Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
How do those phony Bloomberg grad rates look? Let's explode the bullshit whenever the press puppets the story that Bloomberg raised grad rates from 50-67%. Three quarters of that is based on lies like the Dewey case. Every time Chalkbeat talks about the rise in grad rates under Bloomberg, leave a comment saying "Bullshit credit recovery -- and other slick tricks".
Ed Notes readers are well aware of the John Dewey story and Kathleen Elvin. There has been a lot I have not been able to talk about in order to protect my sources at the school - we've been waiting for this DN Gonzalez piece. One thing we do know is that Tweed and Carmen Farina have been told what is happening for almost a year and have done nothing. It is much worse than credit recovery, as there has been a general assault on teachers by the administration, especially the nontenured. One story is that they have to give Do Nows and mark then and enter the grades every day. Farina was informed of this waste of time 6 months ago. Her recently installed superintendent is as big a shit as the one he replaced - Amy Horowitz who was given an even bigger job at the DOE.
By the way, the investigations at Dewey have been going on forever and somehow nothing gets resolved. How about expedited investigations of principals instead of teachers?
Let's keep an eye on the teacher with guts, Wade Goria, and how the vindictive admin comes down on him. I'm betting they will find a reason to rubber room him -
Last spring, a teacher at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn was assigned to oversee 16 students in a single class who were seeking credit for subjects they’d previously failed. The topics included Earth science, global studies, trigonometry and English — 14 in all — yet the teacher was only certified as a math instructor. A second teacher became her own virtual high school. Records obtained by the Daily News show she was put in charge of a course titled Project Graduation. Students in the course had failed 35 different subjects, including U.S. history, geometry, living environment, Earth science, global studies, algebra, art and Spanish. But the teacher’s license was for special education. How is it possible to teach so many subjects simultaneously — all outside your expertise?
Well, it’s not. Pupils assigned to Project Graduation simply had to show up and fill out individual “course packets,” according to several teachers who were assigned to the course.
It was part of a brazen scheme by the school’s administrators to inflate graduation rates by manufacturing bogus “credit recovery” — a practice now being probed by the school system’s office of special investigation.
Just as test prep has overwhelmed elementary schools, with the politicians demanding higher standardized test scores, “credit recovery” will likely be the next big high school scandal. At Dewey, The News obtained class rosters, individual student records and school emails, and interviewed a dozen teachers who claim sham credit recovery has gone on for years.
The documents show teachers were often assigned to grade students out of their expertise, supervisors altered failing grades to passing without consulting the original teacher, and students were passed without even attending class, all in violation of state and city education regulations. What’s happening is incredibly fraudulent and criminal,” said Wade Goria, a social studies teacher at Dewey who is about to retire. Goria was willing to be quoted, but many of his colleagues who gave evidence to investigators asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
The News asked Goria about a student of his who graduated last year despite receiving a failing grade in a government course — one required for graduation. “The student was absent more than half the time and had no idea of what was going on,” Goria said. “In no way, shape or form could I justify passing him. “The next thing I knew, the boy was on the graduation line,” Goria said. School records obtained by The News show that on July 1, a few days after graduation ceremonies, Goria’s student received a 65 in government from a supervisor as part of credit recovery. “No one came to me about him,” Goria said. “There was no discussion whatsoever. He just passed.”
As you might expect, Dewey’s graduation rate soared since Principal Kathleen Elvin took over in early 2012. It was 61% in June 2011, and 74% last June. Elvin declined to comment and referred all questions to the Department of Education.
“The integrity of our academic programs is of the highest importance and the Department of Education takes any allegations of this sort extremely seriously,” said Devora Kaye, spokeswoman for Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “This matter is under investigation.”
Records obtained by the Daily News show a teacher was put in charge of a course titled Project Graduation. Students in the course had failed 35 different subjects, but the teacher’s license was for special education.
Bryan Pace/for New York Daily News
A teacher at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn was assigned to oversee 16 students in a single class who were seeking credit for subjects they’d previously failed.
Frank Giordano, principal of New Voices School of Academic and Creative Arts, a Brooklyn middle school, decided to take a hard line against opting out....Principal Giordano’s insistence that students can’t opt out – when he
cannot, in fact, force a student to take a test – and his threatening
students with sit-and-stare are unfortunately typical of the many
reports we are receiving at Change the Stakes... Change the Stakes press release
Giordano is a skunk to his teachers too - bordering on being a real swine.
Before I begin let me ask all you teachers: where the hell are you on this issue? Has anyone gone to the Change the Stakes web site and shared the important info there with parents in your schools? You have just been slaughtered by the governor and your union's ineptness. Are you sitting back and waiting for a small group like CTS to do it all without you lifting a finger? Opt out is the only chance for teachers over the long run to counter what just happened. Don't just be the frog in the boiling water as they turn up the flame. Get your PTA to contact CTS. The UFT won't do any heavy lifting -- it is up to you.
FARINA DISCOURAGES PARENTS FROM OPTING
OUT—Capital’s Eliza Shapiro: “In a letter sent to city principals Wednesday, city schools chancellor Carmen Fariña asked school leaders to discourage parents from opting out of state standardized exams later this month. ‘As educators, it is our obligation to make sure we hold all students to high standards and equip them with the skills necessary to succeed in the face of all types of challenges in life, including taking tests. With this in mind, and as you lead your communities and administer this year’s state tests, I want to reiterate the value they provide to students, families, school staff and the city as a whole,’ Fariña wrote in her weekly ‘Principals' Notes’ letter. Fariña has been a stalwart supporter of the Common Core, and of the accompanying exams, throughout her tenure as chancellor. But her most recent comments on the push by some parent and teacher groups to have children refuse to take the tests were particularly direct. Last year, when asked for her opinion on opting out, Fariña stressed the importance of a parent's individual decision, then hinted that she believed parents and students should be ready to meet ‘challenges.’” [PRO] http://bit.ly/1Cx9Fku
Yes, Farina speaks out of both sides of her mouth. And to my principal readers -- you are also being screwed and backing opt out over the long run also protects you.
