Now, we have two new charter school applications on a fast track for Paterson.  Both come from charter school operators with schools in other places.  The Paterson Arts and Sciences Charter School come from a local consortium that already operates two schools in New Jersey: one in Garfield and the other in Passaic.  Their director of curriculum is Deidre Simon who was an assistant superintendent in Paterson under Dr. Glascoe.

The Collegiate Charter School comes from the Ascend Charter School network with school in Brooklyn. It’s curriculum comes from an international education business called Sabis. Here is a http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=h0CdUyxdJ1k about one of their schools. I find it very troubling.Why? Turn off the sound and watch the students and teachers. Teachers are standing at the front of the room, lecturing. Students sit at desks in straight rows with textbooks and notebooks.  It’s the sage on the stage with students as knowledge absorbers. In the Collegiate application, they expicitly say that they do not believe in “differentiated instruction.” They teach all students the same way, no matter how the student learns best.

What does that mean? It means no active learning. No investigation. No exploring.  It means learning by rote. It means going back to the 1950′s.

It’s true that this method works for some students. But it punishes students who are active, kinestic learners. It inhibits the development of creativity and inquiry.

Sabis propoents will argue tht they get high test scores. Parents will  need to ask themselves, “What kind of learning experience do I want for my child?”

I want a school experience that equips children to learn throughout their lives, that develops joy in exploring new experiences and that gives them confidence in their own judgement.  What do you want?

 Irene

BTW: we’ll be discussing student learning with local charter and choice operators on March 9th at the Parent Summit at JFK. Join us.

Ar Wednesday night’s school board meeting, when  I called for teachers and advocates to focus on advocacy in Trenton, I had a lot more in mind than settling a labor contract.

I want to discuss how increased testing reduces classroom instruction. Who better than a teacher to describe what is happening? I want to discuss interference in school programming that reduces students’ opportunity to learn. Who better than a teacher to describe what is happening? I want to discuss principal leadership under the new evaluation regime. Who better than a teacher to describe what is happening?

I can make a case for going to Trenton to gain resources for students that includes a stable contractual relationship with our teachers, but only in the context of these larger issues. That’s when I’ll get on the bus.

Yours for Paterson’s children,

Irene

What are the small things?

• Chicago teachers strike over high stakes testing and school closings
• The faculty of a Seattle high school refuse to administer a high stakes test that has a large margin of error
• At a recent legislative hearing, Paterson parents applaud an legislator [who is also a teacher] who discusses how good scores on reading tests don’t mean that students actually read with comprehension
• A Paterson parent stands up at the school board workshop to complain about testing reducing actual instruction
• A highly repected school reform organization looks for a “Fourth Way” to balance testing with support and capacity building for students and teachers.

Taken individually these don’t mean that the era of high stakes testing is over, but it does signal a discussion that is long overdue. After all, when was the last time you were evaluated by a bubble test?

Irene

There are no Taliban here to threaten our girls with death for wanting to be a doctor. But there ARE threats to our girls. The threats are real and dangerous: indifference, lack of belief in their abilities, poverty…

And yet our young women can shine, just as Malala does, in the face of the difficulties facing them. I was reminded once again this week as one of our first PEF sponsored international travelers sought us out.

Six years have passed since we took eight girls on our first service learning trip to Grenada to help save sea turtles. Since that time, Nikki has graduated from college, married and returned to Paterson. She checked in with us to see how she can help. She wants to assure that other young women get the chance to experience the life changing experience she had in Grenada.

She joins several other of our trip alumni in working on our next trip to Costa Rica in 2013. It’s not dramatic or heroic. Nikki and her colleagues don’t risk death for seeking to further the horizons of other Paterson girls. They could be selfishly focused on building wealth and personal gain. But they are paying it forward, knowing that others girl will be strengthed and supported.

We have amazing young women.

In the memory of Pat Harris,

Irene

The numbers are very troubling. As you see, we suspended many elementary school children as well as high school students. As we work to improve student achievement and increase graduation rates, all these suspensions work against us. When children are not in school, they are not learning. We are increasing the odds that they will drop out.

Worse, when we suspend young children [some as young as kindergarten!] we reduce the opportunity that they will bond with school and focus on their educations.

