Recently I sent Mr. Johnson an e-mail that dealt with a couple issues. One of those issues was the raises received by the Central Office administrators who were recently moved into interim positions. The following is the response I received from Mr. Johnson regarding that part of my e-mail.
Thank you Paul. The information about the salaries has caused a lot of dissension at a time when I was really trying to build consensus. I sure wish there was a way that I could convince everyone to pull in the same direction.
Brady Johnson, Interim Superintendent
I then replied to Mr. Johnson based on the comments and suggestions given on this blog as well as comments and suggestions I have received in e-mails from teachers and from speaking directly with a number of teachers. The text of my reply is given below.
Brady,
I understand your justification behind the salary increases for the Central Office personnel who were moved into the interim positions. However, you know that, due to many factors including the cuts in the state budget, teachers and other I-SS staff have also had to take on new responsibilities but they were not given salary increases. I think it is fair to say that, for many, the perception is that teachers and others did not get the raises due to the fact they did not receive fancy new titles to go along with their new responsibilities.
That being said, I do think that you can convince everyone to pull in the same direction but it is going to take more than words. You mentioned at the citizen's meeting that you wanted to take some of the pressure off of the teachers and that you were lighten up and tweak the application of the Baldrige plan. From what I have heard, that is not occurring, at least not at a number of schools. There only a few new teachers this year. That means that most of the teachers are quite familiar with the application of the Baldrige model. I recommend that you give teachers the freedom to decide how much of the Baldrige model they want to apply to their classes. Contrary to what Dr. Holliday thought, the majority of the I-SS teachers do know how to teach and they need the freedom and the time to implement a teaching style that best meets the needs of their students. You said that you expect the principals to know their teachers. Thus they should know if a teacher is struggling and be able to provide help as needed. Don't force remediation on teachers who do not need it.
The IFs can best be used to provide help as needed, not to pound teachers with all the Baldrige ideology and acronyms. At the citizen's meeting you also said you also wanted to change to role of the IFs. But apparently that has not changed either. You said that you wanted the IFs to be a true resource like the Lead Teacher that worked with you and your teachers when you were a principal. I am afraid that the only way that is going to happen is if there is a radical change in the IF model. Too many teachers see the IFs as they have seen them in the last couple of years and apparently many IFs want to continue doing what they have done in the past. I think you have to sever the direct connection between the IFs and the Central Office. Keep the IFs in the schools all day every day and have them report directly to the principal. They can meet after school like the teachers do. Another idea is to change the title from IF back to Lead Teacher. There is a lot of baggage associated with the IF title.
Again, let teachers teach. You said that principals and other school staff are at there to support the teachers as they enable the students to learn. Make sure everyone knows that. You said you see the PLC as a valuable teacher resource. I agree, but let the teachers meet and work together and share ideas without the IF getting in the way. If the teachers need the help of the IF/Lead Teacher, they can ask for that help. Why do the teachers have to keep a PLC notebook and turn it in to the IF? Let the teachers set the structure of the PLC to meet their needs not the needs of the IF.
I know that I do not have your experience as a public school teacher and administrator. Certainly my experience is that of a College instructor, although I did earn a High School teaching certificate when I was in undergraduate school. But, I have been married to Pam for 30 years and she has kept me informed over the years of various school procedures. In addition, we have a number of friends who are I-SS teachers and I have also been communicating with a number of teachers via the Citizen's group, my blog, and e-mail. Therefore, I did want to share my thoughts with you based on those contacts.
I know that as interim superintendent there is only so much you can do and that you already have a lot on your plate. From what I have seen and heard, teachers and other I-SS teachers are willing to work with you but they have to know that you are willing to work with them and that the attitude of the Central Office has changed.
Thank you,
Paul Klaene
If you also wish to send a message to Mr. Johnson his e-mail address is listed below.
Actions speak louder than words. Putting lipstick on a pig to the public doesn't change anything and certainly doesn't convince the actual workers who live in the reality to pull in the same direction. The public may be believing what he is selling, but the principals certainly aren't, and the teachers know the truth. Until our reality changes, all the rheteric about not hammering teachers and students and trimming is just that.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you have good suggesstions Paul, Mr. Johnson wants to give control to the principals, not teachers. The principal survery indicated only 1 principal would do away with PDSA. There are principals that worship Baldridge, as evidence in the survey. I don't think many people would like it if one school did away with the wallpaper, and everyone else had to do it. There are already schools that only have to do 1, and if you're in a school that has to do 2, it's unfair.
