tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post7193666056843801135..comments2024-01-08T03:21:35.616-05:00Comments on DeKalb County School Watch: Newsflash! From the Superintendent: Inequities at DeKalb schoolsCerebrationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-3722216873110712222010-11-27T22:34:57.135-05:002010-11-27T22:34:57.135-05:00So - if you want to see what can be done when gran...So - if you want to see what can be done when granted full freedom as a school for the arts -- check out this charter outside of Miami in Coral Gables - <br /><br />http://www.aandm.net/Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-84155411712185021722010-11-21T13:04:38.234-05:002010-11-21T13:04:38.234-05:00@ Anonymous 8:43 am
"Technology provides tool...@ Anonymous 8:43 am<br />"Technology provides tools that are useful if used thoughtfully, and in moderation."<br /><br />Totally true. DCSS currently has so little technology for so great an expenditure that this area needs reviewing and right sizing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-60987630929277550442010-11-21T08:43:43.777-05:002010-11-21T08:43:43.777-05:00Technology provides tools that are useful if used ...Technology provides tools that are useful if used thoughtfully, and in moderation. In my opinion, the benefits are exaggerated. Meanwhile, we all turn a blind eye to the more unhappy ways it increasing affects our behavior and attention. It is certainly not the panacea that will solve our equity and achievement problems. Take a look at the latest NYTimes feature in its series, "Your Brain on Computers". It focuses on kids and school.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?_r=1&hpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-1618885229586639732010-11-20T20:23:12.314-05:002010-11-20T20:23:12.314-05:00Look at the Instructional Technology in Forsyth. D...Look at the Instructional Technology in Forsyth. DCSS spends an enormous amount of money for technology, but what do we get for it? <br /><br />http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/129410616215138857/site/default.aspAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-38369645955820687452010-11-20T20:06:09.407-05:002010-11-20T20:06:09.407-05:00@ Anonymous 3:10 PM
Good information but I have t...@ Anonymous 3:10 PM<br /><br />Good information but I have to give you an 'I' for your post. Take a look at the Board meeting notes from January 14, 2008 for for FULL story about the purpose of eSIS. Below is a short snippet:<br /><br />The current SIS was BOE approved for purchase December 9, 1996 from Clayton County School System as a “home-grown” application to bring all DCSS schools online for student accounting. DCSS’s use of the application has reached end-of-life and it does not meet the growing student population, reporting requirements, and general administration of students’ information.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-55257015801556904242010-11-20T19:35:00.428-05:002010-11-20T19:35:00.428-05:00"From looking through old posts, I can't ..."From looking through old posts, I can't quite claify what that 1200+ includes. Does it include bus drivers, crossing guards, general maintenance workers?"<br /><br />I doubt it since DCSS has 7,500 employees classified as support. Per the state Salary and Travel audit, there are 1000+ bus drivers so I don't think they are classifed as Central office employees. <br /><br />@ anonymous 6:49<br /><br />The figures the DCSS superintendent has given the AJC is 6,500 teachers and 15,000+ employees. Ms. Tyson says there are 1,200+ Central office employees so that leaves DCSS with 7,500 support personnel.<br /><br />In all fairness, more transparency as pertains to publicly funded positions and pay should be a priority for DCSS administration and BOE.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-41973954955306796182010-11-20T18:50:47.030-05:002010-11-20T18:50:47.030-05:00We do have a friend who left the private sector to...We do have a friend who left the private sector to work for Gwinnett Schools in their IT a few years ago. He did it for a variety of reasons, but mainly because they work no overtime and he can run a business on the side, something he wasn't able to do when working in the private sector.