Tag Line

Because someone has to do it.



Wednesday, August 21, 2013

APR Watch

At this point, while the public waits for the release of the Annual Performance Report, everyone is busy behind the scenes.  Friday will be a busy day for any PR person.

Reporters have the data.  They are getting quotes and talking points from district administrators.  They are creating their graphs and charts.  They are figuring out how MSIP 5 is different from MSIP 4.  On Friday morning, there will be an article in the KC Star and probably the Examiner which compares the area APR results.  Most of the focus will be on Kansas City and whether or not it will be granted provisional accreditation.

The Examiner has an opportunity to do more than parrot talking points.  After Friday, they could really dig into the numbers and figure out what is going on - to some extent - in the district.  Fortunately, Missouri has a rich and public data portal.  Most of the information is there.  Anything else could be obtained by a Freedom of Information request.

A question that will go unasked - at least in the Examiner - is:  how big of a sack of "poo" did Dr. Hinson leave on the doorstep of the new administration?  For any who knows how that game works, you throw the flaming sack away - you don't stomp on it.  So far this year - there has been a lot of stomping on teachers, students and parents.  Hopefully, someone (on the Board perhaps?) will figure out that it is time to intervene before permanent damage is done.

Tick tock.  Tick tock.  Tick tock.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

MSIP 5 Data Release

Here are the administrative memos from DESE which provide the timeline regarding the release of the MSIP 5 data and the District's final Annual Performance Report.

The District will know its final APR on Monday.
The press will receive the data on Tuesday.
DESE will hold a press conference on Thursday.
And the data may be published beginning on Friday, August 23rd.

http://dese.mo.gov/am/dsm/documents/LS-13-002.pdf
http://dese.mo.gov/am/dsm/documents/LS-13-003.pdf

Dr. Streich named Chief Academic Officer for SMSD

Dr. Ed Streich was recently named the Chief Academic Officer for Shawnee Mission School District.  He will be a member of Dr. Hinson's "cabinet".


Here is the organizational chart for SMSD.  (Got to love SMSD - they put a lot of information out on the web for their patrons.)




Surprise! Another new elementary school needed.

Well, actually, to anyone who has stepped into overcrowded Korte Elementary, the situation is obvious:  a new elementary school is needed in Western Independence.  Parents, teachers, paras, custodians and bus drivers have not needed demographers to tell them that a new school would be needed despite the opening of Matt Abraham Mallinson Elementary.

Of course, Little Blue was built with EXCESS capacity in anticipation of continued building of homes in eastern Independence.  Matt Abraham Mallinson Elementary was anticipated to be at capacity when it opened.  At some point, the parents in Western Independence will begin making their concerns heard more publicly.

There was such a "difficult" time finding appropriate property on which to build Mallinson - we are sure that the next search will be as laborious.  Oh wait.  Isn't there a former Independence administrator who bought the old Rockwood Golf Course for $500,000?  Yeah - Ron Bruh and other undisclosed investors.

When - and seriously there will be no "if" - the District decides to buy Rockwood, we hope that there will be a full and OPEN disclosure of all investors and parties of interest in the property.

Some random thoughts:

How long will Sugar Creek Elementary remain open?  After the residents get to know Matt Abraham Mallinson Elementary, the pain of closing Sugar Creek will be less profound and intense.  Hopefully not - but there are several residents of that community who see this coming.

Isn't it interesting that the new elementary school is referred to as "Mallinson Elementary" rather than "Abraham Mallinson Elementary"?  Why not "Southern" instead of "William Southern"?  Why not "Chrisman" instead of "William Chrisman"?  Yes - there is inconsistency in the District about the naming of schools - but in this case it just seems a little more .... unseemly.  Wouldn't someone want to emphasize that the school is really named after Abraham specifically and not the Mallinson family in general?

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Attendance: The New Scarlet Letter

In addition to a new interest in student attendance, each building must post the daily attendance rate of its certificated staff in the front foyer of the building.

Undoubtedly, students learn better when they are taught by their normal teacher - the one that they have developed a good relationship with and knows all the rules and procedures of the classroom.  The content will be more enriching when taught by a content-area expert rather than a substitute teacher - no matter how wonderful that particular substitute may be.

There are a variety of reasons why a teacher may be absent from school on any particular day:
1 - Pulled out for grading or calibrating district assessments.
2 - Pulled out for data talks and examination.
3 - Gone to attend district-approved professional development, sporting events, etc.
4 - Pulled out for collaboration or professional development.
5 - Personal and private reasons related to family or personal health.
6 - Long term sickness or pregnancy.
7 - Medical appointments.
8 - All the reasons listed in Board policy.

