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View Full Version : Life a LOT of teachers in my building will be hurt tomorrow thanks to NCLB


Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 05:13 PM
Our building was moving in the right direction (test score wise) for 3 years we even made AYP. Our building is 93% Free and reduced lunches and 78% Hispanic with some of those being very new to the USA. Making AYP is hard work and quite an accomplishment.

After making AYP the principal retired and we gained all new admin. Each year with the new admin, the test scores went down with our building being 433 out of 435 last year. As a result, we were thrown into restructuring this year. At first it was thought that our head principal was going to stay but every one had the choice to interview for the job we already held or choose to be placed at a different school. 5 of us chose to be moved, the rest had to interview last week. We also found out the principal lost his position at our building and we were introduced to the new principal.

Tomorrow, at 2 pm, there will be letters placed in all the teacher's boxes to tell them whether they will remain in the building or be moved elsewhere. The office doors will be locked until 2:30 when our students are totally gone then grief counselors will be brought out to any that need it. Admin canceled all after school activities for Thursday and Friday we have off.


This shit is NUTS and certainly not what is best for our students. The kicker???

WE ROCKED AYP this year; just blew the roof off the scores.


So tomorrow, when you get a moment, send some good thoughts/prayers to my building because it will be like someone shot it up

Reaper16
04-20-2011, 05:16 PM
NCLB is our ruin.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 05:18 PM
there are some amazing teachers at our building that will get screwed tomorrow. Most of us are the same ones that were there when we made all the previous gains. The Admin is what changed, not us.

Saul Good
04-20-2011, 05:41 PM
When politicians talk about bipartisanship, I just laugh. NCLB is what you get from bipartisanship.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 05:45 PM
When politicians talk about bipartisanship, I just laugh. NCLB is what you get from bipartisanship.

NCLB is certainly not what is best for kids!


I have never in my life seen such back-stabbing and ass kissing as I have this year. It truly is distressing.

Iowanian
04-20-2011, 05:45 PM
we shouldn't be funding the education, feeding and housing of illegal immigrants anyway.


Maybe if they get hungry here, they will return home.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 05:46 PM
we shouldn't be funding the education, feeding and housing of illegal immigrants anyway.


Maybe if they get hungry here, they will return home.

Kids have no choice when their parents make these kinds of decisions. Don't punish the kids ...

Iowanian
04-20-2011, 05:47 PM
sell your "hidden photos" on craigslist and buy a crate of top ramen for them.



Failing schools aren't good for kids either.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 05:51 PM
sell your "hidden photos" on craigslist and buy a crate of top ramen for them.



Failing schools aren't good for kids either.

but we are NOT failing infact, we are probably going to be in the top 5 this year. We just had a couple of off years due to change in admin...

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 05:51 PM
sell your "hidden photos" on craigslist and buy a crate of top ramen for them.



Failing schools aren't good for kids either.

sometimes, you can be classy sometimes a real dick!!!

Donger
04-20-2011, 05:52 PM
Meh.

Donger
04-20-2011, 05:53 PM
but we are NOT failing infact, we are probably going to be in the top 5 this year. We just had a couple of off years due to change in admin...

How did the change in admin result in the lowering of test scores?

Chiefspants
04-20-2011, 05:59 PM
My high school is in a similar situation, 79% of our students met standards in math this year, down 4% from where our school was last year.

NCLB has to be the backasswards educational initiative that congress could have ever passed, Obama's failure to repeal it speaks volumes about his incompetency.

Donger
04-20-2011, 06:03 PM
My high school is in a similar situation, 79% of our students met standards in math this year, down 4% from where our school was last year.

NCLB has to be the backasswards educational initiative that congress could have ever passed, Obama's failure to repeal it speaks volumes about his incompetency.

What are you/they doing to stop and reverse the problem?

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 06:11 PM
How did the change in admin result in the lowering of test scores?

Changing the focus on a lot of programs that were working. Making Science and Social Studies every other day. Eliminating our flex intervention time that allowed us to intensively work with students on specific low idicators which gave the students extra work time to get things right. These are just a few examples.

vailpass
04-20-2011, 06:14 PM
we shouldn't be funding the education, feeding and housing of illegal immigrants anyway.


Maybe if they get hungry here, they will return home.

X2. Non English speaking students should be in separate classrooms at the very least.

vailpass
04-20-2011, 06:15 PM
Changing the focus on a lot of programs that were working. Making Science and Social Studies every other day. Eliminating our flex intervention time that allowed us to intensively work with students on specific low idicators which gave the students extra work time to get things right. These are just a few examples.

