Testing the Year Away: Ruth's Comments

My friend Julie and I went to last week's school board meeting to raise some concerns about the amount of testing going on in the district, and in particular, some concerns about the NWEA MAP test. I introduced myself and then this is what I said:

I’m the parent of children currently at Ann Arbor Open and Skyline, and a third child who graduated from Community. I didn’t have much of an opinion about the NWEA MAP test until I went to an Ann Arbor Open Coordinating Committee meeting last fall.

Until that meeting, I didn’t understand that kindergartners were being administered this test in the first weeks of school, and that their first introduction to the school computers was through this test.

I didn’t understand that this test was being given at the same time as other assessments, including SRI and the MEAP.

I didn’t understand that this test was testing some of the same things—like reading proficiency—as the other tests.

I didn’t understand that staff and teachers were being diverted from other work to proctor the test.

I didn’t understand that the students’ scores were being given to the students at the end of the test.

I didn’t understand that while this test was designed to follow student progress, the plan is to use it to evaluate teachers.

I didn’t understand that this test meant that classes couldn’t use the computer lab for weeks on end.

But now—I understand.

I appreciate that the school board wanted to get ahead of any state-mandated teacher evaluation requirements, but the thing is, if you want to be a model, you’d better make super sure that you are creating a better model than what you would otherwise get. I am not convinced of that. And I don’t want to be spending technology dollars to support testing.

The other day I got my seventh grader’s MAP report, and I will leave aside that it was difficult to understand—because I’m sure the communication can be improved. The report—and I asked my son’s permission to share—showed that he was an advanced reader. We didn’t need a test to tell us that. Not only would any teacher who spent 10 minutes assessing his reading know that, but in addition we already have the SRI and the MEAP telling me the same thing.

I asked him about the test, and he said, “Well, a lot of kids don’t like it. But I think it’s okay.” I asked him why, and he said, “Well mom, it’s really, really long. So it tests if you can stick with things.” And as an anecdote, that’s funny. But what’s not funny is that, that’s not what it’s testing.

The other truly bothersome thing about this test is that we are giving it to lower elementary students. This is a school district where we don’t give letter grades to kids before middle school in any school in the district. And I’m proud of that. I would bet that—aside from spelling quizzes—most kids don’t take classroom tests before upper elementary school. And I’m proud of that too. Yet we’re spending weeks and weeks testing kids—taking time away from instruction. Since the MEAP is state-mandated, I think we need to look at removing some of the other assessments.

I’d like to ask you to do 5 things:

1.     Stop testing the K-2 students with the MAP test immediately.

2.     Remove the scores from appearing at the ends of the tests as soon as is practical.

3.     If the district decides to keep the NWEA, then drop some of the other assessments.

4.     Invite Deborah Ball, Dean of the UM School of Education and head of the state’s teacher evaluation committee, to discuss the state’s plans for teacher evaluation.

5.     Since this is a pilot, do a rigorous evaluation of MAP’s usefulness. Evaluate whether the MAP test is working for everyone else. And do that by surveying principals, administrators, teachers, parents and students—anonymously—so that they can share their true opinions.

[I gave the school board my contact information. You, of course, already know that you can contact me at rlk234 (at) gmail.com.]

[Side note: I didn't bring this up, but the NWEA test costs over $92,000 in the cost of the test alone, and not including any staff time devoted to it--or technology costs. So if we need to save millions of dollars from the district budget, and revenue enhancements are not going to bring us a whole lot of money, then this would be a good place to start. Also, when Dr. Green responded to our concerns, she noted that the concerns about access to computer labs and technology could be alleviated by passing the technology bond. However, as noted above, I don't want to pay for technology so that we can do more testing. So in her response, she actually gave me a reason to vote against a school funding request--something I don't think I have ever done.]

Of Presidents and Project-Based Learning

This is a great story about how a 12-year-old girl went above and beyond with a school project, and found out that all of the U.S. presidents except one are related to a certain King John, the one who agreed to the Magna Carta. If you were wondering how project-based learning works, here is a good example. And if you are a genealogist, the cautionary tale here is that you shouldn't ignore the maternal line, even if it is harder to trace. . . apparently all the professionals had only looked at the paternal lines. . .

Foul Play? Fair Play? Great Plays

A friend sent me this note (redacted just slightly for privacy):

Hi Ruth,
Not sure if you are interested in this kind of stuff - sort of the intersection of schools, Ann Arbor society and law.  

[Side note: Are you kidding? The intersection of schools, Ann Arbor society, and law?! I'm always interested!]

On Thursday I put up a couple of extra Into the Woods signs around Forsythe - in part because a few of them had been removed or stolen depending on your point of view. Oddly, Pioneer Theatre Guild signs [for Phantom of the Opera] were not removed.  I also put up one sign in the little island of land by Sunset and Vesper.  Within two hours all of the signs around Forsythe (the Newport side of the school) were removed. As well, the signs in islands on Sunset and on Red Oak, were removed - well at this point we can say - stolen.  I e-mailed Janet Schwamb [Forsythe principal] thinking maybe Forsythe was tired of it all, but she didn't order their removal. [Ed. note: And I'm glad she didn't--after all, Pioneer and Skyline are Ann Arbor schools too!]