Merryl Tisch enters panic mode with this idea to exempt the people most likely to opt out.
Opt out is such a major threat to ed deform, there is some backroom talk of passing a state law that might punish parents who do so -- not sure how that would work but think of vaccine laws. Don't take test = measles.
How can they justify giving charters public money but exempt them from the same rules for teacher evaluation?
Change the Stakes took action with this press release yesterday.
New York City – Parents across the city are refusing to let their children take the annual state English Language Arts (ELA) and math tests administered to third through eighth graders, but some principals are standing in their way. Warning that opting out of the tests is either not allowed or will result in negative consequences – for the student, teachers or school – principals have left parents frustrated, fearful and confused about their rights. Although a parent guide released by the Department of Education (DOE) states, “If, after consulting with the principal, the parents still want to opt their child out of the exams, the principal should respect the parents’ decision and let them know that the school will work to the best of their ability to provide the child with an alternate educational activity (e.g., reading) during testing times,” some principals are either unaware of the policy or have decided to ignore it. In emails and Facebook posts, at community forums and on parent list servs, countless parents across all five boroughs report that principals have told them that if their children don’t take the tests, the students will not be promoted, will have to attend summer school or will have to take an alternative exam. Parents report being warned that teachers’ evaluations will suffer if kids do not take the tests. Numerous superintendents, principals and teachers have told parents that schools will be harmed or will lose funding if too many students opt out. None of these threats or warnings are sanctioned by the DOE and many are, in fact, contradicted by written DOE policy. Further, there is not a shred of evidence that teacher evaluations are adversely affected by opt outs. As for schools, there have been no negative repercussions for any New York schools with high test refusal rates, including those that receive Title I funds. Even state education officials acknowledge that it would take several years of large numbers of students opting out before a school could face corrective action and even then, no school would lose funding. Frank Giordano, principal of New Voices School of Academic and Creative Arts, a Brooklyn middle school, decided to take a hard line against opting out. In a March 3rd email to parents, Principal Giordano wrote, “There is no opting out of any State Exams. These exams are required to be administered by the State Department of Education. While some schools in the city have allowed this to occur, opting out of these exams has not been sanctioned by the NYC DOE nor the Chancellor.” When Anna Van Lenten, a parent of a 6th grader at the school, shared language from the DOE parent guide with Principal Giordano, he responded, “I am aware of the guide” and made it clear he had no intention of accommodating non-testing students. Ms. Van Lenten found his position confusing. “Frank is a devoted educator, and candid about not agreeing with the current substance and mode of administering state tests. So it is all the more surprising that he refuses to abide by the recommendation of DOE guidelines to allow opt out students to read during the tests. Instead he says they must sit in the same room as the test takers and do nothing for the duration of the two weeks of testing! Opt out students should be allowed to read or be sent to lower grades to assist in understaffed classrooms.”
Dr. Rosalina Diaz, another parent at New Voices and former co-president of the District 15 Community Education Council was outraged at the prospect of her daughter being forced to sit with nothing to do during long hours of testing. “My daughter is a child with amazing talent, intellect and holistic gifts that cannot be measured by any standardized exam, but she is also a child with special needs. She has Central Auditory Processing Disorder, a condition that often makes it difficult for her to process data and filter sensory input. Because the principal has decided that he is unwilling to provide alternative accommodations for my daughter while the other students are testing, she will have to sit and stare for 6 to 9 hours of testing over six days. This action can be understood as nothing less than abuse.”
Principal Giordano’s insistence that students can’t opt out – when he cannot, in fact, force a student to take a test – and his threatening students with sit-and-stare are unfortunately typical of the many reports we are receiving at Change the Stakes. Parents notifying principals of their decision to refuse the tests are confronting intimidation and widespread misinformation, yet most feel they have nowhere to turn. Although the DOE’s parent guide can help parents who have access to do it, principals are not required to distribute it and the document is difficult to locate online. Even when parents have the information, some still confront recalcitrant administrators. The DOE has offered no remedy to parents other than to contact their superintendents, some of whom are spreading the same misinformation as the principals they oversee. Most parents have never met their district superintendent and don’t even know who the superintendent is.
Parents have been left in an untenable situation by an education department that professes to support them but has been cowed by bruising battles with Governor Cuomo. Chancellor Fariña has sent mixed messages to educators, stating that testing should not dictate what happens in the classroom while supporting the use of test scores for up to 35 percent of teacher evaluations. Although her department has acknowledged that parents have the right to refuse the tests, it has done nothing to ensure that parents have access to this information. Nor has the chancellor publicly affirmed that the decision of families to refuse the state tests should be respected.
Reflecting on Principal Giordano’s insistence that non-testing children sit and do nothing, potentially distracting children who are taking the tests, Dr. Diaz, the New Voices parent, said that his approach should be “understood as a punitive action against those who would stand against him and assert their rights as parents to decide what is best for the well-being of their own children.”
Many other parents expressed similar sentiments to Change the Stakes but did not want to risk being named or to name their school for fear of subjecting their child to retaliation.
