Differentiate This!!

It is impossible to explain to the uninitiated the state of affairs that is ACPS, these days.  As a veteran teacher, I am dumbfounded at what passes for best practices and stupefied by the senseless coaching sessions designed to implement those same practices.  Not only has teacher training become a tortuous ritual where successful, veteran teachers are forced to endure absurdist discourse, but the interminable meetings pull teachers out of the classroom and away from students.  During conversations with teachers from other school districts, I am frequently reduced to foaming at the mouth as I relate the latest Mortification masquerading as staff development.

Thank God for YouTube!  Under the category, funny but on the mark, I give you...differentiation, Alexandria style.  Would that I could express the inanity, the frustration, the Twilight Zone nature of it as well!

"In de ene helft van ons leven offeren we ons leven op om geld te verdienen. In de andere helft offeren we ons geld om weer gezond te worden" 
— Voltaire

A Strategy...Too Important to Ignore!

If you have read the State Code of Virginia and feel that Alexandria's Pre-Labor Day proposal does not meet the State criteria, please write a letter to the State Board of Education. Below  is an example of a letter sent to the Board. Letters may be sent to margaret.roberts@doe.virginia.gov Madam Chairman and Members of the Board, On March 3, 2011 the Alexandria School Board passed a resolution to request a Pre-Labor Day school waiver from the State Board of Education. It is of the opinion of this citizen of Alexandria that the Pre-Labor Day waiver request approved by Alexandria City Public Schools does not meet the "good cause" criteria pursuant to Va. Code §22.1-79.1(B)(3). Va. Code §22.1-79.1(B)(3) stipulates that in order for a school district to be eligible under this waiver criteria the applying school district must provide students with experimental or innovative programs which require an earlier start opening. The programs listed in the Alexandria City Public Schools' Pre-Labor Day waiver request do not  require an earlier start opening for implementation. In fact, all  of the programs cited in Alexandria's waiver request have already  been implemented in schools throughout the district, and an earlier  start date was not required for the initial implementation of the cited programs. One of the programs cited within the waiver request, Changing Education through the Arts, was implemented over seven years ago in the district and never required an earlier opening start date. Other programs cited such as Habits of Mind and Mind-Up were implemented in the district two years ago and did not require an earlier opening start date when initiated. No new experimental or innovative programs requiring an earlier start opening are specifically cited in the waiver request made available to the public by Alexandria City Public Schools. Furthermore, Alexandria City Public Schools has certified that the Pre-Labor Day waiver request should apply to all nineteen schools within the district. Again, the waiver request fails to meet the State Code criteria to permit an earlier start date for the entire district. Pursuant to Va. Code §22.1-79.1(B)(3), experimental or innovative program shall only apply to the opening date for those schools where such experimental or innovative programs are offered generally to the student body of the school. The programs cited in Alexandria's waiver request do not represent an individual experimental or innovative program which the district proposes to initiate district-wide. During the 2010-2011 school year, one school division, Charlotte County Public Schools, was granted a Pre-Labor Day waiver request for earlier start opening for all schools in the district. In that waiver request, the Charlotte County school district demonstrated it had a single program, initiated at all schools, which was new and innovative for that school year and required an earlier start opening. Alexandria has failed to cite the implementation of a similar district-wide program in their waiver request. Based on the absence of any new experimental or innovative programs within Alexandria City Public Schools which require an early start opening, and pursuant to to Va. Code §22.1-79.1(B)(3), the Virginia State Board of Education is urged to deny Alexandria City Public Schools' Pre-Labor Day waiver request. Thank you, By Anonymous on By Popular Demand! on 3/4/11

By Popular Demand!

So many of you have read this comment and requested that it not be lost in the cloud...that I've reposted it as a stand alone post...


I have read the postings of those in favor of the school board and changes by the superintendent on the basis that their children are benefiting from the change and my response to you is that your children would probably thrive in any environment because they have a supportive parent that believes in a sound education. The problem is that the changes are supposed to benefit all children but especially the kids that are "at promise" struggling learners and our Hispanic, Latino and students that require support for special learning needs. I would argue that these are the students that are suffering even more under these changes. They have been placed in all inclusive classes that have a teacher that has had little to no training for students with special needs or ESL learners, with the exception of a one hour staff development to date. These are the students whose parents are the most apathetic and uninformed with limited resources. How were they given the opportunity to voicetheir concerns about the new changes? The response is; they can email or participate in the on-line survey(lack of resources, e.g. computer), come to a PTA meeting (apathetic), make a phone call to the principal or school board or superintendent (uninformed, apathetic, lack of resources). Unfortunately this describes a significant number of the families that send their students to school in ACPS. I sincerely believe that there are some good programs within the many new programs that have been instituted in Alexandria over the last two years, however there is such a thing as too much too fast. New ideas and programs are being thrown out without the opportunity to properly investigate their validity to the needs of OUR district and without the opportunity to reflect on what works and what doesn't work. Instead it seems as if Mort hears or comes across a program, likes the idea and delegates to his minions to "make it work!". I pray for the students of Alexandria and what they are being subjected to by this superintendent that I feel does not know or care about them. I have heard students comment that they have emailed him about their concerns and were disheartened when he did not respond. They do not know who he is when he enters the school with his entourage but that is not an issue since he has not been seen in a middle school since the beginning of the year. It is a shame that he doesn't really know what is going on, or not going on because the principals send out the alert that he will be in the building. The floors are shined nicely, the bathrooms cleaned, the posters are hung just so and the "top" teachers can expect a visit. Instead of the school board polling to see "what's really going on", why don't they come in as a substitute (students would not know who they were anyway) and they can find out themselves. I issue the challenge to Mort as well. Stand in the hall of the middle school and direct students as they move from class to class and hear the language and bullying that occurs and then comes into the class, is reported but nothing happens (don't want those numbers to be documented and be reported). Come and look at the stack of 25 or more referrals that sit on the counter of the office unaddressed. Come and substitute for the teacher attending the Skillful Teacher staff development for the group of students that have decided that this is a free day because their math teacher is out again at another training and answer the question of the student that perceptively asks, "why were you hired if you need so much training?". Come and catch the students that have decided to skip because their teacher is out again. This is a future IB school. If Mort says it, it must be right.

