In an interview with NorwalkNet this morning, Mr. Polselli said that he was attracted to the position in Norwalk because he is “up for the challenge” and that he thinks he can have a “wonderful impact” on the school system.
Dr. Polselli, 36, has been the IT Director of the Middletown Public Schools for the past eight years and before that he held the same position in Killingly Public Schools in upstate Connecticut. Before his move to the Central Office, Dr. Polselli was an English and Computer teacher for high school and middle school students. He also has taught Computer Sciences on a college level.
Dr. Polselli has an education doctorate in Computing in Education from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, as well a Masters in English/Secondary Education from Worcester State and a Master's in Educational Leadership from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. He wrote his doctorate on "Combining Web-Based Training and Mentorship to Improve Technology Integration in the K-12 Classroom."
Mr. Polselli, who is starting the new job on January 11th, said he has two priorities upon arriving in Norwalk—data and communication.
“My priority is to create systems that allow teachers, administrators and the IT department to use data effectively to make good decisions,” he said. “We need to use data constantly and it should be easy for everyone to use.”
Mr. Polselli thinks that technology plays a key role in implementing “common formative assessments" that measure student progress.
In addition, he wants to introduce technology tools into classrooms to help teachers get instant feedback.
“There are tools, like clickers, that help teachers know instantly whether kids are grasping concepts,” he said noting that Middletown has used tools like this for the past four years to great success. “This allows teachers to change their instruction daily spending more time on certain things and less on others.”
With regards to communication, Mr. Polselli intends to revamp the NPS website and allow for teachers and administrators throughout the district to interact with the site easily, posting their own documents.
Dr. Polselli believes his background in the classroom is invaluable.
“I really understand the day to day in a classroom and what can help to make the classroom better,” he said. “Something that works in the business world is not necessarily what can help teachers and students.”
“My goal is to improve the lives of children. Central office is secondary,” he said.
“Bob is a visionary leader,” said Craig Creller, a consultant for CREC and the former K-12 Math Supervisor in Middletown. “He created and improved upon the data collection systems in Middletown.”
“He is a teacher trainer and leader and has built capacity among the teachers. He’s very hands on and leads by example. Middletown has a 21st century school system because of him,” said Mr. Creller.
Kathleen Bengtson, Dr. Polselli's administrative assistant, is sad her boss is leaving Middletown. "He has been an inspiration. He has a passion for technology and how it can really benefit kids."
Dr. Polselli flies to his current job in Middletown which he said has been "fantastic". He expects that his daily commute to Norwalk will be just over one hour.
When asked how his commute will be affected by bad weather and late nights at the office, Dr. Polselli said that he actually trains other pilots to fly in bad weather and does not foresee many days when the weather will be bad enough to ground his flights. He is planning to purchase a small condo in the area to give him flexibility. Further, he added that he does not think of his job as 9-5 and he often logs into work remotely on nights and weekends.
Outside of work, Dr. Polselli volunteers for Angel Flight Northeast, a non-profit organization that provides free flights to people requiring medical care, and coaches his children’s soccer games.
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Wow, and we thought Papallo had a commute. 150 miles one way? Has anyone thought this through?
ReplyDeleteWho pays the fuel, parking and maitenence on the aircraft? Does the job pay that well? Who pays the life insurance? Besides those very obvious questions, after reading Monia's piece, it is still not clear what the jobs responsibilties are and what this applicant thinks can be accomplished. Would have thought we would have secured a chief first but hey why change doing thigs half backwards now, its been working so well.
It would be illegal to deny him the job because of where he lives, but this certainly does sound like a very difficult and very expensive commute. What time will he have to get up to drive to his local airport, park his car in a paid parking lot, fly to Sikorsky Airport, secure his plane, get his other car from the Sikorsky paid parking lot, and then make the commute to Norwalk -- dealing with accidents and other delays? And then he is also thinking about buying a "small condo" in this area?
ReplyDeleteHe can live wherever he wants, but this seems extremely odd, and it begs the question: Is this just a steppingstone for another job? First we have a superintendent who refuses to move to Connecticut from New York, and now we have an IT director who continues to live in Massachusetts. This can happen only in Norwalk.
I asked Dr. Polselli about the length of his commute.
ReplyDeleteI added the following to my story:
"Dr. Polselli flies to his current job in Middletown which he said has been "fantastic". He expects that his daily commute to Norwalk will be just over one hour."
He's badly mistaken about that estimate. During commuter traffic times, which begin in that area shortly after 6:00 a.m., and last until at least 9:00 a.m., the drive from Sikorsky Airport alone will be 40 minutes, and that is on a "normal" day. It can be much worse.
