“The current public education system at the K–12 level is broken. Can it be fixed? No, says Tough Choices, Tough Times, it has to be replaced. This is more than a wake-up call. It is a call to arms," says Albert Simone, President, of Rochester Institute of Technology, of a controversial report that Colorado's educational professionals have been working with for over a year.
The education bill released last week that was supposedly convened in response to this report misses the mark, ignoring the fact that students are "born with different gifts, cherish different ambitions, set different goals for themselves," says local emeritus education professor Jurgen Herbst.
Two Colorado educators - Rona Wilensky in the Denver Post – and Herbst in the Durango Herald – are critiquing the new bill - known as CAP4K - for failing to deliver on the systemic changes of 'Tough Choices. ' Read Herbst's "One Size Does Not Fit All" ( Durango Herald 3/23/08)
Both educators point out that children come to school with vast differences. "There are large differences between preparing all kids for post-secondary education and preparing all kids for college classes."
Wilensky's concern is "when we raise the bar without increasing supports, we set students up for failure. If this were just another bureaucratic exercise it wouldn’t matter, but when real live students will be disenfranchised by the hyper-academic focus of the post secondary and workforce readiness program … the human costs of this misguided public policy become more apparent."
Herbst argues that not every student should be preparing for an academic higher education. He sees students not as "passive recipients of educational goods, but as curious, questioning inquirers" worthy of a system where "teachers as true educators respond to the interests of their students with imagination and enthusiasm and lead them to become imaginative, inquiring individuals."
What do you think? Is K-12 broken? If so, can it be repaired or should we be thinking "reinvention?" Is that even possible?
Look at "One Kid at a Time: Big Lessons from a Small School" if you’re interested in reinvention. Deborah Meier, educational visionary and founder of many small schools recommends it to see how “preparing young people for the 'real world' works best when it is intensely caring, relevant, community-focused, and tailored to the limitless varieties of our children's passions and concerns. "
Students and teachers from Durango's Community of Learners Charter School interviewed Deborah Meier in Boston in 1999 at her Mission Hill School, a place that could be characterized by those same words. The Durango education community is once again ripe for reinvention, and should not have to “make do” with reform.
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19 comments:
Until All Children have the opportunity to reach their individual potential we as a community must continue to be involved in Educational Policy. This is not just the job of those on 12th st. The system is broken and needs all of us to become involved as Parents and Community Members to create change.
Diane L is a first step in this process now we need a new Superintendent with progressive ideas and an open door policy with new teaching strategies and methods to reach All Children. The School Board has tried to provide more opportunity for Meaningful Public Participation and this I congratulate them for.
I agree with the Herald's Public Pulse and Jurgen Herbst. I just have to wonder where the other Parents are. We cannot afford to be complacent anymore. Our Children are our future and they depend on us to ensure they have the opportunity to succeed in whatever they choose to do or become.
We cannot reform as long as the current accountability processes are in place. CAP4K does little to change that. Read the following testimony given recently in front of the Senate Education committee:
I would like to tell you the story of my son Reilly. He is 9 years old, a third grader and is in school in the small mountain community of Gold Hill. The longest continuously operating school in the state of Colorado. Reilly and my wife and I love this school. Reilly has Down Syndrome. The services that are provided, the supports that are in place and the education that he is receiving is, in our well educated opinion, second to none. We are happy with his school. But I am sorry to report that in the past three weeks we have been profoundly disappointed. Reilly, against our best judgment, has been taking the CSAP. His routine has been disrupted, his OT sessions cancelled, his speech sessions rescheduled, and significant amount of time has been spent trying to make him feel better and proud of himself for not doing what he knows is was not a good job on these tests. He is developmentally delayed…he is not stupid and he knows that he has not done well. Imagine hearing from your child’s teacher when you call to inquire how it went today, that your child had to be prompted to "turn the page" every once in while because he had lost focus on what he was doing. My child does not lose focus when he is doing something that is useful and meaningful, that is what is great about Down Syndrome, he can’t fake it, either it is worth while or it is not and he will let you know. But we let him take it, we allowed our selves to be swayed by public opinion by parent and school pressure. We have been used as pawns in a political game of school accountability. No one has learned anything about anything, not him, not you, not us. This is not accountability, this is a mess. Today, because Reilly and his classmates are so exhausted, they are off to see the Frog and the Toad in Arvada…fun yes, is he learning, yes, I should have taken him to the Frog and the Toad while the others were taking the CSAP…I am convinced he would have gotten more out of the experience.
