In This Issue:
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Doing+undoing
the ‘done deal’: NEWLY UNCOVERED EMAILS SHOW LAUSD, APPLE & PEARSON
WERE IN CAHOOTS BEFORE THE iPAD CONTRACT WAS NEGOTIATED |
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VOICES FROM THE FIELD: THE MiSiS CRISIS +smf’s 2¢ |
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Invisible dropouts: THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIA KIDS DON’T GET PAST MIDDLE SCHOOL + smf’s 2¢ |
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TEACHING IS NOT A BUSINESS |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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Blogger Susan Ohanian, in her opening shot at John
Deasy’s LAUSD superintendency: “LA Schools Boss to be John Deasy, of
Fake Degree and Gates (and Broad) Foundation Fame” | http://bit.ly/YOD5eP (Spoiler alert: Susan is not a fan!)
“John Deasy first appeared on my site in 2003, back in his Santa Monica
days. When Deasy moved from Santa Monica to become schools chief in
Prince George's County, Stanford University education professor (current
president of the California State Board of Education) Michael Kirst
remarked that he had a ‘zest for politics.’ The record shows that Deasy
carefully notes which side of the bread is buttered. Follow the money.”
Ohanian concludes, after a litany of missteps, shady doings and
butter-side-up lucky breaks – including Deasy’s relationship with his
mentor and PhD advisor Robert Felner – who coincidentally defrauded the
Feds and two universities in a research grant scam at two school
districts where Deasy was superintendent:
“Conclusion: Filner’s in jail. Deasy continues to have his bread buttered side up.”
Felner got out of federal prison last May 12th. | http://bit.ly/1qBHmIZ
THIS WAS NOT A GOOD WEEK FOR DR. DEASY.
The MisiS CriSis festered into week two.
The Ratliff Committee Report on the iPads Deal leaked out, critical of
the whole sordid affair. The AP’s national coverage says ‘the committee
review stops short of accusing anyone of wrongdoing but offers a
carefully worded rebuke of the districtwide iPad rollout. The report
also found that past comments or associations with vendors, including by
Los Angeles schools Superintendent John Deasy, created an appearance of
conflict even if no ethics rules were violated.’ http://bit.ly/1pUGgfc
The County Office of Ed sent back the LAUSD Local Control Accountability
Plan – not questioning the advance planning for the next three years -
but last year’s expenditure of $700 million in LCFF money - not spent on
Special Needs students in Poverty, English Language Learners and Foster
Children – but on Special Ed students. The Special Needs Kids are the
subjects of the LCFF/LCAP state initiative, Governor Brown’s signature
school funding reform. Special Ed is a federal program. (Deasy had
problems with Special Ed funding in Santa Monica/Malibu when he was
there – the City of Santa Monica withheld a subsidy they paid for
Special Ed because of widespread parent complaints | http://bit.ly/1BPQTEX )
THEN, AT ABOUT 10:20 ON FRIDAY AM KPCC reporter Annie Gilbertson began
reading some e-mails on the radio from folks at Pearson and LAUSD to
each other – emails from a year before the iPads RFP was issued.
Reading emails on the radio. Who knew who entertaining that could be?
From Pearson CEO Dame Marjorie Scardino, DBE to LAUSD Superintendent
John Deasy, PhD on May 22, 2012: “My mind was racing all weekend, and I
was so impressed by your intelligent and committed and brave hold on the
moving parts of the opportunity. I really can’t wait to work with you. I
would love to think that we could together do this so well that in your
Sunday visits to prisons you won’t see one person who has been educated
in LAUSD; rather, you’ll be meeting them as teachers, as contractors,
as bankers (well, maybe not bankers), as poets all round the city.”
The gush seems like pre-coital sexting. I didn’t know whether to turn up the
radio or stay tuned for the bodice ripping and the “Ooh John…, Ooh
Marjorie…” There must be special pages in the Kama Sutra for folks
with honorifics after their names.
(The opening left for 4LAKids sarcasm re: those other six days a week for prison visits is best left unexplored.)
Howard Blume writes in the Times: “Less than two months later, on July
2, Deasy updates Scardino about his meeting with Tim Cook, the chief
executive of Apple:
“I wanted to let you know I have [sic] an excellent meeting with Tim at
Apple last Friday. The meeting went very well and he was committed to
being a partner. He said he and his team will take 5 days to present a
price plan and scope of partnership. He was very excited about being a
partner with Pearson. I think it would be good for you to loop back with
him at this point. I will reach out to you again in a week.”
‘Tim’, He calls him ‘Tim’. A price plan and a scope of partnership? Damn the procurement protocol, full speed ahead!
In one communication, Pearson’s Judy Codding argued that competitive
bidding through a “Request for Proposals” process was unnecessary….
