Documentary on DC METROPOLITAN Airing Tonight on PBS

[Anonymous]

BUMP!

For the poor soul who missed this thread and is just now watching the doc.

[Anonymous]

Oh, that's funny, blaming Rhee for the lack of new textbooks to support the Common Core math decision that was made long after she left. Really, you people are too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, that's funny, blaming Rhee for the lack of new textbooks to support the Common Core math decision that was made long after she left. Really, you people are too much.

not blaming Rhee, blaming her clone Henderson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's two sides to the coin - If there are kids who are a repeat behavior problem from class to class, regardless of teacher, it is that student who is the problem and addressing the student's bad behavior is where focus needs to be.

But at the same time, if teachers have inadequate classroom management skills, that's certainly also a huge problem - check for example YouTube for videos with teachers displaying completely ineffective or even completely inappropriate behavior - some teachers really really don't know how to manage students and classrooms effectively, and that's something that the school administration needs to diagnose and deal with effectively as well.

And with their zillion dollar IMPACT evaluation system, DCPS has surely gotten rid of all the teachers with poor classroom mgt skills.

What's your solution? Poor classroom management continues, and there are still lousy teachers. Rather than whining about IMPACT, or saying "get rid of IMPACT" the answer needs to be "what do we replace it with?" So... what is your answer?

I don't feel obliged to have a ready-made solution to all the ills of DCPS, but I will say that we should first get rid of the present administration, that has completely failed. Replace it with a competent administration that understands that teachers alone can't solve all the problems of urban education. That's a start. If the admin is competent, it's practices will be based on common sense and empirical information, not a belief system and miracles.

+1 with an AMEN!

+1000 from a parent and teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, that's funny, blaming Rhee for the lack of new textbooks to support the Common Core math decision that was made long after she left. Really, you people are too much.

not blaming Rhee, blaming her clone Henderson

That's a real funny one too. Keep 'em coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, that's funny, blaming Rhee for the lack of new textbooks to support the Common Core math decision that was made long after she left. Really, you people are too much.

not blaming Rhee, blaming her clone Henderson

That's a real funny one too. Keep 'em coming.[

"Real funny"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, that's funny, blaming Rhee for the lack of new textbooks to support the Common Core math decision that was made long after she left. Really, you people are too much.

not blaming Rhee, blaming her clone Henderson

That's a real funny one too. Keep 'em coming.[

"Real funny"?

The PP speaks volumes about what is wrong with DCPS Central Office and why education will never be improved for the vast majority of students that Rhee-Henderson and their ilk are supposed to br educating and preparing for productive lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, that's funny, blaming Rhee for the lack of new textbooks to support the Common Core math decision that was made long after she left. Really, you people are too much.

not blaming Rhee, blaming her clone Henderson

That's a real funny one too. Keep 'em coming.[

"Real funny"?

The PP speaks volumes about what is wrong with DCPS Central Office and why education will never be improved for the vast majority of students that Rhee-Henderson and their ilk are supposed to br educating and preparing for productive lives.

Keep 'em coming. How about this one. Greg Toppo, USA TODAY8:03p.m. EDT April 11, 2013 Why is this relevant, because teachers and principals were getting rewarded in some schools, while other schools were honestly testing their students or dealing with the aftermath of students wrongly promoted and being fired for being ineffective and having low test scores. If you're working in a school like Washington Met, were most students are sent their from other schools - how are the teachers supposed to show growth or high test scores?

District of Columbia Public Schools officials have long maintained that a 2011 test-cheating scandal that generated two government probes was limited to one elementary school. But a newly uncovered confidential memo warns as far back as January 2009 that educator cheating on 2008 standardized tests could have been widespread, with 191 teachers in 70 schools "implicated in possible testing infractions."

The 2009 memo was written by an outside analyst, Fay "Sandy" Sanford, who had been invited by then-chancellor Michelle Rhee to examine students' irregular math and reading score gains. It was sent to Rhee's top deputy for accountability.

The memo notes that nearly all of the teachers at one Washington elementary school had students whose test papers showed high numbers of wrong-to-right erasures and asks, "Could a separate person have been responsible?"

