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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am sorry, I used to teach at GW2 and you all have go it all wrong.  [b]First, the schools did not "improve" from the separation - it is an illusion contrived by Sherman and bought by those parents at GW1 that want to believe so badly. [/b] Here's the thing.  If you were to combine their scores you will see that they are about where they were before they were separated.  The only difference is citizens of Alexandria have been suckered into paying for more administration instead of more teachers.
One of the reasons that there is such a difference is that   when they were originally split, it was decided that one would take the ID program, the other the ED program.  Gerald Mann being an expert in Special Ed., smartly took the ID.  Why would this make a difference?  Well, ID (Intellectually Disabled tend to mostly be in self-contained classes and will are more likely to use alternate methods of assessment by the state if needed - a portfolio).  On the other hand, GW2 has the ED program.  Emotionally Disabled.  There are very few self-contained classes at GW2, which means that these kids are can (and have) caused massive disruptions during other kids' instruction.  Now, this year GW2 has an amazing Principal (Hall) who has alleviated many of the problems with discipline and staff morale - no easy feat!  Unfortunately, she was also gifted  with not only all of the ED  kids destined for GW, but this year all the ones destined for the three Hammond schools.  A decision, not by the board, but by Sherman's prior administration.  There are some amazing teachers at all the schools, but comparing them based on test scores and stacking the deck against one is simply not fair.

There is not one GW2 teacher I know that would not support the merged schools.  Why?  1.Easier to collaborate with their colleagues in GW1 2. Better allocation of resources (imagine that we could share materials). 3. MORE personalized instruction - yep, your read it here.  Prior to splitting the schools teachers worked in teams.  Each kid would be part of a group of teachers that shared that student in common.  They plan together so that they could make interdisciplinary plans that would span at least all the core classes, they KNEW your kid and problem solved together (because they all had your kid) on how to best serve them.  Isn't that what the parents really want?[/quote]

But that illusion was enough to lure white, middle class parents to the school. If you lose those parents, the schools will never get better.  [b]Closing the achievement gap is a really stupid goal for any of the schools to have because it's unattainable.[/b]  They need to focus on making small gains where they can and accept that the achievement gap exists.[/quote]

:shock:

So, you saying brown people are stupid?

Last I checked, we still have universal education in this country. Trying to close the achievement gap is hardly a "stupid goal."[/quote]

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