RFP? We don’t have no RFP …we don’t need no stinking RFP!
Jaime Aquino – in his defense – cautions momentarily about going too
fast and not observing the niceties of process …gets his chain jerked by
Deasy …and gets with the program. He will be the first to pay, either
being thrown – or voluntarily going – under the bus. He may have been
lucky; that bus isn’t going to the destination on the sign.
There is, I am told, much more to come. More emails in hand. And all it
has been kept from the Board of Ed, even in their closed sessions. And
from the Oversight Committee. And the Ratliff Common Core Technology Ad
Hoc Committee. And the LAUSD Inspector General ….and by extension the
District Attorney and Attorney General.
Los Angeles is not big on grand juries. Maybe this is the time.
Stay tuned. All hell’s gonna break loose on Monday.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
Doing+undoing the ‘done deal’: NEWLY UNCOVERED EMAILS
SHOW LAUSD, APPLE & PEARSON WERE IN CAHOOTS BEFORE THE iPAD
CONTRACT WAS NEGOTIATED
►Doing the ‘done deal’: INTERNAL EMAILS SHOW LA SCHOOL OFFICIALS STARTED iPAD TALKS WITH SOFTWARE SUPPLIER A YEAR BEFORE BIDS
Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1q6hJCx
Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy speaks during a press conference at
South Region High School #2 in Los Angeles, California February 6,
2012.
Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy speaks during a press conference at
South Region High School #2 in Los Angeles, California February 6,
2012. Krista Kennell/AFP/Getty Images
22 Aug 2014 :: Emails obtained by KPCC show Los Angeles Unified School
District Superintendent John Deasy personally began meeting with
Pearson and Apple to discuss the eventual purchase of their products
starting nearly a year before the contract went out to public bid.
Detailed in dozens of emails, the early private talks included
everything from prices - about $160 million over five years - to tech
support.
"On behalf of those involved in Pearson Common Core System of Courses, I
want you to know how much we are looking forward to our partnership
with LAUSD," Pearson staffer Sherry King wrote the head of curriculum
for L.A. Unified at the time, Jaime Aquino, in November 2012. "We have
begun to work closely with your leadership to help make the transition
to the common core smooth for everyone."
Emails show Deasy met with CEO of Pearson in May 2012 and later told her
it led him to have "excited" conversations with his staff upon his
return.
After that meeting, Deasy and other high ranking officials exchanged
emails about using Pearson as part of its transition to the new Common
Core learning standards.
Emails show Deasy also met with Apple officials, in July 2012.
"The meeting went very well," he wrote to a Pearson official. He said Apple "was fully committed to being a partner."
Told about the emails, L.A. Unified school board member Steve Zimmer
said the emails raise the question of whether administrators “made a
decision in search of a procurement, rather than the other way around.”
He vowed to look into it.
“We have to make sure this is completely ethical and above board,” he said.
Reached by phone Thursday evening, school district officials said they
were unprepared to comment on the email discussions between L.A. Unified
and Pearson. They continued to decline comment Friday morning.
Pearson and Apple officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
Michael Josephson, of the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles,
said it’s possible Pearson was the best choice and school officials
didn’t mean to play to favorites - but it doesn't look good.
“You absolutely don’t want a situation where contracts are being steered
to favorites,” he said. “It invites kickbacks. It invites skimming. It
invites bribery. That’s totally unacceptable.”
A school board committee is currently writing a report detailing its concerns with the iPad project.
A draft version obtained by KPCC Thursday shows members of the Common
Core Technology Ad Hoc Committee raise questions about whether it was
proper for administrators to use school construction bond funds to
purchase curriculum software. When licenses expire and devices fall out
of date, the report notes, the district may no longer be able to pull
from bond funds.
“The Committee is not convinced that textbook funds are adequate to
replenish devices, purchase any necessary software licenses and purchase
any textbooks that may still be necessary,” the report reads.
The report also calls out district officials for changing product requirements in the middle of the bid selection process.
“It’s impossible to determine to what extent the field of proposers was
limited as a result of minimum requirements,” the report reads. Changes
made in the “11th hour,” it continues, opens the “door to the appearance
of manipulation."
●Tweeted by Annie Gilbertson @AnnieGilbertson • 10:30am Friday
#lausd officials discussed iPad contracts before bids. Stay tuned for BIGGER story next week http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/22/17193/internal-emails-show-la-school-officials-started-i/ … via @kpcc
__________
►Undoing the ‘done deal’: TOP L.A. UNIFIED OFFICIALS WORKED WITH APPLE/PEARSON BEFORE iPAD DEAL
L.A. schools Supt. Deasy was meeting with top execs from Apple –
including CEO Tim Cook - and Pearson – including CEO Marjorie Scardino -
before iPad deal
By Howard Blume | LA Times |LA Times http://lat.ms/1q6p4lx
22 Aug 2014 | 10:21pm :: Senior Los Angeles school district officials,
including Supt. John Deasy, had a close working relationship with Apple
and Pearson executives before these companies won the key contract for a
$1-billion effort to provide computers to every student in the nation’s
second-largest school system, records released by the L.A. school
district show.
