From Vanessa De La Torre, Hartford Courant:
The state also reported mixed results in raising scores among Latinos, African Americans and low-income students.
On the CAPT, administered to roughly 42,000 of the state’s high school sophomores, students made slight gains on all subjects except for writing, where performance was largely flat. About 62 percent of students reached the writing goal, down one percentage point from 2012.
The percentage of 10th-graders achieving the math goal rose from 49.3 percent to 52.6 percent over the past year.
But in Bridgeport, only 11.3 percent of test-takers met the CAPT math goal, a one-percentage point increase over 2012. When it came to math “proficiency,” Bridgeport scores declined slightly to 35.5 percent, a wide gap from the state average of 78.6 percent.
Full story here.
Indeed it will and it must be discussed. As JML says, “Time will tell.” Sure it’s been a short time since the Malloy crew made “changes” that are supposed to improve test scores, but there is no time left. We are still waiting for the “change” Obama promised six years ago. I’m still waiting and not expecting any new ground-breaking change, idea or suggestion from any of the current BOE members. They had plenty of time and it’s time to move along. Moving along means moving away from candidates endorsed by the same people of the same party who keep putting up hand-picked dead weight to solve problems for which they don’t have a single clue as to the cause, let alone propose a solution. The changes and solutions suggested time and time again, year after year, are plagiarized ideas from other places where the ideas and changes just didn’t work. There are very few freethinkers left. Everyone is caught up in saving money to avoid a tax increase (Bill Finch and other mayors across the country). The State is worried about the same thing–saving money. Money alone is not going to fix the problems with our education system. All problems are fixed by freethinkers; people who are naturally or learned careful observers. The Bridgeport Democratic Party knows nothing about this and in fact are afraid of these types of people. Consequently, they will always fail to solve any problem they are faced with.
Having said this, in the five-plus years I have been participating on this webzine, I’ve been able to spot and meet some people who fit the mold of free thinkers; people who are naturally or learned careful observers. I’m calling them out and challenge them to join me to start a private discussion. The discussion will be about forming a special and unique non-profit organization to address and fix key problems with troubled school districts in America. These are the people I challenge and urge to step up to the plate:
John Marshall Lee
Bruce Hubler
Mary-Jane Foster
Jennifer Buchanan
Pete Spain
Howard Gardner (if the voters are too dumb to elect him)
If your name isn’t listed, don’t feel bad or count yourself out. I’ll be blunt and state some just don’t have what it takes. The ones I listed can contact me at (203)345-9597 or e-mail me at joel1964@optonline.net, ASAP. If anyone knows the phone numbers of the people I listed, please let them know about this. Time will tell.
abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?id=9071466
news .yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/florida-county-throw-parents-truant-kids-jail-165408463.html
blogs .ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2012/08/03/truancy-and-tardiness-does-going-after-parents-work/
www .huffingtonpost.com/kevin-p-chavous/how-do-we-change-the-drop_b_2295405.html
www .courant.com/community/new-britain/hc-new-britain-attendance-0820-20130819,0,5780753.story
Failure is not an option, Paul … even for you. Don’t complain about the lack of tools and resources … isn’t that what you told your latest hires?
The education reformer extraordinaire and faux superintendent of schools in Bridgeport was fond of claiming he could turn a district around in a year. Now he is sitting with egg on his face, as the State Department of Education released the Connecticut Mastery Test Results for Bridgeport and the rest of the state today.
The CMT test results reveal Vallas’ so-called “reforms” did little to improve test scores.
In fact, the man who tried to quadruple the number of standardized tests in order to “train” student how to increase their CMT test scores managed to come up with a system that actually appears to have lowered academic achievement as measured by the fraudulent CMT Testing system.
Take a look at the all-important 4th and 6th grade test scores …
2012 and 2013 Connecticut Mastery Test Results for Bridgeport Students:
Bridgeport 4th Graders at Goal 2012 2013 Reading 28.4% 24.4% Writing 33.4% 31.8% Math 32.7% 29.3% Bridgeport 6th Graders at Goal 2012 2013 Reading 44.6% 40.4% Writing 38.5% 38.4% Math 40.6% 35.7%Paul Vallas proving yet again those who live by the sword, die by the sword.
jonathanpelto.com/2013/08/13/education-reformer-paul-vallas-flunks-connecticut-mastery-test-challenge/
We cannot hold Vallas responsible for these test scores. Even if he knew what he was doing, it would take several cycles before demonstrable improvement is observed. My principal concern is in each instance when Vallas left the districts they resorted to past failures. He left no sustainable legacy which would insure continued success. Why bother?