There are two theories here. One theory is just that a local individual is sick of the signs. Support for this theory would include the fact that a handmade sign at the Red Oak/Newport light that warns people that that kids are crossing was also taken. As my friend points out:

Of course it is not really up to them to steal them.  These signs seem to be  part of a time honored tradition in Ann Arbor.  Plus they are one of the main methods of publicizing these plays - esp. as we no longer have a local newspaper.

Another theory could be that someone who is still mad that Skyline exists (a sentiment I have heard many times, but most frequently from Pioneer students and parents) feels that it is okay to sabotage the Skyline performance. Support for this theory would include the fact that the Skyline signs were taken but not the Pioneer signs.

Honestly, I don't know which it is. Seriously, can't we be pro-Pioneer and pro-Skyline? And pro-Huron and pro-Community?

I hope you will try out some of our local high school theater this week or next. Typically, it's rather stellar--and you don't have to travel to Broadway to see it!

Community High School presents As You Like It
Expect a contemporary take on Shakespeare's As You Like It, Friday and Saturday November 18-19 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday November 20 at 1 p.m.

Huron High School produced The Beaux' Stratagem 
Written by George Farquhar, this Restoration Comedy was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in March 1707. Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have fallen on hard times, plan to travel through small towns, entrap young heiresses, steal their money and move on. In the first town, Lichfield, they set their sights on Dorinda. Aimwell falls truly in love, and comedy ensues. Unfortunately tonight was the last performance.

Pioneer High School Theatre Guild presents Phantom of the Opera.
This is the longest-running show in Broadway history. With music By Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics by Charles Hart, and book by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Phantom of the Opera is a compelling and heartbreaking love story, of a masked, disfigured man who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. He falls obsessively in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine, and devotes himself to making her the Opera’s next great star, leaving death and destruction in his wake. The majestic score includes “Think of Me,” “Music of the Night,” "Masquerade," and its title song. The Phantom of the Opera will captivate your senses and leave you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole show.
 
Sunday Nov 13th, 2:00 pm is the final performance.

Skyline High School presents Into the Woods

An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Riding Hood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch...who raps? They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of The Princess Bride becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.
One of Sondheim's most popular works, INTO THE WOODS is a timeless yet relevant piece and a rare modern classic.

SHOWTIMES: 
November 13 @ 2:30 PM
November 18, 19th @ 7:30 PM
November  20 @ 2:30 PM 

For a full schedule of Community, Huron, Pioneer, and Skyline theater plans this year, 
look here. 

Area Teens: Let's Make It Better Now

EMU is having a contest around LGBT Bullying issues. Money is involved. Yes, a $500 prize! Plus--it looks fun!

EMU's first annual advocacy speech competition! The focus of the competition is LGBT bullying among youth, titled "Let's Make It Better Now" (a spin-off of the "It Gets Better" campaign). Participants are invited to write and record a 4-7 minute persuasive speech articulating how students can "make it better now" for LGBT students within educational institutions and beyond. Speeches are due by December 1st . Participants must be EMU undergraduates and/or Washtenaw County youth (ages 16-24). Visit www.makeitbetternow.weebly.com or contact The Center for the Study of Equality and Human Rights out of the CMTA department at msage@emich.edu for more information.

Find more details here: http://makeitbetternow.weebly.com/

Good Teacher, Bad Teacher, Red Teacher, Blue Teacher

I've become fascinated by the discussions around "bad teachers." Over and over, I read articles where teachers get their backs up when people talk about bad teachers, and insist that the problem isn't bad teachers (because, they say, there are so few bad teachers), but the problem (for underachieving students) is actually poverty, uninvolved parents, not enough funding, etcetera.

Well, they're right, and they're wrong. Of course the reasons for underachieving students include poverty, uninvolved parents, not enough funding, dilapidated but it's also some other things, namely:

1) Bad teaching (and note, that's only partly "bad teachers," because even teachers who are generally good sometimes do bad teaching) and
2) Poor use of evaluation to improve teaching performance.

That's true, at least in part, because involved (and educated) parents with access to their own money can combat bad teaching--if the parent doesn't know the material, they can hire someone who does...

When my oldest son was in the lower elementary grades, a parent with several older kids said to a group of parents, including me, "Well, you'll have good years and bad," and I thought, "WHAT?! That's not going to happen to my family." Well, she was right. We've had good years, and bad years. Sometimes it was due to the circumstances in my family, but sometimes it was due to bad teaching. 

I've experienced my share of bad teaching, and so have my kids. For the sake of this argument, I'm going to ignore the bad teaching that we've experienced when teachers have themselves been dealing with serious health issues in their own lives or the lives of their family. After all, teachers have their own lives--and if a parent is dying and they are distracted, it is going to affect their classroom performance even if they are usually at the top of their game. So even though I'm ignoring this issue (for right now, and only sort of) I want to point out that it is one of the most common reasons for bad teaching, and that there's lots of educational research suggesting that if students experience bad teaching more than one year in a row, their performance really suffers.

The other piece of the puzzle is whether, or how, evaluation happens. I know that I've had jobs where I did most of the work well, but there were areas where I had room for improvement. I think that is true for most of us. I've also had jobs that didn't suit me at all.

