Proliferation of errors
I’m not supposed to make fun of Gotham Schools, but sometimes it’s just too funny not to.
Take a look at this evening’s “Remainders” and a nice piece of praise for the first of you to locate the inventive malapropism (answer below the fold):
Remainders: Teacher: Sex, theft and paperwork plagued school
by Rachel Cromidas, at 7:33 pm
- A former city teacher describes the proliferate sex, theft and paperwork at her middle school. (Buzzfeed)
- An educator has a roundup of the policies that are affecting classrooms this school year. (Answer Sheet)
- Teacher: Mayor Bloomberg’s call to change sexual misconduct laws won’t solve problems. (Schoolbook)
- California teachers are busily planning their Common Core rollout as school year approaches. (Marin IJ)
- A Philadelphia principal worries recent cheating scandals corrode the public’s trust in teachers. (HuffPo)
- The Learning Network blog offers a last-minute roadmap for back-to-school curriculum planning.
- A testing policy analyst forsees challenges in post-No Child Left Behind climate. (Answer Sheet)
- A teacher recalls the anxieties of the new school year’s beginning and last one’s end. (Ed in the Apple)
- President Obama’s speech decrying larger class sizes galvanized parent activists.(NYC PS Parents) Read more…
McRib in Thessaloniki
McRib turned 50, and I convinced him to ditch the wife an kid and take a trip.
We are in Thessaloniki (Salonika), sampling tomato-cucumber salad and getting ready for our next stop: Istanbul.
More later. And I’ll fill in some links.
I’d love to sign right now, but I promised my mother I would check with her first…
Boys and girls, the consequences of ending up in the wrong school can be serious.
We have career-ending places. We have principals who overhire, so they can have the pick of who to discontinue. We have some who are poor managers, with the kids and staff paying for the chaos. We have more than a few who take advantage of untenured staff, and squeeze out of them mandatory “voluntary” per session, on evenings, weekends, and even into summer vacation. And we have seem who are plain mean.
But you need a job. You are new (regular certification, or teaching fellow), and need that first placement. Or you may be in your first or second year and need to transfer out of a disaster, and need someone to take you. But not every placement is ok.
Almost everyone interviewing you will seem smart. They will seem competent. They will seem reasonable. Partly, they make good first impressions. And partly, we all defer to authority – on the interview you are trying to impress this person, not judge them, and you may confer the respect you show to the position of authority onto the person who holds that position. There are monster principals who I know have made very positive first impressions.
So what to do? “Thank you so much. I feel like signing right now. But I promised my mom (my husband, my aunt, my priest, my pet fish) that I would check with them first. I am seeing him/her tomorrow night. Could I come back to sign in two days?”
Buy yourself the time.
And do due diligence.
Ask family. Friends. Ask me? Coworkers.
Read. See what teachers wrote about the principal in the Learning Environment Survey. Check Inside Schools. Search on line.
Once you sign that commitment, you’re in it for a year – if you make it that long. Please show some care. We want you to last.
Back?
Am I done blogging? This has been a spotty year, with long stretches without posting. Two and a half months have passed since the previous entry (though there was good stuff in May)… and nothing in April before.
I’ll try to get back on pace, though regular posting might not start until the second half of August.
And if and when I realize I can’t pull it together, I’ll shut this down, with an announcement. I’m hoping that won’t be necessary.
Petition to End Mayoral Control
Go, download the petition. Make copies. Sign. Collect more signatures. Send them in.
Back in February New Action wrote:
New Action proposes that we use the clout of parents, students, elected officials, our membership and the UFT and CALL for an end to mayoral control. We must unite and demand an independent panel of people, fairly and democratically chosen, with background and knowledge in education. The make-up of the new panel or committee should be determined after broad discussion and consultation with all stakeholders, with the mayor’s representation limited to a minority voice.
And now we’re doing exactly that. Go, download the petition. Make copies. Sign. Collect more signatures. Send them in.
Tweed Finds New Way to Harm Teachers: Flag them for Principals
by Lynne Winderbaum, retired ESL teacher, JFK HS, and former Bronx High School UFT District Rep
Principal’s Weekly May 1, 2012
New Notification of Employee Disciplinary Flags
All schoolsIn accordance with the DOE’s effort to provide more comprehensive personnel information to principals, employees who have been the subject of disciplinary action will be identified with a flag symbol in Galaxy. The DOE is currently conducting a review of prior disciplinary cases and will be updating Galaxy with disciplinary flags as this review proceeds. Going forward, flags indicating employee disciplinary actions will be displayed in Galaxy.
