Kids play a part too

MSA test score gains are something we can all feel good about, but let's remember everybody chips in. And where the graphite hits the paper is in the students' hands. When you look at extraordinary scores, you can see them travel with the group of students. That shows that individual kids can make a difference.

Certainly individual teachers and principals can make a difference as well, and since they have an impact on many students they can make a big difference. Principals get recognition (and bonuses in some cases I believe) when test scores make AYP for their schools. I think that teachers get recognition for MSA tests results, though I'm not sure. Hopefully, if a teacher consistently has classes with good MSA grades they would be told and would be asked to share what they are doing with other teachers. If I've got that wrong, let me know.

But the students get no recognition. Test results are sent home and parents may or may not make a big deal over the results, but there are no school awards. In my experience, when kids get good grades or have good attendance they get recognized in assemblies and with certificates. When they do well on the MSA, there are no such recognitions. I suppose there are some kids that this recognition could back-fire with (they don't want to be labeled as geeks or something), but for most I would think this would be positive. Maybe there would even be some surprises if MSA scores were acknowledged. I've seen awards for taking the MSA, but nothing for the results. Why?

Being a Special Parent

When you've got a special needs child I think the parenting you need to do, to advocate for that child, makes you pretty special too. So after some heavy-duty stress on that front, I have decided, I'm a special parent. Not necessarily better or worse, or even harder working. My job description is just different from the general population's parents.

So here's my special education rant. I'll work hard to keep it general and refrain from any attacks, but it's been frustrating.

We special parents (and I haven't been elected spokesperson, but I think these are generally held opinions) don't want anything all that different for our kids than what typical parents want. We want happy kids that are in learning environments, reaching towards their potential to become contributing members of society. We don't want our kids isolated from the world, but we want them to be safe and happy. Optimistically, we want our schools to show us that they will care for our kids academically, socially and emotionally in the least restrictive setting we can find.

Here comes the rant...Why when we go to this less restrictive setting are our kids penalized? When a child (and their parents) takes a risk to go to a less restrictive, more challenging setting, the government needs to give them extra support. What I see is an attitude on the order of "if you think you can make it in a less restrictive setting you don't need our support." It's an absolute Catch-22. In a restrictive setting we don't need extra services. The school day is filled with as much of that as can be tolerated. We could have supplemental services, but we didn't need them. In a less restrictive setting there aren't as many services during the day. To be able to make it in that situation we need to supplement services, but now that we need them we can't have them.

Let me try to state this more generally because I'm talking about a mindset and not a specific problem. Growth requires risks and the occasional failure. Special needs kids need to be encouraged to take these risks. If we set it up so that they are punished, by losing supports when they take a risk, the result is going to be stagnation.

2008 MSA Test Results

The results are in and, whooo-hooo, BCPSS moved up!! Both relative to the state and in an absolute sense BCPSS is moving up. I'm not sure if MSA's are the be-all and end-all that they are made out to be, but the BCPSS's failings on this test have been used to prove how bad we're doing so I say, why not use our success as an excuse to say "uh-huh, in your face!"

You can look at the results here and join in a discussion about them at Inside Ed here.

A question for BCPSS employees

After reading a comment on Inside Ed here (it always seems I start my posts this way...) I'm confused about how things work in the BCPSS. The comment was about many teachers receiving non-renewal letters because they weren't certified when in fact they were certified, but that North Ave. hadn't processed the paperwork in over a year.

My question is about the management responsibilities in BCPSS. The structure seems similar to my corporation's in that there are local leaders (in BCPSS the department heads, assistant principals, principals) and corporate leaders (North Ave. staff). We also have training requirements that come down from corporate. What's different is that our local leadership helps us meet corporate requirements. Let me make up an example to illustrate what I mean. Say we need to have ESD (electro-static discharge) training to continue to test boxes and meet our quality procedures. This training might be done on-line. Let's say the system doesn't record me finishing my training, even though I did it (perhaps a computer glitch). I would talk to my boss (or maybe my boss's boss) and let them deal with it. They've got schedules that count on me being able to test boxes, so they will make sure that any problems get fixed before my certification goes up. Also, if the system didn't work for me, there are probably other people in the same situation. It's more efficient for a local leader to fix the problem once than for each lower level person to individually work on the problem. Wouldn't the school's administration feel the same way about teachers being terminated for not getting certified when in fact they were certified?

