I am out of town this week and could not attend the Democratic Nominating convention on Monday night.
Here's the list of Democratic BOE candidates as reported by several news outlets:
District A: Rosa Murray
District B: Migdalia Rivas
District C: Kevin Poruban
District D: Greg Burnett
District E: Mike Barbis
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Republicans Pick BOE Candidates
A version of this story appears in TheDailyNorwalk.com
Classes may be out, but school board elections went into high gear Thursday night. Republicans nominated both familiar and lesser known candidates for Board of Education at their nominating convention at the Norwalk Inn.
Current Board of Education Chairman Jack Chiaramonte, District D (Cranbury,Silvermine, West Rocks), will run for a second term. Michael Lyons will run representing District C (East Norwalk), taking the seat of Board of Education member Glenn Iannacone who is stepping down this fall. Robert Mecurio was nominated by District A (Central Norwalk) and Geoff Kieburtz will run representing District E (West Norwalk and Rowayton). District B (South Norwalk) did not field any candidates for the school board.
Lyons has been a member of the Board of Estimation and Taxation for the past six years. Before that, he sat on the city's Common Council for four years and the Zoning Commission.
As a Board of Education member, Lyons said he will focus on the fiscal reform and disciple. "I'm hoping to revamp the financial system. We need more financial controls, especially in these lean economic times." In addition, he hopes to improve methods of teaching and curriculum. In the 1990s, Lyons said that he chaired a Marvin Elementary School council- a group of parents, teachers and administrators-- that used a Stanford University based model for accelerated school reform. "With parent and teacher involvement we brainstormed new methods for teaching and wired the school for the Internet," said Lyons noting that test scores improved dramatically because of the program.
As a BET member, Lyons considers himself a "consensus builder" who has considerable experience working with the city's department heads. His initial impression of Superintendent is positive. "She is a breath of fresh air. I can work with her."
Lyons, a corporate attorney for Covidien, is a native Norwalker who went through the Norwalk Public Schools. He has three children who also attended Norwalk Public Schools--James, 22, graduated from George Washington University in 2010 and is training to become a Navy fighter pilot. Claire, 19, is studying to become a veterinarian at Johns Hopkins University. Krystina, 15, is a sophomore at Norwalk High school.
Neither Chiaramonte nor Mecurio, a supervisor for the Water Dept. and Republican stalwart, were present at the nominating convention.
Keiburtz was present at the meeting, but left early. According to his profile onLinkedIn, Keiburtz is Director of Energy Research at Weeden & Co., a brokerage firm. Kieburtz holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in management from the Yale School of Management. In April, he wrote an article about education on the local blog yourct.com. He writes, "Reform is urgently needed in the way we educate our children, and everyone has a stake in better education."
Sunday, July 17, 2011
200 Ineffective Teachers Fired in DC
The Washington DC school district fired 5% of its teachers last Friday for their poor teaching abilities. The Washington Post--DC Schools Insider blog reports that 206 of the district's 4,100 teachers were let go. Last year, the district implemented a program called IMPACT, that is being touted by some to be a model for the nation. The program is a legacy of the controversial former DC superintendent Michelle Rhee.
Bill Turque of the DC Schools Insider writes:
1.Student Achievement – We believe that a teacher’s most important responsibility is to ensure that her or his students learn and grow. This is why we hold educators accountable for the growth their students make on our state assessment, the DC CAS, or on other assessments if they don’t teach a DC CAS grade or subject.
2.Instructional Expertise – This is assessed through five formal observations each year – three by teachers’ administrators and two by independent, expert practitioners called master educators. Feedback and guidance for growth are provided in five post-observation conferences.
3.Collaboration – Education is very much a team effort, which is why IMPACT also measures the extent to which educators work together on behalf of students.
4.Professionalism – Teachers are also held accountable for key professional requirements, including following all school policies and procedures, and interacting with colleagues, students, families, and community members in a respectful manner.
Teachers are "graded", much like students, on 1-4 scale.
•Highly Effective: This rating signifies outstanding performance. Under the current Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) contract, WTU members who earn this rating are eligible for additional compensation. These staff members are also recognized in a variety of other ways.
Highly Effective teachers are eligible for performance bonuses of up to $25,000. Repeat highly effective staff members are eligible for base salary increases of up to $20,000, in addition to the annual bonuses.
•Effective: This rating signifies solid performance. Individuals who receive this rating advance normally on their pay scales.
•Minimally Effective: This rating signifies performance that is below expectations. Individuals who receive this rating are given an additional year to take advantage of the professional development opportunities provided by DCPS. Those who do not improve after two years are subject to separation.
•Ineffective: This rating signifies unacceptable performance. Individuals who receive this rating are subject to separation.