Please note that access to this information is limited to principals and is confidential. You may share this information with your assistant principal(s) but you should not share this information with students, families, members of the community, or other staff members.
For questions, contact your senior field counsel or network HR director.
Somewhere in the middle of the Department of Education’s weekly advisory to New York City principal’s, this notice was buried. It may have escaped the notice of the union. It may have escaped the notice of almost all of the teachers and other employees whose careers would be affected. But it will not escape the notice of principals at hiring time who will now see certain applicants’ names boldly emblazoned with a flag. The flag, like the scarlet letter, identifies them as having been the subject of an allegation of misconduct. It does not mean that the employees have been found guilty of any wrongdoing, simply that they were accused and the subject of an investigation. In fact, many of them were never found guilty of anything or were forced to accept a file letter or fine to settle the charges of which they were innocent as a plea bargain. In that way, they could return to their livelihoods.
For now, the Department of Education is claiming that only those who have been subject to OSI or SCI investigations will be flagged. But no reading of this advisory precludes flagging any teacher or employee “going forward” who were simply “subjects of disciplinary actions” such as letters in file.
Branding teachers with a flag in Galaxy means that anyone seeking to work at a new school under the Open Market transfer plan or as an ATR whose school has closed and who is now seeking a new teaching assignment, will be denied an interview. As such, this constitutes a change in teachers’ working conditions. Article 19 H1 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, signed by the Department of Education says that “The Chancellor or his/her designated representative shall meet and consult once a month during the school year with representatives of the Union on matters of educational policy and development and on other matters of mutual concern.” Did the DOE ever attempt to propose this policy change that will stain innocent teachers to the UFT? Or did they just think they could slip it into the middle of principal’s weekly and prevent teachers from gaining employment without the union’s notice? Was it a misunderstanding of the agreements they signed with the union or was it another blatant example of the pattern of disrespect for the UFT and its members that has been the DOE’s way of operating since mayoral control?
Surely, no one wants to see teachers convicted of serious misconduct in front of students. But they are flagging the names of many teachers who are currently working in classrooms because they have never been found guilty of allegations! As they comb through their records of Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) probes, they will flag the names of many teachers who were innocent of charges but technically were “subject of disciplinary actions”. They may have signed stipulations that said that no admission of wrongdoing was implied but they would pay a fine or receive a letter to dispose of the matter. That way the DOE would not look like they penned a teacher in a rubber room for years on unfounded charges and the teacher could resume working. Win-win. But under this new policy, there could be belated consequences nonetheless.
As District Representative of Bronx High Schools for the UFT, I represented many members who accepted disciplinary actions as a plea bargain to make false charges against them go away so they could resume their jobs and leave the rubber room. More than anything, they wanted to spare their families any more torture and torment.
There was a middle aged teacher with a clean record out of Stevenson High School who was accused by a student of “humping her” on a daily basis as she sat on a stool in front of the class taking attendance as his monitor. Not a single child in the class witnessed this alleged action. But one friend who was not even in the class told investigators she saw it one day from the hallway. What prompted this horrific allegation? Her guidance counselor told her that morning she was failing this teacher’s class. So she came to his room, broke the glass on the door and shouted that she was going to get him. The OSI never interviewed the students in either the class where the misconduct supposedly took place or the class present when the ranting child broke the glass. OSI also failed to include the threat in their report. The teacher agreed to a U rating and a file letter in return for making it all go away and to go back to work. Well he will get a flag in Galaxy.
A world renowned music teacher at Kennedy HS who recorded with international stars was accused of harassment by a special education student a full year after an alleged incident. There were no witnesses or evidence to support the allegation. In fact, there were witnesses who testified to the emotional instability of the child. But the talented music teacher was removed from the classroom for a year and a half and finally agreed to a fine at 3020a to settle the case and return to work. It saved face for the DOE but such a teacher would now earn a flag. A former teacher at Astor Collegiate took a stipulation of settlement to make 3020a charges lodged by a female student go away. He admitted no guilt in the stipulation but he had to retire to get the deal. The student and her boyfriend had threatened to “get him fired” after he called her home. There was no corroborating evidence except the alleged victim and her boyfriend and the threat was not mentioned in the investigation. Flag for him.