It recommends that DCPS contact its legal department "as soon as you think it advisable" and ask them to determine "what possible actions can be taken against identified offenders."

DCPS officials have said they take all cheating allegations seriously, but it's not immediately clear how they responded to Sanford's warnings. Only one educator lost his job because of cheating, according to DCPS. Meanwhile, Rhee fired more than 600 teachers for low test scores — 241 of them in one day in 2010.

The cheating issue first came to light in 2011, after USA TODAY reported that, between 2008 and 2010, 103 schools had test-erasure rates that surpassed districtwide erasure-rate averages at least once.

Erasures are detected by the same electronic scanners used to score tests. When a teacher or student erases a bubble sheet, this leaves behind a light smudge. Computers tally the smudges as well as the new answers.

The USA TODAY investigation found that, as far back as 2008, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), D.C.'s equivalent of a state education department, asked for an erasure analysis. Among the 96 schools flagged for wrong-to-right erasures were eight of the 10 campuses where Rhee handed out so-called TEAM awards "to recognize, reward and retain high-performing educators and support staff." In all, Rhee bestowed more than $1.5 million in bonuses based on increases in 2007 and 2008 test scores.

The USA TODAY investigation led to inquiries by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Education's Inspector General. Neither found evidence of widespread cheating, but both primarily focused on just a handful of schools.

The 2009 memo was obtained by veteran education journalist John Merrow, who has been covering Rhee since her arrival in D.C. in 2007. His documentary on her legacy ran on PBS' Frontline in January.

FRONTLINE: 'The Education of Michelle Rhee'

JOHN MERROW: Michelle Rhee's Reign of Error

Merrow provided a copy of the memo to USA TODAY on Thursday. Its findings stand in stark contrast to public statements made both by Rhee and her onetime deputy, Kaya Henderson, now D.C.'s chancellor. In a Jan. 8 statement coinciding with Merrow's broadcast, Henderson noted, "All of the investigations have concluded in the same way that there is no widespread cheating at D.C. Public Schools." She added, "We take test security incredibly seriously and will continue to do so even after our name has been cleared."

Sanford's memo warns its intended recipients to "keep this erasure study really close (sic) hold. No more people in the know than necessary until we have more conclusive results."

The memo suggests, "Don't make hard copies and leave them around. Much of what we think we know is based on what I consider to be incomplete information. So the picture is not perfectly clear yet, but the possible ramifications are serious."

At the time, many D.C. schools, as well as those nationwide, were struggling to meet the federal government's "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) levels, which required year-to-year test score gains. Agencies such as OSSE were pushing for improvements.

"If all 70 schools wind up being compromised AND OSSE wants AYP blood," the memo warns, "the result could be devastating with regard to our reported gains in 2008."

In a statement, Rhee said she didn't recall getting Sanford's memo. Henderson's spokeswoman, Melissa Salmanowitz, said the chancellor "has no recollection of receiving/reading this document, nor of discussing it with then-chancellor Rhee" because Henderson wasn't involved in erasure analysis at the time. But Salmanowitz said DCPS' testing company noted that the district didn't have enough information to conduct an investigation and, based on Sanford's analysis, shouldn't necessarily conclude that cheating had occurred.

[Anonymous]

I finally had 4 hours to watch this documentary and while I suspect the reality was even grittier I was really impressed with the staff and students. They had very hard realities to face and they met them with energy, passion and enthusiasm.

Raven Q's story really fascinated me. I have known so many kids who are on a path of destruction and I have wondered if there is anything that will help them to change. Seeing Raven say she chose to stop fighting, to find a peaceful way to live was incredible. And beyond that, there are so many LBGTQ kids in her situation who would not receive the love and support from her family. Watching her mom take her to men's wearhouse for her graduation/prom clothes was an incredible gesture of acceptance.

The homemade prom was so incredible, they really made the night special for the students. They were so touched by it.

The principal was especially a gem. She just had this passion and energy to her job. She worked so hard and it was clear how involved she was in her student's lives. I suspect that she was fired because DCPS really liked administrators who are on board with everything, who play politics and suck up and she didn't seem into that. She cared more about the kids whole lives than their data. It is DC Met's loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I finally had 4 hours to watch this documentary and while I suspect the reality was even grittier I was really impressed with the staff and students. They had very hard realities to face and they met them with energy, passion and enthusiasm.

