Where might one find the data with regard to, " all three management models SD schools, charter schools and EMO schools (which include the Penn partnership three) because all three models have been showing impressive gains."
These very same individuals (SRC and Administration) will: 1. Call meetings and then send e-mails to change the subject of the meeting as you are about to walk out the door to attend, then change it back while you are en route and wonder why you are not properly prepared. 2. Implement a directive in the morning that is cancelled by noon and reinstated by the end of the school day, all done arbitrarily and without explanation. 3. Make an appointment to visit a school and classrooms only to cancel because of a heat wave, which we teachers and students must work through. 4. Demand paperwork to be done and submitted on directives that were never sent out to us and want it ASAP; often class time suffers because of these emergency directives. 5. Lose 75-90 hours per school year of classroom instructional time giving 'professional development' for better instruction, while the students who are supposed be receiving this instruction are watching TV, playing video games and running the streets. If these kids do not make AYP under No Child Left Behind, well it's your fault. 6. They are very gifted at "School District Political Speak" for which they give ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIT to teachers who managed to raise test scores in spite of all of the above and MORE, because the public likes to hear such claptrap and enjoys teachers being degraded. A week or month as a substitute teacher would be very therapeutic to those who set store by this School District PR spin. On 6/30/08 9:37 PM, "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The School Reform Commission (that is the School District's direct boss > these days) announced the sixth straight year of gains in test scores > since the SRC took over Philadelphia's public schools in December 2001. > > The mood was upbeat at SD HQ on N. Broad St. this afternoon. It's not so > much that 2008 posted handsome gains; rather, the reform model the SRC > followed from the beginning was very research-oriented, very > outcome-oriented, and over time has delivered what it was asked to deliver. > > From 2002 to 2008, the percentage of students rated "advanced or > proficient" in reading has gone from 23.9% to 44.8%. Those scoring > "advanced or proficient" in mathematics have gone from 19.5% to 49.0%. > > "Below basic" numbers have tumbled accordingly -- in reading, from 49.4% > to 33.2%; in mathematics, from 59.2% to 30.8%. > > A confident hope expressed by SRC Chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn was the > ever-more-impressive results delivered by the Philadelphia School > District will be rewarded by the General Assembly with substantial net > gains in this year's Pennsylvania State budget, which is in the final > hours of negotiations now. > > The press conference was ill suited to single-school or single-manager > discussions. Dungee Glenn did, however, emphasize the SRC is relatively > satisfied with all three management models -- SD schools, charter > schools and EMO schools (which include the Penn partnership three) > because all three models have been showing impressive gains. > > "We are moving away from model comparisons and an emphasis on > competitiveness," Dungee Glenn elaborated. "What we do need to learn > from those schools that are doing well, are best practices that can be > transmitted to other schools under different management." > > At this point, I'm not prepared to follow Ray's advice and "move out" of > the SD's "catchment areas" -- just give up on Philadelphia, in other > words. There are remarkable signs our city may be in the process of > figuring out something new and important about urban public education. > Pessimism never goes out of style in this area, with good reason, so I > respect everyone's cynicism to a point. But we should stay open to the > possibility something new and better is coming down the pike -- maybe > even in our neighborhood. > > -- Tony West > > >> Anthony West wrote: >>> Markets don't, in themselves, maintain inequalities. Segregationists >>> who argue people of different classes should never live side by side, >>> because that can only harm the lower classes -- they do maintain >>> inequalities, don't they? I don't share their views. >>> >>> We have fundamentally different interests in this discussion. I am >>> interested in the real challenges and choices facing urban education, >>> because I have a kid in the system and that makes me think about the >>> subject more than I otherwise might. You are looking for occasions to >>> complain about Penn and capitalism, as usual (two obviously allied, >>> but somewhat distinct, critters). Outcomes don't matter to you; only >>> judgements matter. Always the same judgement, too. >>> >>> I'll leave you to your pet judgement. I'll continue to comment on the >>> real challenges and choices. Urban education in Philadelphia is at a >>> crossroads. Wherever it is headed next, one thing's for sure: it's >>> not going back to that "egalitarian" quagmire of guaranteed low >>> expectations for every child, especially when he's a child of color. >> the solution to your school choice problem is simple: sell your house >> and move out of the catchment area. why limit your options now that >> your son has graduated to high school? instead of freaking out about >> the system and the egalitarian quagmire, shop around! it's outcomes >> that matter -- and besides, only segregationists, not markets, >> maintain inequalities. >> .................. >> UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN > > > > ---- > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the > list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see > <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
