|
|
9486 in the collection
Detroit Parents Want DPS Teachers, Officials Jailed Over Low Test Scores
Stephen Krashen Comment, sent to the Detroit News
Detroit is looking in all the wrong places to explain their low reading scores, and is ignoring the most obvious ("Detroit parents want DPS teachers, officials jailed over low test scores," Dec. 13). Jailing teachers, new reading initiatives, and volunteer tutors are not the answer. The answer is improved school libraries, staffed by certified librarians.
Study after study has confirmed the common-sense idea that reading itself is the best way to develop reading ability: Children who read more do better on all tests of literacy, including the fourth grade NAEP reading test, the test Detroit children did so poorly on.
But in order to read, children need access to books, and for children of low-income families, the only source is the school library. Research done by me as well as Dr. Jeff McQuillan has confirmed that access to books is strongly related to performance on the NAEP exam for fourth graders, even when we control for the effects of poverty. A study done by Dr. Keith Lance and colleagues in 2003 confirmed that the presence of credentialed librarians in Michigan is related to higher reading test scores.
I suggest that the investigative reporters of the Detroit News check on the quality of school libraries in Detroit as well as library staffing.
Detroit Parents Want DPS Teachers, Officials Jailed Over Low Test Scores
Ohanian Comment: Look at the shocking pictures of the Detroit Book Depository here.
Read the explanation here.
More Detroit pictures here.
There's lots of blame to go around, but of course it is entirely coincidental that this organized parent attack, getting parents to heap blame on teachers, comes right when the district, under the financial leadership of Robert Bobb, who completed his course at the Broad Superintendents Academy in 2005, is twisting teachers' arms to accept a contract that forces them to lend the district $10,000, $250 to be taken out of their paychecks every two weeks. The AFT says it's a good contract:
Randi Weingarten in a New York Times ad appearing in the Sunday December 13 edition of the Week In Review on p. 5. Thanks to Education Notes Online.
". . . This tentative agreement includes several reforms that will drive the enhancement of school achievement, including school based bonuses, peer assistance, and review and a new, comprehensive teacher evaluation system. At the same time, both parties recognize the severe financial conditions of the district and sought innovative approaches to saving money. Teachers, who are also struggling in these tough times, are being asked to sacrifice - by agreeing to a reduction in pay received now and deferring pay increases until the third year of the contract. Teachers will receive a bonus when leaving the district. The players also recognized the need to address skyrocketing health care costs and agreed to measures that will save the district millions…
--Randi Weingarten, paid ad, New York Times, December 13, 2009
Here's the full statement from the AFT Press Center. . . if you have the stomach for "cutting-edge education reforms," read on.
Statement from AFT President Randi Weingarten on
Tentative Agreement Between Detroit Federation of Teachers and Detroit Public Schools
On Dec. 3, the Detroit Federation of Teachers and the Detroit Public Schools announced a tentative agreement on a new teacher contract. The tentative agreement includes cutting-edge education reforms as well as financial concessions by Detroit’s teachers.
WASHINGTON—The Detroit Federation of Teachers and the Detroit Public Schools have reached a tentative agreement that reflects the urgent need to improve education while addressing the city’s dire fiscal situation.
Arriving at this point was not easy. Both the DFT and DPS entered negotiations knowing that the future of the city and its children is at stake. This agreement asks for sacrifices from teachers, given that the city’s schools could be on the brink of bankruptcy. At the same time, its educational provisions would make it one of the most progressive big-city teacher contracts of our day. Both elements reflect teachers’ commitment to raising the academic achievement of Detroit's schoolchildren and stabilizing their city. Make no mistake—they, and their local union, are the real heroes.
Some of the provisions in the tentative agreement include adopting meaningful and constructive teacher evaluations; peer assistance programs that allow accomplished teachers to mentor new and struggling colleagues; high-quality, teacher-designed professional development; shared decision-making in school matters; and the opportunity for teachers to earn school-based performance bonuses. DPS leaders answered the union’s call to develop these reforms “with us, not to us,” and the result is a collaborative approach to implementing best practices in Detroit’s public schools.