The first deal, approved in June 2013 by the Board of Education, was
intended as the initial step in a speedy districtwide expansion. Under
it, all students, teachers and principals were to receive iPads from
Apple that would be loaded with curriculum developed by Pearson. A year
later, after pressure from critics and problems with the roll out, the
timetable for the project was extended; other curricula and other
devices also are being tried out at schools.
Deasy recused himself from the initial bidding process because he owned
Apple stock, but the records indicate that he and other district
officials had developed ties with the potential to benefit the firms.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has reviewed a report
by the district's inspector general and found that there was no criminal
wrongdoing in the bidding process.
No evidence has emerged from the records that Deasy tried to steer the
results once the process began. But in the period leading up to the
bidding, the district and corporate executives collaborated closely.
According to the documents, Pearson appeared to be directly involved
with Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino in developing L.A. Unified's five-year
technology plan, which was approved by the Board of Education in May
2012.
A May 24 email from Pearson executive Judy Codding to Aquino and another
senior official is titled: “Creating a plan that merges Jaime’s team’s
work and the proposed plan that emerged from the 5/18/2012 meeting.”
The email tackles the subject of how to pay for an online curriculum, especially one provided by Pearson.
In it, Codding writes: “Jaime, I think everything you said makes sense
to me. Yes everything would come out of the textbook fund. The price
would be just as you and I discussed,” Codding wrote.
Elsewhere in the email chain, Aquino asks: “Will our board support this expenditure in midst of massive layoffs?”
Aquino also wrote: “I am not sure if legally we can enter into an
agreement when we have not reviewed the final product for each grade and
if the materials have not been approved by the state."
Further, he said: "I believe we have to make sure that your bid is the lowest one.”
Deasy was one of the last to participate in that email exchange and made
his comments after Aquino's. He thanks Aquino for his contribution,
adding: “Understand your points and we need to work together on this
quickly. I want to not loose [sic] an amazing opportunity and fully
recognize our current limits.”
It isn’t clear which of Aquino’s points the superintendent is supporting.
In another email on May 24, Aquino writes to Deasy: “My major concern is
that there are a lot of unanswered questions particularly
financial/political/infrastructure implications. Let’s see what we can
get resolved in our call with Judy.” He was apparently referring to Judy
Codding of Pearson.
Deasy responds: “I am in agreement. I will call shortly about my pending talks with Apple.”
In a May 22, 2012, email, then-Pearson Chief Executive Marjorie Scardino tells Deasy how much he impresses her.
“My mind was racing all weekend, and I was so impressed by your
intelligent and committed and brave hold on the moving parts of the
opportunity. I really can’t wait to work with you. I would love to think
that we could together do this so well that in your Sunday visits to
prisons you won’t see one person who has been educated in LAUSD; rather,
you’ll be meeting them as teachers, as contractors, as bankers (well,
maybe not bankers), as poets all round the city.”
Less than two months later, on July 2, Deasy updates Scardino about his meeting with Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple.
“I wanted to let you know I have [sic] an excellent meeting with Tim at
Apple last Friday. The meeting went very well and he was committed to
being a partner. He said he and his team will take 5 days to present a
price plan and scope of partnership. He was very excited about being a
partner with Pearson. I think it would be good for you to loop back with
him at this point. I will reach out to you again in a week.”
In one communication, Pearson’s Codding argued that competitive bidding
through a “Request for Proposals” process was unnecessary, but the
school system decided otherwise.
The bidding period began in March 2013. Months later, three finalists
emerged for the Board of Education to choose from. Each proposal
included a device paired with an online curriculum. All three used
Pearson for the curriculum. Two of the proposals were for iPads—one from
Apple, one from a third-party vendor. On the recommendation of staff,
the board approved the Apple/Pearson bid after a brief discussion.
The emails, documents and other records were released in response to
requests under the California Public Records Act that The Times first
made nearly a year ago. The district initially released some of these
records only to KPCC-FM (89.3), which on Friday was the first to report
on some of these disclosures. The district then released the documents
to The Times.
On Thursday, The Times reported separately on the draft of a district
committee report that found the bidding process to be flawed. The report
concluded that district actions could have created the appearance that
the process was unfair.
Deasy said Thursday that he could not comment on the report because he
had not read it. He added that it had not been provided to him for
review. He could not be reached Friday night for a response to the
disclosed emails.