He never has had sustainable methods for success. He was and is a drive-by super. Nothing he has instituted has ever been successful in the long term. That has been well documented.
This article provides a very good synopsis and the comments are also revealing:
Sprinter superintendents neither have the breathing capacity nor motivation to ask and answer these questions. They are too busy eyeing the finish line. Marathoners spend time and energy on these questions although 2 and 3 get skimpy attention from even the best of the long-distance runners. Still, urban children are better served by superintendents willing to go the distance rather than those swift runners who flash by without a backward glance.
Paul Vallas is (or was)* a sprinter at a time when marathoners are needed for turning around failing districts.
www .washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/04/the-problem-with-the-paul-vallas-brand-of-school-reform/
Are you saying our last marathon man Ramos did a good job because he was here a long time? Or was he just running around in circles? Larry Cuba, a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), is that a marathon? Larry’s seven years compare to Vallas’ four. I am sure Larry dealt with a lot of the same problems in VA as we have in BPT. Arlington has a cost of living near that of BPT but a median household income more than that of Greenwich. BTW, how is Chrysler doing lately? Apple’s genius business plan is ‘planned obsolescence,’ i.e. release a new iPhone every eight months whether it works or not. Larry says “Turning around low-performing urban school districts is in the same class as CEOs turning around failing companies.” and “Salvaging a sinking business means that the CEO charts a new direction, outsiders arrive and veterans exit.” Does this mean you want to replace all the old teachers? What makes Vallas preferable to the others listed and Larry himself is Vallas is here. The way to quiet the idealistic ‘how-to’ guys is to ask them to ‘show me.’ Ask Larry to come to BPT and show us how to do it. Those who can do, right? Larry is teaching at Stanford. I am sure working in Arlington and teaching at Stanford U prepared him to deal with BPT-type problems, like motivating a kid who comes to school whacked out of his head on ‘wet.’ You probably see that at Stanford all the time.
BOE SPY,
Point taken … yes, in Bridgeport we have 98.8% FRPL, 12.1% ELL, 40.8% non-English speaking homes, 12.1% students w/disabilities, and just 63.9% have pre-K education experience of any kind. Compare with a very different place … close by … Westport: 3%, 1.1%, 3.9%, 10.3%, and 96.2%. Source: Lecker presentation 8/10/13 to Working Families Party annual meeting, Bridgeport, CT.
Serious stuff, no doubt.
But how can you countenance the hype of the likes of Vallas?
From a recent article at
www .districtadministration.com/article/paul-vallas-sale
“Results in a Year
Vallas says that his turnaround model with Cambium will be able to produce significant and sustainable results in a district within a year.”
Within a year? Eighteen months after the Messiah has landed … and y-day’s report shows generally dropping scores on standardized tests … and the likes of Pryor and Vallas have the arrogance of selective excuse-making … and of taking ZERO responsibility.
Meanwhile, very tough realities reign for most kids in Bridgeport … and you can be sure the testing will continue until scores improve.
Who’s holding Mr. “Failure Is Not an Option” Vallas accountable? What’s his test? Is he due?
The Moales-led B.O.E.? Signed him up for another three years in June. Did they have a choice? Why, yes!
Professor Cuban is against the hype and over-testing because he’s a real educator … having taught for many years as a certified teacher, having been a certified superintendent, and then a tenured professor at one of the most prestigious universities on Earth.
More from Professor Larry Cuban here …
larrycuban.wordpress.com
and a video of an interview on his book, “Cutting the Hype: The Essential Guide to Reforming Education”
www .youtube.com/watch?v=yr1i_b3R3vo
which I’m going to try to take out of the library if my local branch hasn’t been shut yet.