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-56251510915167496952010-11-20T18:49:40.286-05:002010-11-20T18:49:40.286-05:00From looking through old posts, I can't quite ...From looking through old posts, I can't quite claify what that 1200+ includes. Does it include bus drivers, crossing guards, general maintenance workers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-8857384563241295572010-11-20T18:48:13.427-05:002010-11-20T18:48:13.427-05:00"So Anon 4:36 if it is hard to attract high t..."So Anon 4:36 if it is hard to attract high tech folks to the schools, how has Gwinnett done it? I don't know about you, but I keep hearing about private sector IT folks getting laid off...what better time is there to attract top of the line folks?"<br /><br />I am Anon 4:36 PM <br /><br />I totally agree with this but the reality in most governments is that moves like aren't made.<br /><br />In the last 12 months there has been a tremendous amount written in the education reform community about the missed opportunity to purge bad teachers during the downsizing of schools and school systems. Almost no school systems nationally use any other criteria but longevity, so the great new teacher may have to go while the mediocre longer experienced teacher gets to stay.<br /><br />The same goes for almost all bureaucracies everywhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-50176806250900859902010-11-20T18:33:49.025-05:002010-11-20T18:33:49.025-05:00@ Anonymous 3:10 PM
Good information but I have t...@ Anonymous 3:10 PM<br /><br />Good information but I have to give you an 'I' for your post. Take a look at the Board meeting notes from January 14, 2008 for for FULL story about the purpose of eSIS. Below is a short snippet:<br /><br />The current SIS was BOE approved for purchase December 9, 1996 from Clayton County School System as a “home-grown” application to bring all DCSS schools online for student accounting. <b>DCSS’s use of the application has reached end-of-life and it does not meet the growing student population, reporting requirements, and general administration of students’ information.</b><br /><br />♦ Demographics (Name, Address, Parents/Guardians, etc.)<br />♦ Flexible Scheduling Module<br />♦ Discipline Tracking<br />♦ Integrated Grade Book<br />♦ Parent Portal Access with online registration option<br />♦ Attendance<br />♦ Standardized testing and pre-ID labels<br />♦ Real-time data reporting (i.e. when grades are posted, they must be available for viewing immediately)<br />♦ Georgia State Reporting RequirementsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-76964683342556914072010-11-20T18:21:15.047-05:002010-11-20T18:21:15.047-05:00Read the entire document. It's very interesti...Read the entire document. It's very interesting. All about the FTEs and how school systems are funded from the state of Georgia. BTW, I think it was revised in 2008 since the web link says revised in 2008.<br /><br />http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CC0QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpublic.doe.k12.ga.us%2FDMGetDocument.aspx%2FCHAPTER%252024%2520qbe%2520formula%2520revised%2520082008.doc%3Fp%3D6CC6799F8C1371F607C20A8F4D00412749C7515C8D6A9EE929E938B53F5D9C12%26Type%3DD&rct=j&q=qbe%20funding&ei=aVToTJqmKcP6lweNuPieDA&usg=AFQjCNH4CaUf16G6pGKmFuhKewzRKG5ojA&sig2=Enda-L_ex2y5RYajFkmVuQ&cad=rja<br /><br /><br />Note:<br />"Q: What is QBE? <br />A: QBE is the acronym for the Quality Basic Education Funding Formula, currently used to allocate state funds to local school systems for the education of public school students. "Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-83483482318298139442010-11-20T18:19:11.399-05:002010-11-20T18:19:11.399-05:00Part 2 of post:
Read the entire document. It'...Part 2 of post:<br />Read the entire document. It's very interesting. All about the FTEs and how school systems are funded from the state of Georgia. BTW, I think it was revised in 2008 since the web link says revised in 2008.<br /><br />http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CC0QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpublic.doe.k12.ga.us%2FDMGetDocument.aspx%2FCHAPTER%252024%2520qbe%2520formula%2520revised%2520082008.doc%3Fp%3D6CC6799F8C1371F607C20A8F4D00412749C7515C8D6A9EE929E938B53F5D9C12%26Type%3DD&rct=j&q=qbe%20funding&ei=aVToTJqmKcP6lweNuPieDA&usg=AFQjCNH4CaUf16G6pGKmFuhKewzRKG5ojA&sig2=Enda-L_ex2y5RYajFkmVuQ&cad=rja<br /><br /><br />Note:<br />"Q: What is QBE? <br />A: QBE is the acronym for the Quality Basic Education Funding Formula, currently used to allocate state funds to local school systems for the education of public school students. "Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-12244888342483869762010-11-20T18:18:56.453-05:002010-11-20T18:18:56.453-05:00Part 1 of post:
"Here's a good point brou...Part 1 of post:<br />"Here's a good point brought up by Bebe Joyner in that May 7, 2008 BOE meeting:<br /><br />"Bebe Joyner:<br />• The state only funds 11 district office positions"'<br /><br />Here the Georgia DOE document Ms. Joyner was getting her information from:<br />FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FOR GEORGIA LOCAL UNITS OF ADMINISTRATION<br /><br />"In addition, Code Section 20-2-186 states that the beginning salaries of a superintendent and two assistant superintendents, as well as a secretary and accountant will be allowed for a LUA with 5,000 or less students. For LUAs with over 5,000 FTE but less than 10,001, funds will be allowed to pay the beginning salaries of a superintendent and four assistant superintendents, as well as a secretary and accountant. For FTE over 10,000, funds will be allowed to pay the beginning salaries of a superintendent and eight assistant superintendents, as well as a secretary and accountant."<br /><br />A superintendent, 8 assistant superintendents, a secretary and an accountant would make 11 Central Office personnel funded by Georgia QBE.<br /><br />Of course you can't run a school system the size of DCSS on 11 Central Office personnel, but do we need 1,239 employees? We get a substantial amount of our taxes back from the state to pay teachers, but hardly any to pay Central Office employees. We have to reach into our pockets again to pay them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-53950595046748106582010-11-20T18:14:04.985-05:002010-11-20T18:14:04.985-05:00@ Anonymous 3:10 PM
Good information but I have t...@ Anonymous 3:10 PM<br /><br />Good information but I have to give you an 'I' for your post. Take a look at the Board meeting notes from January 14, 2008 for for FULL story about the purpose of eSIS. Below is a short snippet:<br /><br />The current SIS was BOE approved for purchase December 9, 1996 from Clayton County School System as a “home-grown” application to bring all DCSS schools online for student accounting. <b>DCSS’s use of the application has reached end-of-life and it does not meet the growing student population, reporting requirements, and general administration of students’ information.</b><br /><br />♦ Demographics (Name, Address, Parents/Guardians, etc.)<br />♦ Flexible Scheduling Module<br />♦ Discipline Tracking<br />♦ Integrated Grade Book<br />♦ Parent Portal Access with online registration option<br />♦ Attendance<br />♦ Standardized testing and pre-ID labels<br />♦ Real-time data reporting (i.e. when grades are posted, they must be available for viewing immediately)<br />♦ Georgia State Reporting RequirementsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-85471147324565984652010-11-20T18:11:15.796-05:002010-11-20T18:11:15.796-05:00"Here's a good point brought up by Bebe J..."Here's a good point brought up by Bebe Joyner in that May 7, 2008 BOE meeting:<br /><br />"Bebe Joyner:<br />• The state only funds 11 district office positions"'<br /><br />Here the Georgia DOE document Ms. Joyner was getting her information from:<br />FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FOR GEORGIA LOCAL UNITS OF ADMINISTRATION<br /><br />"In addition, Code Section 20-2-186 states that the beginning salaries of a superintendent and two assistant superintendents, as well as a secretary and accountant will be allowed for a LUA with 5,000 or less students. For LUAs with over 5,000 FTE but less than 10,001, funds will be allowed to pay the beginning salaries of a superintendent and four assistant superintendents, as well as a secretary and accountant. For FTE over 10,000, funds will be allowed to pay the beginning salaries of a superintendent and eight assistant superintendents, as well as a secretary and accountant."<br /><br />A superintendent, 8 assistant superintendents, a secretary and an accountant would make 11 Central Office personnel funded by Georgia QBE.<br /><br />Of course you can't run a school system the size of DCSS on 11 Central Office personnel, but do we need 1,239 employees? We get a substantial amount of our taxes back from the state to pay teachers, but hardly any to pay Central Office employees. We have to reach into our pockets again to pay them.<br /><br />Read the entire document. It's very interesting. All about the FTEs and how school systems are funded from the state of Georgia. BTW, I think it was revised in 2008 since the web link says revised in 2008.