A man with a successful business career made a mid-life career change to teach mathematics at Renaissance Theater HS. He wanted to “give back and make a contribution”. But his career was cut short when his principal tried to have him removed by urging students to come to her office and report him. A litany of minor incidents resulted such as “getting spittle” on a student while reprimanding him for misbehavior. That was described as “corporal punishment” and prompted a mandatory OSI investigation. He also took a stipulation to make it all end and left the system with charges dropped. A flag assures he will never come back.
A UFT chapter leader at Kennedy HS was totally exonerated of 3020a charges but accepted a letter to gain release from over a year in the rubber room. That is a “disciplinary action”. Flag.
Another chapter leader at Bronx Theater HS was exonerated at 3020a of serious charges brought by his principal but agreed to a letter and no finding of guilt to get of the rubber room after a year–the expeditious way an innocent man could get back to work and out from under an undeserved cloud. Flag anyway.
Then there are all the teachers detailed in the Thatcher Report which investigated the investigations. They were accused of helping students cheat on exams. The Thatcher Report was an embarrassment to the Board of Education because it found the investigations to be fatally flawed. They all went to the rubber room for months and were brought up on 3020a charges. The railroaded innocent teachers settled for letters in file to end the nightmare and were returned to the classroom. Do they take a flag?
A teacher at Stevenson ran afoul of her assistant principal and after a long, distinguished career inside and outside of the schools was brought up on charges of incompetence. Lacking evidence, the 3020a saved face by fining her and she accepted because, as a single mother, it returned her to work. Raise the flag on her.
I have represented many members who have agreed to fines, to letters in file, or to retire or resign to make the humiliation of the rubber room conditions end. They were not guilty of anything and the charges were not proven, but they could not foresee spending years under the shadow cast by the allegations and the pain it caused them and their families. Grab a flag, all of you.
And just because the Department contends that their unilateral actions will only apply to OSI and SCI investigations for the time being, doesn’t mean that the way the language of the policy is written precludes them from applying it to “disciplinary actions” such as file letters in the future, or removal from classrooms and suspensions of pay pending court cases in which the were acquitted. If we don’t stop it here, the implications of that would be chilling to those victims of supervisory abuse as well.
Readers who believe that anecdotal cases do not prove the point should know that many teachers who read this have been victims of the same system that investigates any and all allegations and makes them part of a permanent record whether they are substantiated or not. And if not personally a victim, surely they know teachers in their schools who have been so tarred. One thing we can agree on based on this policy and the cases I have described is that any effort on the part of the Department of Education to tarnish teachers’ reputations based on a record of disciplinary actions taken against them even if the charges were dismissed or unproven must be challenged. The ability of teachers to utilize the Open Market or find jobs when their schools close cannot be limited by a policy that entraps the innocent and cuts the union out of its formation.
In an era of blaming and bashing teachers for everything and anything, it is time to stand up and say “enough”. The flagging of teachers based on “disciplinary actions” must be taken up by the union and its members who deserve the respect of the rights of the innocent and the honor of the agreement of the Department of Education to discuss damaging policy changes with the union before enacting them unilaterally.
Chase Chased
I asked this morning, when will the principal who lusted for office machinery be gone? And the answer came just hours later.
In a closed-door meeting with staff earlier today, the principal of Bronxdale Academy, John Chase, announced that he’d had it, and would be out by the end of the week.
The DOE will doubtlessly claim that the notoriety of the case caused such disruption that it would be better for all…
But we know better. Chase’s victims refused to be afraid. They, and their supporters, refused to quit. They went to the UFT. They went to politicians. They went to Albany. They went to the streets.
And even after the headlines died down, they persevered. And today, they won. We all did. Thanks to all those who played their parts.
When will xerox-loving principal be gone?
Sex Machine. Hmm. James Brown.
Sex WITH a machine. That would be John Chase, principal of Bronxwood Academy, a new mini-school in Christopher Columbus High School, in the Bronx.
His comments about a xerox made the news last fall.
An Equal Opportunity hearing led to a slap on the wrist – a letter to file, an admonition from Dennis Walcott, and sensitivity training.
There were politicians.. There was a demonstration. And then nothing. So far, we haven’t chased Chase.