Next year, we will opt out, penalty or no penalty, and so would you. I would like to respectfully request that you go ahead and leave my child behind. Don’t worry, I will be standing there to help him.
Thank you for your time.
Our administrators don't blink an eye at this kind of testimony...maybe things will change...but too many educators have figured out that boosting test scores equals raises, bonuses, promotions, community accolades,etc., etc., etc.
We parents are a powerful lobby, and a committed group of people can effect change. We can do it!
"The moment the little child is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing." -Eric Berne
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(1) Board members strongly disapprove of the manner in which Mr. Lynch treated students at the March 11 board meeting. Board members strongly disapprove of Mr. Lynch’s visit to a school to remove a student from class and confront the student without knowledge or approval of the principal or the student’s parents. Board members request that in the future all interaction of board members with students, staff, and members of the public be appropriate and respectful, be consistent with school district rules and the agenda of any meeting involved, and be consistent with board directives and purposes. Further, it is requested that the chair of any meeting and the board as a whole act promptly and positively to ensure these standards are enforced. Lastly, the secretary of the board is asked to communicate an apology on behalf of the board as a whole to the two students who were treated inappropriately at the March 11 board meeting.
(2) Board members insist that the conduct of board members at meetings shall be orderly, respectful, and consistent with board by-laws and direction, the agenda, and board policy. The board chair and the board as a whole should act as necessary to ensure these standards are enforced.
(3) Because of the receipt of inappropriate e-mails and communications from Mr. Lynch, the following board members hereby provide notice that they will not receive nor read any further e-mails or other communications from Mr. Lynch and will only interact with him to discuss school business during the course of regular or special school board meetings and in accordance with proper board procedures: Tammy Capdevielle, Melissa Youssef
(4) Board members are aware of and support the administrative directives requiring school visitors, including board members, to comply with school protocols and administrative directives governing school visits.
We should recall the school board. They are doing a very bad job of communicating the TRUTH.
I attended the March 11 Board Meeting and did not think Paddy Lynch was out of line. I think his question wasn't concise enough to get at what he wanted to know, but he has every right to ask a student, who is representing the student body, if the students understand public education.
Where are the other parents? Sick and tired of the same old thing at 9-R. Why waste time trying to convince 9-R to change when you can spend the same time working with your own child to improve his/her circumstances? I've learned from the experience with 9-R that I can't change the world, but I can make a difference for my own child. It may be a selfish stance, but I can't keep spending time away from my child to try to change something that won't change.
Dr. Barter has not listened to the community. She's mislead the public. Unless we get a superintendent that will address our concerns, I'm going to focus on my own child and not worry about the rest of it. And, if that means I remove a child from 9-R, so be it.
Clearly the "anonymous" posters are biased and misinformed. If there was a shred of truth in what they say or if it was a truly informed opinion, the posters would have used their real names.
Thanks Scott.
For anyone trying to make a point, please use your names and take the time to make your case thoughtfully enough so that a reader has a chance of weighing different viewpoints, acquiring new information.
If you're really angry and upset, we'd all appreciate your writing your first reaction somewhere else.
Kinda ruins this space for the rest of us, as far as I'm concerned. And there are important issues that in my opinion need to be addressed, not dismissed.
Not having read the deleted posts, but being told the gist of them, I do have a comment to make.
Does anyone remember the Herald/9-R fiasco over Mike Matheson, and the sullying of the entire school board verses the angelic characteristics of the former school board president?
The Herald article on Paddy never added up to me (nor anyone else I've spoken to about it). So, I couldn't help but think it was another witch hunt, but instead of being against the whole board (less one), it was against one member (less the rest).
Surely, given all the emails that flew about on Tuesday from the Bolton family and others, the school board can see that the story spun by 9-R to the Herald makes a complete mockery of the truth?
What bothers me is that the rest of the board appear to be scared of the same 9-R witch hunt against them, and fear is a great motivating character fault to keep people from behaving with impecible character. I can't spell impecible.