Despite fear, confusion and uncertainty, NYC parents are fighting back. Hundreds, and perhaps even thousands, will refuse to let their children take the state tests as an estimated 60,000 parents statewide did a year ago. As long as politicians continue to put private interests before those of public school children, prioritize corporate profits over the judgment of professional educators, and use teachers as scapegoats to distract from their failure to address growing poverty and widespread inequality, parents will continue to use the primary leverage we have – we will refuse the state tests.
###
Change the Stakes (changethestakes.org), a group of New York City parents and educators, promotes alternatives to high stakes-testing.
Updated: Funny how Capital's so-called education reporters don't think to ask Farina about the scores of awful principals and wasn't she giving them license to kill the teachers in those schools?
I'm pushing for MORE to provide some workshops to assist people in dealing with this paper trail. I will also use Ed Notes to post info. What a shame that the tiny group of people in MORE feel they have to pick up the ball dropped by the union on so many issues.
THE FARINA METHOD FOR PURGING THE D.O.E. OF BAD TEACHERS—Capital’s Eliza Shapiro: “Carmen Fariña has been talking a lot about bad teachers recently. The chancellor, who defined her first year on the job as a mission to restore ‘joy’ and ‘respect’ to the classroom, has, of late, been encouraging hundreds of city principals to identify and get rid of their weakest teachers. In an interview with Capital last week, Fariña said asking principals to weed out their weakest teachers has been her “first statement when I get into any school visit...I repeat it over and over again." Removing ineffective teachers has been one of the Department of Education’s most intractable problems, and decades of mayors and chancellors have advanced their own reforms on how to get it done with the looming presence of the United Federation of Teachers. “In a series of interviews and principals’ conferences over the last few weeks, Fariña has been promoting her own tried and true method for getting rid of bad teachers: relentless monitoring of problem teachers, rounds of conversations convincing teachers that they are in the wrong profession. The desired result: settling either on inventive alternatives for teachers willing to be cajoled, or forcing out the ones who aren't. ‘There is an opportunity to leave gracefully or not so gracefully,’ Fariña said. According to Fariña, and to well-documented Upper East folklore, that method was effective at P.S. 6, the Manhattan school Fariña ran in the 1990s, which has long been considered one of the city’s best public schools. Now, she’s telling principals it can work for the city’s roughly 1,799 other public schools, too.” http://bit.ly/1E6YaAQ
There you have it. Inviting the significant core of psycho, racist, vindictive principals to go after any teacher who makes too much noise or don't line up like a lemming loyalist.
Fariña has appointed a D.O.E. official whose primary role is instructing principals on how to properly write letters about certain teachers to keep in their files.
Some principals spend more time talking to DOE legal than running their schools.
Ed Notes readers have seen our exposures of lunatic and biased principals over the years. Believe me, we haven't even scratched the surface. Funny how Capital's so-called education reporters don't think to ask Farina about the scores of awful principals and wasn't she giving them license to kill.
I attended a 3020a hearing of a social worker last week. I hadn't met the respondent before but was quite impressed with her. She is African-American. The Principal is Dominican, as is most of his little crew of loyalists. She says race enters into this. For a decade her work was fine. She is senior and makes big bucks and once fair funding hit the school, she became a target. I watched an hour of testimony from this principal and almost broke out laughing out loud a few times.
From the Peter (South Bronx School blog) Zucker hearings I learned all about how they have to create a paper trail, which his biased principal did very well - but we hope she overplayed her hand.
A commenter asked about these 3 items related to the paper trail. Thanks to Michael Fiorillo and Jeff Kaufman for responding.
Progressive Discipline: is the process by which management builds its case against a teacher. It would likely start with a letter to the file, and culminate in a 3020A hearing. Not a political term. Means discipline should follow a path in which the consequences get more severe. So first offenses should be treated more lightly than 3rd offenses.
A Counseling Memo: is an explicitly (ha!) non-disciplinary memorandum given to a teaching, in order to point out areas of improvement the teacher should pursue. A contractual way to write a letter to the file which is used for notice purposes and is removed at the end of the rating year if no further disciplinary action is taken.
NOTE from Bill Linville: I'm pretty sure counseling memos can't be removed for three years, as I've dealt with a couple of those in my school.
A Letter to the File: is (presumably, although it can be laudatory) is a disciplinary letter, and constitutes the first step of Progressive Discipline, and the start of the "paper trail" to establish just cause for dismissal. A first line disciplinary consequence after finding that a teacher has acted inappropriately. Not grievable but can be removed, if requested, 3 years after the incident. Otherwise can be part of further disciplinary action including termination.
Oh, and where is the UFT in all this? Such bad reporting misses the real story - that the union does as little as possible to defend schools from lousy principals - or raise that issue as a counter to the assault on teachers. Some say why? I say -- too cozy with the enemy - the CSA.
Take Linda Hill for instance. We know from just about everyone - people in the school, UFT people, her supervisors even who talked behind the scenes, that she is not competent. And she also scammed the DOE at least twice. But there she still sits. She can negatively affect hundreds of staffers, students and parents.
I'm pushing for MORE to provide some workshops to assist people in
dealing with this paper trail. I will also use Ed Notes to post info. What a shame that the tiny group of people in MORE feel they have to pick up the ball dropped by the union on so many issues.
Teaching has often been a way for poor people from the city to join the ranks of the middle class. I'm an example of this.... Pearson, King, Tisch and Cuomo have been dismantling this tradition.... It is the gentrification of the teaching force....As someone who has been a dean, chapter leader and mentor, I see the difference between the way gentrifiers deal with NYC kids and native NYers deal with NYC kids. In short, we need many many more native NYers in the classroom, especially New Yorkers of color.