Aquino, who left the district at the end of last year, has declined requests for interviews.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A Pearson spokesperson was unable to provide a response Friday night.
VOICES FROM THE FIELD: THE MiSiS CRISIS +smf’s 2¢
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update | Week of August 25, 2014 | http://bit.ly/1ojn9Go
21 August 2014 :: On August 12, 2014, LAUSD opened the school year
using a new student information system, MiSiS (My Integrated Student
Information System). The result has been chaos at secondary schools,
where administrators, counselors and clerks have become frustrated and
exhausted by software that simply does not work.
A counselor assigns a period 3 class to a student missing one on the
schedule prepared by MiSiS, but MiSiS does not retain it, no matter how
many times it is input. Students new to the school, but not to LAUSD,
are programmed by hand, but MiSiS does not retain their information.
These flaws affect perhaps 25% of secondary students. LAUSD says that
99% of students are in class and learning, but MiSiS cannot tell how
many students are in each class, whether they are on campus or, in an
emergency, where students may be found.
To create basic reports, which were built into the old systems, users
are told to export data to Excel and then perform a mail merge in Word.
Yes, that’s crazy. The system performed so poorly that, on the third day
of school, teachers were denied access to the system and told to take
attendance on paper.
Functions that schools would normally be performing at this point, such
as balancing class sizes or changing schedules of students who made the
football team, are not being attempted. The fall master schedule and
class rosters may be finalized weeks late, which will damage this
semester’s teaching and learning. Was this the fault of Chief
Information Officer Ron Chandler, who attempted to take the blame in an
email sent to all employees on the Saturday before the school year
began?
For the past eight years, LAUSD has run two systems simultaneously—the
Student Information System (SIS), which dates from the 1980s, and the
Integrated Student Information System (ISIS), which was partially
implemented in 2006 as a replacement for SIS. LAUSD never fully
implemented ISIS because it did not believe it would work. LAUSD did not
want to repeat the unfortunate experience of Prince George’s County,
Maryland, where the same software resulted in the kind of disastrous
opening of school we’ve just witnessed in LAUSD.
In 2012, the decision was made to walk away from the investment in
ISIS—more than $100 million— and create a new system based on software
developed by Fresno Unified using Microsoft software tools. The decision
may have been the right one, but LAUSD showed little interest in input
from the administrators, teachers, counselors and clerks who would use
the system—the people who know the nuts and bolts of how to operate
schools.
From December 2012 through April 2014, AALA organized eight meetings,
which included school-site administrators and experienced members of
United Teachers Los Angeles—a total of 22 hours—to discuss the status of
ISIS and development of MiSiS. In the latter meetings, LAUSD was
represented by Chief Strategy Officer Matt Hill and high-level staff
from its Information Technology Division. Concerns about the system,
training and implementation were discussed in detail, with summaries of
each meeting published in AALA’s newsletter. LAUSD’s school-site
administrators and teachers went on the record with specific, serious
concerns. While many of the concerns were addressed, the MiSiS system
continues to be plagued by serious problems. Among these problems was
the decision to turn off the old systems, SIS and ISIS, prior to
implementation of MiSiS. This meant that if Plan A didn’t work—and it
hasn’t—there was no Plan B.
With all the discussion about accountability in education, who will be
held to account, and with what consequences, for implementing a computer
system at least three to six months before it was ready? The trainings
conducted last spring were mostly inadequate because MiSiS was nowhere
near ready. Besides, training doesn’t help if software doesn’t work.
Board Member Tamar Galatzan has called for an investigation of the
failed implementation of MiSiS by LAUSD’s Inspector General, whose
office has been decimated by budget cuts. We recommend an investigation
by someone outside of LAUSD, such as Controller Ron Galperin. There must
be consequences for whoever gave the green light to implement a system
so critical to the operation of schools, with software that was clearly
not ready for prime time.
MiSiS: VOICES FROM THE FIELD
AALA has received many emails and calls from secondary administrators
concerned with the myriad MiSiS mishaps they experienced as they opened
the school year. The MiSiS crisis has dramatically increased the
workload of administrators who have spent many evenings and weekends
trying to make the system work on behalf of students. Here are a few of
their concerns.
“Hate it!!!” “Frustrating” “Overwhelming”
“200 students were not programmed. Teachers were unable to take
attendance and unable to retrieve a Master Program via MiSiS.”
“Untold hours were spent inputting data, which were then lost. It’s
hard to trust the system when it keeps breaking down. Experts all had
different answers to the same problem.”
“We were unable to get an accurate enrollment count. The MiSiS
program lacks consistency—shuts on and off. Worse yet, MiSiS doesn’t
retain data from one day to the next. Students are not always programmed
correctly. Staff time consumption for programming is beyond belief!