Instead of putting this whole sorry saga to rest, and defending the character assignation of Paddy in that article delivered no doubt to the Herald by the administration -- the board remove the discussion from the agenda and appear to have swept it under the rug. The emails they received speak for themselves.
Personally, I don't think people in a public position should allow fear to twist up the truth.
Who said: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself?
Oh yes...FDR.
The board should stick together. Work together. Listen to each other, however the message is delivered. We are all unique.
Hard to argue with the data: no matter how critical you are, more kids are graduating. From the 9-R website, from data compiled from the Colorado Department of Education.
Durango School District 9-R made significant progress during the past three years toward closing the achievement gap between American Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo students while continuing to increase the graduation rate overall, according to 2006-07 graduation data released this week by the Colorado Department of Education.
In a Wednesday news release about the 2007 graduation rates, Durango School District 9-R was singled out for narrowing the Hispanic-white graduation gap by more than 20 percentage points in three years. The Hispanic graduation rate improved from 39.7 percent in 2005 to 66 percent in 2007, while the white graduation rate increased from 79.1 percent to 85 percent during that same time.
The gap between American Indian and white students all but disappeared in 2007 with 83.3 percent of American Indian students graduating last year. The district narrowed the gap by more than 30 percentage points. Graduation rates for American Indian students can fluctuate widely from year to year, because the cohort of students is relatively small compared with Hispanic and white students. The 2007 cohort, for example, contained only 22 students.
District figures include those students who attended Durango High School, Excel Charter School, and the Durango Second Chance program at the Adult Education Center. Data for students at Second Chance reflect those students who completed their GEDs. However, those students also count against the district’s graduation rate, because they did not obtain a diploma.
Nevertheless, the district’s graduation rate overall has continued to improve during the past three years from 73.3 percent in 2005 to 82.1 percent in 2007. District rates also remain well above state averages for all student groups with the exception of Asian students. That cohort frequently has fewer than five students and can fluctuate widely from year to year if only one student fails to graduate.
According to the Colorado Department of Education, 2006-07 was the fourth year that the state has been tracking each individual student using the State-Assigned Student-Identifier system. The system tracks students individually and provides a more accurate account of student progress than the old data collection system adopted prior to 2003-04. The more accurate system resulted in a drop in the graduation rate from 2004 to 2005 in Durango, but the more accurate system also shows that Durango is making real, quantifiable progress toward improving the graduation rate.
The Class of 2007 is the first group of students to be tracked individually during all four years of high school.
The graduation rate for Durango High School remained over the 90 percent mark during the past three years and showed improvement in both the American Indian and Hispanic graduation rates. Durango High School enrolled 84 percent of the student population used to calculate the graduation rate.
Details may be found on the district’s Web site at:
www.durangoschools.org/pio/news2007_08/graduationrate2007.pdf
For more information, contact Director of Student Achievement Priscilla Huston at 247-5411, ext. 1421.
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Since 2/28 the former PIO's job has been advertised.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INFORMATION
(Cabinet Position)
Closing Date: April 7, 2008
Location: Central Administration
Salary: $50,184 to $58,237 2007-08 Administrative Schedule 3
Work Year: Twelve Months
Position Summary:
The communication office serves as the center for the collection and dissemination of district information in order to foster and improve communications and relationships among various constituencies. These include: Board of Education, media, staff, students, parents, and taxpayers. Communications and relationships are to increase the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the educational programs and processes of Durango School District 9-R and to collect input from constituencies regarding district issues and concerns.
It is hard to argue with the data, and yet Durango School District 9-R argue with the data for our Special Education students on an IEP day in and day out.
In 2007, only 25% of 10th grade IEP students could read sufficiently well enough to get some form of grade on the reading CSAP. In 2005, at least 34% of them stood a better chance. So we are regressing. Not good news for Middle School students on an IEP is it? Watch out you lot. Don't be planning to graduate, or even attend a decent college.
In 2007, oh my goodness, only 7% of 10th grade IEP students could write!!!! Oh my lord.
In 2007, only 9% of our 10th grade IEP students could add or subtract math. Flipping burgers awaits you. It doesn't look that good for Durango School District 9-R overall either, as only 40% of our students could pass their Math CSAP. Who is in charge of Math teaching, or even hiring the Math teachers? Of course, it is not the teaching methods used or not used, it is the pesky students fault. Silly me. It is the parents of those pesky students fault.