.....Assailed Teacher, blogger
Last night a batch of MOREistas were at the PEP to argue a number of points. Eterno covered ATRs. I touched on bully principals and a discontinued guidance counselor from Staten Island made a powerful statement (videos to follow). Sean Ahern and Megan Moskop joined others from the Teacher Diversity Committee to press for a more diverse and balanced teaching staff. Video below and at the MORE you tube site: http://youtu.be/g1_RDCkWLUM
Sean has been fighting this battle for a decade and is finally getting noticed by the DOE and the UFT - but outcomes do count.
I was going to speak about the lack of balance in terms of the racial composition of teaching staffs around the city. We find a lot of teachers of color in the poorest areas of the city - Harlem, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy - the overwhelming majority in some schools and overwhelmingly white staffs in other areas.
This is often unfair to the teachers of color who are more likely to be teaching in the tougher schools.
Bloomberg got rid of a provision that allowed teachers of color to transfer based on race in 2005. You know the drill - principals should not be forced to take a teacher they don't want - even if the real issue is the decision might be based on racial bias - which by the way, can also work both ways - a white teacher had a tough time getting a job in the 70s in certain schools. But the racial bias is way more likely to work the other way. All power to the principals must be curbed and maybe this is the way to begin. It is time for the DOE to take a look at the racial imbalance in schools around the city.
The real problem is that Farina is completely over her head and, though
she has replaced some of the most senior staff in Tweed, much of what
was "Tweed" under Bloomberg is still "Tweed" under de Blasio. The same
sorts of lightning bolt from on high memos get sent to schools except
with a different name at the top of them, the Networks still function
completely as they have for the last five years, the investigative and
disciplinary functions still work exactly the same way they have for a
decade--teachers get fired, administrators get reassigned--and except
for the change in principal qualifications (seven years teaching
experience required) they still mostly come from the Leadership
Academy. It's almost impossible to imagine what "new schooling" Farina
has "forged" beyond exhortations to put the joy back into classrooms.
I would like to be paid $250,000 a year for a gig like that. .. Harris Lirtzman on MORE listserve.
Harry put out this link to an edweek article asking people for a yay or nay. Here are some comments that came back:
There is some unhappiness on Leonie's NYC Education News listserve also with Farina, especially over managing parents and some controls put in at PEP meetings. See Leonie's blog for some of that.
When Carmen worked for Joel Klein, I publicly confronted them at a PEP by declaring that the school systems of Kabul and Baghadad would recover sooner than the NYC system. She made a public comment to someone who quoted me along the lines of "he's (me) crazy - he compared us to terrorists." I'm sure Farina puts me in the "crazy, not to be taken seriously" category. At least she's shown she can be right on one thing.
Comments from the MORE listserve:
Nay! With Fariña, if you've ever heard her speak, it's her way or the
highway. Teachers are still being evaluated on student test scores. As
to Pre-k, many of the teachers put into those new classrooms had a crash
course in teaching early childhood education. The three and four year
olds in these programs are assessed up the wazoo. Many of the classrooms
have not been given the pre-k designated monies to buy supplies. Pre-K teacher I would also like to add in that many of the pre-k teachers in the
current school year specifically requested for pre-k on their preference
sheet because pre-k is exempt from Charlotte Danielson and are still
under the S/U rating system
Former Pre-K teacher For me, it's even simpler... Have things improved since any of
Bloomberg's chancellors? Because I work at the middle school level, and
all I've seen are funding cuts, more corporate-instead-of-teacher-written
curriculum, standardized tests being used to evaluate teachers and
schools, which renders "not using them to evaluate kids" (which they
still are -- 4th is still used to get them into middle schools, 7th
still used to evaluate them for entrance to high schools) a publicity
stunt, quality reviews stressing us out, abusive principals still
rampant, etc. I've been on the job 13 years. My kids used to learn AND have fun
in my class. YES, teaching used to be fun. I was the only one I know who
was excited to go to work every day. It's a different profession now, and if Fariña's not part of the solution, she's part of the problem.
So remind me why anyone's answer would be "yay"?
Middle School teacher
Here is the rest of what Harry had to say:
Mayor de Blasio cares about pre-K, all to the good. He cares that he got clobbered over the head this spring about charter expansion and colocations. He doesn't seem to care that much about "schools," though, or how they work. He is supposed to give a speech tomorrow about his education philosophy, which will be the first time he's addressed real school pedagogy and administration since in over a year. Bloomberg cared about Tweed. Bloomberg knew that once he had control of Tweed he had control over the schools. That's why he put Klein in and supported him to the hilt. That's why he booted Cathie Black so quickly when it became clear what a terrible mistake he'd made. That's why he put Dennis Walcott, an excellent "seat-warmer" but who knew his boss's mind completely. Bloomberg watched Tweed and Tweed knew it was being watched.
I'm told that the Mayor has installed a ring of his own advisers around Farina because of her poor political judgment and that she doesn't have much independence. She may give a decent speech to teachers or principals and certainly is more comfortable with Michael Mulgrew et al. than anyone else who's been in Tweed since 2002. But she's completely over her head when it comes to getting her arms around the school system and whatever her pedagogical principles may be, good or bad, is completely irrelevant since she doesn't have the juice or the inclination to impose them on a sprawling school system. And she works for a mayor who just doesn't care about education beyond pre-K and not getting killed on charters again. He's being pressured to respond to the state deadline for a plan to manage failing schools--perhaps he'll deliver on his promise not to close them but beyond that it's anyone's guess.