While this agreement must still be ratified, Detroit’s educators, their union leadership and school administrators have reminded us all of what community means. Compromise, collaboration and mutual respect—as well as smart investments, even in a tough economy—are needed to bring our country back. We commend Detroit’s education community for deciding not to let itself become a symbol of urban decline; instead, it has chosen to stand for a shared commitment to a better future.
By Santiago Esparza
Detroit -- Impassioned parents demanded jail time for educators and district officials Saturday following the release of test scores that showed fourth- and eighth-graders had the worst math scores in the nation.
City students took the National Assessment of Educational Progress test this year, and 69 percent of fourth-graders scored below the basic level in math and 77 percent of eighth-graders scored below basic.
The Detroit scores on the progress test were the lowest in its 40-year history. The sample of students included 900 of Detroit's 6,000 fourth-graders and 1,000 of the district's 6,000 eighth-graders.
Sharlonda Buckman, CEO of the Detroit Parent Network, called for jailing and civil lawsuits against anyone in the city's educational system that is not doing his or her share to help properly educate children.
"Somebody needs to go to jail," she said in a tearful address to 500 parents gathered Saturday for the organization's annual breakfast forum. "Somebody needs to pay for this. Somebody needs to go to jail, and it shouldn't be the kids."
Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb told the crowd the test scores weren't the result of children who were incompetent or parents who didn't care. He blamed the scores on the district not doing its job.
"This is an abysmal failure," Bobb said. "It is not the fault of our kids individually, and it is not the fault of our kids collectively. It is not the kids' fault. It is the adults' fault. It is a failure of leadership."
The scores were so low that DPS parent Tonya Allen said she thinks students could have stayed home and done just as badly on the tests.
"No other city in the history of this test has done this bad," said Allen, a founding member of the 7-year-old network. "They could have took this test in French and done just as bad."
Celia Huerta, also a DPS parent, said the scores show how much work is needed in the schools.
"I am hoping and praying there will be investments in the schools, but I am not seeing it," she said. "Our kids are smart, the problem is the way they are being taught."
Bobb said he is going to announce a new reading initiative Monday in which he will be calling for 100,000 volunteer hours to help children with reading. Reading was one of the reasons cited for the low math scores.
Attendees gave Bobb a rousing reception and loudly applauded him during his remarks. They had harsh words, though, for Mayor Dave Bing, who was not in attendance.
"Where is the mayor?" Buckman asked. "Don't release a statement. Do something. Show up."
But according to the mayor's office, Bing did not receive an invitation to the event. Mayoral spokesman Edward Cardenas said Bing not being there shouldn't be construed as the mayor not having an interest or not wanting to be involved.
Buckman also had harsh words for a group of teachers who are in favor of striking instead of approving a new contract that forces them to give up $500 per month or $250 per paycheck as an investment. The money will be given to the district to help plug a $219 million deficit, and it will be returned when they retire.
"If they strike, I hope we start a homeschool movement," she said in a fiery rebuke. "If you want to walk out on us now, when we have all of our kids failing...you can't do it."
A group of teachers was to prepare Saturday evening to get out the word to vote against the proposed contract and seek to remove Detroit Federation of Teachers president Keith Johnson. The Vote No and Prepare to Strike Committee, made up of a limited number of teacher activists, is prepared to take action against the district, according to a release.
But Bobb said teachers should understand that Johnson negotiated a better financial deal for members than Johnson is being credited for.
"I proposed a 10 percent pay cut," Bobb said. "Mr. Johnson and his team are actually saving the teachers financially from what I was proposing. The negotiations are over. Our final and best offer is on the table."
Teachers begin voting on a three-year contract next week.
— Santiago Esparza, with comment by Stephen Krashen
Detroit News
2009-12-13
http://detnews.com/article/20091212/SCHOOLS/912120373
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
|