Thanks Paul!!! I have 2 meetings afterschool this week and YES it would be GREAT if the IF would sub in my class so we could have our mtg during the school day. Our IF took three days out of student days to go on vacation. Sure wish I could!!! They replaced Denise and Amanda with Sherrod and Kim (I think that is the names) anyway WHY???? This was the ideal time to move on not continue the same ole same ole. Thanks for letting me vent. This has been the hardest beginning of school ever. Please stay on top of things, perhaps you can make a difference.
ReplyDeleteThis just tops it all. I'm at the Mt. Mourne IB school and we received "new" laptops. Well mine continues to freeze. Our tech person said these are not new - apparently our school spent money allocated for new laptops but the technology department took our new laptops and gave us old laptops. Did they think we were stupid and would never realize???? What other decisions are being made at the CO level that impacts teachers/students.
ReplyDeleteLOL....I realize you're in the IB school, but my school has NO technology. We're lucky to have 3-4 computers per classroom. The only laptop belongs to the IF. Wonder how many computers or laptops could have been bought with the money used for raises? That would be interesting data. Perhaps that should be the next district PDSA, and they have to have it done in a week.
ReplyDelete4 comments in and already off topic...seems par for the course...good job paul on continuing the rumors!
ReplyDeleteWhat rumors" ?It is the very same as it was before.
ReplyDeleteJust as much paperwork. What happens when I can't run off any more copies? I have cut my news letters to parents to every two weeks.
Our CFA is this week and it is 5 pages long to cover our new math. I have to multiply that by 20. I am running off our Plan, Do , Study and Act for every week. We still have a PDSA every week. That is more paperwork. I am also doing the L to J. There are many great pages to run off with our new math , but there are more worksheets to run off with our reading that are great enforcements. Now what is a teacher to do ?Tests are made out of papers not manipulatives. Don't complain about these worksheets because they came with the reading and math programs. We are using the computer and overhead, too, with both programs. This is after we do our manipulatives and strategies with our new math.
We still have to get to DRAs and to our Phonemic Folders. This is more papers to run off.
No, we are doing just as much or even more paperwork in the classroom. As usual noone cares about any of the issues, because it is again swept under the rug. Tell the IFs to do the Phonemic Folders and the DRAs for K-2 and that might help.
"Our CFA is this week and it is 5 pages long to cover our new math" - the math standards didn't change just because you have a new book adoption, so that statement doesn't make sense.
ReplyDelete"I know that I do not have your experience as a public school teacher and administrator." That says it all. Sounds like your only goal is to return to the poor achieving system we had earlier and stir anything you can find to create discontent. Mr. Johnson's only mistake so far has been spending way too much time in catering to this group. The primcipal, in conjunction with the SIT, should be making decisions and he is steering things in that direction. It will never be the way it was (shut the door, block the window with construction paper, and do what you want to, etc.)and the sooner people realize that, the better.
ReplyDeleteMy students have never been underachievers and never will be because I have always expected them to be the best. I have had EC students who were told they would not read,that they would not be able to write, but they learned to read and write in my class.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny that all the paperwork on the wall doesn 't prove one thing about the teacher except she can put it all on the wall. This does not prove that she can teach. I also have seen things in education go round and round. Parts of programs that have worked are kept. Junk goes in the waste basket where it has to. Fools stay fools cause they're too blind to see the truth.
Until every student is capable of working independently and living in the real world of the 21st century ,then the whole world is failing them. There is not enough time for all this junk. I want to see how well ISS subgroups have done on the EOG lately. What are the percentage points that it has grown since 2002 until now?
The subgroups are the key. They are the ones who can show growth when the average and high students sometimes hit a stalemate.
Don't worry about out SIT. They do exactly what they are required to. Matthew Fail tells us how it should be. We do it. It is his product not ours.
Our CFA is not about the pages or the curriculum. It is just about the waste of paper when the questions and problems have come from our math book. I don't care if it is 10 pages long. It is just the waste of paper. It does not matter what anyone says on this blog, someone will find something or someone to be critical of.
That is just the way it goes. But one day soon those that bully too many times eventually will feel the heat.
What are accomplishments of leadership?
ReplyDeleteFor some in I-SS the accomplishment of reported numbers that caused I-SS to reach the top 10 by someones measuring system of accountablity was considered to be phenomenal leadership? For others, those numbers do not seem to be a major accomplishment for their vision allows them to see the trade-off in achieving those numbers. And to those people, those numbers do not have the same value.