A continuous feedback loop would allow teachers to learn from their mistakes--which is exactly what we expect students to do. In my opinion, most principals have not been taught how to effectively evaluate staff, and if you ask me, schools would do very well to get feedback from parents and students. I am quite sure that my kids can tell you exactly what their teachers have been doing well, and not so well--and very thoughtfully, too.

So here, as a thought experiment, I am going to present some examples of bad teaching. All of these examples have been experienced by myself or by people close to me. I'm interested in which of these you think are irredeemably bad, and which of these would point to a teacher that would need more coaching. Genders and subjects may have been changed to protect the unknowing.

In no particular order...

1. A teacher who has very deep knowledge of her subject (middle school math) but little control of her classroom.

2. A teacher who has moderate knowledge of her subject (high school math) and is very kind to the students, but who has little capacity to share and teach advanced math concepts.

3. A teacher who has moderate knowledge of her subject (high school science) and is therefore afraid to deviate at all from her teaching plan in order to answer questions.

4. A teacher who is extremely knowledgeable about her subject (elementary music) and has very innovative teaching techniques, but who has anger management problems with the end result that students learn music very well and remember it for years, but are unwilling to continue in the subject.

5.  A teacher who has limited skills in his subject area (English) but a wonderful relationship with the middle/high school students he teaches and is really able to provide a "safe space" for them.

6. A teacher who has limited skills in his subject area (English) and writes so poorly it is unclear how he got certification, but who encourages discussion of literature and makes class enjoyable.

7. A teacher with strong skills in his subject area (English) but who is so boring that students fight to stay awake in the class, and who "kills the joy" in the subject.

8. A teacher (elementary) who is very strong at teaching reading, math, and history, but who knows very little about science and therefore doesn't teach it at all.

9. A teacher (elementary) who has interesting ideas and curriculum plans but is disorganized and often doesn't follow through to make sure students do the work they are assigned--and therefore, many students don't do the work.

10. A writing teacher who accepts regular assignments but doesn't provide feedback or request rewrites, even on materials that were submitted as drafts.

11. A middle school teacher who never rejects an assignment that was poorly done.

12. A high school social studies teacher who is an expert in his subject matter and an entertaining lecturer but who belittles and picks on some students, playing favorites with others. 

13. A high school chemistry teacher who is competent in his subject but calls some of the girls "princess" and "helps" those girls on tests.

14. An elementary art teacher who develops interesting activities and then stifles all creativity by requiring students to replicate them exactly the way she set up the example.

15. An elementary teacher who goes to have lunch with two children on a field trip, leaving the other 28 with a single teacher's aide who is technically assigned to one of the class's students.

16. A teacher who effectively teaches social studies, but doesn't respond to emails and phone calls from parents.

The world is a complex place. People are complex. All of these teachers are doing some bad teaching. Which of these teachers needs evaluation and coaching to work on specific problems? Which of these teachers need to find another career?

(Feel free to respond with comments specific to some of these examples. And I'm curious--what percent of teachers in your average school do you think is doing bad teaching, or is a bad teacher?)

Ypsilanti's Turnaround Problem

Now that you've read about Detroit, let's turn our attention to Ypsilanti. Ypsilanti has two interrelated problems. One problem is their deficit. The other problem is that their high school has not achieved adequate yearly progress in the last few years--giving it the dubious distinction of being a "failing" school. [And having said that, I also have to say that I know several people who have been very satisfied with their children's education at YHS.]

Their high school turnaround plan has been accepted by the state, and there is a lot of discussion going on about their deficit elimination plan--which includes the systematic dismantling of custodial and food service staff as district employees, as well as making YHS into a grade 7-12 school.

In Kyle Feldscher's annarbor.com article, trustee Andy Fanta is quoted as saying this:

“We’re not asking the right kinds of questions when addressing this budget,” he said. “We’re focusing on cutting, cutting, cutting. We’re not focusing on what we’re doing and what kind of district we want, and we’re not answering the parents who are asking those type of questions.”

There is some excellent analysis in Mark Maynard's post:

More school consolidation in Ypsilanti, and its long term ramifications 

Mark has been blogging for a long time about Ypsilanti, and he puts something interesting up at markmaynard.com almost every day, sometimes more often than that. Oh, and by the way--if you want to see the actual documents, you can find the submitted deficit elimination plan on the YPS financial page (scroll down). And here is the approved YHS turnaround plan.

PS I neglected this piece from the annarbor.com article: 

Trustees asked Houle to present another version of the plan at a board district operations committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at the East Middle School building. The meeting is open to the public.
The district has to turn a plan over to the state by Jan. 25.

The Great Experiment

A few years ago, one of my friends was bemoaning to another that there is no real socialism, or even socialist leanings, in the U.S. anymore.
"Yes there is," the second friend said. "The public schools are our great socialist experiment."

I thought about this over the weekend.
David Jesse wrote an extended piece in annarbor.com about schools of choice, and about how more people are choosing different schools than their district-bounded schools. (The headlines there, by the way, are ridiculous. For instance: "Schools of choice takes financial toll on Washtenaw County school districts." Simply untrue--it's taken a toll on some, and been the saving grace of others.)