And with the new regulations proposed about school funding, suspending kids will now cost us money- $16 million is the current estimate.

So what should we do?  For example, every school should have in-school suspension so that kids continue to learn, even when they are being disciplined. Our schools should increase the number of Student Assistance Coordinators to provide counseling and to access  interventions like using the Family Intervention Services or Circle of Care. Many children who are suspended face difficult home situations. Suspension only responds to the immediate behavior and does not address the underlying problem. Give our kids discipline AND support.

The Paterson Public School Board should examine the use of out of school suspensions, set targets for reducing its use and focus on building a positive school culture in every building so the all our children feel valued and supported.

In the memory of Pat Harris,

Irene

“PEF will educate citizens as to the process to move the School Board Election from April to November.  This will include issuance of a timeline, Q&A and other pertinent information.  PEF will recommend that unless there is a compelling reason to vote for the change immediately, the School Board wait for lessons learned from the first round of NJ November elections in November 2012 and take up the issue in 2013.”

 Our board had a robust discussion of the issue and noted the following concerns:

• Open and free elections are a fundamental building block of our democracy. School boards are the closest elected representatives to the people of any community. Cost to run the election should not be a prime concern driving any decision regarding elections.
•  The paramount reason for most boards of education to move their elections to November was to avoid a vote on the budget, often a contentions and costly experience with a district needing to spend money on a campaign to support the budget. However, Paterson does not vote on the budget because we are in takeover. There is no advantage in changing the election for us with regard to the budget issue.
• Moving the election to November will drive up the costs for candidates to reach Paterson voters. Currently a candidate may send a mailing to all previous voters in the last school board election by paying for 7,500 pieces. The voters list for all voting households in the November election is 25,000 pieces. At PEF we will see the mailing for our Educated Voters Guide to all voting households quadruple in cost to nearly $20,000 if the election is moved to November.
• While it is true that more people will go to the polls in November than April, it is not clear that more people will actually vote the school board portion of the ballot. Experience shows that the longer and more complicated the ballot, the fewer voters vote on the entire ballot. We need only to look at how many fewer voters cast their vote on public questions than candidates to see the attrition on the ballot. 
• As this November is the first time New Jersey has attempted partisan and non-partisan elections on the same ballot, the state and individual communities have no experience with the issues such a change may provoke. In fact as of today, we were unable to view the proposed ballot to see how the county clerk positioned the two parts of the election. By law, the county clerk designs the general election ballot. Under the new law, the clerk has the “authority to determine the specifications for, and the final arrangement of, the official ballots.”  
• While there is a prohibition on school board candidates running with a party affiliation listed on the ballot, candidates may be endorsed by political parties. We fear a November election will politicize what should be a non-partisan election in order to gain recognition and campaign funds.  
• If the School Board votes to move the election to November and we find that there are negative consequences, Paterson will be forced to continue November elections for four years, presumably until 2017.
• The School Board has until mid February 2013 to make a decision regarding the 2013 elections.

 For all these reasons, PEF believes that the prudent course is to wait to see the outcomes and issues developing from this year’s November school board elections to determine Paterson’s course.

Chronology of Key Dates of Moving

the School Board Election from April to November

January 17, 2012: The NJ Legislature passes and Governor Christie signs the legislation giving communities the option of moving the school board election from April to November.

January 25, 2012: The Paterson Board of Education tables a resolution to continue to hold Paterson’s School Board election in April. Voting to table until a later date: Cleaves, Guzman, Hodges, Irving, Kerr, Mendez, Rodriguez, Simmons and Taylor.  Hodges votes against the motion.

February 15, 2012: The Paterson Board of Education votes to continue to hold Paterson’s School Board election in April. Voting yes: Cleaves, Guzman, Hodges, Kerr, Mendez, Rodriquez and Taylor. Absent for the meeting, Irving; Absent for the vote having left the meeting: Simmons.

September 19, 2012: The Paterson Board of Education proposes to vote on a resolution to move Paterson’s School Board Election to November, to commence in November 2013. Candidates elected in the November 2013 election will take office the following January 2014. Following an affirmative vote, the community would need to wait 4 years [2017] before changing the election back to April.