ReplyDeleteI certainly would have the same concern about not only the diatance of travel but also the method, seeing as there will certainly be times that a flight will be delayed due to multiple factors that can not be controlled while in the air, let alone driving on the roads. That being said, the candidate is certainly highly qualified, perhaps over-qualified, and deserves at least a chance to prove he can do the commute. But I understand this may be a huge risk for a city that wants a long-term replacement and not someone who will use this position as a spring board to a job elsewhere or in a different position, and thus, creating a continual vacuum in the technology department. My question would be, why leave Middletown if things are/were going so well? Based on what I've read about the candidate, does he even have time to go to sleep, being involved in so many activities, let alone having a doctorate at 36? He owns a plane? Why work at all? They don't sell planes at Walmart...yet.
ReplyDeleteI Googled him and, a person by this name who lives in Charlton also gives flight lessons. I don't think he does sleep!
ReplyDeleteI don't care where he lives. If he can pull Norwalk out of the dark ages with regard to our technology...that is a good thing. Let us hope he can make strides in that area given our economy's budget constraints. He seems like a go getterand that is a good thing for Norwalk.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is a fireball. Give him a chance. Norwalk is in the technology dark ages. I think we're lucky to get him.
ReplyDeleteAnd like all fireballs.....One can only hope this hire works out, but he must have some deal struck regarding tele-commuting. As an observer of the school system for many years, many with his boundless energy have come and gone quickly. Also, some years ago, Norwalk stopped recognizing the doctorate from Nova in Fla. because it was considered a "mail-order" degree. Now it's probably all done on computer. Does anyone know if this credential has been re-instated and recognized by the Norwalk BOE? This may have absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Poselli's expertise, but he is about to be a much busier man. Accountability for his time will be a major concern, as one can assume he will be very well paid. Agreed, we are in the dark ages--hope the fireball lights things up.
ReplyDeleteI am a littler concerned, and also aware that it is difficult to have a thorough discussion of appointments. It seems, from reading this blog, that:
ReplyDelete1. Norwalk has hired a director of elementary education with no direct experience in elementary school education. I would like to no what classroom experience she has.
2. Norwalk has hired a director of technology who does not appear to have a legitimate doctorate; his so-called dissertation is a journal or conference article. Although doctorates and Ph.Ds in education are a dime a dozen, and can be knocked off in less than a year, the one cited above still seems a stretch.
Excuse the "no" in place of "know" in the second paragraph; the consequence of rushing. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteAs an educator of many years' experience, I learned long ago to dismiss the value of a doctorate. I have known brilliant educators and highly effective teachers without doctorates, and I have never met anyone with a doctorate who did it because he/she truly wanted to advance his/her abilities as an educator. People do it because ill-informed people are more impressed by flash than they are by substance.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Nova University, here is the site that leads to the doctoral program in education that is offered online and off-campus:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nova.edu/academics/degrees.html?tab=professional
Regarding the new Director of Elementary Education, not only does she have little or no experience in elementary grade levels, to my knowledge she also accomplished nothing new in her five years as grant coordinator.
What is her literacy background? Did anyone bother to ask?
Adding to the above posting...If you copy and paste the site for Nova University, you will have to click on the tab labeled 'graduate' to see the Education (Ed.D) requirements.
ReplyDeleteA challenge?
ReplyDeleteHere, someone should have the courage to clue Robert in. Really working so close he should already have at least one.
Fire ball?
Flamer or not, he cant make a rabbit from turtle soup and he cant make a diamond from a stone.
An hour commute?
Flight time, yes that's accurate but does not include the ten minutes to the strip or preflight and warm up. Nor does include post flight, tie down or the twenty minutes, on a good day after 9 am from lordship. Ask Morgan Kaolin.
Telecommuting?
Sure but what about those late night B.O.E. meetings.
There has been far, far too much, very poor decision making going on, with that in mind and in the spirit and effort at transparency, Polselli's contract must be put online and made available. As should all administrators from here on out. It is America, enough of the behind the curtain maneuvers. We are paying big bucks for our children and we have been getting fleeced and our children have suffered.
Who is doing what, with who and for how much?
Has anyone asked the chap what his "looking through the window", assessment of the districts needs are and what is the plan of action? Or maybe that will necessitate another round of reports and multi layered PowerPoint's after a couple more senior classes are shoved out the door ill prepared for higher education nor even an assistant managers position at fast food heaven.