Principals will probably receive a report with their schools "ranking" and there will be great pressure to keep your teacher absences as low as possible.  This will probably lead to more "questions" being asked about a teacher's leave -making a staff member feel as if they need to reveal personal or private information to justify their absence.  Buildings with young teachers that take maternity leave will have their number skewed.  Teachers who have chronic illnesses or family members who need extended care may also feel guilty for bringing down the number.

Remember last year at Convocation when Hinson nearly teared up asking us to take care of ourselves and our families first?

Clearly, the District has an interest in making sure that employees are not abusing the sick and personal leave policy.  A healthy HR process would seek out information and attempt to understand why so many employees are using their leave.  Is it burnout?  Is it too much district-sponsored leave?  Is it something else entirely?  Does it depend on the building?  Are there buildings where the absence rate for teachers may indicate a problem with the school climate and leadership?

Whatever the reason, posting the attendance rate - in an apparent attempt to shame the teachers - is not an effective approach.  When employees are treated like adults - they will respond like adults.  When employees are treated like children, they will respond like children.



#winning

All the district coaches will be meeting tonight.  Last year's meeting was so inspiring (not), that it will be hard to beat this year.

Win or else will no doubt be the short version.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Beuller? Beuller? Student attendance is a BIG deal.

School attendance is important.  No one will argue about that.  If you are not in school, you are not learning the material.  And certainly, rates of attendance have been part of the Missouri accountability system for schools for many years.  A district like ISD gets the lion's share of its $$ from two sources:  local property taxes (based on assessed valuation) and student attendance (based on average daily attendance).

ISD's attendance numbers have historically been high - mid/low 90%s.  Probably about as good as a school is going to get.  However, if you watched one of Coach Herl's recent videos (and we are too lazy to link), he mentioned that the way average daily attendance is calculated has changed.  District leaders already have the MSIP 5 numbers - and apparently - based on the hubbub about student attendance - the numbers must be less than hoped for.

In the past, each school was evaluated on its average daily attendance for the school-as-a-whole.  There were certain loopholes that we've heard were used extensively in ISD.  Tutoring hours after school could count toward the average daily attendance. Summer school attendance could count as well.  There was a formula to weight these values.

Now, under MSIP 5, more than 90% of all students must attend every class at least 90% of the time.

This is probably the genesis of the new rule at THS that 10-25% of a student's grade must be based on attendance.

MSIP 5 results have been received by the district and will be released to the public at the end of the month.  DESE has a schedule about the release of the data.  (We'll find that and post later.)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Hinson: He's gone but not forgotten

We have figured out why Hinson left the District.  He was only getting "face time" with one or two newspapers (Examiner and Star).  The Golden Ghetto has so many more opportunities for "face time" on the internet.

Here is Hinson:

Starting his new job::
http://www.smsd.org/news.aspx?id=1061

Asking for "input" from stakeholders:
http://www.smsd.org/news.aspx?id=1082
Can anyone make a decision without a survey anymore?

Meeting new teachers (in the pictures):
http://www.smsd.org/news.aspx?id=1100
Let's guess:  He tells them to take care of themselves and their loved ones, stay healthy, and ignore those pesky test scores (which aren't worth the paper they are written on).

Anticipating his first  State of the District address:
http://pvpost.com/2013/07/31/shawnee-mission-education-foundation-breakfast-set-for-sept-25-20100
By the time the address occurs, we are sure that he will have to tell his audience to ignore anything that they are hearing about his former district.  He had NOTHING to do with all of it.

Sitting in his new office:
http://www.shawneedispatch.com/photos/2013/jul/30/52726/
We wonder how many locked doors and elevator keys are between him and the public as it was in ISD.

On the SMSD Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/thesmsd


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

UPDATE: Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

Well, maybe the problem is that the whirlwind has transported us to Kansas or Nebraska or Chillicothe.

Day 1 brought many, many changes to various buildings.  Dress codes, teacher attendance, test scores, bathroom breaks, evaluations.  More top-down directives and expectations.

***UPDATE***  Sorry for the confusion about the "bathroom breaks".  We were just giving various examples from various buildings.  No CO directive about staff bathroom breaks --- yet.  As one comment alludes, yes, this does come from THS.  Apparently, students who go to the bathroom during class must spend 10 minutes with that teacher after school.

Who knew that Truman students were abusing their bathroom procedures?  Wow.  Alert US News and World Report - I think that their needs to be an investigation into their rating system if they claimed that THS was such a great school.  They obviously didn't know about the roaming bathroom gangs.