<br /><br />http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CC0QFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpublic.doe.k12.ga.us%2FDMGetDocument.aspx%2FCHAPTER%252024%2520qbe%2520formula%2520revised%2520082008.doc%3Fp%3D6CC6799F8C1371F607C20A8F4D00412749C7515C8D6A9EE929E938B53F5D9C12%26Type%3DD&rct=j&q=qbe%20funding&ei=aVToTJqmKcP6lweNuPieDA&usg=AFQjCNH4CaUf16G6pGKmFuhKewzRKG5ojA&sig2=Enda-L_ex2y5RYajFkmVuQ&cad=rja<br /><br /><br />Note:<br />"Q: What is QBE? <br />A: QBE is the acronym for the Quality Basic Education Funding Formula, currently used to allocate state funds to local school systems for the education of public school students. "Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-33674605492978871472010-11-20T18:11:13.562-05:002010-11-20T18:11:13.562-05:00So Anon 4:36 if it is hard to attract high tech fo...So Anon 4:36 if it is hard to attract high tech folks to the schools, how has Gwinnett done it? I don't know about you, but I keep hearing about private sector IT folks getting laid off...what better time is there to attract top of the line folks?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-47617758969323467652010-11-20T18:08:31.833-05:002010-11-20T18:08:31.833-05:00@ Anonymous 3:10 PM
For some reason my earlier re...@ Anonymous 3:10 PM<br /><br />For some reason my earlier reply to your post did not take. I gave you an 'I', partly based on this statement:<br /><br />"eSis and Schoolnet were bought for data analysis of benchmark testing."<br /><br />Take a look at the minutes from the Board meeting on January 14, 2008 regarding why eSIS was purchased. This is presented verbatim:<br /><br />The current SIS was BOE approved for purchase December 9, 1996 from Clayton County School System as a “home-grown” application to bring all DCSS schools online for student accounting. <b>DCSS’s use of the application has reached end-of-life and it does not meet the growing student population, reporting requirements, and general administration of students’ information.</b><br /><br />The new proposed AAL Student Information System (SIS) is a comprehensive, scalable, web-based application to replace the current student information system. The application is School Interoperability Framework (SIF) compliant and includes the following:<br /><br />♦ Demographics (Name, Address, Parents/Guardians, etc.)<br /><br />♦ Flexible Scheduling Module<br /><br />♦ Discipline Tracking<br /><br />♦ Integrated Grade Book<br /><br />♦ Parent Portal Access with online registration option<br /><br />♦ Attendance<br /><br />♦ Standardized testing and pre-ID labels<br /><br />♦ Real-time data reporting (i.e. when grades are posted, they must be available for viewing immediately)<br /><br />♦ Georgia State Reporting Requirements<br />******<br /><br />As you can see, eSis provides a LOT more than what you thought. Regardless of what SIS was purchased, it was going to cost a great deal of money.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-35453918325529432772010-11-20T17:59:05.957-05:002010-11-20T17:59:05.957-05:00My understanding with respect to the annual salary...My understanding with respect to the annual salary increases was that DCSS got caught "holding the bag" by not passing along the state portion of the annual increase to teachers. <br /><br />I wasn't due a step the last couple of years, so I wasn't affected. But some of my colleagues are receiving "step adjustments" to reimburse them for the increase in the state portion of their salaries for the past couple of years.<br /><br />Surely DCSS knew that the state's annual increases for longevity hadn't been cancelled!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-67611949663740279422010-11-20T17:50:36.416-05:002010-11-20T17:50:36.416-05:00@ Anonymous 4:36 pm
"It was hard to attract ...@ Anonymous 4:36 pm<br /><br />"It was hard to attract the cream of the crop of the IT world to lower paying government jobs."<br /><br />Not so true anymore. DCSS needs to look at outsourcing parts of the IT department.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-13724651721342017552010-11-20T16:36:15.977-05:002010-11-20T16:36:15.977-05:00I want to add for as much as we scream about salar...I want to add for as much as we scream about salaries, until recently, excellent to good IT professionals could make much more money in the private sector.<br /><br />It was hard to attract the cream of the crop of the IT world to lower paying government jobs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-37505387625077543212010-11-20T16:34:38.044-05:002010-11-20T16:34:38.044-05:00From a non-teacher perspective,I believe one of th...From a non-teacher perspective,I believe one of the biggest mistakes was the fact that first class and the new system did not overlap.