“Opening school went fairly smoothly, except that the effort
expended was five times greater than prior years. MiSiS is very
unreliable; we are unable to make program changes and unable to get an
enrollment count. The system kicks in and out. When it goes out, you
need to start all over.”
“Most all students were programmed, but many were not programmed to
the correct classes. This issue raised considerable concern by both
students and parents. Staff had to go “old school” (paper and pencil) to
modify students’ programs. Teachers were unable to take roll due to the
MiSiS system turning off and on without warning. Access is very slow.”
“This was one of the hardest school openings ever because of MiSiS!”
_________
●● smf’s 2¢: I learn new things every day. I knew that the $100 million
ISIS System was abandoned without being fully implemented because it was
feared it wasn’t robust enough – but it wasn’t until I read: “LAUSD did
not want to repeat the unfortunate experience of Prince George’s
County, Maryland, where the same software resulted in the kind of
disastrous opening of school we’ve just witnessed in LAUSD” that I began
to see the dots that wanted connecting.
“Self,” I said to myself, “Why is it that Prince Georges’ County, Maryland rings a bell?”
And the answer, gentle reader, is that John E. Deasy, Ph.D. was once
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary/Treasurer of Prince Georges’
County Public Schools.
So I looked up the Prince Georges’ County Public Schools ISIS Plan 2006 online [ISIS REVISED TODAY: http://bit.ly/1ojocpM] to see what that was all about …and I found this:
-
At the request of the Chief Executive Officer, a revised reporting and
accountability structure for schools identified for improvement has
been designed to promote the implementation of school improvement
initiatives and student achievement.
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The Intensive Support and Intervention Schools (ISIS) initiative will
identify pathways to high achievement by decentralizing resources to the
Regional Offices in direct support of identified schools. The level of
support will be individualized, structured and coordinated to provide a
clear focus for schools. It will also include tight accountability
measures.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls - Let me translate: ISIS was
Deasy’s initiative - written in Deasyspeak boilerplate and its roll out
in Prince Georges’ County was an unfortunate experience, a disaster.
And MiSiS? The same in L.A.
To repeat, because it is through repetition that we learn: The ISIS
software in PGCPS resulted in the kind of disastrous opening of school
we’ve just witnessed in LAUSD with MiSiS.
To quote Vin Scully: “Experience is the art of recognizing your mistakes when you make them again.”
…or as Britney Spears put it so wisely: “Oops …I did it again!”
Invisible dropouts: THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIA KIDS DON’T GET PAST MIDDLE SCHOOL + smf’s 2¢
By Sarah Butrymowicz | Hechinger Report/Pass-Fail 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1pU6VIQ
August 20 2014 :: Devon Sanford dropped out of school the summer
before ninth grade to take care of his sick mother, making him one of
the thousands of California middle school dropouts who go largely
unnoticed. Devon Sanford dropped out of school the summer before ninth
grade to take care of his sick mother, making him one of the thousands
of California middle school dropouts who go largely unnoticed. Sarah
Devon Sanford’s mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when he was
in the eighth grade. After barely finishing at Henry Clay Middle School
in South Los Angeles, he never enrolled in high school. He spent what
should have been his freshman year caring for his mother and waiting for
police to show up asking why he wasn’t in school.
No one ever came.
“That was the crazy part,” he said. “Nobody called or nothing.”
Thousands of students in California public schools never make it to the
ninth grade. According to state officials, 7th and 8th grade dropouts
added up to more than 6,400 in the 2012-13 school year – more than 1,000
in the Los Angeles Unified School District alone.
Like Sanford, many of them just disappeared after middle school and never signed up for high school.
But their numbers are so tiny in comparison to California’s more than
94,000 high school dropouts each year that few school districts are
paying attention to middle school dropouts.
One sign of the inattention: a 2009 state law mandating California
education officials calculate a middle school dropout rate has gone
largely ignored, although districts do publicly report the raw numbers.
California requires students to attend school until they are 18, meaning
these young dropouts and their parents are breaking the law and could
be fined as a result. But schools often aren’t able to track them down,
according to several educators in L.A. Unified.
“Do you devote resources to the kids who are here or not here? I know it
sounds really cruel, but out of sight out of mind,” said Linda Guthrie,
who teaches English at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Hollywood.
“Schools don’t have the resources to go out and find those no shows.”
King, where nearly three-quarters of the students qualify for free- or
reduced-priced lunch, had nine dropouts in 2012-13 school year. Like
many schools, King relies on robo-calls to inform parents when kids miss
school. It has one attendance clerk for 1,500 students, down from four
seven years ago.
Recessionary budget cuts have also made it hard for staff to keep track
of students at Thomas Edison Middle School, a predominately Hispanic and
low-income school in South Los Angeles.
