Archive for January, 2010
100,000 views
Whoever is the next person to look at my blog will win the prize of being the 100,000th view. I’ve been waiting eagerly all week and just came online to check, only find it’s at 99,999!
Thanks to everyone for reading, commenting, and obsessing along with me. I don’t feel quite as crazy when there are other people to commiserate with. !!!!
Keller Regional Gifted Center news
Something is going on with Keller Regional Gifted Center. Thanks to several people who have sent in information. I’ll start with this post. Feel free to add to the comments section. I have a work deadline and a sick kid (allegedly sick) to contend with during the day, but I’ll try to add the other comments I’ve gotten later tonight.
Have you heard about what is going on w/ Keller Regional Gifted Center? CPS has announced the forced relocation of CPS top producing gifted school Annie Keller from the Mt. Greenwood Community. This announcement was made without any parent involvement and consent.
Here are links to two groups formed on Facebook about it:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=270971193333&v=info#/group.php?v=wall&ref=mf&gid=270971193333
&
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=270971193333&ref=mf#/group.php?gid=269418269075&ref=ts
MY UPDATES:
Here is the Sun Times coverage of the story.
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/keller.cps.parents.2.1453594.html
So it appears that 2 nearby neighborhood schools are overcrowded and have set their sights on the Keller building. Man, that stinks. And as a commentrer pointed out, the same thing happened with Edison last year. Parents screamed bloody murder (sorry, that sounds cynical, I know) but CPS wouldn’t cave and the schools was moved pretty far from its original location. From what I hear, it has actually worked out OK (although that is coming from a parent who prefers the new location.)
In a financially ailing school system, from a fully tactical POV, it makes sense to ease over-crowding the cheapest way possible (I see people on facebook suggesting trailers/annexes/etc at the overcrowded schools.)
If CPS made any kind of respectable effort to provide resources for kids who work above grade level, parents probably wouldn’t be so freaked out about going into the neighborhood schools. What if CPS actually worked with the schools in question to ensure that the bright kids at Keller could attend the local schools and still be challenged? I’m sure there are other kids in those schools who could use an accelerated program as well.
Overall, it stinks for everyone. The parents who scored a gifted spot until 8th grade feel screwed over. The families who will be displaced from their current schools and moved to the Keller building if this happens will be mad about leaving.
My family experienced an over-crowding situation at the private pre-school our son attended and I know first-hand that it’s a sad, contentious, depressing, and frustrating situation. Especially when you can see that the likely outcome isn’t a good one.
Principal evaluation time
I was very busy last week with my LSC duties at our neighborhood school (I’m on the Local School Council as a community member.)
If you’re not familiar with the LSCs, each school has a board comprised of 2 teachers, 2 community members, and 8 parents (+ the principal.) The LSC in some ways wields an enormous amount of power in that every 4 years they decide whether the principal’s contract will be renewed for another 4 years.
In other ways, they have no real power over what happens at the school. They can make recommendations to the principal, but can’t actually MAKE the principal do anything. I guess if a principal ignores everything the LSC suggests, they probably aren’t going to renew the contract… so there’s a little power there.
The whole process leading up to this evaluation has been stressful. I thought I was going to write about my time on the LSC this past year and a half but it’s actually been too contentious to get into. Maybe now that it’s winding down I can finally organize and share my thoughts.
Anyhow, as usual, I’d like to point out some of the absurdities of the principal review process in CPS:
Each principal reports into an AIO (area something officer…actually these people have new titles now, can’t remember what.) This person is the boss of a whole “area” in CPS which is a bunch of elementary school. I dunno… maybe 40 schools? This boss comes in once a year to do a school walkthrough where they observe the school and teachers and make notes about things that are done well/need to improve. They then create a report about that principal/school. So the AIO has an impression of each principal in their area. I’m sure test scores factor into those impressions since Huberman is so into “performance” now. (As a side note, do you really think the AIO sees the school in its true light during a planned walk-through?)
Simultaneously, the LSC has to evaluate the principal each year and is given a form with criteria and a 4 point rating scale from CPS on which to base the review. The LSC can do surveys among parents and teachers, can hold interviews, can ask for input, or do nothing and just make their best guess (certainly the easiest way.) A lot of the criteria involves stuff about the curriculum and teacher-management that parents really have no way of knowing unless they really dig. So the principal is basically being evaluated by a group of people who are by no means experts in the field of education (other than being parents.) That, in and of itself is weird. I wouldn’t want to be reviewed by a bunch of people who knew nothing about my field. Then again, one could argue that the parents are “customers” of the school, expressing their opinions.
So, the AIO does their thing. The LSC does their thing. And never the two shall meet. I have no idea what our principal’s boss thinks of her. I have no idea whether someone in the field of education thinks improvements need to be made at our school. And that AIO person is going about reviewing our principal without getting any input from the LSC.
At our evalution meeting, we asked to see the report for the walk-through that was done this year but because of bureaucracy, it wasn’t available for viewing yet.
In Year 4, when it’s time to renew (or not) the principal contract, the LSC holds the power. Even if that AIO thinks the principal is a goddess of education, the LSC can vote her/him out. Even if the principal got a good evaluation from the LSC, they can still vote her/him out. Sometimes it feels like a strange amount of power in the hands of 10 people who lead busy, distracted lives.
In the end, we worked around (didn’t work through) the contentiousness and gave some valid input to the principal, along with some praise. I like to think that our effort has paid off somehow and that by serving on this school board I may have helped make a small difference in the quality of one Chicago public school. Certainly not the sweeping changes some of us envisioned going onto the LSC, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Gifted Test – Why yes, I do have something to complain about….