<br /><br />When all the initial problems happened, and we challenged our BoE rep on why this happened, we were told that the cost to extend first class would have been rougly a million dollars.<br /><br />Government software activation/implementation almost never goes well.<br /><br />For well over a decade, the state of GA has been promising software that can track GA students and do growth measurements. It is just now ready, a decade late and millions and millions over budget.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-24027469776381525672010-11-20T16:19:28.379-05:002010-11-20T16:19:28.379-05:00@ Anonymous 3:10
More good information but I'...@ Anonymous 3:10<br /><br />More good information but I'd have to give you an 'I'. You said the following:<br /><br />"eSis and Schoolnet were bought for data analysis of benchmark testing."<br /><br />Below is verbatim from the January 14, 2008 Board meeting when the purchase of eSiS was approved. As you will read, the purpose and functionality is a LOT more than what you indicated.<br /><br />The current SIS was BOE approved for purchase December 9, 1996 from Clayton County School System as a “home-grown” application to bring all DCSS schools online for student accounting. DCSS’s use of the application has reached end-of-life and it does not meet the growing student population, reporting requirements, and general administration of students’ information.<br /><br /><br /><br />The new proposed AAL Student Information System (SIS) is a comprehensive, scalable, web-based application to replace the current student information system. The application is School Interoperability Framework (SIF) compliant and includes the following:<br /><br /><br /><br />♦ Demographics (Name, Address, Parents/Guardians, etc.)<br /><br />♦ Flexible Scheduling Module<br /><br />♦ Discipline Tracking<br /><br />♦ Integrated Grade Book<br /><br />♦ Parent Portal Access with online registration option<br /><br />♦ Attendance<br /><br />♦ Standardized testing and pre-ID labels<br /><br />♦ Real-time data reporting (i.e. when grades are posted, they must be available for viewing immediately)<br /><br />♦ Georgia State Reporting Requirements<br />**********<br />Let's hope this clears things up..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-14700399107562896582010-11-20T15:10:35.473-05:002010-11-20T15:10:35.473-05:00part 2:
The problem is that Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunt...part 2:<br />The problem is that Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter of MIS committed in 2007 to the BOE that $11,000,000 would buy this valuable analysis of student progress, and yet here we are 3 years down the road and no "real time" data analysis is occurring with this system. <br /><br />The other problem is that Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter did not recognize that students "bubbling" in a multitude of tests every six weeks and teachers taking instructional and planning time to scan in thousands of answer sheets was counterproductive to student achievement. They needed ensure students had adequate access to technology labs or computers so that they could take the benchmark test in 10 to 15 minutes online. Then the results should be on the teacher's desktop or remotely via her home computer by close of business that very same day. This is not brain surgery - this is what taxpayers paid $11,000,000 for and what is not happening. They didn't do their homework and the teachers and students took the brunt of the mess while taxpayers are out $11,000,000. <br /><br />As far as training goes, the "train the Trainer" model was not the main problem. eSis was rolled out too fast (a Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter decision), and it simply didn't work correctly. <br /><br />MIS upper management made some poor decisions, their performance was sorely lacking, yet the students and teachers paid/are still paying the price in terms of time off task and frustration. Absolutely no accountability on the part of the individuals who pitched this $11,000,000 system that does not do what we bought it to do and perhaps never will. By the time we get it to work, it will be obsolete, and it will never supply the data analysis we need until the student access problem is solved.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-57345871766647242132010-11-20T15:10:13.577-05:002010-11-20T15:10:13.577-05:00@ Anonymous 12:28
This post has 2 parts.
