Wednesday 27 June 2012

Re: [WardFive] Re: [ward5] Fwd: [concerned4DCPS] Ward 5 Braces for School Closures // Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss 2013 Goal (Ward 5 Heartbeat)

No one argues with the need for measurement!  The problem is the effect measurement has on the system.  Are we measuring the right things and are we measuring the right things right!   No child left behind has, in fact, caused too many children to be left behind!   Before we decide what should be done with underperforming schools, let's be certain we know exactly what underperforming means!
 
Let's not do another Michelle Rhee here ... We have ample models of effective inner city school exemplars ... let's find out what they do ... and do that!   That should be our first priority in setting the DC school system on the right path.  
 
In order of priority:
 
  1. Establish consequences for disruptive behavior with remediation and control.  All it takes is one acting out child to end learning in a classroom
  2. Adopt existing exemplary urban school administrative and instructional models.
  3. Devise effective measures of performance.  Test them for validity.
  4. Engage parents where possible, where not possible act in loco parentis.
 
Jerry in opposition
----- Original message -----
From: Rob <indianrob@gmail.com>
Cc: kenyan McDuffie <kmcduffie@dccouncil.us>
Subject: [WardFive] Re: [ward5] Fwd: [concerned4DCPS] Ward 5 Braces for School Closures // Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss 2013 Goal (Ward 5 Heartbeat)
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:17:22 -0400
 

Ok.  If they are closing schools, let's start with the underperforming charter schools and Relocate the kids to our public schools and that solves the low enrollment issue.

On Jun 27, 2012 4:50 PM, "cherita whiting" <cherita_whiting@yahoo.com> wrote:
 

 

Chairman Mendelson will be holding an education hearing prior to recess....and he is even holding it in the evening or a Saturday in order to make sure he hears from the residents & parents.
 
Cherita Whiting
Former Chair of 4B ANC Commission
McKinley Tech PTA President
DCPTA Board of Directors
Chairperson Ward 4 Education Council
DCPS Education Compact Committee
Ward 4 Rep for Water & Sewer Advisory Committee
Commissioner on the Commission for Women District of Columbia
From: Debbie Smith-Steiner <DLSmith112@msn.com>
To: "ward5@yahoogroups.com" <ward5@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "ward5@yahoogroups.com" <ward5@yahoogroups.com>; kenyan McDuffie <kmcduffie@dccouncil.us>
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: [ward5] Fwd: [concerned4DCPS] Ward 5 Braces for School Closures // Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss 2013 Goal (Ward 5 Heartbeat)
 
Ok people this is now war!!! 
 
I asked for Emergency legislation placing a moritorium on DC Public Charter Schools in Ward 5 and I ask for it again before Council recess.Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed.
               Booker T. Washington
On Jun 27, 2012, at 4:20 PM, "KPW, KAPoW" <WKPW3@aol.com> wrote:
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message----- From: Thomas Byrd <thomas.byrd@yahoo.com> To: concerned4DCPS <concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wed, Jun 27, 2012 4:02 pm Subject: Re: [concerned4DCPS] Ward 5 Braces for School Closures // Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss 2013 Goal (Ward 5 Heartbeat)
 
FYI: The IFF report has not and will not be ignored by the DME. The quality schools community conversation planning sessions are currently underway. All of the Ward conversations will occur in August. Jessica Sutter has consistently stated that the IFF recommendations will still be considered as part of this process. Jessica will be a guest on The Education Town Hall next week.

--- On Wed, 6/27/12, KPW, KAPoW <WKPW3@aol.com> wrote:

From: KPW, KAPoW <WKPW3@aol.com>
Subject: [concerned4DCPS] Ward 5 Braces for School Closures // Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss 2013 Goal (Ward 5 Heartbeat)
To: ward5@yahoogroups.com, concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 3:24 PM