The credentials mean nada, absolutely nothing. What they mean is the kid had dough to get them, along with his C.F.I. rating. Nova was originally a community college in Davie Florida a mile due west of Ft. Lauderdale Intl. and has an expanded campus and online curriculum. They did apply for certification and without searching for the results, memory serves they received it and lost it. Anyone is encouraged to follow that up and correct if needed.
Certificates on the wall may help sway some but real world is about results.
Looking at his work accomplished over in Middletown there is nothing outstanding, nothing the business world hasn't done a decade ago.
It should also be noted that Middletown is not in any way a diverse community, nor one with an average family income of twenty thousand and less.
Middletown is a well funded, well managed operation without doubt.
That is not the case here in Norwalk, Robert.
Fireball? Hasn't Norwalk been torched already?
Maybe we need Goldilocks to spin us some gold from all the hay we have between our ears.
I hear some swift student journalists protesting now, " no more Sturbridge field trips, its a conflict of interest with our IT guy and besides its a long bus ride for nothing".
They would have a point. Click?
Dont want to discourge the chap but niether do we want to get burned anymore.
If these most recent CO appointments are a harbinger of things to come, the new superintendent hire should make for some real fireworks...or fireballs...or something like that.
ReplyDelete4:41 AM - I cannot fairly assess Polselli, and so all I can do is wait to see how things work out. I'm not ready to label him a fireball, nor am I ready to label him a dud. And no one else is able to do that. His saying that he was attracted to Norwalk because he is "up for the challenge" is a virtually meaningless statement that doesn't answer the question. Rather than reading that he thinks he will have a "wonderful impact" on the NPS, why not give me some examples? "Wonderful impact" is so vague as to be meaningless.
ReplyDeleteI am troubled by the section on Common Formative Assessments (CFAs), and I have to hope that the reporter either misunderstood or misquoted. CFAs are NOT standardized tests to determine if all schools are teaching at the same level, and if Polselli thinks that, what disturbs me more is that the interview committee didn't know that he was mistaken. CFAs are teacher-created assessments, done within a grade level or among sections of a course, intended to inform instruction. Teachers give pre- and post-CFAs to measure their own effectiveness, and if they do it right, they have an instructional story that they can tell as a result, e.g., what change in strategies made the difference. Technology has little to do with administering most CFAs, except for the teachers' use of technology in data collection.
I don't see why the committee membership is so guarded. Aren't we supposed to be enjoying the new transparency in board activities?
There is nothing about the recent CO appointments that leaves me with any more hope about the new superintendent because I have seen what the boards of education have done in recent years. They buckle to backroom politicking, as they did with the ASI. In my not-so-humble opinion, that was not a clean process by any stretch of the imagination. If people are asking about the qualifications of the new elementary level director, they should also be asking about the experience of the ASI in curriculum and instruction. Those on the inside know.
Sounds like the candidate from the middle school wrote the 6:05 AM post. Or perhaps a friend of the candididate. In any case, it is someone in the inside who knows more than most about CFAs, who writes like an administrator in the know, and who definitely has a problem with the AS at central office. This thread is not about the AS, dear writer, so stop with the negative comments. This is not your first post about him and probably won't be your last. Don't hide behind the 'anonymous' title. You are being devious and very very negative. Being so devious and negative won't get you my vote for the Superintendent's job!
ReplyDeleteI am the 6:05 poster, and I have no relationship with the principal of NHMS, otherwise known as the person who was qualified for the job he didn't get. It is ironic that 6:28 attacked my posting for being anonymous, and yet he/she attacked Mr. (Dr.?) McCain and did so anonymously.
ReplyDeleteAs for the appropriateness of my posting, I was doing exactly what I said was missing from the article about the new IT director; I was giving a specific example of what I was talking about, viz., my reason for my lack of confidence that the board of education will do the right thing in hiring a superintendent.
As for accusing ME of being devious, I could say a lot about someone else, but I won't.
With all the chatter about the "winning" candidate, I'd hate to see how the other finalist(s) would be critiqued. Is there any knowledge of the other candidates? After all, was Dr. Polselli the best when compared to all the others, was it an inside job, or some other scenario? From what I've read that he said through the reporter interview, he has some pretty lame responses for having a Ph.D.!
ReplyDeleteIt's a Ph.D. from Nova, which should explain it all. Think of it as the difference between getting a degree from NCC or getting one from NYU.
ReplyDeleteSince the board didn't even interview the minority candidate who used to be a Norwalk elementary school administrator and then a Norwalk language arts administrator, we don't know its thinking.