But he’s chased others. Under his brief tenure, two female secretaries have transferred. One female school aide has transferred. One female community outreach advisor has transferred. One teacher has transferred. Two female assistant principals have come and gone. Two female UFT chapter leaders have resigned. Several students have transferred out and multiple parents have called the Department of Education, questioning the madness.
The C-30 for new schools normally gets done quickly. But let’s call this one not normal. The posting for principal just came out. Let’s bring pressure to make sure Chase doesn’t “stay on the scene.”
UFT spring educational conference
Robert Jackson is speaking. Cathy Nolan spoke. Well. And Bill Diblasio. And Scotty Stringer. And a few words from Charlie Rangel, who was a force in his day.
But Quinn?
My first (and last) AP class
I made it through 14 years teaching without dealing with Advanced Placement. My first five, at Columbus, no way was I getting near even Course III (sort of Algebra 2 + Trig). And my last ten, I didn’t want AP Calculus, even though, had I requested it, I should have, probably would have, gotten it.
But this year I asked, and I got it, and, oh, boy.
I resented the dozens of small ways the College Board impinged on the course. I resented the test prep, even as I minimized it (two weeks, at the end. One prep book that we rarely referred to). I resented the weirdness of some of the word problems. I resented the calculator, and the problems written for Texas Instruments.
I resented that my talents were not pulled into play in the way I like them to be. Those students who were well-prepared, they could learn it all from the book (and on some topics, the book may have been a better resource for those students than my class). Those students who weren’t ready… how much precalc, how much trig, how much algebra 2 could I work in? A lot.
Without the exam, I could have taught more, and taught better. I would have selected better topics, more depth, fewer odd tangents.
But most of all, I resented being part of the machine, the machine that boils kids down to bubbles. The machine that ignores learning and produces a score, just a number. The machine that cannot celebrate success, cannot measure progress, cannot differentiate a lazy bright student’s embarrassing A- from a hard-worker well earned C+. The machine that cannot see the individual students, nor the goals of the course, nor the beauty of the mathematics.
I began to feel that teaching this course, attached to the testers’ own company, was doing violence to my own beliefs.
In April I turned in my preference sheet without AP Calculus. I felt better.
And Wednesday the exam happened. Done. In my freshmen classes I felt giddy.
I do want to know what scores the calculus kids got. That’s the monster, the machine, beckoning. But I am confident that the scores are fine. And that once I check them in July, I won’t look back. I might try calculus again. In college. Or without the exam. But my only AP class has passed the test, and I couldn’t be happier.
Requesting K – 8 Math Teachers….
This is from NYSUT:
I’m forwarding the survey for teachers of students in grades 3-8. NYSUT will use
your feedback as we fight back against the New York’s flawed testing system. I
hope you’ll take just a few moments to let NYSUT know what you thought about
this year’s tests: online feedback link for both the math and ELA state
assessments<http://locals.nysut.org/r.php?c/1c0f/bXBhdHJvdWxpc0BmbXNjaG9vbHMub3Jn
Take the pledge
I promise to keep teaching. Even if they cancel all the tests.
You should promise, too.
And then ask New York State to evaluate your veracity.
Rally to support discontinued Bronx teacher
Rally for a discontinued probationary teacher? Yes, tomorow at Andrews and 183rd.
Probationary teachers in New York City are discontinued every week, and they rarely generate news stories. Some of the discontinuances are justified, some are unjustified, but the ex-teachers usually just go away quietly. Not Alice McIntosh.
McIntosh, a 50-year-old Black woman with masters in public health from Columbia and another in education from Pace, is not going away quietly. Her story was featured in the Daily News. And now that her appeal has been denied (by the same superintendent who signed off on the U rating!), her family and friends from New Day Church are rallying in her support.
The fact that McIntosh had favorable evaluations, but questioned the use of out-dated, non-relevant curriculum, should make people of good conscience highly suspicious.
Sunday, May 6, 1:30 – 2:30. P10X@PS15 (2195 Andrews Avenue near W 183rd, the Bronx)
Click for press release: McIntosh 5.6 Media Advisory.
New York State: Release the tests!
New York State contracted with Pearson to produce what now appear to be flawed tests. The problem starts before that: New York State, not a for-profit company, should be writing the tests (if we really need them at all), and the tests should be written for the students of NY State, not in order to make a fast buck.