I don't know the details of Norwalk's teacher evaluation program. I wonder how it compares to IMPACT? Do you think something like this could/should come to Norwalk?
Bill Turque of the DC Schools Insider writes:
They were dismissed for poor scores on the evaluation system known as IMPACT, which grades teachers on five 30-minute classroom observations and their compliance with nine broad standards. These include ability to express course content clearly, teach students with differing skill levels and manage time effectively. For some teachers, half of their appraisal is contingent on whether students meet predicted growth targets on standardized tests.
Of the 206 fired, officials said 65 were rated ineffective this year and 141 were judged minimally effective for the second consecutive year. Others were let go for licensure problems or other issues.On the DC school district website, IMPACT is described as measuring teachers according to four key measures:
1.Student Achievement – We believe that a teacher’s most important responsibility is to ensure that her or his students learn and grow. This is why we hold educators accountable for the growth their students make on our state assessment, the DC CAS, or on other assessments if they don’t teach a DC CAS grade or subject.
2.Instructional Expertise – This is assessed through five formal observations each year – three by teachers’ administrators and two by independent, expert practitioners called master educators. Feedback and guidance for growth are provided in five post-observation conferences.
3.Collaboration – Education is very much a team effort, which is why IMPACT also measures the extent to which educators work together on behalf of students.
4.Professionalism – Teachers are also held accountable for key professional requirements, including following all school policies and procedures, and interacting with colleagues, students, families, and community members in a respectful manner.
Teachers are "graded", much like students, on 1-4 scale.
•Highly Effective: This rating signifies outstanding performance. Under the current Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) contract, WTU members who earn this rating are eligible for additional compensation. These staff members are also recognized in a variety of other ways.
Highly Effective teachers are eligible for performance bonuses of up to $25,000. Repeat highly effective staff members are eligible for base salary increases of up to $20,000, in addition to the annual bonuses.
•Effective: This rating signifies solid performance. Individuals who receive this rating advance normally on their pay scales.
•Minimally Effective: This rating signifies performance that is below expectations. Individuals who receive this rating are given an additional year to take advantage of the professional development opportunities provided by DCPS. Those who do not improve after two years are subject to separation.
•Ineffective: This rating signifies unacceptable performance. Individuals who receive this rating are subject to separation.
I don't know the details of Norwalk's teacher evaluation program. I wonder how it compares to IMPACT? Do you think something like this could/should come to Norwalk?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
CMTs Rise Across the Board
The city’s 2011 Connecticut Mastery Test results are full of good news. The test results, which were released Wednesday, show gains over last year — in some cases, jumps of more than 5 percentage points — in math, reading and writing at several grade levels. Since 2006, the test results show double-digit improvements in various subjects and grades.
“I’m encouraged by the CMT results,” says Superintendent Susan Marks. “We are moving in a positive direction.”
Marks points out that this year, one in three elementary school students attained the top level of advanced in math. In middle school, one in four students reached the advanced level in math.
“I’m especially glad that we are moving our students into the advanced category,” she says. Although most of the CMT results focus on proficiency and goal level results, Marks says the district should be aiming for advanced levels.
Marks praised the marked improvement in middle school scores this year, especially in grade 6 and 8. In grade 6, goal math scores jumped to 60.5 percent from 53.3 percent. In eighth grade, that number went to 62.2 percent from 53.9 percent — 8 percentage points higher. In reading, grade 8 students went from 61 percent at goal last year to 66.5 percent this year. Grade 8 writing scores also jumped more than 10 percentage points from last year to 57.1 percent at goal this year.
“We weren’t talking so positively about the middle school scores last year,” says Marks. “There have been a lot of focused strategies on literacy and math in the middle schools.”
Diane Filardo, Norwalk schools’ testing specialist, says the gap between Norwalk and the state’s scores is closing. “In some areas, Norwalk surpasses the state proficiency levels.” In third grade math, for example, there is less than a point difference between goal levels between Norwalk and the state
Filardo, who is just beginning to disaggregate the data by ethnicity and special needs students, says that that she is seeing positive results from the city's Hispanic and free and reduced lunch population. "Hispanic students are meeting proficiency at higher levels and outperforming their peers in the state."
The results of the CAPT – the Connecticut Academic Performance Test — taken by high school sophomores are less impressive than the CMT scores. “They were more flat than we would have liked,” says Marks noting that the high schools need more support.
The CMT and CAPT are administered annually in March to students across Connecticut. They test math, reading and writing. Grades 5, 8 and 10 are also tested in science. The test was taken by 250,000 children statewide and has five levels of performance for each content area: below basic, basic, proficient, goal and advanced. The federal government uses the CMT and CAPT to measure yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind law.