My guess-at the end of the school year, Farina goes back into retirement to spend time with her grandchildren and the mayor tries to find a real schools administrator.
With the re-entry of Farina's pal Lucy Calkins and Balanced Literacy
and its Workshop models we may find ourselves in the Tweed version of
Groundhog Day.
One of my long-time colleagues in ICE/GEM/MORE is a grad of Teachers College where she was trained in Balanced Literacy and is a fan - in theory. She teaches in the heart of Bed-Stuy and since I've known her she says, "It's a wonderful program -- IF CLASS SIZES ARE LOW ENOUGH TO MAKE IT WORK.
Friday's NY Times has a piece on Carmen Farina bringing back the ghost of Balanced Literacy and Lucy Caulkins, the incredibly controversial program implemented in the early years of BloomKlein and then abandoned because it was so clearly unworkable without serious reductions in class size. Caulkins and the thousand dollar a day Aussies brought in as advisers were amongst the most hated people in those early years of Klein's first chief ed officer, Diana Lam.
In
May, Ms. Fariña asked Ms. Calkins to host a seminar on her methods for
hundreds of principals; in August, New York City teachers will be
invited to a similar event.
The Education Department did not respond when asked how much it was paying Ms. Calkins’s program.
In
the interview last week, Ms. Fariña emphasized that while she believed
in balanced literacy, she would not mandate its use in classrooms or add
it to the city’s list of preferred curriculums. “I’m just asking people to have a common-sense approach,” she said.
That Farina has learned her lesson from the past when she was part of the almost vicious imposition of BL on the entire school system is good news. But we know that the ambitious lunatic principal crew looking to make brownie points may force feed BL and the Workshop model back into their schools.
Under
the method, long-winded lectures by teachers were discouraged, and
students worked frequently in groups — called workshops — to read and
write. Spelling and grammar were de-emphasized in favor of fluency.
Textbooks were scrapped in favor of classroom libraries teeming with
novels and plays. And students were encouraged to write about social
justice issues and tell their personal stories. Balanced literacy took off in New York under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who mandated the approach citywide in 2003 as one of his early efforts to shake up the school system.
Bloomberg used a sledge hammer and Farina helped bring the hammer down and tainted many of the good aspects of BL for much of the teaching staff as principals force fed it to their teachers and used it against some senior people who were slow to adapt.
When Diana Lam went down in scandal, Farina was promoted into her spot and force fed BL down every teacher's throat. But Farina is/was not a fan of low class sizes to go along with BL.
Personally, the idea of BL makes sense for kids who can handle being on their own to some extent with the teacher as manager. And this on Common Core is interesting since BL seems so at odds with CC:
“I don’t really agree with rigid, myopic interpretations of the Common
Core,” Ms. Calkins said in an interview. “It needs to be a big tent.”
Some CC people are freaking, as is probably Sol Stern and his fellow phonics police who are CORE Knowledge fans. I have to state that there are elements of both that make sense - IF professionals - the teachers had real input they would find the way that works for them. Let me say this again in another way - every teacher with 3 or 4 years experience needs to be able to find the path that suits their personality and teaching style -- and not have PD imposed on them ad infinitum. (For newer teachers, yes.)
I came face to face with the BL/Workshop issue when I mentored Teaching Fellows (a once a month visit to observe them) in District 15 where Farina was Supt before she headed Region 8 under the first Joel Klein reorganization, which included my district (14) and 13. She went on to replace Lam and implemented the program city-wide. It is no accident that she left in 2007 when Klein abandoned BL when he thought it wasn't getting high enough test scores - a dumb reason but to Klein data meant more than classroom dynamics.
District 14 and 15 were very different in management and in population. Farina took over Region 8 with the attitude that the "back to basics" D. 14 was corrupt (not totally untrue) but tagged the educators as not as fit as the "progressive" D. 15 educators. I too wanted a more progressive system in D. 14, but one to take all factors into account - ie if you are going in the direction of D. 15, do it moderately in places with people eager and ready to try it - and shave class sizes to make BL feasible. In fact a blend of the D. 14 and 15 cultures would have made sense (I don't know the D. 13 culture but was never impressed.)
Instead, Farina came in an attitude of "my way or the highway." And the class size issue was always poo-poohed.
I got an inkling of what this meant when I went to see one of the Teaching Fellows I mentored (2002-5), a wonderful 2nd year 2nd grade teacher in Park Slope. She had around 22 kids in her class and her BL worked fairly well, according to her -- the kids seemed like readers and could work independently. But when they were doing the Writing Workshop and BL called for her to sit down with each group for a spell and then move on to another, one kid would not sit still and she had to spend time away from what BL called on her to do to make it work. I suggested she give the kid a workbook or rexo to work on until the lesson was finished. "Oh, no, we are not allowed to do that," she said. Workbooks and worksheets were banned. Thus, she had to take time away from the class and making BL work better because she had to deal with the restive child who at that point was not capable of doing the workshop model.
Farina had tied the teacher's hands behind her back in dealing with a kid who needed something to keep him busy for 20 minutes. Teachers have precious few weapons. And the "my way or highway" approach of Farina implementing Diana Lam is what caused so many teachers to turn off and created a hostile environment when attack dog Leadership Academy principals went after teachers who could not adapt fast enough to a very massive change in the style of teaching - especially those who had been teaching for many years.