‘produce significant and sustainable results in a district within a year’
Getting rid of a huge deficit and balancing a budget that has not been balanced in how many years? That would be a significant and sustainable result that happened within a year. I could also argue unforeseen challenges and distractions delayed progress and cost the district much-needed resources. If the high court deems Vallas as certified, those who supported the court action did nothing but torpedo education. The huge scholastic gains we all want will be seen next year. I concede it is a trick but we will have scholastic gains next year. With the new high school coming online, BPT’s district test scores will include a fair number of students from Trumbull and others. This doesn’t mean Bpt students will not also be doing better but much of the gains will be from averaging in students who just do better on those tests. I do not think it would be possible to have substantial scholastic gains in one year. Like I said in another post, you would expect to see +/- 5% changes from year to year. A 10th grader who gets a 50% would be showing an amazing improvement if he got a 56% as an 11th grader. The only real marathon in education is run by the student. If a 5-minute mile is average and our student runs his 1st mile in 8 minutes that just leaves him 2 minutes to run the 2nd mile. If our runner could do that, his 1st mile wouldn’t have taken 8 minutes. Because of the self-reinforcing nature of education it is far easier to fall behind than to catch up. You could liken it to getting out of debt. First you have to pay the interest. Once you have done that you can start reducing the debt. It is a long, hard fight to get to zero. Then you can start working on savings. If 88% of the people are underwater you may have to let them go and start your new people with savings. Bringing in a bunch of people who already have savings helps your statistics.
I hope you enjoy the book. I am going to guess it will be a long diatribe of theoretical catch phrases like: ‘It is important to engage the student on an intellectual level in order to promote a positive result in the educational process.’ ‘The teacher should be a catalyst between the student and the subject.’ Is Larry a real educator? Or is he a guy who works with a lot of people who really wanted to learn? Most of those kids would have done fine left in a room alone.
The article showed CAPT test scores for BPT that were about the same as last year. jake posted CMT test scores that were lower. Now, comparing this year’s 4th-grade scores to last year’s 4th-grade scores is not a valid comparison. Last year’s 4th grade could have just been smarter. You should compare how the students scored as 4th graders and how they scored as 5th graders to see if there is improvement. For reasons that are not apparent jake left out 5th grade scores. I would hate to think he is stacking his statistics to give an incomplete picture that looks worse than it really is.
“We cannot hold Vallas responsible for these test scores. Even if he knew what he was doing, it would take several cycles before demonstrable improvement is observed.”
yahooy, like I said yesterday, “You are a smart man.” On the point you made above, you failed to look at the flip side of the coin. Let’s say the test results showed a dramatic improvement (that slurping sound you just heard was Bill Finch licking his chops) of test scores across the board. This is what would have taken place:
Mayor Bill Finch would have called for a press conference. Bill Finch with Paul Vallas, Dan Malloy, and Stephan Pryor front center. Pastor Moales, Andres Ayala, Anthony Musto, Ezequiel Santiago, Auden Grogins, Leticia Colon and the rest of the BOE majority (the minority BOE members not invited), the three Democratic-endorsed candidates and all the other usual suspects, would all have been jockeying for camera angle position in front of 999 Broad Street. Just imagine the speeches and the kudos to our savior Paul Vallas.
As we all know, it was all just a fallacy. We found out about the test results today. But for months, Pryor, Malloy, Vallas and Finch knew the grand event they were hoping to have in front of 999 Broad Street was not to be. As much as they all would have taken the credit had the results been positive, they all must accept the blame for this dramatic failure of the plans they set in motion. The fact is, everything they tried during the course of the last two years has been nothing but a failure and a waste of time, money and energy.
The fact of the matter, Joel, is the test scores did not go up. Delusions sometimes put obstacles where progress is possible. We have work to do. Hard work.
yahooy, you make a very interesting valid point. Maybe you can get added to Joel’s list. 🙂
Steven Auerbach, you’re a substitute teacher, my friend. You are welcome to join us (I’ve gotten some responses already). I hear Dave Walker is closing his operation as it was a temporary gig. I was under the impression he was too preoccupied with his other matters. Walker was among the first people I was thinking of asking to join in the conversation. Contact me at joel1964@optonline.net. I hope to hear from all invited ASAP.
The boys need to get their talking points straight … they’re stumbling over each other with dueling reformisms.
It’s also only a matter of time before there will be a new test once the kids are TRAINED for the old test, not educated by the way. You need a constant crisis to keep the reformy business in business.
See Paul vs. Stefan:
“The expectation is that with the more rigorous and more challenging content of the Smarter Balanced exams, scores will initially drop,” said Pryor, who plans to meet with superintendents Wednesday. “The Common Core presents great opportunity for our state because the bar has been raised.”
VS.
“‘I am confident however, that the higher standards will significantly boost student performance,’ said Vallas.”