I have questioned I-SS's measuring stick in other posts. I really get no real reply other than check the numbers and compare. But again, I ask what is the trade-off? Did anyone ever measure what we lost? Or, does anyone care if we lost other valued aspects of educating children? I never receive a true rebuttal or defense to my questioning of this particular measuring stick of achievement. Were these achieved numbers really worth it and is that the direction we truly want education to go in I-SS?
These are only a few of the many questions that need to be considered in our search for the next leadership of I-SS.
It is very unfortunate that sometimes we read unkind words written on this blog. Some people criticize and joke about the content of the posts and comments on this blog and therefore you may sometimes also criticize me. That does not bother me because in my opinion there are some real problems in I-SS with the model we have followed. It is unfortunate that we see opponents flinging jabs from one side of the ring to the other. But please consider that the I-SS model molded and developed over the last seven years and during that time imposed on teachers have helped to lead to such a punching divide and even sometimes unkind words over petty issues.
I ask you to again consider the qualities of leadership and consider whether that model we have experienced and in many cases are still experiencing should have created the current devisiveness? There is a real divide. It is a real problem. And I ask all of our leaders, how are we going to deal with this problem?
There are many teachers and parents that would like to know the answer to that question.
The leaders do not care unless it is still their way. They continue to add to the classroom teacher's load but it doesn't matter. I watch the young teachers that are burning out continually with the overload of work. When they have no teachers and the scores continue to go down, then perhaps, they will go to another way. I doubt it. They will continue to blame the classroom teacher who has to deal with more students who need more one on one than ever before. What are they going to do when ISS teachers can take no more? Then all the IFs and assistant principals will have to go back into the classroom, and they should.
ReplyDelete"Then all the IFs and assistant principals will have to go back into the classroom, and they should" - I have noticed a theme from posted on here obsessed with IF's and AP's going back to the classroom....very interesting.
ReplyDeleteNot that interesting...
ReplyDeleteI do not subscribe to the premise that there is an obsession...the reason for the attention is simple--- teachers are continually told that if they "just do this" or "just do that" by those who have CHOSEN not to teach...there is a reason these constant advice-givers have chosen not to teach, and that is because classroom teaching is a very difficult profession. That's the real reason behind the clamoring of some to become IF's ...the workload of an IF is much, much lighter than that of a classroom teacher.
I'll say what has been stated in this blog many, many times...the IF position should be eliminated. They are not needed, and think of the funds that could be saved. And it doesn't matter from which "pot" the funds for the IF positions come...the money needs to be utilized in a way that benefits students. Put all these, oh so knowledgeable IF's back in the classroom so that they can make a positive difference. Because all they are presently doing is wasting teachers' time.
There was a survey teachers had to complete with questions about the IF's, CFA's, etc. Why complete the survey as there is evidence they are here to stay regardless of results and the results are collected by I=SS admin so results can be changed. Why not have an outside group collect the data????
ReplyDeleteAn outside group should definitely collect the survey info..where is NCAE? All the dues they collect...? they should be stepping up to the plate!
ReplyDeleteA lot of teachers belong to Penc, where are they????
ReplyDeleteI wonder what standards Sept. 21,8:00 is using to compare how students performed compared to now? I am sure that parents of students who were in school 8 yrs ago would be upset to hear that their children were low performing and under achieving. All we have to compare is Doc. Holliday's formula since the state doesn't compare schools or districts. What would our scores look like if the southern end of the county was removed? Would we still have such high numbers? Teachers only want to teach. I agree that there are teachers out there who don't do a good job but get rid of them. Don't blame the entire staff for the failure of a few. Last year, one elementary school removed all teachers desks from classrooms during summer break because there were a few teachers who spent too much time sitting behind their desks and not enough time walking the classroom. It would may sense that their desks would be the ones removed not everyone's. But that is not how it works in education. All have to bare the sins of a few. Just as the classroom has to suffer because a few students can't behave. It is time to put teachers back in control of their rooms and let the students who don't want to learn stay behind while those who do reap the rewards of good behavior and learning. In life, reality is not one for all and all for one. In the workplace, promotions come based on individual work not all the entire company.
ReplyDeleteWith all the poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation (or lack of it), that has been exhibited on this blog - I hope the public doesn't read it! Frankly, it is appalling! No wonder there are problems with student achievement! This blog makes Statesville look like hillbilly heaven. It ranks second only to the infamous Record and Landmark in terms of discouraging economic development in our area. Who in the world would want to establish a business in such a petty, whiny, short-sighted, contentious, under-educated community!