But now we all know about the pineapple race. And have heard that there were other problems.
And today I have a new one. But I can’t share it with you. I don’t know exactly what it is. But on the 7th grade math test, Pearson asked a question that’s not a 7th grade math question in New York State. It’s not a k – 6 math question either.
Apparently it involves angles inside a parallelogram, or angles formed when a third line crosses two parallel lines. How hard are parallelogram questions? Not so hard. If you have studied them. But NY State puts out a very specific roadmap of stuff to teach. Grade by grade. And there’s so much in there, most schools stick pretty close to it, so that the kids will be familiar with everything on the test. Extra topics that are due to be taught in 8th grade or 9th grade? 7th grade teachers are unlikely to add future topics, as they scramble to get through the too many topics NYS has placed in 7th grade.
How do I know this much? Look at this discussion. You’ll know too.
And I don’t know more than that.
The test is secure. The State and its vendor try to keep people from discussing it. They say they want to reuse questions. And clearly, that is Pearson’s habit (our unlucky pineapple has already visited a half-dozen states).
But “test security” prevents the public from discussing the dreck New York State pays for. And that’s wrong. If the tests were wonderful (if we really needed so many, or any, tests) and they were secure, that would be one thing. But today “security” allows the State and the vendor to hide their shameful product from the residents of NY, while victimizing the children.
The contract with Pearson should be terminated. NYS should reassess how many, if any, tests should be given – and should write any tests itself.
And the current tests should be immediately released. The public should see. The public should know.
Private companies make public tests?
This should stop. Now.
It’s easy to look at Pearson and its lazy pineapple question. Or its impossible trapezoid. It’s easy to say “bad Pearson.”
But wrong. Pearson got a contract, made money, and threw together tests for as little money as they could. Recycled the bad pineapple. Didn’t proofread the math.
Why were they in the position to do so?
Because New York State abdicated its responsibility for education in this state. The State used to produce tests. Fine ones, or so say those who appreciate a good standardized test. (that probably is not a group I am in). But they farmed the writing out to teachers across the state. Smart teachers. Wrote good questions. Proofread. But when no one at SED was centrally responsible, quality suffered.
They then started farming tests out to contractors. And now quality, never before an issue, is in the papers every week.
This is not about proper oversight. Nor about proper proofreading. Nor about having bad standards (although… New York State… guess what?)
This is about public education remaining public. Private companies, profit, they should not be here. If tests are to be written (and there should be fewer, or perhaps none), but if tests are to be written, New York State, and not some skeevy profiteers, New York State should be doing the writing.
The Privatizers want mayoral control. Better to resist than accommodate.
Parents across america: Attempted coup by ConnCan and TFA in Bridgeport – a cautionary tale
Reading in math class: The Number Devil
Do I really have high school kids read a math story book? Yup.
The Number Devil is one hell of a book. And I have enough copies for three classes. We read it, slowly, over the course of a few weeks. If/when they lose interest, I’ll take the books away. Twelve chapters – we could make it through 3, or 6, or the whole thing.
The kids tell me it’s written on a 3rd or 4th grade level. Some have already read it. No matter. They haven’t read it with me.
Basic plot – kid hates math. Has bad dreams. The Number Devil comes to him in his dreams, shows him “different” ways to think about math, and the kid ends up liking and getting good at math.
Now, we’ve just struggle through factoring, algebraic fractions, and their applications. In other words, the toughest stuff in the course. We are graphing – which is a nice breather. And the Number Devil is another breather. So what that it’s numbers and not algebra. Numbers can dance. And these kids are just about ready for dancing numbers.
The math all looks easy, but there are twists. In the first chapter he uses lots of 1’s to make other numbers. So what? 1 x 1 = 1, 11 x 11 = 121, 111 x 111 = 123231, and the kid says what happens if you use eleven 1’s times eleven 1’s and the pattern breaks, and the kid admits that he just guessed a lot of 1’s, and the Number Devil goes berserk, and explodes.
So easy to miss. I got my students to catch the use of a counter-example, and to figure out that the Number Devil was angry because the guess was unnecessary – the pattern breaks down in a predictable way. And then I lectured about Peano, and axiomatizing arithmetic as the Greeks had geometry, and that forest of 1’s and Peano’s postulates and mathematical induction… and I think I hooked the kids on lots of easy math and silly stories, and lots of deep hidden math. I talked just a bit about Berlin and Hilbert, and we have a few copies of Victor Katz’s history in the back, and some boys were dipping into it. They do learn when I give them a break.