Raven Q's story really fascinated me. I have known so many kids who are on a path of destruction and I have wondered if there is anything that will help them to change. Seeing Raven say she chose to stop fighting, to find a peaceful way to live was incredible. And beyond that, there are so many LBGTQ kids in her situation who would not receive the love and support from her family. Watching her mom take her to men's wearhouse for her graduation/prom clothes was an incredible gesture of acceptance.

The homemade prom was so incredible, they really made the night special for the students. They were so touched by it.

The principal was especially a gem. She just had this passion and energy to her job. She worked so hard and it was clear how involved she was in her student's lives. I suspect that she was fired because DCPS really liked administrators who are on board with everything, who play politics and suck up and she didn't seem into that. She cared more about the kids whole lives than their data. It is DC Met's loss.

I agree with your assessment wholeheartedly.

I LOVED the prom scene. The adults in that building went all out, putting their blood sweat and tears into it for the kids. The time they took to build a prom for their students by hand---from scratch--it makes me want to cry thinking about it. That gesture...

I thought the principal was the Met's loss AND a tremendous loss for the students of DC.

Yes, it seems that those who don't suck up and tell the Chancellor and her comrades about how wonderful they are and what an awesome job they're doing find themselves out of work.

It seems that if you're a leader with integrity, you will not stay in DC for long. Just look at the former-Noyes ES principal who was fired after blowing the whistle about cheating at her school. It was in her best interest to cover the lie, get the praise, and take the money. But she cared more about the kids than her own pockets and reputation. A lot like the DC Met principal. I'm seeing a pattern here.

[Anonymous]

18:26 it waa not all that... Editing of the documentary was meant to get to a soft-spot. Shucks, it was as easy as reading a Hallmark card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:26 it waa not all that... Editing of the documentary was meant to get to a soft-spot. Shucks, it was as easy as reading a Hallmark card.

Haters gonna hate. Go and volunteer and see how it is for yourself.

[Anonymous]

18:26 here, sure there were some warts that got edited out, I am completely sure there were many more fights and altercations that were left on the editing floor. But it's hard to fake that sustained level of commitment and caring the staff showed to their students.

I had never heard of colleges that will send staff to high schools/college fairs and accept kids on the spot. It was huge for kids though who found the whole process very daunting given the other challenges in their lives.

I thought it was very telling that of the 30 kids who were eligible to graduate they all went to college. Given that the school had about 200-250 kids that means there were another 20-30 kids more who fell by the wayside to truancy and/or flunking out. Many of those kids were getting into third tier colleges (probably some UDC grads in there) but it's telling that only the kids capable of pursuing higher education were the only ones capable of finishing school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:26 it waa not all that... Editing of the documentary was meant to get to a soft-spot. Shucks, it was as easy as reading a Hallmark card.

Well, of course they HAD to edit it. There was no way they could record each and every move that went into putting that prom together. But the bottom line is this: THEY are the ones who put it together. I also loved that the kids were very appreciative of their prom. No one complained that "It's so whack that our prom has to be in the cafeteria! Our school is so whack!" They understood and appreciated the work that was done for them. That is HUGE. I was not the most appreciative teenager; the fact that those adults worked so hard just to make an event fun for me would've gone over my head.

And yeah, like PP said, hatas gone hate. Cause that's what y'all do.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE ON LIFE AFTER THIS PRINCIPAL'S DEPARTURE:

In the documentary, the principal was let go at the end of the year, to the chagrin of much of the faculty who took the representative from Central Office to task when he went in to speak with them.

At several points in this thread, the question was asked: How'd the school fare since the principal's departure?

The short answer is HORRIBLY.

The principal who came in after her was a nightmare. After 3 years, DCPS finally let him go.

An interim admin team came in SY2015-2016 and they were even worse. So horrible, in fact, that DCPS got rid of them after just 1 year.

Their replacement was just announced for SY2016-2017.

So, in short, there have been 3 new administrative teams since her removal.

The former principal from the documentary, as we know, went on to do well in NY. She has progressed even higher in the educational ranks since then.