And in the Ann Arbor Chronicle, they referenced the socialist blog The World Socialist Web Site, which discusses the proposed transportation consolidation (about which I have written plenty!) and says,

WISD officials have said that those not hired back will lose their pensions. This component of the proposal is aimed at forcing older, better-compensated workers to retire rather than re-apply. Many older bus workers have signaled that they will take early retirement if the plan is enacted.

But I digress (at least from the starting point of this post--the point about the transportation consolidation is very valid). The WSWS post also says, "In reality, there is ample money for education, but it is a question of what class controls it."

I don't actually know if we should call public education the great socialist experiment. If it was or is, I think we could do a lot better.
I don't know if we should call public education the great democratic experiment. If it was or is, I think we could do a lot better.

But in order for a publicly-financed system to be a success, you have to have buy-in. You get buy in when our values and financial system align with local control, because then we see the results, and we live with the results. You get buy in when the majority of the local kids go to the local schools.

Schools have to have investment. There's a part of me that thinks the class analysis is correct. You can't have an anti-millage campaign winning, at least in part, because of financing from a wealthy local corporation.

When we set the control of funding at the state, not local, level...
When we make it advantageous for people to choose to leave their local public schools...

We take away the rationale for taxpayers--most of whom don't have kids--and most of whom are not wealthy--to support the local schools.

And there goes the Great Socialist Experiment.
And there goes the Great Democratic Experiment.
There goes the Great ---- Experiment.
There goes the ------ -------- Experiment.
There goes the ------- -------- --------.
There goes ----- ------ -------- -------.
There ---- ------ ------ -------- -------.
------- ---- ------ ------ -------- -------.

With apologies to B*I*N*G*O.

Privatization History

In the course of looking up information about the 1985 reorganization, I came across some information about the history of privatization, all of which is taken from the earliest User-Friendly Budget on the AAPS website, 2002-2003, to wit:

Out-sourcing has occurred over the years in order to reduce costs, comply with mandated regulations, and to complete projects within short schedules. The effects of using contracted services includes: the reduction of F.T.E.s, benefits, retirement, and other employment costs. While the Board policy does not show preference to local vendors, a substantial number of local contractors do win contracts to provide goods and services to the district.

What follows, then, is a list of contracts that they have tried to, or decided to, outsource over the years. (This is on pp. 37-40 if you are looking for it.) It's actually pretty shocking reading:

Since 1990, district managers have also explored the possibility of privatization in areas such as Custodial, Maintenance, Warehousing, and Transportation. Private companies were given the opportunity to meet with district employees and to review operational practices. Although each of these reviews did not result in proposals that would have reduced costs, we will continue looking at using the best combination of in-house employees and private services. (Emphases added.)

 Here are the listed bids:

1990, Facilities, Service Master
Declined bid invitation
1990, Facilities, Unbar
Declined bid invitation
1990, Facilities, Marriott
Received proposal of $7,184,909 for 90/91
Proposal would have resulted in an increase of costs of $1,650,000 over 3 years
1991, Facilities, Marriott
Declined bid invitation
1992, Transportation, Laidlaw
Not able to provide the same level of service and generate savings
1993, Facilities, Witt, Fiala, Flannery & Assoc.
Received proposal of $6,739,151
Proposal would have resulted in an increase in costs of $239,151
1994/95, Warehousing, U.P.S.
Not able to provide the same level of service at our costs
1995, Transportation, Laidlaw
Not able to provide the same level of service and generate savings
1996, Facilities (Snow Removal), Arbor Building Services
Snow removal pilot program at Pioneer
Increased costs: Cost of pilot program was 50% of total district costs


Do you think I was cherry-picking the worst outcomes from this report? That is not the case. That was the whole list. Which kind of makes you wonder. . . under what conditions does privatization actually work?

And you will wonder even more, if you read this Ann Arbor Chronicle article on the last school board meeting, which quotes Mark Zullo, who has studied the privatization of the AAPS food service workers, and says, that "AAPS is spending less on food service because of increased revenue being sent from the federal government via the school lunch program" and that workers were harmed by the privatization. According to him, "new hires were paid at $9 per hour, and that none of the workers could afford to use the health care offered to them – due to an increase in co-pays to $3,000 annually."

Desegregation Outcomes

The primary focus of the 1985 reorganization was integrating the schools--in particular, integrating the black and white populations. The Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern populations were much smaller than they are today.
I was interested in the immediate impacts of this reoganization, but unfortunately I did not have time to dig through the microfiche and find the 1986 enrollment numbers. As a result, this post takes a much longer view of this reorganization. On the one hand, this is somewhat unfair, since the committee that developed the reorganization was only able to estimate out about five years. In taking the long view, I also need to recognize that there have been some (relatively minor, with the exception of the re-opening of Lakewood and the opening of Skyline) changes to the individual school boundaries over the years.
[By the way, his post gets a little numbers-heavy. I think the numbers tell the story, but if you don't, skip to the end. Also, for the purposes of counting here, I count Ann Arbor Open as an elementary school.]