We’ll be up to Chapter 4 next week. I’ll see how long it lasts. In the meantime, I gave them their only related assignment today – to write their own, extra chapter of the book. In character. One to three pages. Already one girl asked if she could write longer.
Teacher Evaluation in New Haven
New York City’s “teacher improvement plan” will look like New Haven’s? Makes you want to cut through all the fancy language about validators and speak with real New Haven teachers. Which I did.
I’m from New Haven. My family’s from New Haven. Some of my best friends… Well, I have relatives who teach in and near “the Have” (as no one calls it, but maybe we should). And here’s what I gleaned from two short conversations:
The new evaluation system has made no difference to the majority of teachers. An extra form to fill in, and three meetings each year with a supervisor, mostly to just sign off rather than talk about it. The categories (in New Haven they have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, not H, E, D, I) are mushy, and it’s easy to get bumped up or down a notch, or even two. Here’s the New Haven Teacher Evaluation forms.
The bottom line seemed to be the whole system doesn’t matter – unless you get on the principal’s bad side, and then a 3 can become a 2 and you go in for the improvement plan or whatever they call it, which is apparently a miserable experience, but you sit through it and are ok the next year.
That’ll teach people to speak up.
“Value Added” is wrong, not funny
The UFT took a good ad with the wrong graphic yesterday. We were right to push back, that was necessary. But not with this:
1. It is not NYC’s Value Added formula. It is a generic Value Added formula. Not sure if I’m right? The UFT calls it a “sample”.
2. This formula, with even more terms and symbols and subscripts and Greek letters, this formula on steroids – is what the UFT and NYSUT are helping New York State develop.
3. I can read this. I can teach you to, if you’d like. It’s hard, but not that hard. But it’s probably not worth it.
4. We are teachers, dammit. We don’t make fun of learning or knowledge. Or at least most of us don’t.
5. This great big formula is designed to see what difference each teacher makes “on the test.” That is wrong. Completely wrong. There is much more to teaching than “the test.”
6. Even if we cared more about tests, not THESE tests. I’m not going to start.
7. The text of the ad was good! But the graphic was awful.
8. I wish the UFT really thought “That’s no way to evaluate a teacher!” Our work at the State level speaks otherwise.
9. I have no illusion that what comes out of Albany will be any better. Perhaps State Ed will describe their formula in words so that no one can make posters out of the scary equation. That way we can focus on what’s wrong with the entire concept, and stop making fun of math (though honestly, that number-free formula is not from a math course. Stats for sociology or psychology majors maybe?)
War on teachers continues: Publication of Teacher “Data” Reports
The court forced NYC to hand over the reports? That’s what Bloomberg claimed on the John Gambling Show on WOR: “I think what people miss is the courts have ordered us to release the data.” Typical of that weasel. The media filed FOI requests because the City told them that, in violation of the agreement Klein signed with Weingarten, that the City would not contest the order. Please make me! Bloomberg begged. And they did. (that a union official would expect the City NOT to try to violate an agreement… that is an issue for another day).
= = == === ===== ======== ============= ======== ===== === == = =
InsideSchools refuses to publish the reports. Their statement (written by Meredith Kolodner) is first rate:
Here are our top five reasons they won’t help and why you won’t be seeing them on Insideschools. Please add your own, or tell us why you think they will be useful.
1. The ratings are based on exams that state officials have said are invalid.The reports being released are from 2007, 2008 and 2009, before state officials altered exams that they said were not a reliable indication of whether or not students were learning. The exams were only testing a small part of what students were supposed to know, and it was easy to predict what would be on the exam each year. So students who were drilled in a narrow set of skills might do well and their teacher might be rated highly. Teachers who were teaching the whole curriculum and not focused on test prep could be rated lower, even if their children had in fact learned more.
2. Test scores alone don’t tell you how effective a teacher is…
3. The margin of error on the ratings is huge…
4. Teachers of children performing well on the exams could be rated poorly…
5. The ratings are not stable from year to year…
Gotham Schools declines to publish the reports, as long as they are attached to individual teacher’s names:
At GothamSchools, we joined other reporters in requesting to see the Teacher Data Reports back in 2010. But you will not see the database here, tomorrow or ever, as long as it is attached to individual teachers’ names.