The school has a single full-time employee to crunch attendance numbers
for 1,151 students - and call parents when kids don’t show up. The
school shares one truancy officer with four other middle schools. In
early December, he realized one child had missed three straight weeks of
school.
In the 2011-12 school year, five seventh and eighth graders dropped out of Edison.
“I’m happy to say we only have five,” Lua Masumi, community school
coordinator who helps set up academic, health and social services for
students, said last winter. “But I’m sad we have five.”
Experts said the reasons kids drop out in 7th or 8th grade are similar
to the reasons high schoolers give up. They range from problems at home
or gang involvement to failing academics and losing interest in their
classes. Often it’s a combination.
Melissa Wyatt, executive director of Foundation for Second Chances, a
Los Angeles-based community organization that runs educational and
mentoring programs for youth, said in some cases, like Sanford’s,
parents pulled the children out of school to work or care for younger
siblings or elderly relatives.
Popular now on Pass / Fail
New science standards push students to think like engineers
“Kids are taking care of their grandparents and parents at a younger and
younger age,” Wyatt said. She said it’s more prevalent in immigrant
communities.
Experts said if one thing will help these kids stay in school, it’s personalized attention. But that doesn’t come cheap.
In 2010, L.A. Unified started the “diploma project” at Robert Peary Middle School in Gardena.
One full time staffer was assigned to monitor the grades, attendance and
behavior of 70 students who were identified at risk for dropping out
based on attendance rates and grades. It is a tiny portion of the
school’s more than 1,800 students.
Beverly Evans meets with parents, teachers and the students themselves
on a regular basis to find out what’s causing problems - or just to
reiterate the importance of trying to succeed in school.
“Our title is graduation promotion counselor,” she said. “But I really call us mother, father, brother, sister.”
The program is funded by a five-year, $11.6 million grant from the Obama
Administration’s High School Graduation Initiative and covers five
other middle schools and six high schools. In 2013, only 2 percent of
8th graders in Diploma Project schools failed to sign up for 9th grade -
compared with 11 percent in 2011. But those kids may not have all been
dropouts - some of the kids may have had to repeat the 8th grade.
Some educators are adamant the high school dropout problem must be attacked in middle school.
“If you’re waiting until high school to do dropout prevention, you’re
waiting way too long,” said Debra Duardo, executive director of the Los
Angeles School District’s Office of Student Health and Human Services
who oversees things like dropout prevention and mental health services
district-wide.
Johns Hopkins researchers found students who drop out in high school
showed warning signs as early as middle school. Those who did poorly in
the 6th grade had a 10 to 20 percent chance of graduating high school.
Among the dropouts, some do make it back – eventually – driven mostly by few job prospects.
After a year off caring for his mother and reeling from her death from
cancer, Sanford bounced around a few schools in L.A. Unified.
He eventually moved in with his father in San Bernardino and enrolled in YouthBuild, a charter school for former dropouts.
He graduated high school this summer, at age 19.
Cheryl Traylor, a counselor at YouthBuild, said Sanford is a rare
success story for middle school dropouts. Those who have enrolled at her
school have a harder time than high school dropouts, she said, because
they are so far behind and have often been out of school for longer.
“They didn’t stay,” she said. “They struggled.”
●● smf’s 2¢: Until the requirements of the Ed Code – on Arts+Music
Education, Phys Ed, Comprehensive Health Education, etc. – and things
like Middle School Drop Out Reporting and tha School Safety and Health
Plans are enforced rather than waived or ignored – children and
programs will slip through the cracks, past the nonexistent safety nets
and into oblivion. From the Department of Education to the Department of
Corrections. The Standards and Curriculum and The Law are not items to
be picked-and-chosen-from – not something to be got-around-to after we
get the test scores up, the bad teachers got-rid-of and the iPads
distributed.
TEACHING IS NOT A BUSINESS
Opinion by David L. Kirp | New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1m5Z4Tq
AUG. 17, 2014 :: TODAY’S education reformers believe that schools are
broken and that business can supply the remedy. Some place their faith
in the idea of competition. Others embrace disruptive innovation, mainly
through online learning. Both camps share the belief that the solution
resides in the impersonal, whether it’s the invisible hand of the market
or the transformative power of technology.
Neither strategy has lived up to its hype, and with good reason. It’s
impossible to improve education by doing an end run around inherently
complicated and messy human relationships. All youngsters need to
believe that they have a stake in the future, a goal worth striving for,
if they’re going to make it in school. They need a champion, someone
who believes in them, and that’s where teachers enter the picture. The
most effective approaches foster bonds of caring between teachers and
their students.