At the time of the report (1985), the AAPS African-American population was 17% of the total schools population, and the state considered a school out of balance if the African-American population was + or - 15% points compared to the district average, which is how the state recommended a 2-32% guideline for Ann Arbor. The Committee on Excellence chose a more restrictive +/- 5-15% range.

If we look at the racial makeup of the schools today, the African-American population average is still between 12 and 27%, the goal of the committee. In September 2009 it was at 14.5%. Some individual schools are much higher or lower.  Angell School, for instance, has an African-American population of only 3.6%, and in total, the following schools fall below 12%: 9 elementary schools (give Logan a pass at 11.8%), 2 middle schools, and Community High School.

On the other end of the spectrum, Roberto Clemente's African-American population is 82.3%--but I should note that this was true back in 1984, and I guess because Clemente and Community were and are magnet schools, the committee was unable to address the numbers through redistricting--though they did say they hoped to reduce the achievement gap. (In fact, lawsuits against the schools, and Proposal 2, have limited options on this front even more.

So, aside from Clemente, the schools that are over the 27% number today comprise a much smaller number: Mitchell, Scarlett, and Stone.

[In 2002, by comparison, 8 elementary schools and Community High School were below 12% (Not including Forsythe, at 11.7%). No elementary schools were above 27%, but Scarlett, Clemente, and Stone were above 27%.]

If we look at the 2009 African-American AAPS population percentages, however, we only get part of the story. 
For while the African-American school population has shrunk slightly as a percentage of the school population, the Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern populations have increased greatly. Where the fall 2009 headcount counts African-American students as 14.5% of the population, the Asian population comprises 14.2% of the population.
So, using a broader lens, let's take a look at Angell School again:

3.6% African American

32% Asian, 

4.2% Middle Eastern, 

5.8% Multi-ethnic, 

.3% Native American, 

.6% Other, 

4.9% Latino/Hispanic, and 

48.5% White. 

In other words--even though Angell doesn't meet the criteria of 12-27% African American, it clearly is diverse.
You might be surprised to know that the district, on average, is now 52.8% White. If I were to say that a range of 42-62% White was acceptable as a range for desegregation, these schools would be below 42% White: 7 elementary schools (at 41.9% I will give Thurston a pass), Scarlett Middle School, and Clemente and Stone high schools. These schools would be above 62%: 4 elementary schools, Forsythe Middle School, and Community High School.

And if we were to set up a committee to strive for racial balance today, we would find that the Asian AAPS population is highly concentrated in some schools, and barely present in others. Using that same 12-27% range, there are 10 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 3 high schools that that come in under 12% Asian population, and there are 5 elementary schools that are over the 27% number.

It is worth noting, however, that the 1985 reorganization had at its core, not 1, but 2 significant goals related to racial integration. One goal was "the elimination of racial isolation," which was considered an important value in and of itself. Although I hesitate to call that the "primary goal," it was in fact the driving force behind the reorganization. And although the reorganization was not, and is not, perfect--from the point of view of eliminating racial isolation, I think the work of the committee stands on its own, and 25 years later, it stands pretty well.

At the time, the Committee on Excellence of Education noted that

On a district wide basis, the academic performance of minorities lags far behind that of the majority population. Minorities are significantly overrepresented in lower curricular paths and significantly underrepresented in advanced courses of study. Disproportionately high numbers of minorities are the subject of disciplinary action. . . Measured by the critical index of progress toward educational opportunity, the Ann Arbor School District, in this regard, is in crisis.

The second goal, then, was the goal of reducing the achievement gap. Twenty-five years later. . . countless policy papers later. . . many efforts later (and whether these efforts have been wrong or inadequate--or both--we'll leave for another time). . . this goal remains elusive, and has not been achieved.

Some Interesting Links

A tweet from DavidNGoodman (Detroit-area AP reporter) led me to this teacher blog from someone who started out in Teach For America: Not Much, Just Chillin' and to this very interesting article from the New York Times, Building A Better Teacher by Elizabeth Green. The article gives a shout-out to both the Michigan State University and University of Michigan schools of education. And I don't necessarily agree with all of the conclusions, but it is interesting to read about. The article also links to the Uncommon Schools web site (which is promotional--just a warning). I wouldn't normally link to it but I did like the teaching clips on the right hand side.

[There is a recent post on the teachers' blog Not Much, Just Chilling that talks about what this teacher gets paid as a teacher in eastern North Carolina. It struck me just how little she is getting paid, after 5 years on the job, and how low pay is in eastern North Carolina as compared to Michigan.]

Also in the New York Times, as part of a series on the impact of immigration, you can look up every school district in the country (yes, including Washtenaw County), and check out both racial/ethnic makeup and the assigned diversity index (the percent chance that two students selected randomly would belong to different ethnic/racial groups).  The key question--is diversity increasing or decreasing? The data spans 1987 to 2006, so you can really see some trends. In Washtenaw County, for 2006, Fortis Academy is #1 in diversity. Check out #2... (I had fun guessing.) I went back and looked at my hometown in a New York suburb. Racial and ethnic diversity is still every bit as low as I remembered from high school.

In graduate school in education, I often found myself disagreeing with Diane Ravitch, a leading educational thinker. So I was surprised to listen to this NPR interview with her, and find that for the most part I agreed with her. [I think she may have changed more than me. And she essentially says, "I thought this, but now I have changed my mind." Kudos to her for being willing to admit to a change of mind.]

