tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post2936431952630423840..comments2024-01-08T03:21:35.616-05:00Comments on DeKalb County School Watch: Can Title I Attain Its Goal?Cerebrationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-81939862949795898392010-08-20T19:16:19.647-04:002010-08-20T19:16:19.647-04:00I recently read an article about a student who was...I recently read an article about a student who was taking a state test (not in Georgia) with the assistance of a teacher. The child spend a very long time reading the short reading passage about men walking on the moon. The first question asked if the passage was fiction or nonfiction. The child looked at the teacher and said this is fiction because people can't go to the moon. His life experience did not include the possibility of space travel. <br /><br />Low-income children can and do succeed in school. They are as smart and capable as middle class children but may need extra help to be successful. Many arrive at school without the life experiences that middle class kids have. They may come from homes where nobody talks with them. There may not be any books in the home, let alone someone with the time and interest in reading to them. While middle class parents take their kids to the zoo or aquarium, these children often don't get to do these things. <br /><br />A child who has been read to at home knows about stories, genres, and knows what he like and doesn't like to read. A child with reading experience can go into a library and find books that she will read. If she makes a poor choice, its no big deal, there are other books. On the other hand a child who has not been read to doesn't know how to choose a book he would like to read. Libraries can be overwhelming. Choosing a book that is too hard, or not that interesting is a big deal. The child may tell you that this isn't much fun. Why try again? <br /><br />Educating at-risk children means building a supportive learning environment where the children know what is expected. That includes discipline and routines that can be counted on. You need to be consistent. I don't think you need special programs like America's Choice to do this. All the paperwork in the world won't take the child to the zoo to see a real lion. We need experienced and committed teachers and small classes. We need to trust our teachers to do the job. That sometimes means stepping away from the lesson plan to fill in a knowledge or experience gap so the child can master the material.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-5907382983747971612010-08-20T08:35:02.083-04:002010-08-20T08:35:02.083-04:00Can Title 1 Attain its Goal? Hmmmmmmmmm, NO! As ...Can Title 1 Attain its Goal? Hmmmmmmmmm, NO! As long as Tyson, Turk, Moseley, Thompson, Mitchell-Mayfield, Ramsey, Berry, any Edwards or Guilroy family member remain in place at DCSS, we have no shot at attaining any goal!<br /><br />THESE FOLKS NEED TO RESIGN IF DCSS HAS ANY CHANCE OF A BRIGHT AND HEALTHY FUTURE. WHEN WILL THESE FOLKS FIGURE THAT OUT? PERCEPTION PROBLEM!? TRUST ISSUES!? <br /><br />The majority of the taxpayers in DeKalb want change and as long as these folks remain in place, perception problems will continue and trust will certainly be lacking!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-18145441223971794412010-08-19T20:31:27.037-04:002010-08-19T20:31:27.037-04:00It is across the board. Please let everyone know i...It is across the board. Please let everyone know if you hear of one effective instructional coach on the south end of the county. The description that you gave echoes across the schools in the south end of the county.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-54854959462368477112010-08-19T20:14:03.799-04:002010-08-19T20:14:03.799-04:00What do AUDRIA BERRY's zombie army of INSTRUCT...What do AUDRIA BERRY's zombie army of INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES do all day long in the schools? The one I am forced to deal with at my south DeKalb Title I school does the following:<br /><br />1. Arrives around 8:30 a.m.<br />2. Spends an hour wandering around looking busy.<br />3. Spends an hour sitting in the "data room" eating yogurt.<br />4. Spends an hour sitting in the "data room" sitting at a computer looking "busy."<br />5. Wanders into various teachers's rooms to "observe" their "openings" and advises that "pictures from the Internet" should be shown the high schoolers for each and every activity so that they might "visualize their learning."<br />6. Spends an hour eating lunch.<br />7. Wanders around the school with papers in her hand looking "busy."<br />8. Spends an hour talking strategy with her math counterpart.<br />9. Hides out in her "office" with the door closed sending out officious memos instructing teachers in Dr. Beasley's latest idiocy.<br />10. Leaves in a hurry around 3:00 p.m. to avoid the "traffic."<br /><br />Great job with the Title I funding there!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-66668288404746318492010-08-19T18:03:09.560-04:002010-08-19T18:03:09.560-04:00@ Anonymous 11:39