I for one would have had trouble in the BL system given my belief that phonics was very necessary for the poorer readers - I felt there had to be intense work done to get them to decode -- and by the way, I have a Masters from NYU in diagnosis and correction of reading problems. I taught mostly in homogensous classes where they were grouped by reading scores - and my early administrators believed in making the so-called "bottom classes" smaller classes -- so you could adjust your teaching depending on the level of you class. But in heterogeneous mixed group classes you can't teach to the whole class - so in theory, small groups made sense and BL was one method of dealing with that. But imagine a class in Park Slope where the majority of the kids could read well compared to a class in my school where in a heterogeneous class you were lucky to find 30% reading well enough to work in these small groups. A potential nightmare.
Farina doesn't seem to see these complexities. Farina seems to see the educational world in a homogeneous way- her point of view. And with the re-entry of Farina's pal Lucy Calkins and Balanced Literacy and its Workshop models we may find ourselves in the Tweed version of Groundhog Day.
Here's a link to the Times piece and the entire article below the break.
Kathleen Elvin was sent into John Dewey HS as a closer a few years ago - to make sure to drive the final nail in Dewey's coffin and remove many of the teachers, mostly senior. But the UFT lawsuit stopped that process over the summer and Elvin had to switch gears.
The principal was at first resistant to having the UFT
Rep there as "witness" to the "transaction", but, even the "server" said
he had never served papers in 3 years of doing it where the UFT Chair
was not present- he himself seemed shocked at the attempt to do it
without a union presence!... Martin Haber, teacher, John Dewey HS
John Dewey principal Kathleen Elvin is more subtle than Bryant HS Principal Dwarka. (We've heard about Kathleen Elvin in the past - See Diane Ravitch post below.) Until Farina deals with people like her the school wars will continue even as the UFT tries to cover them up and make nice about there being peace at the top.
The more I hear about Elvin, the more she moves into my POS pool of human beings. Elvin uses humiliation as a tool.
Before you read the report below from Haber, one of the senior teachers, I want to expand on the outrage of her trying to keep these teachers from having their union rep present and the comment from the DOE official that in his 3 years of doing the work of serving 3020a papers to teachers, he had never encountered a principal who tried to deny them even this basic right.
What would motivate Katheen Elvin to function the way she has? There's a special place in Principal from Hell for people like Elvin. And don't forget her little band of assistant principals - use the comment section to name and shame them.
Dear Friends:
4 tenured teachers were summarily removed from their teaching
assignments in the 4th period (of 8 periods) on Friday, the 13th (!), at
my school, John Dewey HS in Bklyn. A guy in a Yankees cap was sitting
in what once had been a Guidance Suite with rows of documents aligned
across the table; these were 3020a papers, and this dude was there to
serve them to my colleagues. The way it was done was, to my mind,
especially brutal and humiliating, and intentionally so: everyone knows
it is something sinister when the APO or one of his gopher AP's comes in
mid-class to "cover" your class while you are told to report to an
Administrative room; students see it, colleagues find out within
minutes, and, of course, every Management Team member is already in the
loop beforehand. The principal was at first resistant to having the UFT
Rep there as "witness" to the "transaction", but, even the "server" said
he had never served papers in 3 years of doing it where the UFT Chair
was not present- he himself seemed shocked at the attempt to do it
without a union presence! He also was vague at first about what he was
doing and who he was, but then relented.
I am putting out this info to see if yesterday was "D Day " for any
other Chapters, or just Dewey? And to see if the "process" is as bad or
worse in other sites. Michael was able to at least establish that the 3020-a process leaves the weight of proof on the DOE side, since the new
Eval system has not even issued its first ratings....so that was at
least welcome news amid the gloom. This is another dark day at John
Dewey HS, where tenured teachers continue to be
scapegoated/harrassed/bullied/
profiled until they leave the
school, and the system. A principal from lower regions of hell. A
collection of sycophantic managers ready and willing to sell their
first-born to get brownie points from her. So, a typical NYC high school
of 2014!
(Also check out South Bronx expose of James Quail - a former principal and Supt in my old district 14 -
And here is the Ravitch post from a student almost 2 years ago.
Can’t anyone volunteer to be a principal? One who actually cares about
the school? Not Elvin and her inexperienced crew. Shockingly, some of
the new appointed AP’s have never taught/are not teaching any classes.
A Student at John Dewey Speaks By dianeravitch September 21, 2012 I wrote a post about the NYC Department of Education’s determination to destroy once-esteemed John Dewey High School in Brooklyn. The post was called “The Ugly Face of Reform in New York City.”
First, they turned it into a dump for the low-performing kids rejected by their small schools and charters. Then they began systematically starving it of needed resources. As this comment shows, even the students know the score:
I am currently a student at the school. Many people don’t realize how hurt we really are, we lack so many things. Our budget is dry, insufficient equipment, low enrollment, slashed programs and classes, new inexperienced teachers replacing traditionally great ones that have been their for DECADES before I was even born! We’re turning into a typical high school. A conventional one at that, and that’s not a good thing. There’s no such thing as bands or cycles anymore. Where is the liberty we used to have of changing our schedules to fit our own needs academically? Where is the freedom of being metal detector free (even though many high schools throughout NYC are implementing metal detectors anyway) and where are all the students on the campus?
It’s exasperating. We did not deserve this. I personally try my best to make a number higher in that school, my 92 average is for the school, and for my family. Not necessarily for me. I want to turn that 62% graduation rate into a 63, and I want my classmates to want the same thing. I don’t want Dewey to be another school on the list that reads “Closed Schools Due to Poor Performance” and I certainly do not want Dewey to be restructured into small schools with a sugar coated name. I also do not want another Insideschools page that reads “This school was closed in due to poor performance.” in the header. And no, I hope the administration doesn’t win this time. They’ve closed enough schools, far too many, and this is the breaking point!