Only 13% of Native American Indians could muster a recognition on the Math CSAP last year. Only 26% of our Hispanic community could walk away with their heads held high, and overall, if you were white, then 43% of you could pass Math, but we still failed 57% of white students. We still failed 73% of Hispanic students. We still failed 87% of our Native American students, and most deliciously Durango School District 9-R still failed 91% of our 10th Grade IEP students.
Oh yes, we cannot hide from the data.
It's funny that in 3rd grade, 59% of our students on an IEP could pass the Math CSAP, but by 10th grade we had lost 50% of them, and only 9% of them could pass the Math CSAP.
If you are low income in Durango School District 9-R, then please expect to remain there, as only 13% of you made it in Math. And only 16% of our 10th grade students on an IEP could pass Science.
Woe beget any child on an IEP in Durango School District 9-R. According to the Colorado Department of Education Department's 2007 CSAP results, you are NOT getting a Free Appropriate Public Education, because you are failing.
Now, how many of our students drop out? Oh, that's right, at every board meeting I have attended, nobody has ever had the statistics, because "it's so hard to track". I imagine all those who fail something as simple as the Three R CSAPs pretty much give up.
Anonymous who is so obvious: Are you still feeling warm and fuzzy, or is it that something you can do with enough booze inside of you, because then you can forget about the segment of our school district that is the minority, and in your make believe world don't deserve to have a good shot at an education like "regular ed. students", because if for one moment you or anyone else in the Durango School District 9-R Administration thought these students DID deserve to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education, you would have made sure over the past 9 years that these children, who are not stupid, lazy or crazy could at least do something as simple as the Three R's with a little more grace than you give them credit for.
Oh to be out of a job! Deborah's last hoorah!
The statistics mean nothing to me. The percentiles mean nothing to me. Have you sat with families in these minorities and actually heard what they have to say? My guess would be NO!
"When they own the information, they can bend it all they want."
Same old stuff, different package, oh wait same package.
DHS has been declining for the past 2 years based on their accountibility report.
Most indicators show a flat growth!
FAPE is tapped danced around by all administrators. For heaven sakes don't hold them accountable.
I wonder if Pricilla added this post or most likely someone who is on their way OUT!
I heard that Dr. Mary Barter was going to go and consult for CASB/CDE.
Oh. Colorado's school districts will never be the same again. School Board's around the state will be blessed with intimidation, fear, and the whole nine yards.
Dr.Mary F.Barter has had many years to achieve greatness and she waited until the bitter end to finally, maybe begin to hear the call for change. Now she wants to take credit for trends changing in the graduation rate for minorities. Mary F. Barter wants to take credit for reading scores and progressive programs that are showing improvements and boosting our districts scores for struggling readers. In my opinion,we as parents deserve the credit because we pushed years for Scientifically Researched and validated programs for children struggling to read and write. In my opinion, the community deserves the credit for organizing minority tasks forces and creating plans of actions for students struggling to graduate.
Mary F.Barter does not deserve the credit. She does not deserve the high pay consultants make. CASB can have her but let's hope the CDE will see the light. Folks up in Denver involved in Education and involved with the CDE keep their voices very loud and have kept a close eye on our corner of the state.
I can't wait to escape government-run schools altogether.
Hard to argue with the data...until you know who put the data in, for what purpose, for whose convenience, based on what assumptions...these are questions left unasked. I'm a skeptic of such data because there is a thin line where information ends and propaganda begins. The statistics revealed are a product of a particular economic and political context and carry with them a program, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore REQUIRE scrutiny, criticism, and control. The data tells us nothing about the graduates themselves or the ambiguity of "narrowing the achievement gap." But they tell us everything about the fears, fancies, and dreams of those who put their faith and confidence in numbers. Maybe Anonymous need so desperately to find some source outside the frail and shaky judgements of mortals like ourselves to authorize their moral decisions and behavior.
I have freed myself from the belief in the magical power of numbers. I do not regard calculation as an adequate substitute for judgement, or precision as a synonym for truth. My children are not "data-points" and their education (read "test scores") are not the means to someone else's ends.
I've personally sat in a meeting when 9-R officials took numbers from the CSAP scores and then twisted them around to make 9-R look good.
Nope--I don't believe any stats from 9-R. Sorry.
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