Unanswered questions - and really no one was going to put themselves on the line to ask:

10 minutes after school in exchange for a bathroom visit during class:

1 - regardless of transportation.
2 - despite the fact that the parents probably have not been contacted.
3 - what happens if a student asks more than once in a day.  Consecutive or concurrent sentences?
4 - what if the teacher is a coach and not present after school?
5 - after the 10 minutes are up, presumably the student is free to go.  But what if they don't have transportation?  When do they call home?  Do they wait at the front door?  Who is accountable for this child after the 10 minutes - if something bad happens, someone will need to be blamed.  (Just saying.)

And lets be frank - some people have bashful bladders or don't want to do their particular business with a audience nearby.

OF COURSE, there will be a whole lot of flimflam psychojam about the academic need to keep students in the classroom.  However, our experience is that teachers really know when a student needs to go to the bathroom and when the student is just bored and wants out of class.  If someone really needs to go, we doubt that they will be paying much attention to the lesson anyway.

It will be interesting how the parents and students respond.


The Applause Line

What if an Opening Convocation was held but no one clapped?

Not likely to happen but consider the purpose of applause.  It is to show appreciation, support, or agreement. 

Do you feel appreciated and treated like a professional? Do you support the decisions, climate, culture, or directions of the district?  Do agree with what is being said?

Or are you just being polite?


Sunday, August 4, 2013

Reaping the whirlwind

In the Book of Hosea, the Prophet Hosea said about Israel, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."  (Hosea 8:7, King James Version)  

During the last school year, District decisions created a great deal of anxiety among teachers, staff and administrators.  The anxiety was palpable to anyone who had ears to hear.  We know that there has been a historic turnover of building-level administrators.  The District will see another year of 10%+ turnover of teaching staff

District parents and supporters need to watch for the release of the Missouri MAP scores.  Pay particular attention to the middle school scores.  We expect to see a significant drop in achievement at the middle school level.

The School Board sent a chilling message to its administrators - and the teachers were listening closely.  The residency policy and its across-the-board implementation to existing principals essentially said, "We don't care about your life, your family, your home, your church, your wallet, your future.  Instead, loyalty to ISD is foremost to everything else."  (Interestingly, in political terms, this would be considered fascism when the individual must subjugate himself to the State.)

During the Spring Semester, the vast majority of administrators were - understandably so - preoccupied with their possible future in the District.  Many actively looked for work.  Many were absent for interviews.  Some who found jobs were "checked out".

At the same time, the School Board was hearing proposals to realign the middle schools.  Until March, teachers didn't know whether or not this change would happen in the next or following year.

Both teachers and principals were anxious and preoccupied during the Spring Semester.  It will be said that people should have risen above all this.  That is easier said than done.  Teachers and principals are human just like everyone else.

So, hopefully the dramatic decline in test scores will be seen in its proper light.  District-level decisions and a failure to support its front-line employees led to increased chaos in the schools.

Will the School Board intervene and stop the chaos or will it continue to support decisions which "reap the whirlwind"?

Middle School Realignment

If something is said in a video that no one watches, is it really said?  We are surprised that more people haven't pointed out Dr. Herl's comments in his year-end video found here:  VIDEO (Discussion of middle school realignment is at the 3:09 mark.)

In February 2013, the Board heard a report from the committee regarding the proposal.
In March 2013, the Board heard an update regarding the proposal.
The Board never has voted on whether or not to proceed with the proposed realignment.

Despite the lack of official approval from the Board, the plan will proceed.  In the video, Dr. Herl mentions that teachers should know their new placements by Christmas.

According to the District, the patrons are supportive of this measure.  In March, they revealed the results of the survey to affected parents.  770 responded and 71%, or 547, agreed or strongly agreed with the change.  The survey was conducted by Patron Insight Company.

Some thoughts:

  • The survey was heavily slanted in favor of the realignment.  Basically, questions along the lines of "Do you want competent teachers in the classroom?"  and "Do you hate puppies and kittens?"
  • The District did not reveal how many total surveys were sent out nor how many affected families there are.  That 547 may, in fact, represent a very small percentage of the overall families affected by the change.
  • The District did not reveal how each high school was represented in the responses.  For example, were the Truman parents more supportive than the Nowlin parents?
  • The District did not reveal how many families were not contacted because no email is on file or the message was returned.
  • 71% is not as overwhelming as it appears - it depends on how many "strongly agreed".  The support may be very lukewarm if slanted toward the "agree" side.
And even then, is this a good idea?  Back in 2005, when the District realigned the middle schools, it would have made sense.  But now?  Sure - align sports, band, debate, etc. and let the high school principals rule over a district-within-a-district.  But with MSIP 5 looming - this may not be the best time to upend your middle schools.  The realignment is probably a good idea whose time has past.



Saturday, August 3, 2013

We'll be back beginning on Monday!

We have several posts ready.  Now that people have begun to think about school again - now is the time to start back up.