Can’t anyone volunteer to be a principal? One who actually cares about the school? Not Elvin and her inexperienced crew. Shockingly, some of the new appointed AP’s have never taught/are not teaching any classes. The DOE knows the demise of Dewey, but they’re purposefully ignoring it. And they can get away with it, like the corporate rats because the people are sheep. A herd of sheep. They would rather kiss *** than to speak up for themselves. It’s sad. This is not like me, I don’t even know how I managed to type this much. Just know this proves my anger, as a Dewey student. This will not be the end for us. Trust me, we’re in this too deep and we’ve fought too much to go down now. The DOE picked the wrong school to mess with. The worst part is that this corruption is not only happening in NYC, but also in Chicago, and other cities.
I was asked to tape this event at the brand new building housing PS 59 and HS of Music and Art - by CEC 2 head, the always amazing Shino Tawikawa - see the wonderful well-deserved tribute to Shino at the end. [Something went wrong with my camera and I didn't get Carmen's opening speech - but the entire 45 minute Q&A is here.]
It was certainly insightful to see an adoring public gush over Carmen, who was part of the fabric of District 2 for so many years.
Leonie Haimson -- the 2nd speaker - didn't gush but instead asked some hard questions about class size.
What was clear was a genuine delight in the new tone at Tweed - throughout the meeting people talked about how open and cooperative the new DOE was with parents.
So how ironic to see Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, the Grim Reaper of Closing Schools under Bloomberg, sitting there grinning like a Cheshire Cat as her years of work were in essence being trashed. Some symbol of change. I have so much video of her staring - grimly - as students, parents and teachers pleaded to keep their schools open while she justified every single despicable act of the BloomKleinCott administrations.
But other than that note, there is no question that for some parents the change from Bloomberg is astounding -- and this is a caveat -- District 2 is wealthy and engaged - as is District 15 in Brooklyn.
It was a shlep for me to leave lovely Rockaway and take the subway to get up to 56th Street - on the night of the Rangers game - but I got back in time to see the 3rd period - and I've been such bad luck over the years - it is best if I don't watch it all. (My pals banned me from watching the 7th game Stanley Cup victory game with them 20 years ago.) But if Shino asked me to climb Mt. Everest I would - well, maybe not that one.
Upon leaving the meeting I caught the elevator and there was Carmen with her crew going up. It was a slow elevator so I had time to negotiate a new version of the contract with Carmen on the way up -- class sizes of 20, ATRs permanently assigned to schools, mechanisms for teachers to deal with abusive principals, and a few more bucks.
Mulgrew claims to be against ed deform are smoke as the contract clearly
supports the ed deform emphasis on PD while disparaging class size
reform.
Video of Farina comments on class size below. I'm home today and have many posts to go so take your time and read them all. With Ravitch having her knee replaced today - did ed deformers CAP her?, I have to make up the difference. And good luck Diane. Use that new knee to good use.
A YES vote for the contract is a vote for continued high class size. NYC teachers are working under class size limits - with loads of loopholes - that was codified almost 45 years ago. Under the last 20 years of BloomIani there was no chance of improving those numbers. And now with a more friendly mayor - supposedly -- the UFT had its chance to make a dent in these numbers. But instead it codified these class sizes basically in perpetuity. Shame on them. And on Farina, who has never been a big supporter of class size reductions, feeling more PD is the answer. Sure let's do PD with 80 in a class.
What a tandem - it is not only the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership that feels class size is not an important enough issue to address in the contract but Farina too. Both entered into negotiations with no thought to class size but more PD instead.
When Unity people challenged me on my NO Vote stance I threw the class size issue back in their faces and they just shut up. Please use this point when they come a callin' to your school.
Fred Smith asks:
Folks,
Remember Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
According to Wikipedia this is the title of several edutainment computer
games... that teach geography and reference skills.
Based on Leonie's question about the Chancellor's acceptance of large class
sizes--and our vigorous string of emails trying to nail down exactly what
she said, I propose we keep chronicling remarks she makes at public forums
(i.e., generalities and statements like: "We're looking into it."; "Give us some
time."; and "We can't do that because we must follow state and federal
mandates.")
Let's put them together and follow up on them under the heading Where in
the World is Carmen Farina?!
I get the feeling we're all becoming exasperated by too much slipping and
sliding on her part. Maybe this is a way we can pin her down.
Fred
Follow this thread from parents on the CTS listserve on Farina views on class size:
I read a tweet that in response to a parent’s concern about large classes at the d15 townhall, Carmen said that a 3rd grade class of 30 which includes special ed students is not too large. Janine, or anyone else who was there, can you confirm this? I am so disheartened – the Council hearings yesterday about charters featured the same BS from DOE w/ no change in terms of increased transparency or honesty as far as I could see. Elizabeth Rose even said that it would be impossible to estimate the increased cost of busing charter students even though the IBO has already done this. Please let me know what Carmen said. === I was there and heard this but it sounded so unbelievable that I assumed I heard wrong. I would triple confirm! === I was there too & she did say it. I think she made some casual remark that it's on the large side, but as though it was no big deal. In general, I thought she was minimizing things &/or saying Well we just don't have the money. One of her pro-test lines was one I particularly hate: kids are going to have to take tests sometime in their lives.... (So let's start assaulting them early?) How did the rest of us, especially us older farts, manage to survive & even thrive without being given standardized top-down tests when we were little? ==== unfortunately, what ch farinia says here is true. it is hard to find a school where class size is under 30. in fact, i find this is the norm. we now see 31, 32. this is because every student brings a little pot of $$ to the school. what is an admin to do when the budget cuts so deeply that this little pot of $$ is now how we fund things. this sucks, and this is what needs to be addressed. you cannot shrink class size w/o properly funding schools. period. =====
Video by Michael Elliott re: Farina on class size question:
There was no rigor applied to the development of these tests, nor
does the practice of high-stakes testing in general stand up to critical
analysis....I was offended by your remarks earlier this week to the
effect that while parents' opinions should be respected, children should
come to school prepared to meet challenges like the state tests...