You sound like a good educator.

Donger
04-20-2011, 06:17 PM
Changing the focus on a lot of programs that were working. Making Science and Social Studies every other day. Eliminating our flex intervention time that allowed us to intensively work with students on specific low idicators which gave the students extra work time to get things right. These are just a few examples.

Who selected the new admin?

Adept Havelock
04-20-2011, 06:22 PM
Sorry to hear it Gracie. You sound like a solid educator. NCLB is dreck.

How did the change in admin result in the lowering of test scores?

You've never seen a good company tank when an idiot gets put in charge?

Who selected the new admin?

I'd assume the local School Board had to sign off on the placement, but not always. Could have been just the Superintendent's decision.

You've never seen a Board of Directors put the wrong schmuck in charge?

'Hamas' Jenkins
04-20-2011, 06:25 PM
NCLB was never about improving education, it was about creating a windfall for the companies that designed the tests by giving them a monopoly.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 06:27 PM
Who selected the new admin?

The interim super at the time. Since then we have had a new super for 2 years and I have yet to see him in our building.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 06:27 PM
NCLB was never about improving education, it was about creating a windfall for the companies that designed the tests by giving them a monopoly.

You got that right~!

Just Passin' By
04-20-2011, 06:32 PM
there are some amazing teachers at our building that will get screwed tomorrow. Most of us are the same ones that were there when we made all the previous gains. The Admin is what changed, not us.

So NCLB isn't the problem.

'Hamas' Jenkins
04-20-2011, 06:32 PM
You got that right~!

It might be the worst piece of legislation designed in the last fifty years, solely for the fact that it's pilot program failed and failed miserably in Houston, Texas, and yet in spite of that, the dumb sonofabitch who ran that program, Rod Paige, was put in charge of implementing it on a national scale.

WRT to repealing NCLB, that's what the Race to the Top is supposed to do.

Dave Lane
04-20-2011, 06:37 PM
we shouldn't be funding the education, feeding and housing of illegal immigrants anyway.


Maybe if they get hungry here, they will return home.

We shouldn't be educating kids with my tax dollars period. All you parents of rug rats should have to pay and pay through the nose. My tax dollars have been looted from me by the looter class and shouldn't help anyone else for anything.

/republican rant

OK maybe I hung out in DC for about 15 minutes too long this week, if you want to see more of that head over there. Sorry Pam you know I'm not serious :)

BucEyedPea
04-20-2011, 06:39 PM
I tutored under a NCLB grant for a private non-profit tutoring place last year. I had all Mexicans. One who had to be moved to one on one special handling meaning a bi-lingual tutor. All the rest of mine were moved up to where they were supposed to be. One I took from Grade 2.2 mos to 3.8 months. He was really smart. I only was supposed to move him up by 6 months to 2.8 originally, but he was so hungry for more so I gave it to him. I even gave him some free. It all showed on their tests though so I don't understand why testing is so bad. I didn't teach to the test at all.

Bugeater
04-20-2011, 06:50 PM
X2. Non English speaking students should be in separate classrooms at the very least.
There shouldn't be "non-English speaking" students.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 06:50 PM
I tutored under a NCLB grant for a private non-profit tutoring place last year. I had all Mexicans. One who had to be moved to one on one special handling meaning a bi-lingual tutor. All the rest of mine were moved up to where they were supposed to be. One I took from Grade 2.2 mos to 3.8 months. He was really smart. I only was supposed to move him up by 6 months to 2.8 originally, but he was so hungry for more so I gave it to him. I even gave him some free. It all showed on their tests though so I don't understand why testing is so bad. I didn't teach to the test at all.

You are the exception and had the luxury of small group settings. Combine all the issues with budget cuts and larger classroom sizes, the personalized care that many students need will be lost in the process. It really is a no win situation.

Pacing guides that do not allow a teacher to slow down to ensure retention of content does not help. If more students could get the intensive instruction that your tutoring provided that would be a God-send to many of our students.

Chiefspants
04-20-2011, 06:51 PM
What are you/they doing to stop and reverse the problem?

It's tough to reverse the problem when our school's funding is going to be absolutely gouged in the coming years. I wish the best of luck to any teacher hoping to increase test scores with 30 students in his/her class.