Marketplace mantras dominate policy discussions. High-stakes reading and
math tests are treated as the single metric of success, the counterpart
to the business bottom line. Teachers whose students do poorly on those
tests get pink slips, while those whose students excel receive merit
pay, much as businesses pay bonuses to their star performers and fire
the laggards. Just as companies shut stores that aren’t meeting their
sales quotas, opening new ones in more promising territory, failing
schools are closed and so-called turnaround model schools, with new
teachers and administrators, take their place.
This approach might sound plausible in a think tank, but in practice it
has been a flop. Firing teachers, rather than giving them the coaching
they need, undermines morale. In some cases it may well discourage
undergraduates from pursuing careers in teaching, and with a looming
teacher shortage as baby boomers retire, that’s a recipe for disaster.
Merit pay invites rivalries among teachers, when what’s needed is
collaboration. Closing schools treats everyone there as guilty of
causing low test scores, ignoring the difficult lives of the children in
these schools — “no excuses,” say the reformers, as if poverty were an
excuse.
Charter schools have been promoted as improving education by creating
competition. But charter students do about the same, over all, as their
public school counterparts, and the worst charters, like the online K-12
schools that have proliferated in several states, don’t deserve to be
called schools. Vouchers are also supposed to increase competition by
giving parents direct say over the schools their children attend, but
the students haven’t benefited. For the past generation, Milwaukee has
run a voucher experiment, with much-debated outcomes that to me show no
real academic improvement.
While these reformers talk a lot about markets and competition, the
essence of a good education — bringing together talented teachers,
engaged students and a challenging curriculum — goes undiscussed.
Business does have something to teach educators, but it’s neither the
saving power of competition nor flashy ideas like disruptive innovation.
Instead, what works are time-tested strategies.
“Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service”:
That’s the gospel the management guru W. Edwards Deming preached for
half a century. After World War II, Japanese firms embraced the “plan,
do, check, act” approach, and many Fortune 500 companies profited from
paying attention. Meanwhile, the Harvard Business School historian and
Pulitzer Prize-winner Alfred D. Chandler Jr. demonstrated that firms
prospered by developing “organizational capabilities,” putting effective
systems in place and encouraging learning inside the organization.
Building such a culture took time, Chandler emphasized, and could be
derailed by executives seduced by faddishness.
Every successful educational initiative of which I’m aware aims at
strengthening personal bonds by building strong systems of support in
the schools. The best preschools create intimate worlds where students
become explorers and attentive adults are close at hand.
In the Success for All model — a reading and math program that, for a
quarter-century, has been used to good effect in 48 states and in some
of the nation’s toughest schools — students learn from a team of
teachers, bringing more adults into their lives. Diplomas Now love-bombs
middle school students who are prime candidates for dropping out. They
receive one-on-one mentoring, while those who have deeper problems are
matched with professionals.
An extensive study of Chicago’s public schools, Organizing Schools for
Improvement, identified 100 elementary schools that had substantially
improved and 100 that had not. The presence or absence of social trust
among students, teachers, parents and school leaders was a key
explanation.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nationwide mentoring
organization, has had a substantial impact on millions of adolescents.
The explanation isn’t what adolescents and their “big sibling” mentors
do together, whether it’s mountaineering or museum-going. What counts,
the research shows, is the forging of a relationship based on mutual
respect and caring.
Over the past 25 years, YouthBuild has given solid work experience and
classroom tutoring to hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts.
Seventy-one percent of those youngsters, on whom the schools have given
up, earn a G.E.D. — close to the national high school graduation rate.
The YouthBuild students say they’re motivated to get an education
because their teachers “have our backs.”
The same message — that the personal touch is crucial — comes from
community college students who have participated in the City University
of New York’s anti-dropout initiative, which has doubled graduation
rates.
Even as these programs, and many others with a similar philosophy, have
proven their worth, public schools have been spending billions of
dollars on technology which they envision as the wave of the future.
Despite the hyped claims, the results have been disappointing. “The data
is pretty weak,” said Tom Vander Ark, the former executive director for
education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and an investor in
educational technology companies. “When it comes to showing results, we
better put up or shut up.”
While technology can be put to good use by talented teachers, they, and
not the futurists, must take the lead. The process of teaching and
learning is an intimate act that neither computers nor markets can hope
to replicate. Small wonder, then, that the business model hasn’t worked
in reforming the schools — there is simply no substitute for the
personal element.
-
David L. Kirp is a professor at the University of California,
Berkeley, and the author of “Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great
American School System and a Strategy for America’s Schools.”