ReplyDeleteTo September 23, 2009 6:15 PM ,
ReplyDeleteI'll just bet you hope the public doesn't read this blog....but not for the reasons you cited. Those who have been wasting time and money with abandon would be called to task if only the general taxpaying public knew exactly what I-SS top admins have been and are up to.
"Thank you Paul. The information about the salaries has caused a lot of dissension at a time when I was really trying to build consensus. I sure wish there was a way that I could convince everyone to pull in the same direction.
ReplyDeleteBrady Johnson, Interim Superintendent"
There is.....you and your top admins can lead by example....
take on more responsibility, work harder and longer for the same compensation.
The ones that keep saying that classroom teachers are whiners are the ones who hve moved out of the classroom. They have no idea what it is truly like to keep trying to get everything done and then teach, too. Those people ,who cannot walk the walk, need to go back into the classroom and do everything that they still are dictating to teachers to do. It is absolutely ridiculous the way professional teachers are treated as if they never went to college or never did any research.
ReplyDeleteNoone in ISS should have ever went to college or even received a degree, BA, BS or Masters because what was the use? We get it over and over again in the PLC and in the Staff Development. It is so redundant.
Yes, the language and all our writing skills have gone down hill. Thanks to our wonderful technology, texting, Twitter , Facebook and etc. , we really aren't required to write correctly or spell correctly.
Don't worry , more skills will fall by the wayside. Most students probably won't be able to sign their names in cursive writing. That probably is not essential.
As far as businesses, please name all the ones that have the lengthy meetings that we have continually and the same old ,same old stuff repeated over and over. I want to know all the businesses in ISS's districts that practice Baldrige. I want to know how many stay at their bussiness 3 or 4 hours after time for them to leave, and never get paid overtime. I know for a fact many of our teachers stay from 7:05 until 6:00 and later. Please tell me what businesses do this!
Well I know that central office personnel work late. I drove down race street last night and saw Brady Johnson...at least I think it was Mr. Johnson in his office at 9:02...so you think he does not work late???
ReplyDeleteAlso, Twitter, Facebook, texting, ruining our society etc...hmm is this what the Romans said when the barbarians misused their language and we received French, Spanish, and English. Afterall, we have those because the barbarian nations could not speak latin.
Is this also what shakespeare would have thought when we quit using thy and thou in our writings? "Oh, how dare those beligerent baphoons use thy lovely languague in such a demeaning manor!" I admit, it's nice to try to speak that but people have to realize our society is getting ready to take on a tremendous shift. Our children will work with the Chinese and Indian cultures. They will be in competition with them and we have to accept this as a nation or we will not be at the top. Which we aren't but everyone feels better to think we are. China and India are quickly becoming more powerful than us.
I understand that papers, research, and valuable topics need to be done correctly. I am not knocking that but we must also work with our students at giving them a role in their learning. Facebook, Twitter, etc. are used as personal sites. They can do whatever they want on there. Really? Who cares? If you were using it in your classroom I would expect a better product. However, have you used those tools? Texting, Facebook, Twitter? I'm curious if you have because if you have not you should try it before you knock it.
No one can stop the wave of the future..and that wave is speaking Chinese. AND it isn't because the US educational system has failed...it is because our 'corpocracy' has. The 'corpocracy' has failed miserably and yet, there are those that think it is a good idea to apply what has failed in business to our school systems!
ReplyDeleteFurther, our country does not MAKE anything anymore...our economy is a house of cards--meaningless, increasingly valueless pieces of paper. The reason our lunch is being eaten by China and India is the same reason we were eating England's lunch a couple of hundred years ago....INDUSTRIALIZATION.
It is not so simple as to suggest that the answers to the USA's problems lie in technology-----employing modern technology (twitter, facebook, etc.) is not going to dig us out of the hole in which we currently find ourselves.
Educating students to be CRITICAL thinkers just might. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that applying a model (Baldrige)that is nearly a century old is NOT going to help the students of I-SS to learn how to become problem-solvers.
If we are to right the course of our country (and there is no evidence that we will be able to--empires rise and then they fall, history has born this out for millennia) then we must remember that teaching is much, much more of an art than a science. People, children are not widgets to which a factory approach can be used with any success.
The sooner the powers that be in I-SS realize that Einstein was right when he brilliantly said, "Everything that counts cannot be counted, and everything that can be counted counts" the better.
