Should the Ed Reformers just quit?

[Anonymous]

After 7 years of Ed Reform - and all the drama and spin that come with it - the achievement gap hasn't budged. Should we declare defeat in the face of an implacable cultural gap which has no interest in supporting/promoting learning?

[Anonymous]

Nah. We just need more highly-paid consultants to study why their less-highly paid peers weren't able to fix societal issues by firing teachers and diverting half of DC students to underperforming charter schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah. We just need more highly-paid consultants to study why their less-highly paid peers weren't able to fix societal issues by firing teachers and diverting half of DC students to underperforming charter schools.

Are U implying that money is a factor here in both DCPS and Charter sectors?

[Anonymous]

I agree with most of your criticism, but how is *not measuring* going to help us? If we can't measure our problem, then how do we know what we need to try to fix?

I think we'd see more improvement by working on poverty issues than educational issues. The schools seem to be pretty decent (in most cases), they just have too much to effectively deal with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with most of your criticism, but how is *not measuring* going to help us? If we can't measure our problem, then how do we know what we need to try to fix?

I think we'd see more improvement by working on poverty issues than educational issues. The schools seem to be pretty decent (in most cases), they just have too much to effectively deal with.

This. But in DC dealing with "poverty" become racially polarizing really fast. For some reason people prefer to tackle this through education.

[Anonymous]

I guess my non-cynical answer is that the stakes are too high to just give up on the achievement gap. Regardless of your views on different strands of how education should be reformed or not, the goal -- of providing all children with a solid education, no matter their background -- is still one worth pursuing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah. We just need more highly-paid consultants to study why their less-highly paid peers weren't able to fix societal issues by firing teachers and diverting half of DC students to underperforming charter schools.

Great idea! maybe paying the current admin staff more would help too, now that we've seen how well paying teachers more has worked. We could also consider firing all the current admin staff and hiring others, with even less experience and training in education. That's a time-tested solution, as well.

Attitude helps, too -- come in with guns blazing and an air of determination that your team and your team alone has a solution to educating "our black children."

[Anonymous]

Assuming that this thread is riffing off of yesterday's PARCC scores, it seems that a couple schools e.g. KIPP and DC Prep - have figured out how to get their students to do nearly as well as white, affluent students.

I think that DCPS and the rest of the charters need to go spend some time in those schools and start replicating what they are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah. We just need more highly-paid consultants to study why their less-highly paid peers weren't able to fix societal issues by firing teachers and diverting half of DC students to underperforming charter schools.

Great idea! maybe paying the current admin staff more would help too, now that we've seen how well paying teachers more has worked. We could also consider firing all the current admin staff and hiring others, with even less experience and training in education. That's a time-tested solution, as well.

Attitude helps, too -- come in with guns blazing and an air of determination that your team and your team alone has a solution to educating "our black children."

I would suggest a Change.org petition to double Kaya's salary so that she is finally sufficiently motivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming that this thread is riffing off of yesterday's PARCC scores, it seems that a couple schools e.g. KIPP and DC Prep - have figured out how to get their students to do nearly as well as white, affluent students.

I think that DCPS and the rest of the charters need to go spend some time in those schools and start replicating what they are doing.

What they are doing is selecting the "best" students from the most functional families (not all poor black families are the same). In order to go to KIPP, parents need the resources and the wherewithal to apply their kid to the lottery and to manage the transportation issues. They then must sign a pledge to commit to a certain number of parent participation hours. Then they also need to get their kid to school for frequent Saturday hours. All of these things are not possible for the most dysfunctional families, who are then concentrated in schools like Turner and Motten, with less than 5% proficiency rates.

At the middle and high school level, where kids from dysfunctional families need so much more -- in terms of social workers and guidance counselors -- the fact that their peers from more functional families are going to charters and OOB leaves the school less money for non-classroom staff.

[Anonymous]

It all starts at home. Educators cannot be both educators and parents, although many of them admirably try. Parents must be engaged in their child's education and provide basics like adequate sleep and nourishment. When these baseline things are not being provided it's difficult to see how a school can make up for all of the inadequacies regardless of how many wrap-around services they provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming that this thread is riffing off of yesterday's PARCC scores, it seems that a couple schools e.g. KIPP and DC Prep - have figured out how to get their students to do nearly as well as white, affluent students.

I think that DCPS and the rest of the charters need to go spend some time in those schools and start replicating what they are doing.

What they are doing is selecting the "best" students from the most functional families (not all poor black families are the same). In order to go to KIPP, parents need the resources and the wherewithal to apply their kid to the lottery and to manage the transportation issues. They then must sign a pledge to commit to a certain number of parent participation hours. Then they also need to get their kid to school for frequent Saturday hours. All of these things are not possible for the most dysfunctional families, who are then concentrated in schools like Turner and Motten, with less than 5% proficiency rates.

At the middle and high school level, where kids from dysfunctional families need so much more -- in terms of social workers and guidance counselors -- the fact that their peers from more functional families are going to charters and OOB leaves the school less money for non-classroom staff.

And DC Prep? What's your criticism of their approach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess my non-cynical answer is that the stakes are too high to just give up on the achievement gap. Regardless of your views on different strands of how education should be reformed or not, the goal -- of providing all children with a solid education, no matter their background -- is still one worth pursuing.

My non-cynical answer is to forget about the achievement gap and concentrate on teaching kids where they are to meet their best potential. Also to acknowledge the role of family and work on ways to strengthen them or to minimize the effect of poor parental support on students. Most important is to recognize that true change takes time and the best teachers can't be bludgeoned into raising scores dramatically in a few years to show how smart administrators are.

It would be nice, too, if current administrators and their supporters would admit error, but that is too much to ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assuming that this thread is riffing off of yesterday's PARCC scores, it seems that a couple schools e.g. KIPP and DC Prep - have figured out how to get their students to do nearly as well as white, affluent students.

I think that DCPS and the rest of the charters need to go spend some time in those schools and start replicating what they are doing.

What they are doing is selecting the "best" students from the most functional families (not all poor black families are the same). In order to go to KIPP, parents need the resources and the wherewithal to apply their kid to the lottery and to manage the transportation issues. They then must sign a pledge to commit to a certain number of parent participation hours. Then they also need to get their kid to school for frequent Saturday hours. All of these things are not possible for the most dysfunctional families, who are then concentrated in schools like Turner and Motten, with less than 5% proficiency rates.

At the middle and high school level, where kids from dysfunctional families need so much more -- in terms of social workers and guidance counselors -- the fact that their peers from more functional families are going to charters and OOB leaves the school less money for non-classroom staff.

Well, I'm happy for those "best" students from the most functional [poor black] families because if it weren't for KIPP they too would be languishing and failing at the 5% schools. There needs to be a completely different model for what you term as the "most dysfunctional families." Something that is targeted to their extreme need. I'm no educator and I don't know what that model looks like, but slamming schools like KIPP (and in doing so, the families that attend there) for the amazing strides they've made is counterproductive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It all starts at home. Educators cannot be both educators and parents, although many of them admirably try. Parents must be engaged in their child's education and provide basics like adequate sleep and nourishment. When these baseline things are not being provided it's difficult to see how a school can make up for all of the inadequacies regardless of how many wrap-around services they provide.

You're right, but that would mean that administrators aren't miracle workers, and they can't admit that. It doesn't help that they've been taught to think of themselves that way and can't accept the fact that they are not as wonderful as they thought.