Part 1:
...@ Anonymous 12:28<br /><br />This post has 2 parts.<br />Part 1:<br />@ Anonymous<br />"The Smartweb gradebook was used for secondary schools and Making the Grade was used for elementary schools. In plain speak, the district had two applications used for an electronic gradebook and they were NOT integrated. "<br /><br />Making the Grade was a stand-alone system that teachers loaded on their machines so of course its days were numbered. Online gradebooks are the way to go, however, DCSS could have moved the elementary schools to Smartweb for a very very tiny fraction of the cost of eSis and Schoolnet. <br /><br />eSis in combination with Schoolnet gives teachers the yearly student testing information from CRCT, Cogat, GHSGT, etc., but teachers already have this for free from the state through the Georgia OAS (Online Assessment System) - Well, not exactly for free because the state had already used taxpayer dollars to develop and maintain this system so I guess you could say we DeKalb taxpayers paid/pay twice for teachers to access the same information. <br /><br />eSis and Schoolnet were bought for data analysis of benchmark testing. Timely, frequent, consistent and relevant feedback of specific skills mastered and content understood is valuable information to teachers and also to administrators. That was the big pitch for what we would get with eSis and Schoolnet combined. <br /><br />For example, as a teacher, I could teach long division and then the benchmark test data would tell me who in my class had mastered this skill. If most of my class had not mastered this skill, I could reteach. If a small group of students were the only ones lacking in this skill, I could remediate that small group. Then we could move on to double digit division. I could look at the reading comprehension of my various students and make adjustments in my science and social studies delivery. The list goes on and on how beneficial this would be to teachers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-6842504592712711202010-11-20T15:07:20.847-05:002010-11-20T15:07:20.847-05:00@ Anonymous
"The Smartweb gradebook was used ...@ Anonymous<br />"The Smartweb gradebook was used for secondary schools and Making the Grade was used for elementary schools. In plain speak, the district had two applications used for an electronic gradebook and they were NOT integrated. "<br /><br />Making the Grade was a stand-alone system that teachers loaded on their machines so of course its days were numbered. Online gradebooks are the way to go, however, DCSS could have moved the elementary schools to Smartweb for a very very tiny fraction of the cost of eSis and Schoolnet. <br /><br />eSis in combination with Schoolnet gives teachers the yearly student testing information from CRCT, Cogat, GHSGT, etc., but teachers already have this for free from the state through the Georgia OAS (Online Assessment System) - Well, not exactly for free because the state had already used taxpayer dollars to develop and maintain this system so I guess you could say we DeKalb taxpayers paid/pay twice for teachers to access the same information. <br /><br />eSis and Schoolnet were bought for data analysis of benchmark testing. Timely, frequent, consistent and relevant feedback of specific skills mastered and content understood is valuable information to teachers and also to administrators. That was the big pitch for what we would get with eSis and Schoolnet combined. <br /><br />For example, as a teacher, I could teach long division and then the benchmark test data would tell me who in my class had mastered this skill. If most of my class had not mastered this skill, I could reteach. If a small group of students were the only ones lacking in this skill, I could remediate that small group. Then we could move on to double digit division. I could look at the reading comprehension of my various students and make adjustments in my science and social studies delivery. The list goes on and on how beneficial this would be to teachers. <br /><br />The problem is that Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter of MIS committed in 2007 to the BOE that $11,000,000 would buy this valuable analysis of student progress, and yet here we are 3 years down the road and no "real time" data analysis is occurring with this system. <br /><br />The other problem is that Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter did not recognize that students "bubbling" in a multitude of tests every six weeks and teachers taking instructional and planning time to scan in thousands of answer sheets was counterproductive to student achievement. They needed ensure students had adequate access to technology labs or computers so that they could take the benchmark test in 10 to 15 minutes online. Then the results should be on the teacher's desktop or remotely via her home computer by close of business that very same day. This is not brain surgery - this is what taxpayers paid $11,000,000 for and what is not happening. They didn't do their homework and the teachers and students took the brunt of the mess while taxpayers are out $11,000,000. <br /><br />As far as training goes, the "train the Trainer" model was not the main problem. eSis was rolled out too fast (a Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter decision), and it simply didn't work correctly. <br /><br />MIS upper management made some poor decisions, their performance was sorely lacking, yet the students and teachers paid/are still paying the price in terms of time off task and frustration. Absolutely no accountability on the part of the individuals who pitched this $11,000,000 system that does not do what we bought it to do and perhaps never will.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com