To the 11:46 person, you sure know a lot about the inner goings on for interviews. Not too many people are privy to that information. I would have to agree that you are either the candidate or a certain person at central office who is known not to like the AS.I remember clearly that a certain central office administrator was really P.O. over the A.S. call for accountability when administrators were out of the building. So I'm thinking that this is one of the two of you.
ReplyDeleteEnough said. We are hijacking this thread that should have nothing at all to do with the A.S. I appologize to the others.
Ah....11:57...,Go back to your Middletown being a "well funded, well managaged operation"....Do some research. Middletown is in the same soup as Norwalk. (With a hell of a lot less money) It's just more Fairfield County here, which can lead some to believe that all is right in the world. It isn't.
ReplyDeleteYes, whatever happened to the confidentiality of the interview process? Whoever this poster is, they seem to have inside central office information.
ReplyDelete7:16, you are certainly right. This person has inside central office information, which limits the number of people it could be. It is either the other candidate for AS or a certain person who has a vendetta against the appointed AS. Additionally, this person keeps popping up no matter what the topic of the thread happens to be. He is determined to smear the reputation of the AS.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that there is already an enemies list.
ReplyDeleteFolks, don't stray from the topic at hand. This is a discussion of the new IT Director. While other conversations are tangentially associated with the IT Director being hired, they are marginal at best. Should any one of the other finalist(s) have been chosen, it would be interesting to see how they would be picked apart from this group too. This is not to say that we all think "Dr." Polselli was the best choice but unfortunately it is the one we have to live with and it was not our decision to make. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that "Dr." Polselli made such vague statements concerning his "excitement" to be the new Tech. Director, any monkey could have made those same statements. I want to hear something of substance. I want to see this person committ to Norwalk as Norewalk is committing to him. I'm not saying he should be willing to sleep overnight...we all have families, I just think his plane/car combination on a daily basis is suspect at best and dangerous at worst. We want a long-term replacement, not a 1-year and done replacement. This guy did not apply for the job to end his career in Norwalk, he is using it as a stepping stone. This is so obvious, even the board knows this but either they were blind to this so they could show the community some "eye candy"..."well, we hired a Dr. so-and-so...doesn't get much better than that!", or they are willing to accept he will move on in a year or so and just want to fill the position as soon as possible. Either way, poor decision.
A long list of educators with doctorates comes to my mind, and I cannot think of a single one whose doctorate made any difference. I have no idea why the board considers that a desired credential. Look at the teachers who have doctorates, many of them from programs like Nova's, some of them from programs that are even less reputable. How many of them teach better because of their doctorates? And this board pays them a huge salary differential for the doctorate.
ReplyDeleteBoard members, please read carefully: The doctorate doesn't matter.
All very interesting. Seems to me the best plan would have been to hire the superintendent first and let him/her chose a team since there were so many openings. But since when has Norwalk ever done anything that made sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd many teachers know what common formative assessments are so why assume that poster was in the know. Someone seems paranoid.
Paranoid? Where the heck is that coming from?
ReplyDeleteWould you all just PLEASE give this guy a chance and quit being so negative? Let's hope he'll be able to deliver technology solutions that help this district operate and communicate. Perhaps then, we will not be so reliant on Moina's coverage of district events. While I welcome and applaud NorwalkNet's education coverage, I am incredibly disheartened by the annonymous (yet obvious NPS staff belly-aching...whoever you are!) Ugh..........
ReplyDelete5:16, First, I am not a NPS staff member. I do think quite the opposite of you, however. I am delighted that the NPS staff is interested enough to question the judgement of the board in their decision making. The staff is legitimately concerned about who will lead the system. I aplaud them! (Sometimes concern can come across as negativity.) Cut them some slack! Two very questionnable appointments have been made at a time when people, both in the school system and out, were hoping for much much better.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to be brief and clear in my message here...
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that we have a new IT Director who certainly knows what people can be blinded with...that being a Ph.D.. Anyone who does any sort of hiring in the professional world will tell you if they had a candidate with an Ed.D. or a Ph.D., they would choose the Ph.D.. That being said, no one is critisizing Mr. Polselli's desire for the position or skills. Who would not desire a great salary? As for his skills, that remains to be seen. What skills he has shown thus far are that he can throw out educational jargon to impress those who ultimately hired him, but that jargon has been nullified. When asked the question, "What attracted him to Norwalk?", his answer of "up for the challenge" didn't even answer the question. To the person who commented about common formative assessments, that person is a spot on with their description. He's throwing around terminology that doesn't even make sense and someone on the hiring board took the bait, plain and simple. He knew what he was doing and he knew how to do some basic manipulation with his answers...or at least that's what I gather from these posts...and NO, I am not employed by the school system, just going on what I'm reading here.