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 06:51 PM
There shouldn't be "non-English speaking" students.

our building has a "Newcomers" classroom for specifically those students but they are only allowed to be in that program for one year, then they are mainstreamed!

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 06:51 PM
It's tough to reverse the problem when our school's funding is going to be absolutely gouged in the coming years. I wish the best of luck to any teacher hoping to increase test scores with 30 students in his/her class.

we have been told to expect classrooms of 40+

Bugeater
04-20-2011, 06:54 PM
When I went to school most classes had close to 30. But 40 is insane.

BigRedChief
04-20-2011, 06:55 PM
Nclb was a good idea. But in practice and in reality it sucks. Does anyone think it's been a good program for kids?

'Hamas' Jenkins
04-20-2011, 06:58 PM
Nclb was a good idea. But in practice and in reality it sucks. Does anyone think it's been a good program for kids?

It was a horrible idea. It may have had good intent, but I'm not really sold on that, either.

BucEyedPea
04-20-2011, 07:05 PM
You are the exception and had the luxury of small group settings.
Yes, in fact some were one-on-one which I preferred but didn't always get. It's amazing what personal tutoring does. The one small group I had was tough though because I had first-graders of different abilities, all of them slow and behind though.

To make things worse I had a bright 2nd grader mixed in somehow which made it tough to do much in one hour after school. So some could and did act up while I attended to the bright one who I felt was ignored way too much. Finally, I brought my HS daughter in to assist me for free and had it put under her community service hours.

If more students could get the intensive instruction that your tutoring provided that would be a God-send to many of our students.

Yes, but this is an after school program too. The way they set it up, generally was effective give or take a few situations. But it was funded under a NCLB grant. They'd also train you if you needed it. I already knew phonics though. Many schools do not use systemic phonics anymore. They just use some.

Jewish Rabbi
04-20-2011, 07:07 PM
Damn NAACP

DJ's left nut
04-20-2011, 07:13 PM
Kids have no choice when their parents make these kinds of decisions. Don't punish the kids ...

You of course realize that this is the very essence of the doctrine you claim to hate, right?

NCLB says that all children, every last one of them, must get equal time/attention and emphasizes focusing on the worst kids far more than the best.

Rather than saying "Y'know what - fuck it, we don't have the time our resources for every kid in this room, including the ones that don't want to learn or are going to fail on account of choices their parents have made. Let's focus on making the kids that want to be here the best they can be", NCLB makes us throw our best resources at our lowest yield prospects.

Congratulations - that's exactly what you're avocating here. 90% of those children are destined to fail. Is it their fault? No, not really, but the fact that their parents aren't even legally in this country is going to significantly diminish their opportunities to succeed. Sure, there will be outliers, but the 'success' rate of those children will be infinitesimal compared to their peers.

If you're going to disparage NCLB, then you cannot make the quoted statement with any degree of intellectual honesty. And if you truly believe what you just said, then surely you can at least recognize that the 'theory' of NCLB works in theory (as opposed to in practice) and acknowledge the irony in your position...

BigRedChief
04-20-2011, 07:21 PM
It was a horrible idea. It may have had good intent, but I'm not really sold on that, either.

Thats what I meant. Good intentions. Every kid is important. But we all know differently.

Dave Lane
04-20-2011, 07:42 PM
I tutored under a NCLB grant for a private non-profit tutoring place last year. I had all Mexicans. One who had to be moved to one on one special handling meaning a bi-lingual tutor. All the rest of mine were moved up to where they were supposed to be. One I took from Grade 2.2 mos to 3.8 months. He was really smart. I only was supposed to move him up by 6 months to 2.8 originally, but he was so hungry for more so I gave it to him. I even gave him some free. It all showed on their tests though so I don't understand why testing is so bad. I didn't teach to the test at all.

Its looters like you that ruin this country.

/DC

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 07:59 PM
Thats what I meant. Good intentions. Every kid is important. But we all know differently.

Every kid learns differently. That is something that is totally ignored

Garcia Bronco
04-20-2011, 08:14 PM
Grading professionals on the results of dipshit kids is a stupid idea. It's not hard to sit in a class and observe a teacher to grade if they are worth a shit or not.

Saulbadguy
04-20-2011, 08:18 PM
We should outsource education, IMO.

pr_capone
04-20-2011, 08:19 PM
Kids have no choice when their parents make these kinds of decisions. Don't punish the kids ...

It isn't punishing the kids. The parents are punishing the kids by not getting here in a legal fashion. It is only unfortunate that the kids get caught in the middle.

