tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post3220461192665042339..comments2023-10-31T10:36:24.845-05:00Comments on K12 Reformer - Mike Reno: The Myths of a Stubborn Culture are DebunkedMike Renohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02321695059501190325noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-51061731517602832962009-09-22T07:51:23.313-05:002009-09-22T07:51:23.313-05:00not sure where all these other districts are here....not sure where all these other districts are here...but our local k-12 districts all supply act scores in math, writing, and reading to us for purposes of college registration. if those scores are missing (as is the case for non-traditional students, which this article completely ignores), there are on-campus tests available. <br /><br />we are also starting to deal with students who are just "rusty" and don't need a full-semester course but only a couple of weeks of refresher stuff to get back up to speed.<br /><br />there does need to be flexibility in the system, that's the bottom line--not in any attempt to exploit some loophole, but as a method to deal with the diverse student populations we serve. <br /><br />in an open-enrollment environment, the 2013-2014 goal of "100 percent compliance" is laughable, political, and ignorant. but it plays well in the basher quarters.Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-67350902136030721922009-09-18T14:48:24.210-05:002009-09-18T14:48:24.210-05:00Smart money's on a 7:0 Woozle-friendly school ...Smart money's on a 7:0 Woozle-friendly school board for<br />'good enough' Rochester.Board Watchers Unitednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-50349354271669575042009-09-18T11:11:18.811-05:002009-09-18T11:11:18.811-05:00The frustration for many who are finally awakening...The frustration for many who are finally awakening to the realization that "we've got miles to go" academically, is why we - as a nation - have only just begun to have reasonably intelligent public dialogue about the quality of education we profess to care so much about.<br /><br />Naturally politics has poisoned the well - as it always does - yet one of life’s delicious ironies is that George W. Bush & Teddy Kennedy’s great legislative collaboration – No Child Left Behind – was THE gamechanger when it comes to defining the issues and the future of US education .<br /><br />Even more scrumptious is Obama / Duncan’s near total buy-in and assertive expansion of NCLB. <br /><br />You gotta love the bipartisan spirit!<br /><br />The teacher unions can P & M all they want (as they have & will continue to do), but the genie’s out of the bottle. The data’s in and s-l-o-w-l-y, the US education sector is accepting the scrutiny of its practices and outcomes for what it is – an effort to make the process more relevant, effective and accountable.<br /><br />In school districts across the land, local school boards now have information about what works in their community classrooms. Yet if these boards don’t establish expectations from their school district managers, minimum expectations are good enough.<br /><br />Stir in a pinch or a bucketful of indignant union agitation over know-nothing civilians asking questions about education issues - Oh the outrage! – and local expectations flatline faster than you can say “adequate yearly progress”.<br /><br />In the school district where Mike Reno serves as a much-appreciated trustee, the local school board used to be a back-slapping, mutual admiration society that couldn’t explain their own district’s ACT participation stat’s, much less establish goals from them.<br /><br />Yet when Mr. Reno began to ask for district testing outcomes so that he could responsibly exercise his duties as a trustee, a cadre of business-as-usual backslappers was positively indignant that he dared to question such sensitive matters, especially in public!<br /><br />That’s gotten better, thankfully (with ALL the local credit going to Mike!). And now, with national legislation and a state superintendent slowly, deliberately moving education’s ball upfield, the strategic tools to strengthen Michigan student outcomes for real-world expectations are in place.<br /><br />Whether the ball remains in play or Woozle-tracking regains favor in Rochester is up to those in charge.Mothers Against Useless School Boardsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-5948206851265663672009-09-16T17:41:23.100-05:002009-09-16T17:41:23.100-05:00To Anonymous:
Students used to (I assume they sti...To Anonymous:<br /><br />Students used to (I assume they still do) get a report on their ACT scores, indicating their personal Composite Score, along with their scores in individual subject matter areas. They also recieved the State and National scores so that there was a comparison. However, degree of specificity was not helpful (at least, it wasn't) as it gave the curriculum area of Mathematics, but not a Trig or Calc score.<br /><br />However, one certainly would know how we compared with State and National testees in Math Science that year, in general. And the school could look at the scores for that cohort as a whole and see how students were doing in Science or Math or English Composition, in general terms. And it also provided a five-year history, to get a view of the trends.<br /><br />That's what I found valuable -- to be able to say that our students performed as well or better than a comparable State or National group in a particular curricular area; or that they didn't, and it was a continuing problem that we needed to address -- data that justified curricular improvement -- data that a school board SHOULD find irrefutable.<br /><br />And then I would be delighted when the Board would tell me: "Go for it. Get it fixed." Data is definitely preferable to anecdotal reports or popular trends when one wishes to improve education.clayhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-11273585090074519612009-09-15T12:10:35.428-05:002009-09-15T12:10:35.428-05:00Question for Clayh:
Since we have ACT and some pr...Question for Clayh:<br /><br />Since we have ACT and some pre ACT scores, will they tell us if an individual student is lacking in these remedial areas Mike writes about?<br /><br />If so any district can and should move to at least notify parents and the student. <br /><br />Having gone back to college in my late 30s, I saw first hand the remedial courses taken by RCS students. It just adds time and frustration to them on their journey. <br /><br />These data can also be used to close acheivement gaps as one individual at the board meeting last night spoke about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-58863202433439103222009-09-15T10:25:51.575-05:002009-09-15T10:25:51.575-05:00BRAVO clayh!