My point is that so many people are able to see through the nonsense surrounding and out of the mouth of the candidate, we are all surprised why others are blind to it.
It will be completely unacceptable but will be a reality when he fails to get to work on time for a couple of days a week due to his lack of understanding of how traffic really is in this area, let alone his responsibilities to attend meetings on time or for a longer duration than previously thought.
He bought his doctorate, yes, bought, he bought his own plane, and now he has bought his way into our system. With all this money he must have to buy his way here, his motivation can not be money. So what is it? It is a step to another position somewhere else. Yes. Conjecture? Opinion? Yes. Isn't that the whole point of a blog in the first place; To provide a provocative subject and give others the opportunity to discuss it?
Part of me wants Mr. Polselli to read this blog to get a very good sense of where we are coming from. This constructive criticism is necessary to give him a swift kick in the rear and make it absolutely clear we care about the state of our schools and while we do not agree with the decision to hire him, he will have to learn to work with the community really quick to make it in this city...and succeed. My other part wants him to read none of this and fail like we are all predicting, proving our point, making us feel better that we were right since we saw through the baloney. This brings me back to the statement one of the early posters said...why leave Middletown if all was right in the world there? One does not choose a job farther away, especially this far, unless they are calling it an improvement, which would prove the point of all was NOT right in the technology world there. People don't look for another job when their job is going great, folks!
Mr. Polselli will sink or swim in this position on his own. His skills, or lack of, will ultimately determine his fate here. Unlike the business world, once you are "in" at any school district, you have to screw up royally to get fired/dismissed/let go. From this point on, we need to allow the candidate to settle into the position and show us a taste of what his next steps are and offer an olive branch.
So much for being brief!
Brief and clear? You are a giant troll. Please do everyone a favor and never post on here again.
ReplyDeleteBravo, 6:41 AM! As for 8:51 AM, you have no right to speak for 'everyone.' Your comment was totally inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteWell 9:29 if 6:41 had offered something useful instead of a drawn out negative rant I might feel differently. The truth is no one knows a damn thing about this man so making harsh judgements based on one interview and a posting is what is totally inappropriate. To make matters worse he/she felt the need to post it for everyone to see. Now everyone gets stirred up based on someones unfounded opinion. This doesn't help anyone.
ReplyDeleteWill there be an interview with the other appointee?
ReplyDelete12:59, good point. Will there be an interview with the Director of Elementary Education?
ReplyDeleteI give the new IT Director 1 year and then he is off to his next position!
ReplyDeleteThe man has no concept of the real world (ie - commuting to work). How does the BOE hire someone like this? Do you think he has any concept of NPS technological needs. He paid to have a lot of letters after his name... It's not impressive!
You people think its clever to say he "payed for his degrees" and "mailed in for his degree". Give the guy a chance. For the record, he earned everything that has ever come to him through hard work and dedication. That is a fact. He came from nothing and if you knew him you would know that he is a genious in his own right and a motivator in the classroom. I'll check back on a blog about Dr. Polselli in 3 years, when he has your entire IT department completely squared away. Sounds to me like nothing more than a lot of people who wish they had lots of letters after their name. I'll take a medium regular extra milk next time I see you people.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:57 AM...Are you kidding?!!???
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Bob, any education person knows there are no "geniuses" in public education administration. Only the vain think of themselves that way. The down-to-earth, hard-working, and humble employees know that each district is different, with different needs and requires staff with different strengths and weaknesses than all other places. There are no 2 districts exactly alike. While I agree that since he is hired, we must give him a chance, that does not mean we have to accept how he was hired, his credentials (or lack of), or his motivation. He is self-important at best. Does he have skills? Yes. He has intentionally targeted certain fields of study that impress the average man on the street and make the public feel a false sense of pride in his internet safety demos. If that is all he is concentrating on, the administration has a terrible year ahead of them. He is no Clint Kennedy...only a wannabe.
The technology infrastructure will simply fall apart, even worse than it is currently because of his inability to understand the complexities of the system and will make bad purchasing decisions because of it. He is not a high-level admin, merely a high level technology teacher. Middletown would not have all their computer and infrastructure problems if he were smart enough to have solved them as Bob states in the above post, being a genius and all. So get over yourself and eat some humble pie. The proof will be in the pudding come six months from now. Your first real test will be to get the website working...but choosing Microsoft sharepoint portal as the design tool/platform is your first blunder. It only snowballs from here.