Due to the overuse of data, I-SS schools are currently teaching our children to be expert test takers --- not critical thinkers. As long as teachers are forced to bow to the data gods, then our educations of our children will continue to suffer.
correction:
ReplyDelete*then the educations of our children will continue to suffer
The quote should read:
ReplyDelete"Everything that counts cannot be counted, and NOT everything that can be counted counts"
Shhesh! Too late for my brain, I'm going to bed!
To 9-23, 9:28
ReplyDeleteYou need to write more often. I did not realize that people from beyond "hillbilly heaven" could be so eloquent.
"Noone in ISS should have ever went to college or even received a degree, BA, BS or Masters because what was the use? " This statement from a post above makes my case for poor grammar, poor spelling, and poor punctuation - all in one sentence! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteGee Janie..
ReplyDeleteWhat would our scores look like if the southern end of the county was removed? Would we still have such high numbers?
That could be taken several different ways.. Surely, as a great quality teacher..sorry, FORMER teacher, one would think you would know better than to leave a comment hanging out there like that. Why, it sounds as if you think one of two things, or maybe both.. a) our kids in the south end are smarter than the kids in the rest of the county. and/or b)the teachers in the south end are better teachers than those in the rest of the county.
Shame on you.
I can't wait for all the Chinese people and Indian people to be our friends because of technology. I am not knocking technology or I would not be on this blog.
ReplyDeleteWe value human rights more than the Chinese leaders do. We value eduacation more than the Chinese and the Indian people. They both still run countries that are overpopulated and pollution runs free. The caste system still runs their systems. People live in poverty and their governments do not care. Children die everyday and life is not valued. Only those who pass certain exams qualify for an education ,and the poor beg in their streets. Some are lucky enough to work in factories for a couple of dollars.
Perhaps ,they will take us over and who knows?
The elite run the countries and would like to rule everyone else. I don't really think that they want the people that live there to be critical thinkers. They prefer that the people have a slave mentality. Dictators rule and never ask for anyone's input. It is their way or no way. Of course the great Roman Empire fell. Someday it may be us or it may be them. Only God knows and he does not judge people by grammar.
education misspelled.
ReplyDeleteI must wear my glasses or quit typing too fast.
Pollution runs free...last I heard we were a major contributor to the pollution in the world. Problem is we are ALL in it together so it doesn't matter who contributes.
ReplyDeletePeople live in poverty and the governments don't care. I'm sure the same could be said for us by the way we treat some of our veterans when they go to war and come home and can't find a job so they have to beg off the streets.
Only those who pass certain exams qualify for an education. Hmm...EOG to go to the next grade, SAT to go to college, Specialized tests to get certain certifications. We do the same thing we are just nicer about it.
Critical thinkers need to come from the classroom. Multiple guess questions don't cut it but our systems don't know anything else. Essays would be my format of choice but would we grade the grammar or would we grade the knowledge and the idea?
Our country does a lot of great things but our children will work hand in hand with many different nationalities in the future. I personally do not like it but I feel the walls of the classroom limit creativity and critical thinking and technology provides the means to knock them down.
To actually hold a conversation with a class from Japan through Skype is too awesome for me to deny the benefits technology provides for our students.
To September 23, 2009 6:15 PM :
ReplyDeleteWhar in the world do ya'll live ? And iffen ya'll live here, how in the tar nation do ye stand the hillbilly company?
Ignorant and proud of it! That's a hillbilly!
ReplyDeleteThis is a letter written to the R&L that I thought needed to be passed around...
ReplyDeleteDr. William J. Wortman Jr.
Statesville
Published: September 10, 2009
I often despair of finding any rational thought in many of the letters you receive and choose to print.
Too often many of them are only some rant by an individual who adheres tenaciously to one end or the other of the ideological spectrum, yet sees no reason to try to identify some middle ground on which they may find some small agreement with the opposing view.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the current topics on everyone's minds, be they health care, schools, presidential speeches, the economy or a plethora of "causes."
We are a national and world of diversity. This is not all bad, yet we use our differences more as a means of dividing us than of uniting us. We will never agree on all topics, nor should we, but we can and should seek a common ground on which we can work for the benefit of all. And until we do, we will continue to be like two mules pulling against one another.
Rather than waste our energies trying to drag someone to our side of the divide, we should instead be pulling together toward that common ground where all may profit. But of that time and end I also despair.