Notwithstanding the figures reported, I personally don’t know how representative the results are for a district as large and transient as Bridgeport. The scores for many can be self fulfilling.
I really would like to see the year-over-year scores of students who have attended Bridgeport schools for 1st grade forward–a controlled sample of students who have had consistently been taught. Bpt student turnover has to be higher than suburban turnover, and the replacement student in the suburb is going to more closely mirror the student who left.
Consider–do test scores go down in Trumbull or Fairfield or Monroe if someone from Bpt moves there when their child starts middle or high school?
I have had four nieces go through the Bridgeport school system, or did many moons ago. They are bright and engaged as are many of their friends, and many of my classmates have done well in life compared to our suburban counterparts.
This kind of thinking is what I meant when I mentioned freethinker. Common Good, I’d like to have a conversation with you. Can you e-mail me at joel1964@optonline.net?
This article simply points out CT students did about the same this year as they did last year. We can conclude changing the curricula did not make that much difference in one year. In other words, a 10th grader who can’t read did not make much progress in one year. Why would he? The change will be seen when the 1st graders get to 10th grade. The only way you would help the illiterate 10th grader would be to keep him where he is until he catches up. We are not allowed to do that.
There are other reasons for stagnant test scores. It could be the motivated kids are still motivated and the rest are still??? It could be with all the recent cheating scandals, teachers and administrators are not as willing to give ‘extra help’ improving scores during (or after) the test. Maybe not every teacher was on the same page and using the new curricula. With the state of the economy kids may not see much value in education. Students may think ‘my Dad has a degree and he in unemployed, my brother just graduated and he can’t get a job. Why waste my time?’ The story did not give reasons why CT did about the same. Bpt did a little better this year but the improvement did not beat the statistical margin of error. You would expect a kid to only change their scores by <5% from year to year because anything bigger than that would be suspect. I took a grade level test last year and got a 50. This year I get a 100. In one year I learned all the stuff I was supposed to know last year and all the stuff I need to know this year? Now, a fair number of students manage to do that. Nothing fishy there.
I realize we live in an on-demand, own now and pay later, internet instant culture but some things take time. We did not fall to the bottom of the list in one year and we are not going to get to the top in one year. The truth is, kids who are along in the system and have fallen behind may be doomed to some lower level of success. The further along you are and the further behind you have fallen, the worse off you are. We do not have the money to ‘hold back’ 88% of the student population. We can help a 3rd grader who is preforming at grade 2-1/2 but a 10th grader who is reading at a 5th grade level may not be able to catch up.
It’s interesting to me how test scores never seemed to matter to anyone in this community until Vallas came to town. Let’s blame him for world hunger while we’re at it! Hey, ask Johnny Ramos to tell you his glorious track record with test scores over the course of six years! It takes three years to see test scores change as a result of reform. Ramos had twice that time and all we had was failure after failure as a result of zero meaningful reforms. Time will tell for Vallas.
No excuses … failure is not an option. Accountability for all, even educelebrities.
“What is most common among them is their excellence,” Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas said last week at a reception for the new school leaders. “We were looking for people who were not going to make excuses. Our mission here is to improve student achievement.”
To Vallas, who has led school districts with as many as 500 principals, 17 is not that large a number. He said their marching orders are to get the job done regardless of the tools or resources.
“They had to believe failure was not an option,” he said.
jake, how did we ever learn anything with just a blackboard, a pencil and a piece of paper? The best ‘tools or resources’ we had were ditto sheets and they smelled funny.
I loved the aroma of ditto sheets! I also remember the Why Can’t Johnny Read issue in the ’60s. So I take the leap it was not the mimeograph machine ink that caused low test scores in the good ol’ days of education. It is relatively easy to educate a homogeneous group, Urban schools with their very diverse enrollment is obviously more of a challenge to make one-size-fits-all education requirements. No easy solutions for sure based on all Urban school report cards–having a school board understanding this issue would, in my humble opinion, be a first step in creating a more inclusive and flexible learning environment. Ditto sheets or not, giving the staff the tools and freedom to do what they love, seeing that AhHa I understand look on a student’s face would be wonderful–how do we get there?
*** “CAPT Test” scores are only an issue if used “politically correct” by challenging candidates against present BOE running incumbents to bring some light on just how bad kids in Bpt public schools continue to do under this school administration and the present BOE members! It would have to be articulated over and over, especially to voting parents of public school kids and pro-education city residents and businesses. It’s a political trump card that if used right could help make a difference in favor of the challenging candidates, maybe? *** Not Forgetting It’s “ZOMBIELAND” After All! ***
What’s next, Mr. Vallas? Trombones?
