From the BCCT
Board may survey public about schools
The public opinion survey will ask about the quality of the district’s education as well as contract negotiations.
By MANASEE WAGH
In the coming school year, Pennsbury residents’ opinions may shape the district’s future when it comes to teachers’ contracts.
The school board is toying with the idea of doing a public opinion survey about upcoming contract negotiations, said Gregory Lucidi, the school board president.
“We haven’t formulated the questions yet, but we want to get a feel for where the community stands as far as thoughts and ideas. We’re also planning on working with the Pennsbury Education Association in developing this survey,” he said.
What residents think would give the district a direction and an idea of what the community thinks it can afford. It would also inform the district’s goals for contract negotiations, added Lucidi.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsbury had the fourth highest teacher salaries for 2006-07 among 727 public school districts, charter schools and vocational- districts, charter schools and vocational-technical schools.
The district employs about 800 teachers. At the start of the upcoming school year, their salaries will start at $45,176 for the least experienced teachers and rise to $98,222 for the most experienced teachers with the most education, said Lucidi.
The upcoming negotiation is the first since the volatile 2005 contract negotiation, which initiated a strike that shut down Pennsbury schools for 21 days.
Since then, Lower Makefield resident Simon Campbell, the father of three children in the district, has roused grassroots activity to make teacher strikes illegal in this state. A bill that would make Pennsylvania the 38th state in which teacher strikes are illegal is awaiting action in the Legislature.
Both Campbell and Lucidi said the Seneca Valley School District had a strike in October 2007. To get a better idea of what taxpayers were thinking, the district surveyed them.
“I suggested that Pennsbury consider it [a survey] months ago. I think it’s an outstanding idea and makes residents and taxpayers feel involved. It’s a great way to give taxpayers a voice in the process. Otherwise they’re shut out of the whole thing,” he said.
Preliminary plans for the survey are still being worked out. The board expects to hire a polling company at tonight’s board meeting.
The questionnaire should include other matters besides the teachers’ contract, Lucidi said. For instance, it may ask residents to rate Pennsbury’s educational quality and its teachers. He said the district hopes the survey will be done in October and the results will be ready in November.
“It’s looking at the district as a whole and where we want to go in the future,” he said.
The Pennsbury teachers contract expires June 30, 2009. By state law, the district has to start negotiations in January 2009.
“Having the community chip in is something the board wanted to do in advance of the negotiation. Then we thought we’d take it one step further and look at other things in the district,”
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Study questions grading system
From the BCCT. This is an uncomfortable stance to take. If you can't score, change the way the scoring is counted. We'll only count "impact" now.
No need to know if the student knows the answer to the equation 2+2. All we need to measure is that the child can say, "That's an addition problem."
It's a tricky balancing act to draw that line between success and failure. Set the bar too low and the illusion of success covers the fact that no real learning is gained. Set it too high and the mass failure and frustration inhibit learning.
Here's the time honored formula for setting the benchmarks of success:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Study questions grading system
By RACHEL CANELLI
Without hacking into a computer or handing in extra-credit work, failing grades could be turned into passing grades — just by using a different grading system.
A new Ohio State University study recently found three-quarters of U.S. schools deemed to be failing by federal mandates based on state standardized test scores would receive passing grades by measuring the impact the schools have on learning instead.
While local experts agreed with some aspects of the study, they also said it’s flawed and raises questions.
The researchers said they developed a new method to measure school quality based on the impact districts have on learning and how much faster students learn during the school year than over the summer.
Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a national U.S. Department of Education survey, the analysis focused on more than 4,200 children in almost 300 schools across the nation, officials said.
It measured the kids’ math and reading scores at the beginning and end of the kindergarten school year, and the beginning and end of the first grade, administrators said.
“Our impact-measure more accurately gauges what is going on in the classroom, which is the way schools really should be evaluated if we’re trying to determine their effectiveness,” said Douglas Downey, study co-author and a sociology professor at Ohio State University.