And today, NPR has an article about the Department of Education stepping up civil rights enforcement. It's about time...

On a totally separate topic--not education, but yes, local--The Farmer's Marketer is doing a series on the various community farm/share options in the area. I tried one a few years ago but didn't like driving out to the farm every week, so I'm shopping around, and maybe you are shopping too! There are a lot more choices now.

Racial Discrimination and Tracking

There was an interesting story on NPR the other day on how tracking plays out in one middle class community.

Here's the link, and I suggest you listen to the story rather than simply read it.

My friend in Pittsburgh described to me his daughter's high school. It's an "urban" school, and it has metal detectors and the kinds of rules you primarily find in large urban schools. However, the neighborhood they live in is a middle class neighborhood, and in an effort to keep the middle class in the city, and in the school system, this is what tracking looks like in her school.

Four levels.
The top level has an average of 18 kids in each class.
The second level has closer to 22-25 kids in each class.
The third tier has close to 30 kids in each class.
The lowest tier? Over 30 kids in each class.

Guess which classes have the most white kids?
Guess which classes have the most middle and upper middle class kids?

And who, he asked me, needs the small class size?

Summary: Tracking is great for the kids at the top.
For everyone else, it's not so hotsy-totsy, and it's not so ai-yai-yai.

Annie Get Your...Gun?!

High school theater is a special kind of theater. On the one hand, at times the productions seem professional. On the other hand, those who choose the shows are constrained by "community standards" (whatever that means), as well as by the fact that the whole cast is generally between 14 and 18, typically there are more girls in the shows than boys, and (if a musical) the music needs to be catchy and singable. In addition, at the bigger schools, directors generally need to choose shows which have a capacity for a large chorus or to otherwise accommodate large numbers of kids.

What we mean by "community standards" varies from place to place, but there are all kinds of issues raised by the very idea. What about a show that is racist? What if the storyline would be called racist today, but it depicts historical truths? (Think, for instance, of Huckleberry Finn.) What if it is sexist? What if the storyline would be called sexist today, but it depicts historical truths? (Think, for instance, of The Taming of the Shrew.) What about stereotyping? (Think of Fagin, in Oliver.) What if it discusses prostitution? (Miss Saigon, Runaways). What if there is swearing? Partial nudity? What if I think that something is...sexist, racist, otherwise unwholesome in some way...and you disagree? What if there is something scary or troubling? (Othello kills his wife. And intimate partner violence is a national problem, as we saw this last school year.)

When we start applying a lens like this, it would be easy to conclude that we can't perform almost anything historical (likely way too sexist and racist) and we can't perform almost anything modern (likely way too edgy). Should we abandon Shakespeare entirely?

So the first question is: Who gets to choose the shows? Is it one person, or a committee? Does the district have a standard? It turns out, that that depends very much on the school.

Second: What is the bottom line? And what if a show brings up some of these issues--does that mean we rule it out? Are there other options? For instance, last year, Pioneer High School's Theater Guild showed Miss Saigon, and during rehearsals, the students involved in the production had a chance to learn about the setting, the era, Vietnam, etcetera. I think that is a partial solution, but it doesn't address the education of the audience. What does the audience take away from the performance? Should we take that into account?

Personally, I find it much less troubling to show a modern production like Miss Saigon, and much more troubling to show some older shows which have very stereotyped gender roles (Taming of the Shrew). It turns out that things haven't changed too much from when I was in high school--the same productions are being staged. During my high school years, I remember the theater group staging Guys and Dolls, the Taming of the Shrew, and Annie Get Your Gun.

Annie Get Your Gun is an interesting case. It purports to tell the story of Annie Oakley (I have no idea how well it sticks to her real story--it is a musical after all). In any case, years after it was originally written, the play was revised to make it less racist (treatment of Native Americans) and sexist. (Note that I said "less.") The last I heard, it was on tap for the fall show at Skyline High School. The music is excellent, and it meets a lot of criteria for high school theater--it is singable, has a nice size cast, and a "happy ending."

Now I have to say that--although I find racism and sexism in plays to often be a problem--it's also often hard to avoid completely. [Skyline Theater performed Cinderella in the spring. Sexist? Yes--but also a fairy tale, right? Is that then different?]

But there's one thing about Annie Get Your Gun that makes it a little different, I think, and that's the G-U-N part. Never mind all the research that suggests that exposure to guns incites violence. Forget Columbine.

It has more to do with school policies, and what happens if you actually bring a gun to school. I once taught in a school where a teacher (not me) and class were reading a book that had guns in the story line. The teacher had the kids make clay objects of artifacts in the book. One of the kids made a gun. Yes, he was a smart aleck. So then what happened? The teacher, and the student, got in big trouble--even though there is no way that a clay gun looks like a real gun.

Starting in 1994, the law became extremely strict around penalties for bringing weapons to school. According to the Michigan Department of Education,

Pursuant to federal legislation enacted in 1994, local educational agencies cannot receive federal funds unless they have a policy requiring expulsion for at least one year if a student brings a firearm to school.