Did we have to stop the factories because of pollution to hold the Olympics ? or was that China??? We are ,indeed, in this all together but I do prefer the US. Technology has its awesome parts, but just like anything else, it is not perfect and never will be. Technology can be used for good, but it also can be used for the evil in the world.
ReplyDeleteThere is no critical or analytical thinking in what some people have to say in the blogs. Blogs are not research papers or are they being graded. I do not see how someone could be so critical of someone's personal thoughts that probably are written when tired or in the heat of emotion. Those people care very little about others or their emotional well-being. Calling people names is not a very ethical thing to do. The world is such a sad place for our children. Now the adults act like spoiled children who care about noone but their little old self. Read the newspapers ,and please criticize the writing, because many times the grammar is incorrect. They also have a person who edits it before it is sent out. Blogs are written with emotion not for critical analysis.
ReplyDeleteMaking comments fueled by emotion is like using a match to see how much gas is in your tank. Not a great idea. Clearly a female trait and a great example of why women shouldn't be in charge. Same applies to emotional men, they need to be home knitting. Some of those on here as well.
ReplyDeleteFools! Fools! Fools! All these teachers posting information about PLCs, posting data, CFAs, and all the regular things that go with the Baldrige Model know why they're putting up with it. Paul, look at the self reflection evaluation teachers have just completed. They have to put up required items just to be proficent at their job. Check it out. So, the band plays on and everybody says . . .
ReplyDelete10:18pm
ReplyDeleteSuch an ignorant statement. You must have had an attachment disorder with your mother from birth! Please go seek treatment for your warped delusions.
It says in the Bible not to call people "fools".
ReplyDeleteYou will see that at one time everyone has put their foot in their own mouth.
As far as talking about emotions. Women are emotional but they get it out of their system while some men never say what they mean. Look who dies more often? They just run around in circles when talking and never get to the real issues. Men have been leading the world for a long time ,and just see what a mess it is in.
A blog is for saying things that you like to get out. If it were not for the emotional outbursts of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry,etc. , perhaps you would still be living under the King. Then again, perhaps you were doing that under the system of ISS.
It appears that Paul has not received a reply from this Sept. 20 email. The email touches on most of the issues many in ISS have with the Administration. Perhaps everyone should attend one of the area advisory meetings set up beginning Oct. l to voice their concerns. Just consider it an ISS "townhall meeting" and "advise" them of what you feel is and has been taking place. It seems futile to talk about the qualities of the next superintendent when most see the qualities of the current administration are subpar.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 24, 2009 8:56 PM:
ReplyDeleteyou did not answer the answer that ---September 24, 2009 7:56 PM posed. Why not?
I'm guessing that it's because you did not grow up in Iredell County and YOU ---like many other hypocrites who relocate to our wonderful area and then proceed to think that YOU have all the answers to enlighten the people who settled and had a huge historical role in the creation of the place to which you CHOSE to re-locate--- who ignorantly assume that wherever you did grow up is superior.
People who stoop to ridiculous, dated regional stereotypes are the truly ignorant ones. This is a big wide country with many other places to live where you might find the 'locals' more palatable.... please don't let the screen door hit you on your way out.
*correction
ReplyDeleteyou did not answer the question...
I have posted a new article on the Frog Blog...
ReplyDeleteISS; Where are we now
For those who are interested, you can click on my name for the link. Thanks.
Sorry for this Larry...but just went to your website and read your articles. I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish. The articles seem to go everywhere and cover everything. I didn't see any responses. Perhaps that is because you make it very clear that you will put your own litmus test to every post prior to publishing. By the criteria you listed I doubt much will get published. I guess you became frustrated that you felt nothing was getting done through this blog. I'm sure you will find the same types of postings and attitudes will follow. It just seems a shame to break off and attempt to recreate the wheel. By your own writings everyone needs to band together in order to achieve change. Personally I thank Paul for not censoring the blog unnecessarily. I also do not diminish what this blog has accomplished. It has brought many issues to light.
ReplyDelete5:53... Your post and my response are on my site if you wish to read them. I didn't want to take up room here. It is a shame you couldn't have posted on there to begin with.
ReplyDelete9:42 I find it odd you would not want to take up room here when anyone can look back to see the pages and pages of comments you have provided.
ReplyDelete7:37 that was then and this is now. I wanted a forum that had a purpose other than stabbing one another. Since you find it odd, let me smooth that out for you:
ReplyDeleteResponse to September 26, 2009 5:53 PM... The articles on my site are various because I have many concerns other than the school system. Life is about balance and unlike others my entire reason for breathing isn't just to get back at the school system. There are many things in society that need to be sincerely addressed, all for the future of our children. As for responses to my articles, good or bad they will come. If they don’t that is okay as well.