Although some students scored low on achievement exams, the study found through its own testing before and after each school year that the kids were learning at a reasonable rate — and faster during the year than over summer vacation. Some area educators called the finding obvious because, during the school year, children are being taught by professionals whose job is to help them learn.
“It’s flawed and just leaves a lot more questions,” said Pennsylvania distinguished educator Karen Hessel. Working in Bristol Township for the past two years, she’s one of more than 40 consultants in the state trying to help turn around struggling schools.
“We can’t change students, and the standards remain the same. It takes some kids longer to master information than others. But if you give them time, and they’re taught well, they will learn,” Hessel said. “Let’s put the excuses aside and get about the business of doing our work.”
Research statistician Paul von Hippel, though, called most states’ current ranking system distorted because they compare children of different, and sometimes disadvantaged, backgrounds.
“[This new study] suggests that many schools serving disadvantaged kids are doing a good job with children who face a lot of challenges,” Downey said.
Holy Family University educators and administrators said there’s already an even better way to judge a student’s progress — the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System, which many school districts already use to compare a child’s growth from one year to another.
Still, Len Soroka, dean of Holy Family’s School of Education, and Grace O’Neill, associate professor of education, both agreed with the study’s suggestion that schools with the highest test scores aren’t necessarily where the most learning is taking place.
No need to know if the student knows the answer to the equation 2+2. All we need to measure is that the child can say, "That's an addition problem."
It's a tricky balancing act to draw that line between success and failure. Set the bar too low and the illusion of success covers the fact that no real learning is gained. Set it too high and the mass failure and frustration inhibit learning.
Here's the time honored formula for setting the benchmarks of success:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Study questions grading system
By RACHEL CANELLI
Without hacking into a computer or handing in extra-credit work, failing grades could be turned into passing grades — just by using a different grading system.
A new Ohio State University study recently found three-quarters of U.S. schools deemed to be failing by federal mandates based on state standardized test scores would receive passing grades by measuring the impact the schools have on learning instead.
While local experts agreed with some aspects of the study, they also said it’s flawed and raises questions.
The researchers said they developed a new method to measure school quality based on the impact districts have on learning and how much faster students learn during the school year than over the summer.
Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a national U.S. Department of Education survey, the analysis focused on more than 4,200 children in almost 300 schools across the nation, officials said.
It measured the kids’ math and reading scores at the beginning and end of the kindergarten school year, and the beginning and end of the first grade, administrators said.
“Our impact-measure more accurately gauges what is going on in the classroom, which is the way schools really should be evaluated if we’re trying to determine their effectiveness,” said Douglas Downey, study co-author and a sociology professor at Ohio State University.
Although some students scored low on achievement exams, the study found through its own testing before and after each school year that the kids were learning at a reasonable rate — and faster during the year than over summer vacation. Some area educators called the finding obvious because, during the school year, children are being taught by professionals whose job is to help them learn.
“It’s flawed and just leaves a lot more questions,” said Pennsylvania distinguished educator Karen Hessel. Working in Bristol Township for the past two years, she’s one of more than 40 consultants in the state trying to help turn around struggling schools.
“We can’t change students, and the standards remain the same. It takes some kids longer to master information than others. But if you give them time, and they’re taught well, they will learn,” Hessel said. “Let’s put the excuses aside and get about the business of doing our work.”
Research statistician Paul von Hippel, though, called most states’ current ranking system distorted because they compare children of different, and sometimes disadvantaged, backgrounds.
“[This new study] suggests that many schools serving disadvantaged kids are doing a good job with children who face a lot of challenges,” Downey said.
Holy Family University educators and administrators said there’s already an even better way to judge a student’s progress — the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System, which many school districts already use to compare a child’s growth from one year to another.
Still, Len Soroka, dean of Holy Family’s School of Education, and Grace O’Neill, associate professor of education, both agreed with the study’s suggestion that schools with the highest test scores aren’t necessarily where the most learning is taking place.
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