Now, it is true that the law specifies some exceptions.
School boards are not required to expel a student if the student can establish in a clear and convincing manner at least one of the following:

(1) The object or instrument possessed by the student was not possessed for use as a weapon, or for direct or indirect delivery to another person for use as a weapon.
(2) The weapon was not knowingly possessed by the student.
(3) The student did not know or have reason to know that the object or instrument possessed by the student constituted a dangerous weapon.
(4) The weapon was possessed by the student at the suggestion, request or direction of, or with the express permission of school or police authorities.

On the other hand, the Student Advocacy Center says:

Basically, you don't want to be caught on school premises with anything that can even be remotely thought of as a weapon. This includes hunting knives, toy guns, penknives, nail files, water pistols, etc. Items that once seemed like goofy kid toys are now seen as dangerous weapons. And schools are expelling young kids in huge numbers for bringing them to school.
We have seen schools expel students for such violent 'weapons' as paper clips and water balloons. Be aware of this trend and make sure your children know this too. Kids expelled under mandatory expulsion laws for bringing weapons to school have a very hard time getting alternative schooling placements and often are not readmitted after the year is up. With expulsions in particular, schools have the tendency to fall back on Michigan's highly punitive weapons legislation as format to follow for other offenses. (Emphases mine.)

So, obviously, the theater production, sanctioned by the school, fits right into exception #4. Unless. What happens if a kid, thinking she or he is funny, brings a gun up to the fourth floor, far from the theater? What if a kid holds the fake gun up to another kid's head and goes "bang, bang" just to be funny? Aren't we borrowing trouble here?

So, um, maybe Annie Get Your Gun is not the best show for high school anymore. I don't want any kids in Ann Arbor getting expelled because of a theater production. Oh, and by the way, if you are interested--the ACLU of Michigan is working on a project to get the state law to be a little less strict--right now it is more strict than the federal law. Here's the link for information about the school-to-prison pipeline.

So how about it, Skyline? Choose a different play?

Kids Count

Or do they? I often wonder about that. Do we just give lip service to the importance of kids and the importance of education, or do we really care? Frankly, the way we fund services for children. . . education. . . help for families in poverty. . . . would suggest that kids don't count for much.

But if you think that kids do count, then you might want to look at the Kids Count Data Book 2009.

Kids Count National Data Book (you can get to all 50 states here)

Kids Count Michigan Data Book (drill down to the county, city, or community level if you like)

Kids Count in Michigan is a collaboration of the Michigan League for Human Services and Michigan’s Children.

MEAP Results

I will have more to say about this at some point, but for now I thought you might just be interested in seeing the 2008 MEAP and MME results for the county. [These links are from the WISD, and I'm not sure why charter schools are not listed.] No surprise that the results mostly track closely to numbers that assess poverty, like free and reduced price lunch.

1. Background information on what was assessed. Note that you will also find the links to past years right there.

2. 2008 MEAP results

3. 2008 MME results

Although the results came out a few weeks ago, I couldn't find them on the AAPS web site (there is, however, a detailed analysis of 2005-2006). Nor could I find them on the Saline Schools web site. The Ypsilanti schools web site links directly to the state (and that is a good solution, I think, because the state updates the data every year and so it is immediately available). I stopped looking when it became clear a lot of school systems have not updated their web sites (yet).

Or you can go to greatschools.net, here is the Michigan MEAP link. (And at greatschools.net you can also look up information about the free lunch program, race/ethnicity, student/teacher ration, and more.)

Homework Policies

Teacher, Revised had an interesting interview with Sara Bennett about homework.



I'm not necessarily as anti-homework as Sara Bennett is, but I do think there's an awful lot of homework that doesn't contribute to anything. I think that a lot of teachers feel pressure to assign homework. And all of that pressure adds up to a lot of kids having a lot assignments, often non-contributing to actual academic achievement. It's also interesting to me that Sara Bennett gives math as an example where homework is unnecessary, while other people have said to me that they think that math is the one class where homework is necessary. (That tends to be the side I fall on.) But in fact, a lot of homework assignments are given in the hope that the students will learn to "organize" themselves. Do lots of small bits of homework (a worksheet here, a worksheet there) make you organized? More importantly, do they make you learn? What about "read half an hour a night" homework?


I really liked Sara Bennett's description of how she negotiates with teachers/affirms her role as a parent. Being a successful parent in the schools requires negotiation skills. Although I have to admit that my older kids almost never want me to talk to their teachers, I realized the other day--when a teacher actually called me--that that teacher had not gotten much feedback from parents, or kids. [The reason for the phone call had to do with my child giving this teacher some feedback. Yes, she was polite. It's just that I don't think he had heard that feedback before.] Schools like to create an aura of invincible power, and when we question that, we take back our power as parents, and also open up a line of communication that is important.

In other words, don't leave your critical thinking skills at home (and don't let your kids leave theirs at home, either) when you engage with the schools.

My favorite types of homework are project-based and more holistic in nature. In other words, the point of homework should be to integrate knowledge. What do you think about homework? Did you find it essential? What kinds of homework are most essential?

