IMPACT info session. Tonight at Oyster???

[Anonymous]

Still confused about IMPACT. Just figured out there is a DCPS forum or meeting or something tonight at Oyster tonight to talk about it. If anyone goes, or knows what's going to be presented, pls share.

tia

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From Michelle Rhee thread

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11:13 Can you say a bit more about IMPACT? My kids at JKLM have a lot of recess, a lot of free play time, spend a lot of time working in groups with peers, we've been very pleased. They have learned to read in K but their social skills have also really taken off. I fear that IMPACT is going to take away something that really worked for our family, and the test scores are already good at their school. One more left to send through. Are the few good teachers more likely to leave with IMPACT or do people think that they might wait Rhee out? Even if she leaves, she has installed a lot of crony principals...anyone have a crystal ball?

There is 20 or so different IMPACT groups covering every staff member in a DCPS building. My IMPACT manual is 64 pages of highly prescriptive pedagogy laced with threats and inscrutable language such as:

"Individual Value-Added (IVA) is a sophisticated statistical measure of your impact on your students' achievement as measured by the DC CAS. This component makes up 50% of your IMPACT score."

Part of what happens in the future, whether Rhee stays or leaves, depends on parents. Is this the educational model you support? If not, let your Councilmember know.

But this is where it gets sort of fuzzy for me. I am a parent so I don't have access to the IMPACT manual. If we all agree that kids need to learn certain things after they complete each grade and that testing is one way to figure out if they have learned certain skills, why shouldn't teachers be evaluated based on whether or not students are able to pass a specific test. In my job I have specific metrics I have to meet. Are you saying that IMPACT is so rigid that there is no way for teachers to be creative with how they deliver material AND still ensure kids do well on the testing portion? I guess by just giving us portions of what the IMPACT manual says its difficult for me as a parent to gauge what this means on a day-to-day basis for my kid.

I want to be supportive of teachers because ultimately they are the ones that are making the difference for our kids. If teachers want parents to advocate for them somehow, we need a clearer understanding of how Rhee's plans might change the classroom and we want real information not just assumptions or blanket statements. Are there parents out there who can speak about how IMPACT has affected the classroom so far?

Don't advocate for teachers. Advocate for your children.

[Anonymous]

IMPACT primarily affects teachers. While what happens to teachers affects children and parents should educate themselves about Rhee's initiatives, I am not sure why there would be an open forum meeting at Oyster about it. What is your source on that?

[Anonymous]

From DCPS website

Parents
What Does Good Teaching and Learning Look Like?

This fall, DCPS introduced a new Teaching and Learning Framework to clearly outline what the District believes solid instruction looks like. Join DCPS leadership, classroom teachers and other staff to learn and talk about effective teaching and learning.

For more information about the working sessions on the Teaching & Learning Framework, please contact Sang Yoon at [e-mail] or [phone].
All the Sessions will Start at 6:30pm

go to website for list of sites (including Oyster-Adams Calvert location 2/23)

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Events/Teaching+and+Learning+Framework+Community+Meeting+for+Parents%2C+Oyster-Adams+Bilingual+School