are superintendent buyouts worth the cost? Would it be better to let the superintendent complete his or her contract, even if that effectively makes the leader a lame duck? Could this be avoided altogether if boards were more careful when making the hire? (The most common response from board members after a buyout: “We thought we were getting someone completely different when we hired him/her.”)
A source tells me my blog should be called “No answers, just questions.” That’s certainly the case here.
School Board to Commissioners: Let’s Talk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The DeKalb school district adopted a “memorandum of understanding,” promising to communicate better with the county commission, in hopes that the commissioners will do the same. Parents have complained for years about the seeming lack of coordination between the two governments and its result: overcrowded schools. Here’s a short story.
When I was at the board meeting Monday, I heard a member cast a “no” vote, but I wasn’t sure who it was. Turned out it was longtime board member Lynn Cherry Grant. “I don’t have any faith that pieces of paper have any power,” she said. “I felt it was not a particularly meaningful document.”
She added that she was uncomfortable with the school district’s promise to provide names of School Council members and other information. The county could get that information through an open records request, she noted.
Is a public document stating an agreement to communicate a worthwhile endeavor? A waste of paper and ink? Can a better collaboration between county and school governments really impact development?
Family Can Sue Gwinnett School Board Members
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Enough with NCLB - for now. Let’s talk about this court decision, which allows the parents of a child seriously injured by an intruder at Mountain Park Elementary School to sue the Gwinnett school board.
The Court of Appeals judge ruled that a jury can decide whether Gwinnett school board members and Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks should be held liable. The family says Mountain Park had no safety plan in place when a delusional man wandered in to the school and struck a 10-year-old girl in the head with a hammer.
The judge ruled that the school’s principal and staff cannot be sued.
Should school board members and Wilbanks be held liable? Could this have a statewide chilling effect on potential school board members?
System Failure
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A blog poster asked yesterday which school systems failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress and which did not. I easily navigated the state’s Web site and compiled a list, but I’m not sure it means much.
The intent behind labeling systems is to hold districts accountable for subgroups of students, such as African Americans, in cases where there are too few students at an individual school to qualify as a subgroup.
But I don’t know that the current labeling is having much impact. This seems to be the toothless tiger aspect of No Child Left Behind. (I hope the cliche police don’t arrest me for that one.)
Here’s how metro Atlanta system’s fared:
These districts did not meet AYP: Atlanta, Clayton, Cobb, Decatur, DeKalb, Douglas, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Marietta, Rockdale
Congratulations to: Buford, Cherokee, Coweta, Fayette, Fulton, Gainesville
Thoughts, anyone?
An Edugeek’s Dream/Nightmare
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s enough data in the new state reports on who made “Adequate Yearly Progress” to keep a geek like me busy for the rest of the summer. Here’s the site.
But like everything associated with No Child Left Behind, the data is overly complicated (Safe harbor? Confidence interval?) yet at the same time frustratingly lacking. For example, the formula that determines whether a school makes AYP combines reading and language arts scores and looks at multiple grades. So the information available on the AYP report card does not have breakdowns of all the pass rates on the CRCT. That will come later on a separate state report card. The test scores I’m most interested in, because passing the CRCT is notoriously easy, are the percent of students who exceeded expectations on the CRCT. That too is not on the AYP report.
The main benefit of the AYP report cards is to see how various subgroups perform. Prior to NCLB, this data was often available on request as experts studied the “achievement gap” issue, but such data was not broken down all the way to the school level. So there you have it. I’ve said something good about NCLB.
What’s your take on the AYP reports? Are they worth your time?
Kathy Cox is Thrilled!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More than 80 percent of Georgia’s schools met the state’s testing goals under No Child Left Behind, up from 78 percent last year. The result left state Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox “thrilled, but not surprised.” For the ebullient release, go here.
But as usual, there are too many unknown factors to make a clear determination of what it means to meet Georgia’s standards. What exactly are the standards? How hard is the test? Etc.
This year a higher percent of students needed to pass the CRCT for a school to make “adequate yearly progress.” But some criteria for special education students and other populations were relaxed.
As hard as it is to know what to make of the data, it still makes for fascinating reading. I’ve found several examples where No Child Left Behind, in theory at least, seems to have worked. Read about them in Sunday’s paper.
But I still wish the picture Cox paints was backed up by some outside indicator like NAEP, the SAT or the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Unfortunately, it isn’t.
Who Passed, Who Failed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Friday, the state will release reports showing which schools met state requirements under No Child Left Behind and which ones did not. Those that fall short two years in a row are deemed “Needs Improvement,” and subject to a variety of sanctions.
For background info on NCLB from a group called Stateline, go here.
Principals already know their school’s status, and in some cases they’ve been quietly partying for weeks knowing that they shed the dreaded label. Other principals are busy figuring out how to communicate to parents that a school may “Need Improvement” in just one area, such as students with limited English ability.
We education reporters at the AJC anticipate this data’s release because it tells us all sorts of things we find just fascinating. But to the general public, especially parents whose kids attend higher performing schools in middle class neighborhoods, does it matter?
Wearing the “Persistently Dangerous” Label
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Given a choice, a principal might rather be called “failing,” or “needs improvement” than “persistently dangerous.”
For the first time, the state has identified two schools as persistently dangerous under the No Child Left Behind Act. Here’s the story.
Parents whose kids attend Long Middle School in Atlanta or Murphey Middle School in Richmond County can request a transfer for safety reasons. (Both schools are already deemed “needs improvement” for academic shortcomings though, so the new label doesn’t seem to offer new options for students and parents.)
Obviously school safety is a huge issue, a reason parents often cite for not sending their child to the neighborhood public school. Is a list an effective way of forcing schools to improve in this area?
Summer of Staff Development
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An education professor at UGA hates it when I refer to teacher training in stories. She (or he) says it sounds like teachers are seals who need to be taught to balance a ball on their noses. The preferred term is staff development.
Call it what you will, it’s how many teachers spend at least part of their summer break. Districts spend millions on helping their teachers teach better.
Here’s how blog poster Lynne sums it up:
We need the summers off to go to workshops and conferences to learn that what we did last year is ineffective and now there is a NEW AND IMPROVED way to do things!
Topics range from how to adapt to new curriculum, how to work with new textbooks, how to weave the arts into curriculum and how to stay motivated in the classroom.
Teachers, is the training you get via staff development worthwhile?
Long, Hot Summer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jobs for teenagers are in short supply. My friend’s 14-year-old son got so bored he shaved his head. The kids in my neighborhood are lucky enough to have a pool within bike-riding distance, but in many communities there is no swimming pool or recreational activities of any sort.
Remind me again, why shouldn’t the summer be shortened in favor of more frequent breaks during the school year?
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend!