I assume that the Post will publish them, though nothing as of 11:30 AM on Friday.
The paper with the least integrity in NYC, the New York Times, plans to publish the reports. They hide behind their faux-neutrality, and allow some contra voices, but my friends who think there is any decency in TNYT’s accuracy need to reflect on their own assumptions.
I assume that the Wall Street Journal, with far greater integrity, and genuine loyalty to Wall Street, will pretend to be a New York paper, as it occasionally does, to lend support to this war against public education, teachers, and unions.
The Daily News is the most interesting mainstream New York City paper. It’s editorial board is as nasty as the Post’s, but its columnists include Juan Gonzalez, one of most consistent voices for teachers, for public education, and for equality in any of the major dailies. They plan to publish. But now, at 11:30 this morning, they have either posted a joke, or they have been hacked.
Mrs. Doubtfire, with 88 years experience and 23 years of data, seems to be rated D even though her score (his score?) would indicate a C. The other four teachers (the News only has those five posted) all have identical English and Math scores, and are named Jones, LaLa, Couchi, and CouCou. Here’s the hoax listing: Teachers – NY Daily News.
Old math video is not news
Kind of by definition, right? NEWs, you might assume, means NEW.
Our old friends at Gotham Schools don’t quite get it? Last night they posted their little round-up, third link is to a video of a kid using some odd place value pictures to add four-digit numbers.
We know the date of the upload to YouTube. Over one year ago. We do not know if the video was recorded then, or far earlier
We do not know where the video is from. The accents are not from New York.
We do know what math program It goes after: TERC (also called Investigations). To my knowledge, TERC is currently only used in part of one district in NYC (out of 31). It used to be used more widely, but that was before Gotham Schools was born.
We do not know the name of the uploader, or of the adult who speaks to the child. We can tell that the off camera adult is not the parent, but that begs the question of who they are, and how they came to make the video.
Undated, unsourced (unsourceable?), anonymous. Why publish it? Link to it? <smh>
Can you make this interesting equation into an interesting problem?
This thing has a cute graph (play, and see. I frown on division by zero.)
Can you create a nice problem for… hmm. If you can create a nice problem, do it, and let us know who it it appropriate for.
Context (I’m hiding it, for now).
(Do feel free to modify the equation as you create your problem.)
What’s Wrong With Walcott?
by Lynne Winderbaum, retired ESL teacher, JFK HS, and former Bronx High School UFT District Rep
“I’m not going to remove him, but he knows he cannot have any similar type of comments. He is on a very strict line as far as his behavior,” said Walcott, who added that some school staffers want Chase to remain in his post.
Following the deplorable moral standards of his predecessors under Bloomberg, Dennis Walcott staunchly asserts that he will not remove principal John Chase from his leadership position at Bronxdale High School.
I have represented teachers for many years as a UFT chapter leader and district representative. Given the unique position of teachers, the role model status we have, and the damage we can do if we display immoral behavior in front of children, there has been no tolerance for remaining in a classroom under even an allegation of misconduct. Teachers are removed pending adjudication to err on the side of protection. The Department of Education does not see the equivalence in protecting staff and students from misbehaving principals however.
This article in yesterday’s Daily News focuses on his b— j– comment regarding the copy machine but omits his inappropriate comments made to female employees for which he has already been found guilty. Perhaps if his own wife were subjected to comments about her breasts by her boss Walcott might take it more seriously? But this is only a secretary and he doesn’t even know her. It is much more important to stand tough in protecting the job of a principal.
And as far as school staffers wanting him to remain in his post, his entire teaching staff consists of eight untenured teachers (another good argument for tenure). They can be fired for any reason at any time while on probation. So their position must be taken with a grain of salt until they can speak without fear of consequences. Teachers should stand against sexual harassment in the workplace even if the victims are secretaries or paraprofessionals–all union members and all human beings.