Updated 7/15

From the comments being posted, I guess I wasn't being clear. I think that a big part of the problem in the situation of certifications falling through the cracks is that the school administration isn't standing up for their people the way that a good boss should. I'm not saying that HR isn't messed up in this situation, but if your principal values you as a teacher they ought to go to bat for you in this situation. They are higher up the food-chain and they should have more clout. If they're unwilling to use some of their influence standing up for their staff then I would be more angry with them then the faceless bureaucrats of HR.

You've got to accentuate the positive

After reading an article on Inside Ed about a grant for W.E.B. DuBois high school here, I've got to comment on the idea of rewarding schools (or students, or districts for that matter) for having problems. I understand that when you come from a deficit you need extra help, and I've got no problem with that. What I have a problem with is rewarding those who emphasize and dwell on their problems, or worse, punish those who make progress in spite of starting in a bad situation. I'm not saying that's the case with W.E.B. DuBois, I just wonder about singling them out.

The neighborhood of the first BCPSS school we attended was economically diverse, but they knew they would get money for the school by being Title I. After I complained about a change made to our free lunch form, which moved us from not qualifying to qualifying, it was made pretty clear that our presence at the school wasn't appreciated.

In the Special Ed arena it seems that focusing on and emphasizing a child's needs are the only way to get the services to help them succeed. Then, if they start doing well, you have to downplay those triumphs and talk about failures or those services will get taken away. As a parent of a special needs child, I know that I need to focus on the positive for every-one's mental health. I dread the doom and gloom that descends after these meetings.

I know that W.E.B. DuBois can benefit from this grant. Mentor programs and work opportunities are great, but if the school becomes "safer" will they deserve these programs less? And what about other schools who wish they could have these same programs? It seems that they will have to get more "dangerous"... is that what we should be shooting for?

New Principals

An interesting article in the Baltimore Sun here says there will be about 45 new principals by the start of the new year. This is up from the approximately 30 new principals last year. I guess this could just be normal blip in attrition, but I'll bet that the new structure is a big factor.

I wonder how the new funding structure is causing this turnover increase. Since the metrics for success haven't been finalized, I can't imagine these principals are failing to adjust and being asked to leave. Is this an indication that these principals aren't interested in trying their hands at increased autonomy? I know that in general people are resistant to change and this kind of massive change might encourage principals to quit or retire early, but I would think, that people who have decided they want to be in charge of a school, would want the power to make their school better. The idea of these changes is to give the principals more power. Is that something that these principals don't believe?

The idealistic part of me is saddened that so many people would quit before giving the new structure a good try. Certainly it's chaotic and scary, but challenges are what makes us grow. In reality, I'm sure the politics that I'm not aware of make it a much more complicated decision. All I know is, that as a parent, quitting or retiring is not really an option. So, I choose to be optimistic that these changes will improve BCPSS overall, and I'll keep working with the schools that we're involved with to try to make it work.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

There's been some talk on Inside Ed that the budget reforms aren't respectful of the principals, or that the staffing cuts at North Avenue aren't respectful of the people who work there. I'm not sure respect is the issue here. It seems though, that respect means different things to different people.

Respect is one of the buzzwords of the moment. At work we have training in how to be respectful of co-workers. I listened to a fascinating interview with some BCPSS students on violence at the CEM website here. I was struck that they saw a major source of friction as being acts of disrespect. In this context respect is more about fearing someone than holding them in high regard.