I honestly believe it is time for
insurrection at the local level...I want de Blasio and Farina to unequivocally condemn these
tests and call those who inflicted them us to account.
......Jeff Nichols, NYC parent opt-outer
Read Jeff's comments regarding the motivation of this letter below. Jeff and his wife Anne Stone are Change the Stakes stalwarts..
Dear Commissioner King and Chancellor Fariña,
Events are
moving very fast. You are no doubt aware that today the principal, staff
and parents of one of the most highly regarded schools In New York
City, PS 321 in Brooklyn, will be holding a protest outside their
schools to decry the abysmal quality of this year's ELA tests. You have
probably read the astonishing comments from teachers and principals that
continue to pour into the the New York City Public School Parents blog
and other sites (http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2014/04/liz-phillips-brooklyn-principal-i-have.html).
I have not yet heard your view of this
situation, Chancellor Fariña. But as an opt out parent, I have to tell
you frankly I was offended by your remarks earlier this week to the
effect that while parents' opinions should be respected, children should
come to school prepared to meet challenges like the state tests.
Have you not realized that parents are protesting the
tests precisely because we want our kids challenged deeply by real
learning in our schools and these tests are obstructing that goal? Have
you not realized that NYSED's and Pearson's claims that these tests
represent new levels of "rigor" and "critical thinking" are demonstrably
false? There was no rigor applied to the development of these tests, nor
does the practice of high-stakes testing in general stand up to critical
analysis, so I fail to see how taking the state tests represents a
worthwhile challenge for any child.
Moreover, Commissioner King, I cannot accept
the state's intention to keep the tests secret from parents. My wife and
I are responsible for all aspects of our children's upbringing. We
would not permit a doctor to administer a vaccine to our children and
forbid us from knowing what is in the shot. We will not let you subject
our children to any exercise in school while forbidding us to know its
contents, much less tests that are being used to determine their
promotion and whether or not their teachers will be fired. The forced, secret high-stakes testing of minor children is going to
go the way of cane switches, dunce caps and forcing left-handed
children to write with their right hands -- practices that were once
commonplace that we now regard as child abuse. It's only a matter of
time.
The question is, will our local and state education
leaders join together and stop this travesty? Given the fact that the
NYSED and the Pearson corporation have again utterly failed the test of
earning parents' and educators' confidence in the quality of these
exams, why should our schools proceed with administering the math tests
later this month? Can you give me any reason other than obedience for
obedience's sake? All I hear from you, Commissioner King, is slogans
about higher standards and career readiness. I have yet to witness
direct engagement by you with the arguments made by the thousands of
educators and parents in our state who are advocate abandoning
high-stakes testing of young children once and for all.
I call on you, Commissioner King, to suspend the
administration of this year's state tests, and if you fail to do that
(as I expect you will) I call on you, Chancellor Fariña to refuse to
administer them.
We have lemon laws protecting consumers from egregiously
faulty consumer products, but we no one is protecting our children from
these worthless exams. Chancellor Fariña, they are state tests, so you
can blame Commissioner King and the legislature for them, but you are
ultimately responsible for our city's schools. You must ensure that no
one forces educational malpractice upon them. If NYSED continues to
ignore the protests against the state tests that are exploding across
the state, and you allow the math exams exams to go forward, the public
will hold the DOE accountable as well as NYSED and the U.S. Department
of Education.
We now have teachers in this city and beyond refusing to
administer the state tests and parents refusing to allow their children
to take them. Chancellor Fariña, will you stand with these disobedient
citizens, or will you stand with Arne Duncan and John King and insist
that the tests must go forward regardless of their quality, because an
unjust law says they must?
I hope both of you will acknowledge that
finally, enough is enough. Suspend the state tests and bring daylight
onto the whole process that led to this debacle.
Sincerely,
Jeff Nichols
One parent thought Jeff should address King and not Farina since she has no control. Jeff begged to differ:
I know, of course you're right,
these matters are outside Farina's and de Blasio's control. I know at
one level my demand make no sense. But for the sake of argument, the tests are also outside the
control of teachers who are now starting to refuse to administer the
exams and are risking their jobs to do so. And they are outside the
control of parents boycotting them. At the grass-roots level, test
refusal is exploding. Is it truly impossible for our city officials to
join us? As a negative example, we have the history of leaders in the
south defying federal orders of integration in the 1960s. As a positive
one, we have Obama's administration refusing to defend the Defense of
Marriage Act, in a sense defying Congress, which has the authority to
make laws the president must obey. Officials can and do at times take a position contrary to the
directives of authorities higher than themselves when they believe an
inviolable principle is at stake.
By the way, can Tisch and
King suspend the exams, or does the order to give them technically rest
with the legislature? Who could legally suspend the tests? I regard NYSED as utterly hopeless, which is why I am not
bothering to talk to them. I honestly believe it is time for
insurrection at the local level, and NYC is a pretty darned sizable
locality. And moreover what I really want is something less than what I
demand -- I want de Blasio and Farina to unequivocally condemn these
tests and call those who inflicted them us to account.
Bryan Pace/for New York Daily News