 
http://www.ward5heartbeat.org/2012sum_schools.html

Ward 5 Braces for School Closures


Much-hyped IFF Report is ignored


 		  
Speaking at an April 18th press conference, Mayor Vincent Gray and D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced their intention to close an undetermined number of DCPS schools.
�What we have is unsustainable,� said Mayor Gray. �When you put the D.C. public school buildings together with the charter schools, we now have about 220 buildings.�
�We have too many programs in too many buildings,� echoed Ms. Henderson.
Unanswered is the question of which schools will be closed and what criteria will be used to close them. DCPS spokesman Frederick Lewis said �decisions on school closings will not be made for several months.� Mr. Lewis backed away from an initial pledge to disclose DCPS� criteria for closing schools to Ward 5 Heartbeat.
A recent report commissioned by the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Education was intended to provide a blueprint for District decisions on school closure and investment.
When the report, authored by consulting firm IFF, was released in January, Deputy Mayor for Education De�Shawn Wright said �now we know precisely where we must focus our efforts.� Mayor Gray said the report provided �an unprecedented level of clarity...and will inform key decisions for years to come.�
However, the report has been disavowed by DCPS.
IFF researchers used quantitative methods to identify 10 out of 39 District neighborhoods that have the greatest need for quality classroom places � known as �seats� � for children. According to the report, two of the top ten neediest neighborhoods for quality �seats� are in Ward 5: Brookland-Brentwood-Langdon and Ivy City-Trinidad-Carver-Langston.
The report advised District leaders to �concentrate their investments� on schools in the top ten priority neighborhoods. The report also recommended closure or �turnaround� for the following five Ward 5 schools: Noyes, Burroughs, Browne, Wheatley and Spingarn.
The report was intended to form the basis for community discussions in Ward 5 � and other priority areas � on the future of individual schools.
However, the initiative never got off the ground. �They said we would get together and there would be a series of meetings and discussions. That hasn�t happened,� said Mark Jones, Ward 5 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education.
Jessica Sutter, senior advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Education, directed enquiries about the initiative to DCPS. DCPS spokesperson Melissa Salmanowitz directed enquiries back to the Deputy Mayor. �That�s not our study,� she said about the IFF report.
With the findings and recommendations of the IFF report seemingly abandoned, little remains to predict which Ward 5 schools will be closed or what criteria will be used.
Further clouding matters, DCPS recently announced an initiative called Proving What�s Possible. Under this program, DCPS awarded grants in June of up to several hundred thousand dollars to dozens of District schools�including four of the five Ward 5 schools that had been recommended for closure or turnaround by the IFF report: Noyes, Burroughs, Wheatley and Spingarn.
Asked if DCPS� decision to award large grants to these four schools meant they were off the list for possible closure this fall, Ms. Salmanowitz gave an enigmatic reply. �You are making a leap where a leap isn�t necessary,� she said.
Ward 5 Board of Education representative Mark Jones faulted the District for failing to lay adequate groundwork for closing schools. �Until there is some serious discussion on what schools need to be closed and why, I am not in favor of any of them being closed now,� he said.
Ms. Salmanowitz said a �state of the schools� meeting will be held in every ward before school closures are announced.
As of press time, DCPS had scheduled a �state of the schools� meeting for every ward except Ward 5. Meetings for six of the eight wards have already taken place.
According to 2011 test results, fewer than one-third of students were proficient in reading and math at the following Ward 5 schools: Thurgood Marshall, Noyes, Browne, Wheatley, Spingarn and Dunbar. These six schools were identified by DCPS as being among the 40 worst performing schools in the District.
�with reporting by Dale Sprusansky

See related article: Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss 2013 Goal
Send questions, comments, letters to the editor and local news to:
Abigail Padou, Editor
editor@ward5heartbeat.org

http://www.ward5heartbeat.org/2012sum_initiative.html

Ward 5 Middle School Initiative to Miss
2013 Goal

  
Just months after officials from the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) announced that Ward 5 students would have three new middle school options to choose from by August 2013, it is clear that the initiative will miss its goal. According to DCPS spokesperson Melissa Salmanowitz, although money has been budgeted for school renovations, DCPS has taken no actions to start implementing the three programs. Below is an update:
1. A standalone middle school on the site of the former Brookland elementary school at 1150 Michigan Avenue NE
DCPS pushed the school�s readiness date back to the beginning of the 2014 school year to allow time to raze and rebuild the school instead of simply renovating it. $44 million has been budgeted to build the new middle school.
DCPS� ability to meet the 2014 deadline is questionable: according to budget documents, Stuart-Hobson middle school in Ward 6 also has a modernization deadline of August 2014, but unlike Brookland middle school, planning is already �well underway� for the project.
2. An International Baccalaureate (IB) Program at Browne Education Campus
Ms. Salmanowitz said the District will begin the application process next year to establish a certified IB program at Browne. Certification is a multi-year process and DCPS has no estimated start date for when IB instruction will actually take place in the classrooms.
3. A Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program for middle grades in the A-wing of McKinley Tech high school
Ms. Salmanowitz said the STEM program will be up and running by the 2013 school year. However, she said the building needed to be renovated first. $11 million has been budgeted for the renovations.
 
Send questions, comments, letters to the editor and local news to:
Abigail Padou, Editor
editor@ward5heartbeat.org

 

 

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