So as I mentioned, I took my son to the gifted test today (testing for a 2nd grade spot.) Thanks to blog poster “Y” for keeping me company during the test.
Anyhow, to dump a little information:
-I gave my son the COGAT sample questions this morning and he said that the actual test he took seemed different from it. (Man, it is SO great to be able to pump him for information now, unlike when he was 4!) So, from the mouth of a 6yo, maybe the test is not COGAT (that’s the test that is used in NYC.)
-He did say that a test person read through all the questions, telling them what to do for each and then they had to fill in a bubble with the right answer.
OK, so now for the complaining part. Keep in mind that my background is in marketing research so I’m all about test validity. So… they split the kids into 3 color groups and took each group away to another test room. We waited maybe an hour and 10 min and group 1 comes back. Shortly thereafter, group 2 comes back. Waiting, waiting….. our kids’ group was still in the test over a full 30 MINUTES more than the other groups. I finally went up to the 2 (grad school looking) administrators at the front of the room and started yammering about why it was taking so long and throwing out words like “testing bias” which I *think* accurately describes my issue.
I asked them at what pace the test administrator goes through the questions and whether they wait for each child to finish before moving on to the next question. They told me that the extra time my kid was gone was most likely due to a longer bathroom break (meaning maybe all the kids had to go) AND they also said that the administrator tries to make sure each kid is ready to progress before moving on. Uh, WHAT?! Is it just me or does that seem insane? THAT is testing bias, people. There were 3 test rooms today and 2 seemed to move at a pretty good clip while 1 group may have had a couple slowpokes who dragged out the entire test for all the kids.
The question is… how does that influence the results? One the one hand, a non-slow kid could have more time to think about their choices and do better. On the other hand, a non-slow kid could get bored out of their mind and lose interest with an extra 30 minutes crammed in there. Not to mention the having-to-pee-because-your-mom-bribed-you-with-McDonald’s-beforehand factor.
I know I sound obsessed, but it just bugs me because it shouldn’t be THAT uneven of a test time. And it bugs me that they weren’t concerned about it.
I guess we’ll find out a few days after March 15 when the scores go out. My son said he did pretty well but then he didn’t do well when he had to pee. Interesting report.
Gifted Practice Test Link
For anyone who needs the link again, this has some practice questions based on your child’s age. (And available in many languages!)
I’m running through these with my son before the gifted test today (in true procrastinator style 3 hours before test time.)
http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/GiftedandTalented/EligibilityApplications/GT+Handbooks+09-10AY
He’s been bribed with getting the Lego Harry Potter Nintendo DS game as a reward. So of course as soon as he woke up this morning he insisted that he wanted the game BEFORE the test. Given his history of getting really frustrated with any new game during the first couple hours (given his relatively weak game-playing abilities that still are better than my horrible game-playing abilities) there is no way in heck that’s gonna happen.
Will report later. I’m hoping that by the time high school testing comes around this all seems like a cakewalk to him. Wonder what I’ll be bribing him with then? Probably some kind of electronic that doesn’t even exist yet.
Webcast for School Improvement Geeks
For those who like to learn about how massive low-income, underfunded school districts like CPS can improve, here’s a webcast that might be of interest to you. I suspect that much will be based on the truly challenging environment of the very low-income schools. I saw a recent documentary on one of these schools and it is pretty astounding what some of these principals have done. It’s not just a matter of teaching differently or better, but a whole mindset towards the students and parents and how the school involves them and interacts with them. Unfortunately it feels more like an art than a formula that can be rolled out in CPS.
But if you’re sitting at a desk with listening time, it might be interesting….
This is from the University of Chicago’s UEI (Urban Education Institute):
UEI’s Consortium on Chicago School Research invite you to an online symposium to discuss our forthcoming book
Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago
Join the authors and featured guests in a discussion of the book during a
LIVE VIDEO WEB CAST
January 14, 2010 from 9 AM – 11:00 AM
Register today!
Anthony S. Bryk, Penny Bender Sebring, Elaine Allensworth,
Stuart Luppescu, and John Q. Easton*
With commentary from:
Barbara Eason-Watkins, Joseph McDonald & Charles Payne
Chicago Public Schools New York University University of Chicago
Gifted test this week
Yep, I’m a glutton for punishment. (Well, inflicting punishment.) I’m going to have my son take the gifted test for the 3rd year in a row. Our test is this Saturday.
I joked last year about taking the test just in case something happened at our school or his current RGC program was canned. And guess what. I’ve just found out that the principal at our school will be retiring at the end of this year (which makes me really sad.) So SEE?! You really never know what’ll happen from year to year.
I’m treating it mainly as a free assessment and a point of data to see if he is leveling off in some way (which will mean possibly helping him keep up more by supplementing at home.) But of course part of me has no desire to see if his “giftedness” (which in his case is more “brightness” than true giftedness) is declining. But ultimately I’m a data person and if there’s a way to know, I want to know.
I don’t think I’m going to do anything to have him practice this week. Well, maybe practice a few logic questions. Heck, what can it hurt right? Just to get him back in the swing of things after a cushy winter break. (As a side note, I mentioned to my son this morning that it was time to get “get back into the swing of things” which he interpreted as “get back onto the swingaling” which sounded a lot more fun to him. It’s about time they installed that swingaling at the school!)
Explaining the test gets a little weird. I’ll just tell him once again that it’s a test that some kids take to see what they’ve learned in school. From what I understand there are plenty of kids whose crazy parents test them every year just to keep the options open. The Decatur principal implied that parents consider switching from Edison to Decatur year by year. Not sure if that’s true or not.
Let me know if there are any good stories about the tests or if your child is one of the few who spilled the beans about what was on it.
Back to the swingaling of work now…..
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