The blog provided on my website automatically holds posts until approved, it isn’t an option. They all have to be approved, but I will deny any pettiness or childishness. The post you made here served no purpose other than to attack.
If you read the heading on my Blog, you will see that I encouraged people to disagree. I want discussion from both sides of the fence.
Also, I'm not trying to recreate the wheel. It has been suggested (probably by you) that if anyone didn't like the format on Paul’s blog, they could start their own blog. Well I did and you are still unhappy. The problem isn’t really ISS or myself, it is a personal issue that you need to work on.
There have also been complaints in the past that my posts were too lengthy. By making my posts there, those who want to read them can and I won't offend those who don't want to.
Your last paragraph makes it evident that the driving force behind your post is the fact that I bailed out when I disagreed with some of the criteria here. I can assume that you are one of the original 4. Fact is; I fully support the continuance of Paul’s Blog and the people who post here. Everyone needs a place to vent and his blog serves that purpose for many.
Feel free to revisit my site or not. Feel free to disagree with the content, but don't visit just to pick a fight. If you just want to fight, this blog already provides a place for that. You are right in saying that my own posts encourage everyone to band together in order to achieve change. I want people to present different views in a discussion with the purpose of finding a starting point for repair. Any other purpose is self serving and divisive.
Happy now 7:37?
I saw on here somebody said "why don't you take the teacher's desks from the teachers that were sitting?" So, I'm guessing you aren't for placing blame on all when it is a few causing the problem. That doesn't seem to go both ways though. Half the things you all accuse ISS of on this blog doesn't not happen at every school. We do not have to keep a PLC notebook or turn it in. We do not have 10 page CFAs. In fact we don't have to test on paper. We test using different methods. We can use manipulatives. If you having those problems you need to address that school. You should find out facts before making accusations. Also mabye since you have all this free time to blog on here you should do a little more research. PLC's, CFA's, and remediation have nothing to do with Baldrige. Trying searching any of them and you will not find the word Baldrige.
ReplyDeleteAlso if you looked at the early release schedule training was 11:15-3:15 and that's what ours was, so that was your school's choice to go from 11:30-4:30. I think middle and high had a different schedule but none were supposed to be longer than 4 hours.
ReplyDeleteLarry you assume too much
ReplyDeleteWe started when we were told to start, and it ended when it ended. That is the way it was. It seems that all grade levels from every school needs to get together the way we use to .
ReplyDeleteWe could meet every 3 months or so. That is another meeting, so I don't know who would show. It seems like every school does things their way.
We have no idea what other schools are doing. We just do not know what goes for your school that makes it so easy for you ,or in other schools, and we do things the way we are told to.
September 27, 2009 10:19 AM... when you have people posting anonymously with pointless, snitty remarks, assumptions are all you have.
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be one of the most petty, unhappy miserable people I have ever had the displeasure of not knowing.
The difference really is the principal. The SHS principal for example was at the Citizen's Meeting. He's been in the district since before Baldridge and seemed quite skeptical of it all, even taking his own data to meetings with Holliday. He stood up for his staff because he knew they were doing a good job given schools of similiar populations. Most of the principals that were here before are long gone...
ReplyDeleteSchools like mine, have principals that are newer to the district and worship anything Baldridge. He has been trained by the IF, as most new principals have been. Our meeting was until 4 that day, and we had several Baldridge meetings before schoool began. He actually asked a teacher what in the baseline data showed her students were having a fluency problem in reading and had trouble decoding words. For those that aren't teachers, baseline only tests reading comprehension. In order to test fluency, you have to listen to a child read which you can't do during baseline testing.
Some schools, and I would bet SHS is one of them, do the 1 required PDSA. Others do two, because that's what the principal requires. Someone said on here they are not required to do them weekly, some schools are...again the principal.
Sept. 27, 9:16 AM, I am glad that the teachers at your school do not have to keep a PLC notebook and turn it in to the IF. However, I know of at least one school where the teachers must do just that. One of the advantages of this blog is that it allows teachers from different schools to describe what is happening at their schools. There is no way for one person to know what is occurring at each school. Even Mr. Johnson does not know that. So, please continue to inform everyone of what is happening at your schools and allow others to do likewise.