SO good!!!
ACT offers workshops to ...BRAVO clayh!<br /><br />SO good!!!<br /><br />ACT offers workshops to help ANYONE (not just high school administrators) put ACT scores to work to improve instruction.<br /><br />Imagine if professional development bucks were used to spread that wealth around, huh?TeachYourChildrenWellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4526659937118816707.post-85489217290172711312009-09-15T09:38:48.530-05:002009-09-15T09:38:48.530-05:00How interesting and telling!
As of this moment, 4...How interesting and telling!<br /><br />As of this moment, 48 comments about students "being subjected" to the President's address to students and 0 comments about this post.<br /><br />In the early 70s, I used NAEP test results and analyses to assist in restructuring the English curriculum in a large suburban Detroit high school. I encouraged others to look at their work, their testing, etc. In fact, we "pre-tested" the first 10th grade English MEAP, and I encouraged the State to look at NAEP testing instead. I was rebuffed.<br /><br />As a new principal of a small rural high school in 1994, I said that I'd like to see all Seniors take the ACT because it was the truest reflection of what we were doing in school. The Guidance Counselor publicly derided such a ridiculous suggestion because it would do the kids such a "disservice." Fortunately, he retired before the start of the second semester. I was delighted to see ACT finally become the basis for the Michigan Merit exam.<br /><br />However, I still believe high school administrators should rely on and publish the annual ACT results they get, comparing their school's scores with both state and national scores. The trends indicated there are extremely helpful.<br /><br />Moving along, in 1990 the Mich. Department of Labor surveyed over 7000 businesses, asking the question: "What type of education will new workers need entering the workforce in this decade?" The overwhelming response was that, to get a decent jobe, by 1995 new workers would need the equivalent of one year post-high school education and by 2000 the equivalent of two years of post-high school education.<br /><br />How did the public education establishment respond? It took 15 years to establish state-wide graduation requirements that even now are being criticized because of their "difficutly."<br /><br />Research indicates that new workers can expect to change CAREERS 10 to 12 times during their working lifetimes. What one perceives as an educational need now may not be sufficient 5 years down the road. It behooves the public education sector to see to it that the students get the most and the best possible education NOW so they do not have to spend time remediating later on, no matter when that may be.<br /><br />Jerome Bruner said 50 years ago that the most important thing schools can do is teach young people how to adapt to change, and giving them the basic knowledge they need so that they can adapt is the vital mission of the schools.<br /><br />I've worked with students from affluent suburbs, with students from the inner city, and with students from the most rural areas. Two things bother me about many of the students and their families: 1)Low expectations. For too many, there is no vision, no looking at potential, no dreams. They are besotted with the desire for a middle-class wage, and their experience in Michigan says they can get that -- even while performing lower class jobs with a lower class education. Michigan has been unique in providing that picture, and now we're paying the price. <br /><br />2) Parental subservience to children's wishes and desires. Just because a student says he "doesn't like" a course, or he has no plans "to go into that field" (remember the number of potential career changes?) or it's "too hard" does not mean parents have to listen. It's their job "to train up a child in the way that he shall go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it" says the writer of Proverbs. Amd that means more than morals or ethics or beliefs. It means total responsibility for what a child is to BECOME -- that's true parental responsibility.<br /><br />Sorry to go on so long -- but it was time to get out some basic philosphical/educational thoughts, after reading several of your last posts, Mike.clayhnoreply@blogger.com