By Anonymous on You can tweet! at 6:26 PM

Here it is...your comment of the week!

Alexandria spends more money per student than any other jurisdiction in the D.C. metropolitan area. So there does not appear to be a "resistance to spend money" within ACPS. And with regards to time, not a single educational study indicates that adding two days to the school year or thirty minutes to a student's day will do anything to address the needs of struggling students. So, no, the ills of public education in Alexandria do not  fall upon the swords of time and money. The issues are a bit more complicated than the simplistic reasoning you offer. By Anonymous on Persistently Low Achieving...Better than Consisten... at 8:43 PM

Bang for the buck...or passing the buck? (Part I)

Tonight, the Alexandria City Public School board will take up the twin issues of the extended school day and year.  Let's be clear...these are expensive propositions.  No matter how you come down on the issue of compensating teachers for the added days and hours and the ever-morphing rationale for considering them, keeping the schools open for increased hours and days costs--a lot!


If the argument could be made that Alexandria makes the most of its education dollar, then we might have the makings of an intelligent debate.  Unfortunately, a recent study by The Center for American Progress lists ACPS near the very bottom when it comes to getting the greatest return on monies invested in our students' education.  http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/01/educational_productivity/


As the introduction to the study makes clear, "This report is the culmination of a yearlong effort to study the efficiency of the nation’s public education system and includes the first-ever attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country. In the business world, the notion of productivity describes the benefit received in exchange for effort or money expended. Our project measures the academic achievement a school district produces relative to its educational spending, while controlling for factors outside a district’s control, such as cost of living and students in poverty."


The typical excuses carry no water in the analysis.  Even accounting for the factors listed above, cost of living and poverty, Alexandria ranks among the very worst in Virginia.  The beauty of this study is that the data is easily accessible and set up in a user-friendly format.   The accompanying color-coded, interactive map highlights the degree of waste, incompetence and educational negligence associated with ACPS.  To be fair, the study is based on pre-Sherman data, though preliminary numbers during Mort's reign look even worse.  


This weekend Voltaire will look more in-depth at the inefficiency that this study reveals.


"Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable."
— Voltaire

You can tweet!

@undervoltaire

So What??? It's only $48,000!

The refrain among members of the school board is, "Why the hue and cry over the money spent on Alan Hilburg?" Additionally, I am told that our superintendent is truly perplexed over the sustained outrage over the hiring, and subsequent firing, of a public relations executive to spin Alexandria's travails into something  palatable and press worthy.  


Since so many of the readers of this blog clamor for 'just the facts, Voltaire,' I will dispense with the editorializing about how wrong it is, ethically and morally, to hire a PR consultant to pitch public schools performance to the...well, public.  Instead, let me focus on the following disgrace that comes as a direct result of Mr. Hilburg's $48,000 contract for four months work (neither the time nor product has been realized).  


Recently, the superintendent had this published to the attention of all teachers in ACPS:

Teachers, we have approximately $22,000 remaining in the Tuition Assistance Fund to cover tuition reimbursement between now and the end of June. Tuition Assistance ranges from approximately $570 to $1,300 per course, depending on the actual tuition costs. As you know, these funds are used to support four, and only four, ACPS priorities (the IB program; ELL or SPED certification holding more than one endorsement; math - content and instruction; reading - content and instruction). Applications for reimbursement are processed on a first come, first serve basis. When the funds have been fully expended there will be no additional reimbursements, so you should take this into account in your planning for course enrollment. We wanted you to know the status of the funds available at this time so you are aware of our budget realities. We will post regular status updates on Blackboard. If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Frasier mfrasier@acps.k12.va.us.  $22,000...that's it.  And that money is limited even more.  Unless a teacher pursues courses designed to help deliver instruction in one of four permissible priorities, no money is available.  While I may be a bit off on the exact number of teachers/paraprofessionals in our system the number is approximately 1,500. You do the math...not the ACPS way, but the real math.  It comes to $14.67 per teacher for furthering his/her education.  Obviously, every teacher in our system is not seeking to take courses at present.  But I can tell you that I know of five of my colleagues (and I welcome the testimony of others in the comments on this site) who have been unable to pursue courses that are invaluable to keeping up with the latest in their particular area of interest or specialty, either because funds are inadequate or because the course falls outside of what is permissible.   Yes, it was only $48,000 for Hilburg and the obscene spin machine.   And, yes, we are talking about an annual school budget in the millions of dollars.   But, at a time when we can only come up with $22,000 (severely constrained in how it can be used) for teachers to go back to school,  the number 48,000 speaks volumes as to our superintendent's priorities.