ReplyDeleteYou say that PLCs have nothing to do with Baldrige and that is true when they are structured correctly. But, when you have an IF attend a PLC meeting and use that time to preach Baldrige doctrine and acronyms, then that PLC becomes an integral part of Baldrige. A major problem has been that I-SS has taken PLCs and other good educational practices and perverted them by making them part of the implementation of the I-SS Baldrige model.
Paul, what they've done is just change what Baldrige is called...that was/is the modus operandi of the Doc Holiday bunch. When the name of something begins to amass negative connotations,--- presto, chang-o, they just give it a new, more euphemistic name.
ReplyDeleteThey changed Lead Teacher to Instructional Facilitator (even thought they are not!), and Baldrige to Continuous Classroom Improvement (even though it is not!)...what shell game!!
The state required the change from Lead Teacher to Instructional Facilitator. They only had 3 approved titles for support personnel that were related to instruction, Lead Teacher was not one of them. The state sent a memo to the district requiring the change.
ReplyDeleteThe principals are in charge under Mr. Johnson. Each principal can require or not require based on what they want. At least SHS has the guts to address issues individually at their school. The others on here are hiding behind the cloak of "the district" requiring them to do anything. Of course if many on here knew of some of the unethical methods used by the SHS principal, they would not associate themselves with him.
ReplyDeleteSept 27 7:52 I don't think that is what Paul is saying. He is saying that there are things like PLCs that have nothing to do with Balridge if they are ran the right way. They shouldn't be used for presentations. It has nothing to do with name changes. I think a misconception is that everything we do in ISS is from Baldrige when a lot of it really works. I was just saying earlier that PLCs are what we have always done as teachers and so are assessments. The CFAs are just one more way for me to make sure my kids understood what I taught. We get to make them as teachers and decide what they look like. At least they are not just handed to use to give. 11:10 am I'm sorry that things are so varied by schools. Even though fluency is not on the baseline there are other assessments that show that. We have the DRA's to show the fluency is a problem. Do you all use DRA's? From what we were told all schools are supposed to use them.
ReplyDeleteI am very aware of DRAs. Our grade level does not administer DRAs. I've done both DRAs and IRAs before and I'm sure I could get the documents needed to do it again. However, that wasn't the point. The point was the principal is so concerned with data, teacher judgement is questioned. More importantly, the principal had no idea what baseline really measures or how we can or cannot use the data. It just goes to show how the principals, who supposedly are the voice of the teachers, have little idea of what teachers do or what all the testing is about. They just want the data.
ReplyDeleteHow dare a principal question a teacher? Where are the priorities in this screwed up system!?
ReplyDeleteOctober 2nd you are so right! In what other job do you have to answer to your boss? That is simply crazy! Who needs accountability?????
ReplyDeleteOctober 2, 2009 11:07 AM and October 3, 2009 6:56 AM :
ReplyDeleteYour attitudes are what is wrong with I-SS...There is no principal who is above working WITH teachers. Of course, the "questioning" should always go BOTH ways.
We all know that there are CO admins and principals who are victims of the "Peter Principle" (no pun intended).
Use of the word 'boss' reveals a factory mentality which has no place in a professional environment ... Teachers, principals, and CO admins are ALL professionals, meaning there should be MUTUAL respect. However, this has not been, and is not the case in many situations in I-SS.
Important decisions within I-SS should be approached using a three-part equation... they are not---Most often, only the opinions of principals and CO admins are taken into consideration. Teachers are the professionals who are IN the classrooms with the students each and every day. Teachers are the ones who have the closet communication with parents. Doesn't logic bear out that teachers would be the ones with the deepest insights in the area of deciding which path our school system should take in regards to:
1) PD most needed to inform instruction
2) the amount and type of testing needed to inform instruction
3) the most effective way to use THEIR planning time so as to best inform instruction?
Of course it does.
If there is a real interest in improving the quality of education here are ways to do it---
* increase compensation (more capable individuals will enter the teaching profession)
*decrease class size; this allows more one-on-one time with individual students
* extend the school day ONLY for students who are behind, OR for students whose parents WANT enrichment for their children who are ahead. (sorry, all children are not the same---don't be fooled by the term 'differentiation'---teachers cannot effectively teach 3 different levels in one classroom... the extended school day addresses the needs of children who do not fall in the 'average' category.)
If the USA is to compete globally, then it must 'think outside the comfortable box' which has been education in the past. The ideas mentioned above are being effectively employed by nations all around the world. When will our country wake up?
*should read:
ReplyDeleteTeachers are the ones who have the CLOSEST communication with parents...