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
Editorial: GOV. BROWN IS RIGHT TO OFFER LEGAL HELP TO
IMMIGRANT MINORS - LA Times supports the effort to use state dollars
to help immigrant children| http://bit.ly/1pVSbJG
Investment advice: 3 REASONS TO BE BULLISH ABOUT PEARSON PUBLISHING | http://bit.ly/1AJo2AA
POLL FINDS GROWING OPPOSITION TO OBAMA EDUCATION AGENDA, COMMON CORE http://bit.ly/1oiIb7S
Tweet: Deasy met with Apple execs – including CEO Tim Cook - & Pearson – including CEO Marjorie Scardino - before iPad deal http://bit.ly/YLKQlR
GEORGE McKENNA SWORN IN FOR L.A. SCHOOL BOARD SEAT AT CITY HALL http://bit.ly/1my9aNj
LAUSD REPORT FAULTS iPAD BIDDING, PLANNING & PROCUREMENT | http://bit.ly/1pR5ATb
COUNTY EDUCATION OFFICIALS QUESTION LA SCHOOLS’ FINANCIAL PLANS + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1tsOivU
IF YOU GIVE A KID AN iPAD: ACLU is suing a school district in MA for letting only low-income kids take home devices |.http://bit.ly/1pi6EiT
7 STORIES: A bunch of other California Education News… http://bit.ly/1v1iJw4
GOV. BROWN SHOULD SPELL OUT HOW HE’D FUND SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION: | http://bit.ly/1BG2hTZ
Tweet: "The kitty for school building+modernization is dry ...but this is the year for reelection, not school construction.” http://bit.ly/1BG2hTZ
LACOE QUESTIONS LAUSD SPENDING ON POOR CHILDREN: Alleged conflation of Special Ed w/Special Needs students in LCAP | http://bit.ly/1q2xxGu
MiSiS CriSiS: L.A. UNIFIED TEACHERS DECRY NEW $20 MILLION STUDENT TRACKING SYSTEM | http://bit.ly/1oULjNt
NORWALK/LA MIRADA TEACHER’S MESSAGE: “Good luck with that!! …but I don't think she was too terribly bad" |. http://bit.ly/1pTJJKp
NORWALK/LA MIRADA SUPE’S MESSAGE: “District is about to embark on an exciting year ...”…and I’m outta here! | http://bit.ly/1tkDtgo
NORWALK/LA MIRADA USD SUPERINTENDENT RUTH PEREZ NAMED LAUSD DEPUTY SUPE FOR INSTRUCTION | http://bit.ly/1tn9gfJ
LACOE questions LAUSD spending on low-income, ELL & foster students. Wasn't that the whole idea of the LCFF+LCAP? - http://bit.ly/1tpQkvY
COUNTY OFFICE OF ED WITHHOLDS APPROVAL OF LAUSD LCAP, Questions spending on low-income, English learner & foster kids http://bit.ly/1tpQkvY
Politco: PUBLIC SOURING ON COMMON CORE …at least as a brand | http://bit.ly/VDk8cV
A middle income family can expect to spend $245,340 on a child born in 2013. United States Department of Agriculture: http://1.usa.gov/1tgOtJK
2 stories: CALIFORNIA GOP LAWMAKERS PROPOSE LEGISLATION TO REMOVE LIMITS ON SCHOOL BUDGET RESERVES | http://bit.ly/1ByTKlC
Gloria Romero: "MY PARENT TRIGGER LAW" SHOT DOWN FOR MANY DISTRICTS + smf’s 2¢ http://bit.ly/1tlr6Pc
MiSiS CriSiS:LAUSD WORKS TO FIX NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM: PROBLEMS PERSIST + TRUSTEE CALLS FOR PROBE OF COMPUTER SYSTEM http://bit.ly/1uSMPlu
7 stories: THE “NEW” LAUSD STUDENT DISCIPLINE POLICY: District announces+spins ongoing policy changes | http://bit.ly/1kSd1ZY
The Red Queen on the MiSiS CriSiS: WHEN IS ACCOUNTABILITY GOOD FOR THE GANDER? | http://bit.ly/1uSd9vZ
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
• AUG 26
REGULAR BOARD MEETING - August 26, 2014 - 1:00 p.m. - including Closed Session items
Administration of the oath of office to Dr. George McKenna III by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.
Start: 08/26/2014 1:00 pm
REGULAR BOARD MEETING - August 26, 2014 - 4:00 p.m.
Start: 08/26/2014 1:00 pm
• AUG 28
LAUSD POLICY ROUNDUP: Superintendent Deasy and the staff of the LAUSD
kicks-off quarterly meetings on major initiatives taking place in LAUSD.
RSVP HERE http://bit.ly/1ojRch5
Thursday, August 28, 2014 - 10 a.m. - Noon
LAUSD Central Office: Board of Education Board Room
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE - August 28, 2014 - 4:00 p.m.
Start: 08/28/2014 4:00 pm
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Bennett.Kayser@lausd.net • 213-241-5555
George.McKenna@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Monica.Ratliff@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress,
senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • Find
your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• Call or e-mail Governor Brown: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
• Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these
thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school.
• Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it!
• Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. THEY DO!.
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