November 6, 2012: First general election in NJ with partisan elections [President, Senator, Congressman and Freeholders], and non-partisan school board elections on the same ballot. All but 71 districts have moved their elections to November. 

June 2013: TBA 4^th or 11^th. If Paterson moves the school board election to November, last day to file a school board candidate petition for a November school board election. The incumbents [Irving, Simmons and Mendez] would have served an additional 8 months to their 3 year term [2010-2013].

November 5, 2013: Potentially the first Paterson election with partisan elections [Governor, all NJ Legislators and Freeholders], and non-partisan school board elections on the same ballot.

January 2014: Newly elected Paterson Board of Education members take office under the new law.

2017: If Paterson moves the school board election to November, Paterson’s first opportunity to change the voting date back to April.

NJ Spotlight’s article highlights concerns about this year’s November school board elections. The article includes links to a list of districts continuing to vote in April.

It’s not hard to understand why they weren’t directly consulted.  Any change of this sort tends to be unpopular. The politically cagey action is to keep the details quiet until it’s too late for the public to engage in discussion.

The politically smart action is to engage the parents. No one in Paterson can be satisfied with our children’s performance. No one is. So there is nothing to lose by an honest conversation about the proposed changes.  In the course of the last three weeks, parents and students have made important points about the schools. Schools 21 and NRC have more resources than their proposed partner schools. What is the plan to equalize the access to computers and science labs? How will three progams share the space at School 28? What resources will be added to School 28 to support a Gifted and Talented magnet?

Paterson parents have stood up and said, “Ask me, engage me.” They deserve to be answered fully and with respect.

With Justice for ALL,

Irene

Click the link to find your child’s name in the 2012 50 Book Club Members Poster.

Thank you to all those parents and children who show us each year that Paterson children indeed love to read!

I believe in the effort paradigm of learning; they believe in the ability paradigm.  What’s the difference?

The Ability Paradigm

•Achievement is determined by innate ability; either you are born smart or you aren’t.

•Achievement is general and unchanging.

•Cognitive skills are acquired and used in a linear and hierarchical fashion.

•Learning is characterized by transmission and practice; someone “teaches” and you “learn.”

The Effort Paradigm

•Achievement is determined by innate, social and cultural factors; you can get “smarter.”

•Intelligence is content specific; you can be good at one thing and not good at another.

•Learning and performance are characterized by interdependent use of cognitive and metacognitive processes, basic and sophisticated skills and knowledge.

•Intelligence is characterized by practice and problem solving.

If you believe in the Ability Paradigm, you believe that children can be sorted and tracked. You then believe that it is alright, however regrettable, that some children receive more and better services. After all, if we don’t have enough for everyone to get high quality services, then we should reserve services for the most gifted. [Especially if that includes our children.]

The Ability Paradigm has been dominate in Western culture for a long time and is especially damaging when linked to race and ethnicity. Most of us were brought up to believe the Ability Paradigm, even if we are unaware of it as a conscious teaching.

It has taken me a long time to understand how to undo that learning.

I have learned to look for the gifts of others, especially the overlooked and undeveloped ones. I have learned to help others learn to identify their gifts and talents and work to grow them.  What is a good example? When I taught theater to a diverse group of young people, I helped them see that every one had a part in the success of the show.  It wasn’t just the stars of the show, it was also the kids holding the palm fronds. We all had to work together to make a success.

A classroom organized by a teacher who believes in the Effort Paradigm looks different. Children are doing projects and working in teams. They are sharing what they learn with one another.  In today’s education jargon, the teacher ”differentiates” teaching and learning so that everyone participates.

We need more of these clasrooms. Because ALL children can learn at high levels when we believe and provide for them.

  Irene

And now comes the evidence that another favorite strategy, vouchers/”scholarships” created by private and corporate gifts made tax exempt, are being manipulated to serve already priviledged children, not the poor ones. I read today’s New York Times story, “Scholarship Funds Meant for the Needy“, and wept with rage.  Once again a strategy that is supposed to help poor children is perverted.

It’s why PEF opposes the Opportunity Scholarship Act in New Jersey.

We need to improve ALL schools for ALL the children. But whether you are willing to act on that idea all depends on whether you think all children can learn.  I’ll explore that idea further in my next post.

Irene