And since when do chancellors, including Walcott, care if staffers want accused workers to remain in their jobs? When 400 people marched outside Roosevelt High School in support of teacher Raqnel James, a respected and beloved tenured teacher, the Department of Education stood idly by as she was shipped to the rubber room and arrested. The principal, Iris Blige, created the charges to have her removed from the school after she took the principal’s friend to court for unpaid rent. It cost James three years of salary and legal battles until finally being found “not guilty” last month in a trial. Clearly, hundreds of staffers wanted this innocent teacher to remain in her job but the DOE was unmoved. And this is just an egregious example. There are many schools where good teachers face charges and the staff supports them. Suddenly, in this case of a foul-mouthed sexual harasser, who happens to be the school leader, Dennis Walcott feels that staff “support” should outweigh the finding of guilt and the suffering of his victims?
Easy answer. Excusing principals’ bad behavior is policy. This is the Department of Education that ignored years of allegations of sexual misconduct by Richard Bost, former principal of Fordham Leadership Academy, who was also found guilty of abusing a secretary and guilty of giving $7000 of school money to his AP. Finally, after committing unwanted sexual advances against a parent, Sen. Jeffrey Klein’s office got involved and he was removed.
This is the Department of Education that supports Valerie Reidy after charges of supervisory harassment were upheld by an arbitrator, a well-documented mass-exodus of excellent teachers from Bronx High School of Science, and many demonstrations–the most recent on January 5–asked for her removal. This is the Department of Education that keeps Barbara Kirkweg, of Bronx Aerospace in place after several investigations into grade changing and loss of all Air Force funding due to a finding of misappropriation of their money. This is the Department of Education that failed to conclude investigations into Anthony Rotunno until the state comptroller found him guilty of misusing $90,000 of school money and then he resigned. This is the Department of Education that retains Iris Blige as principal of Fordham High School for the Arts despite the false charges against Raqnel James and the finding of guilt by the Office of Special Investigations into pre-determining the unsatisfactory ratings of teachers she did not like before she observed their teaching. She was fined a mere $7500 for abusing her authority and left in place. The protection of principals is paramount and appears to be the unwavering policy of the Department of Education. It is again time to fight back against this policy and demand the removal of John Chase.
New Principal, sexual harasser, needs to go
John Chase, principal of Bronxdale Academy…
wait a minute. This is a no-brainer. The school has been around exactly one term. This guy didn’t even design the school. Just a stiff behind a desk.
Oh yeah, and harassing his staff. Some of his staff. School aide. Secretary. Community Liaison. Precisely those who cannot disappear into a classroom to perform their duties.
Am I just saying this? Reporting Rumor? Nah. The Office of Equal Opportunity said so, in their first run at this creep. And there are two more investigations pending.
If a teacher did what this guy did, the teacher would be removed, pending disposition. (I get that. The teacher would also have their pay suspended – without a finding that’s plain wrong. Another serious, senseless giveback from 2005 that needs to be undone).
Choke Collar
In today’s Daily News, Walcott is quoted as saying “I’m not going to remove him, but he knows he cannot have any similar type of comments. He is on a very strict line as far as his behavior,” which sounds terrible. But maybe not. Klein never made “strict line” comments about Richard Bost or Tammy Smith, who are finally gone due to external events, or Barbara Kirkweg or Iris Blige who should be, but are still here. Maybe that “strict line” comment is a signal for what might happen. But we need to keep up the pressure.
Rally Tuesday
There’s a rally, in front of Columbus this Tuesday. A rally to demand his ouster. Chase Chase. Get him out. 3:30 PM. 925 Astor Avenue, in the Bronx. 2 to Pelham Parkway or the 5 to Pelham Parkway.
There are politicians coming to lend their support. Jeff Klein. Naomi Rivera. Jimmy Vacca. Their voices will be there. And I know, personally, maybe 25 people who will be there. Maybe 50. But there should be 250. Or 500. Or even more.
Links
Facebook Event (Chase Chase!)
Latest: New York Daily News (today’s edition) (sex Machine comments), Inside schools, WPIX
DoE decision to give a slap on the wrist: NY Magazine, News 12 – Bronx, NY Post xxx-Craving
Our members and colleagues should not be subjected to sexual harassment. Period. Our non-classroom colleagues are even more vulnerable. We must stand up for them. And we should enjoy the sense of power that comes from gathering for a just cause. Get used to it.
The DoE even gets e-mail wrong
“This e-mail address couldn’t be added to the Blocked Senders list because it’s already in that list.”
Then how did it get into my inbox?
JD2718 