There are schools that break th...@ Anonymous 11:39<br /><br />There are schools that break the cycle of poverty. And generally they use creative ideas and not so surprisingly the same firm discipline and structure that the authors of this white paper propose. However, what inevitably happens is school district leaders in low income urban or rural areas try to replicate the programs with a "cookie cutter" approach and include a whole cottage industry of coordinators and administrators. Money ends up in the administrative end, coordinators want to take over to take credit, and the local school personnel are not empowered like the original program. By the time the replication happens, it's not a replication at all. It's something else entirely. <br /><br />You are absolutely correct that innovation is needed. However, looking at the research that studies the success of these programs, you will see much commonality among these programs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-71784590922419275742010-08-19T16:16:58.216-04:002010-08-19T16:16:58.216-04:00NOTICE OF DBOE COMMITTEE MEETING – INSTRUCTION &am...<b>NOTICE OF DBOE COMMITTEE MEETING – INSTRUCTION & BOARD POLICY</b><br /><br />The DeKalb Board of Education Committee on Instruction & Board Policy will hold a meeting on<b> Monday, August 23, 2010 at 10:00am</b> in the Board Conference Room at the DeKalb County School System's Administrative & Instructional Complex, 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard, Stone Mountain. The purpose of the meeting is to review Board policies and system-wide operations as it relates to instruction and Board policies. <br /><br /><br />B. DISCUSSION ITEMS<br /> 1. Proposed New Policies<br /> Presented by: Alexander & Associates<br /> a. Ethics Policy for Employees<br /> b. Whistleblower Policy<br /> c. Conflict of Interest<br /><br />2. SACS Response Timeline<br /><br />3. Next StepsCerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-52547688353171864542010-08-18T23:39:34.298-04:002010-08-18T23:39:34.298-04:00There's a false premise here. You can't ti...There's a false premise here. You can't tie the failure to win the war on poverty to the failure of schools. Title I was meant to even the playing field, but it can't break the cycle.<br /> No role models to see that it can be done - then you aspire to the same status as your ancestors and the role models that you have available. Money certainly can help solve the problem...but without creative ideas on a massive scale, you won't break the cycle. My idea - ask doctors, CEOs, lawyers, generals, politicians, Ph.D's, etc. to spend the last five years of their careers teaching and mentoring low performing kids at all grade levels - show them that they can make it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-26392326357035281172010-08-18T18:57:24.589-04:002010-08-18T18:57:24.589-04:00So one possible issue is that the fact that we put...So one possible issue is that the fact that we put inexperienced educators into the roles of assistant principal and principal into the schools -- particularly those on the south side -- which hinders their ability to address the issues with discipline. Arguably, if you put educators with a decade or more of teaching experience with troubled, low income youth with certification to be asst. principal and principal in charge of the schools with discipline issues, presumably, they would be better equipped to enforce discipline in the building and these issues would disappear (or be significantly reduced) because with experienced individuals in charge, they would be able to really address those (and other) issues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-13074569789748630412010-08-18T11:50:45.827-04:002010-08-18T11:50:45.827-04:00This article also talks about the need for consist...This article also talks about the need for consistent discipline with ow income children. That's been a constant complaint with parents all over the county on this blog. They know intuitively what the authors say - that you can't have learning without discipline in place. <br /><br />I've taught in low income areas, and I can say that an extremely structured environment is necessary. All students and in particular low income students need to know what behaviors are expected of them, and you need to be consistent and fair in your behavior to each and every student in order to create an orderly and safe classroom for all. Only after that is established, can you proceed to the knowledge, comprehension, analysis, synthesis and evaluative stages. <br /><br />This article is one of the best I've ever read on how to address the challenges we face with low income students. When I was reading about the rise of the educational elite, it was like I was reading about DCSS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-32183109851016394512010-08-18T11:26:59.406-04:002010-08-18T11:26:59.406-04:00We're too busy reading that long and interesti...We're too busy reading that long and interesting article to have commented yet.<br /><br />Low-income children who start behind their middle-class peers fall farther and farther as they move through each grade. The article looks at why Title I money isn't used to intervene early, effectively, cost-effectively, and one-on-one. <br /><br />The authors discuss the consequences of the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA and about the reading wars (whole language vs. phonics). I wish I could find a sequel by these authors on the consequences of the 2001 reauthorization (No Child Left Behind) and the math wars.Square Pegnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-6170434291605884432010-08-18T10:41:55.733-04:002010-08-18T10:41:55.733-04:00This post shows exactly why we are in the mess we&...This post shows exactly why we are in the mess we're in. I see it has no comments. It's a shame no one has read about the rise of the administrative elite here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com