More Thoughts on Willow Run

David Jesse summarizes a recent Willow Run board meeting here. Board member Harold Wimberly had this thought:

He reminded the 100 or so people there that as bad as the finances are, the district's academics need just as much help."Our kids need to graduate," he said. "We need to look at how we can educate these students."

I hadn't thought about it in exactly those terms, but Harold Wimberly clearly is right. I mean, what are schools for? To educate students. Obviously Willow Run must have a short-term focus on finances, but if they don't simultaneously maintain a long-term focus on student achievement, then what exactly is the point?

I went and looked at some of the more recent school board minutes. A few things surprised me. First of all--

For the most part, the Willow Run board doesn't use a consent agenda. Staff changes, check approvals, and school field trips (to places like the Toledo Zoo!) all get voted on and approved separately--even when there is clear agreement.

Second, in every set of minutes I have looked at (admittedly, not all of them) they are dealing with at least one, and sometimes as many as 4 or 5, students being suspended, expelled, or sent to alternative educational settings like COPE. That is really a LOT of suspensions and expulsions. Either the schools are too quick to suspend or expel, or things are really out of control. Or both. In a 2000-student district, that is a lot!

Third, many of the meetings ended in an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Given the weighty issues the school board is dealing with--and the number of routine agenda items--that scarcely seems like enough time.

Sure, Willow Run is a high poverty, low per-pupil funding district. But they are not the only ones with those challenges, and other school districts have dealt with those challenges by focusing on the needs of students and teachers.

What it all comes down to, in my opinion, is leadership. The last Superintendent of Schools in Willow Run who had a presence was...Dr. Joe Yomtoob. I don't attribute all the district's woes to his leaving, but he was not replaced by any superintendent who showed that they cared about the community, or even the schools. Dr. Yomtoob had a passion for the kids, and for the community. He was also a part of the wider Washtenaw community, serving as a trustee at Washtenaw Community College. Actually, I think he still has a passion for the kids--for years after he left, he and his wife have been giving U.S. savings bonds as awards to Willow Run students every year.

What happens when you don't deal with your problems when they are small? They get a lot bigger. That's why Pontiac schools recently discussed laying off all teachers (a union busting, cherry picking maneuver) and re-hiring only a few. That's why the Detroit schools are faced with closing 50 schools. That's why Willow Run has a 52% graduation rate.

What Willow Run needs now?

LEADERSHIP

and a vision that says, "We need to educate students well. If we are not educating students well, then we are not doing our job, and we should find a way to let someone--or some other school district--do it for us."

Performing: An Educational Capstone

If you have ever watched your kids--or your friends' kids--perform in a concert; have a role in a play; argue a position on a debate, mock trial, or Model U.N. team; have a bar or bat mitzvah; run a mile in a race; or speak at City Council or another public body, then

YOU KNOW

that there is nothing like an upcoming performance to encourage mastery of the material.
And, there is nothing like a successfully completed public performance to give kids confidence.
And--for parents, teachers, and coaches--successful public performances are a huge source of pride.

Although there is plenty of educational research that says all that, and more, most "public performances" in schools are associated with extra-curricular activities (i.e., sports, theater, debate club) and electives (i.e., music). For our "core curriculum," what is there? Would students do better in math if they had to somehow provide a public performance? What students do better in English if they had the opportunity to perform?

I think they would.

Well, coming right up are two awesome, and different, performance opportunities. Although these are both extra-curricular, they do tie right in to curricular goals.

First--Poetry Slam! (Teens and Adults) If you have never seen a poetry slam, it is basically a chance for local poets to perform their own work. Yes, it's a competitive environment--but it's also supportive. The poems are sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, and generally pretty high quality. These performers have already gotten to the finals. It should be a good show. Local teen poets and spoken word artists compete for the chance to advance to the city-wide slam finals and the opportunity to represent Ann Arbor at the 2009 National Youth Poetry Slam competition in Chicago.
2009 Ann Arbor Youth Poetry Slam Finals
Thursday, April 2, at 7 p.m. @ Neutral Zone, 310 E. Washington, Ann Arbor
Admission $5 students/$7 general public
The Neutral Zone's Creative Writing Director, Jeff Kass, has a day job as an English teacher at Pioneer High School.

Second--Science Olympiad! (2nd to 5th graders) A Science Olympiad is basically an excuse for elementary school kids to practice, and perform, science-related skills in competition with other teams from other schools. Think Puff Mobiles (build a "puff-mobile" and blow it across the room), Estimania (how do you estimate those M & Ms in the jar?), and Water Rockets (yes, that involves shooting things in the air). But it's not just about knowledge--it's also about teamwork, cooperation, and strategy. Kids practice for weeks--PRACTICE learning SCIENCE; parents and teachers volunteer as coaches. Then, kids PERFORM...SCIENCE. It is really fun to watch, even if you are too old to participate. (Bring your first graders to get them interested. It's also interesting to watch the different schools perform. Yes, schools do have personalities, and they show up along with the kids on Science Olympiad day.) It's also really nice to see schools from all over the county--public, private, and charter. Last year, there was even a team of homeschoolers. Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad has been growing, and growing. It has outgrown the space in the local middle schools, and this year will be held at:
Skyline High School, Maple Road
Saturday, May 16th (it is more or less an all day event)
Find out more about the WESO Wizards here.