From my point of view, and I know this sounds trite, respect (the high regard kind) is earned, not instituted. Rules for actions that are related to saving your neck or your job don't equal respect. Rules from above about politeness (no name calling, no interrupting or yelling, etc) can make the environment less hostile, but that politeness doesn't mean there's respect involved.

In that light here's my reaction to the idea that we should be respectful of those who's jobs are being shook up by changes in the BCPSS. The implication is that the changes should be slower and more careful so that feelings aren't hurt. In nine years I have never once heard a respectful statement from a teacher about "North Ave." I've heard polite statements, less polite statements and lots of silence, but never a comment about how much North Ave. helps in the classroom or in any other way. Since my interaction with North Ave. is limited I have no reason to argue with them about how they should feel towards North Ave. I have also gotten the impression from these same teachers that North Ave. doesn't respect them. This usually has something to do with training that they don't find beneficial or paperwork that they don't think is necessary. From my position of outside looking in, I don't think that there's currently much respect between North Ave. and the teachers, so it's doubtful that systemic changes are going to make it worse.

If Dr. Alonso can change things in North Ave. and schools enough, maybe the two parties can start with a clean slate and develop respect. I'm afraid careful, evolutionary changes that seem safer will never have enough momentum to changes these entrenched feelings.

2007 - 2008 closes out

Well, we made it to the end of the school year. For the record the middle one was there for all 5 of the half days. The teachers and school did a good job of motivating them to come, with parties, award ceremonies, report cards and the threat of tests (seemed unlikely to me, but I guess 'tweens who worry about grades bought it). I was a little surprised at the motivation of both the teachers and the kids up to the bitter end. Something changed since last year, but I'm not sure what...

In the end we juggled the logistics to make it happen, not because there was any learning going on, but because who has the heart to say "No" when a kid say "Please, can I go to school today?"

Another Magnet School Mystery

So, I've been trying to understand how the magnet high schools work in Baltimore these days. With the controversy about student retention and some of the heated discussion on Inside Ed I'm thinking it's not the same as it was 20-odd years ago when I was last involved. High schools don't have MSA's but they do have prestige, based on awards and college acceptances, which are prominently displayed on these schools' websites (Poly, City, Western ). That seems reasonable. Then on the Poly news section I read about a teacher, Dennis Jutras, being recognized for his work and for helping Poly do well in history competitions. Seems like just the type of teacher you need at a magnet school to lead these students to more awards. But then I read on the Center for Emerging Media's blog that this same teacher is being forced out through some sort of re-organization. I'm confused. As with the discussion with making it harder to remove students I've got to ask why. What am I missing here? We have something that's working very well. Reward and recognition is deeply needed in a school system that's dogged by violence, poor graduation rates and the like. Poly and BCPSS should be killing themselves to keep award winning teachers, but instead we seem to be giving them reasons to move on.

Update - 6/14/08
I still don't get it, but I've heard the department merger has been undone and Dennis Jutras will be at Poly in the fall. The alumni were involved, and it's good that the administration can be flexible and listen to people outside the school. On the other hand, I don't think that what really happened and all the issues involved will be public knowledge, so the pluses and minuses of this outcome will remain a mystery.

Are we there yet?

Well...almost. One more day this week, then we've got that lovely week of half days for the middle one while the big one "graduates" from middle school and the little one keeps going to a 12 month a year school. I've been to two award ceremonies so far and have two to go. I need to get end-of-year presents for about 16 teachers. A week of chaos and then a quick out of town visit to a grandparent. And as always, the craziest times of the school year lines up with some sort of crisis at work, so I feel guilty for not being able to put in extra hours.

Next year we're back to the insanity of three kids at three schools. There are two new schools to try to figure out, both of which stress me out. Am I ready to parent a high schooler? Will inclusion be the right path for the little one?

But now I just want to make it to the end of the school year and start in on the summer break. Only one lunch to make every morning - yipee!!!