All students in every school district receive a report card; some of the times parents have to go to the school to pick up the report cards and discuss any issues with the teachers.
Can anyone answer this question? Are the individual parents made aware and provided with a copy of the test scores of the their child or teen? If not, why not?
Out of the 1800 report cards issued by Harding, only about 200 get picked up. I would say they are not informed of the child’s grades and test scores. Not for lack of trying. It is just nobody cares. You have a week to come pick up the report card and nobody does. Well, only 1 out of 9 do and that counts the kids who are 18 and can pick up their own report card. The same goes for parent/teacher night. Very few bother to take an interest in the kid, his school and education. They are probably very busy. Maybe with something like working or watching TV.
Since 2004(?), the state has been mailing every students CMT/CAPT test results to the students’ home. If what BOE SPY wrote is true then I think Bridgeport should start imposing tougher rules for parents. I think some towns in Calif. are arresting parents or making them sit in the classroom with them if they skip a lot of days or get poor grades.
Fault lines … the privatization of Chile schools … your future under the Vallas “reform” regime. Save 20 minutes or so … a must see:
www .youtube.com/watch?v=tu4tPw5ND7M
Since I watched this video this morning, it is now listed on YouTube as not playable. I was able to find it on Al Jazeera … bizarre:
www .aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2011/11/2011111103913257125.html
Also here is some info on Vallas returning to Chile to continue the privatization push of public education decades after the ‘Chicago Boys’ brought privatization to Chile:
www .substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2439
Many of the comments I just read are well-reasoned and well-intentioned. By the same token, many of the posters have predetermined the conclusion due to their political dislike of the current administration and/or they are part of the entrenched educational system.
As somebody stated earlier, Bpt schools did not get here in one year and it will take more than one year to see improvement. It seems unreasonable to expect a miraculous testing turnaround.
Personally, I do not really care for Vallas as he seems more than a bit egotistical and narcissistic. But that does not mean his methods will not bear fruit over time. Bpt needs to stick with the program for a couple of years and conscientiously try to make it work. At that point, an honest decision can be made.
But the real fault lies with the parents and students themselves. Without two parents raising the children they created, being responsible and engaged in their education and moral upbringing, nothing will change. Doesn’t matter if it’s Vallas, Ramos, Sonia, or Jim Connelly.
There should be a clarion call from politicians, coaches, teachers, clergy … Do not recreate the mistakes of your sperm & egg donors, do not father or bear children until you have an education and a job.
Doubtful that will happen but that’s the only thing that can change this educational swamp.
Denis OMalley,
Some interesting questions and comments on this subject today. For the sake of argument the public taxpayer will provide about $200,000 tax-free benefit for the benefit of each CT youth from K-12 grade. When youth cannot or do not show up prepared for educational workday, on time (or if the teacher is not present), the plan does not go forward and results are frustrated.
Do parents who are not necessarily public school system graduates personally or aware of the public expense for their child face any type of consequence for not fully cooperating with the system? What are best practices today in that regard? Is a different level of education and information required? Inspiring parents to take advantage of the current level of public funding would seem a no-brainer idea, right? Time will tell.
So true Denis OMalley, it’s time for politicians to start giving some tough love. Tax and Spending is not working, just making it worse.
I know for a fact Bridgeport Schools need to change the curriculum; for a long time now, including the magnet schools, teachers have been instructed to teach below grade level so no one feels left out. Unfortunately this does not work. What about the bored students who are above grade level? These children are forced to sit in classrooms and listen to teachers who are presenting work that is sometimes two to three grade levels below the students’ abilities. These children get fed up and frustrated and end up dropping out due to boredom.
Then there is the flip side of this issue. Education starts at home. Many children in Bridgeport have parents who don’t care or don’t have the time to care about what their children are doing in and out of school. Parents need to be involved in their children’s lives. Bridgeport needs to find a way to educate the parents so they understand just how important their involvement with their children is to their education.
I am a working parent and I have a child in the public schools. I can’t be with my child 24/7, but I do make sure every day I ask my child how her day was and and how school was. I don’t attend many meetings because of the hours I work, but I do make sure I stay informed as to what is going on in Bridgeport education and most importantly, I stay informed as to what is going on with my child.