It is sad because they are essentially playing a game of chicken with their kids.

Garcia Bronco
04-20-2011, 08:21 PM
It isn't punishing the kids. The parents are punishing the kids by not getting here in a legal fashion. It is only unfortunate that the kids get caught in the middle.

It is sad because they are essentially playing a game of chicken with their kids.

I'd throw them and their kids out without a second thought.

pr_capone
04-20-2011, 08:28 PM
I'd throw them and their kids out without a second thought.

Either that or call them on their bs. Oh, you came here to give your kid a better life? Ok, we will take him on as a ward of the state and you can take your ass home.

He will have a better chance in foster care here than your dirt farm in i'mhispanicandevenicantpronouncethatshit, Mexico.

Oh, you want to stay too? No, sorry. *boot

/off to DC!!!!

jspchief
04-20-2011, 08:28 PM
Grading professionals on the results of dipshit kids is a stupid idea.Particularly when dipshit parents that don't take an interest in their child's education is the real crux of the problem.

For every 1 child that is failed by the education system or it's teachers, there are probably 1000 that are failed by their own upbringing.

pr_capone
04-20-2011, 08:31 PM
Particularly when dipshit parents that don't take an interest in their child's education is the real crux of the problem.

For every 1 child that is failed by the education system or it's teachers, there are probably 1000 that are failed by their own upbringing.

Truth

Gracie Dean
04-20-2011, 08:39 PM
Particularly when dipshit parents that don't take an interest in their child's education is the real crux of the problem.

For every 1 child that is failed by the education system or it's teachers, there are probably 1000 that are failed by their own upbringing.

truth

Chiefspants
04-20-2011, 09:12 PM
I also love how the brilliant minds on the Kansas Legislature are making it a requirement that Kansas students take four years of math. They said they wanted to hold our states' children to a higher standard, as ambitious as that sounds, they ignore how this mandate will effect the schools that have already had their funding is already slashed to the bone.

CrazyPhuD
04-20-2011, 09:15 PM
we have been told to expect classrooms of 40+

The funny thing about that is that that's not necessarily a bad thing. You see everyone focuses on small classes thinking they are always a good thing and while the science can show some gain from small classes(although some of the studies end up flawed because the participants know they are being studied which biases the results). The benefit is modest compared to the benefit of having an exceptional teacher.

The interesting result is that the benefit of an exception teacher does not tend to be significantly reduced with larger class size(I'm sure up to obvious limitations). This suggest that the best result would be to increase class size and focus on retaining the best quality teachers. For instance how many exceptional teachers could you attract if you halved the number of teachers that exist today and doubled the salaries, thereby increasing the number of potentially exceptional candidates that would teach who wouldn't teach now because they can make much more in another profession.

That's where we should be investing quite a bit of study and money to see what the long term effects are. BUT it will likely never happen. Why? In this issue the teachers union has an outsized influence. They actively promote small class sizes because it means more teachers hired. They manipulate parents into believing this is best thing which in fact it often isn't. The saddest part is that even if you were to say half the number of teachers to focus on the best you couldn't. Because if you laid off 50% of the teachers, the 50% you'd have left would be those who have been there longest rather than those that are the best.

What we need in our schools is to focus on getting the very best teachers and likely paying them a whole lot more. Unfortunately there isn't the money to pay the teachers a whole lot more AND have small classrooms. So you have to choose one and right now the AFT is making the choice of small classrooms for you rather than retaining the best teachers. This is in their interest, but isn't always in yours.

Marcellus
04-20-2011, 09:16 PM
Grading professionals on the results of dipshit kids is a stupid idea. It's not hard to sit in a class and observe a teacher to grade if they are worth a shit or not.

I think results do say something. When observing an employee who knows they are being observed, they tend to act differently.


It's not that simple.

Gracie Dean
04-21-2011, 06:23 PM
well it looks like 55% of the staff got cut. Some I agree with but a couple I was like WTF??? But it won't be my building anyway. I just feel badly for my friends.

BigRedChief
04-21-2011, 06:24 PM
well it looks like 55% of the staff got cut. Some I agree with but a couple I was like WTF??? But it won't be my building anyway. I just feel badly for my friends.yeah that sucks. The Republicans trying to label teachers as greddy people that have caused our deficits doesn't help either.

bowener
04-21-2011, 06:40 PM
NCLB is our ruin.

Thes ÷ 0