CMT, percentage of students at or above goal: 2006, 2010, 2011
Grade 3
Math, 47.4, 64, 62.5
Reading, 45.7, 51.4, 51.9
Writing 52.8, 56.3, 56.4
Grade 4
Math, 43.6, 62.3, 66
Reading, 45.6, 53.6, 54.9
Writing, 51.7, 59.2, 62.3
Grade 5
Math, 51.3, 68.1, 70.9
Reading, 53.1, 54.8, 57.4
Writing, 60.2, 65.1, 65.1
Grade 6
Math, 47, 53.3, 60.5
Reading, 57.2, 66, 67.8
Writing, 55.6, 50.7, 54.1
Grade 7
Math, 40.1, 63.3, 62.5
Reading, 56.5, 70.8, 74
Writing, 46.3, 48.9, 50.1
Grade 8
Math, 42.4, 53.9, 62.7
Reading, 57.4, 60.9, 66.5
Writing, 54.4, 45.4, 57.1
“I’m encouraged by the CMT results,” says Superintendent Susan Marks. “We are moving in a positive direction.”
Marks points out that this year, one in three elementary school students attained the top level of advanced in math. In middle school, one in four students reached the advanced level in math.
“I’m especially glad that we are moving our students into the advanced category,” she says. Although most of the CMT results focus on proficiency and goal level results, Marks says the district should be aiming for advanced levels.
Marks praised the marked improvement in middle school scores this year, especially in grade 6 and 8. In grade 6, goal math scores jumped to 60.5 percent from 53.3 percent. In eighth grade, that number went to 62.2 percent from 53.9 percent — 8 percentage points higher. In reading, grade 8 students went from 61 percent at goal last year to 66.5 percent this year. Grade 8 writing scores also jumped more than 10 percentage points from last year to 57.1 percent at goal this year.
“We weren’t talking so positively about the middle school scores last year,” says Marks. “There have been a lot of focused strategies on literacy and math in the middle schools.”
Diane Filardo, Norwalk schools’ testing specialist, says the gap between Norwalk and the state’s scores is closing. “In some areas, Norwalk surpasses the state proficiency levels.” In third grade math, for example, there is less than a point difference between goal levels between Norwalk and the state
Filardo, who is just beginning to disaggregate the data by ethnicity and special needs students, says that that she is seeing positive results from the city's Hispanic and free and reduced lunch population. "Hispanic students are meeting proficiency at higher levels and outperforming their peers in the state."
The results of the CAPT – the Connecticut Academic Performance Test — taken by high school sophomores are less impressive than the CMT scores. “They were more flat than we would have liked,” says Marks noting that the high schools need more support.
The CMT and CAPT are administered annually in March to students across Connecticut. They test math, reading and writing. Grades 5, 8 and 10 are also tested in science. The test was taken by 250,000 children statewide and has five levels of performance for each content area: below basic, basic, proficient, goal and advanced. The federal government uses the CMT and CAPT to measure yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind law.
CMT, percentage of students at or above goal: 2006, 2010, 2011
Grade 3
Math, 47.4, 64, 62.5
Reading, 45.7, 51.4, 51.9
Writing 52.8, 56.3, 56.4
Grade 4
Math, 43.6, 62.3, 66
Reading, 45.6, 53.6, 54.9
Writing, 51.7, 59.2, 62.3
Grade 5
Math, 51.3, 68.1, 70.9
Reading, 53.1, 54.8, 57.4
Writing, 60.2, 65.1, 65.1
Grade 6
Math, 47, 53.3, 60.5
Reading, 57.2, 66, 67.8
Writing, 55.6, 50.7, 54.1
Grade 7
Math, 40.1, 63.3, 62.5
Reading, 56.5, 70.8, 74
Writing, 46.3, 48.9, 50.1
Grade 8
Math, 42.4, 53.9, 62.7
Reading, 57.4, 60.9, 66.5
Writing, 54.4, 45.4, 57.1
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
CAPT Results Show Minor Gains
Norwalk tenth graders posted minor gains in the 2011 Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT), according to the State Department of Education which released the standardized test scores on Tuesday morning.
According to the results, math scores increased by 4 percent to 35.2 percent "at goal" and reading scores increased by 3 percent to 39.6 percent "at goal". Since 2008, the district has shown some overall progress in reading and writing. More than half of tenth graders performed "at goal" in writing.
However, Norwalk continues to lag behind the state average by 10 to 15 percentage points in math, science and writing. In reading, however, the gap is narrowing to 5 percentage points between Norwalk and the rest of the state.
The achievement gap between Norwalk's white and minority students remains significant. For example, 9.7 percent of Black students scored “at goal” in math versus 58.2 percent of white students. In reading, 12.3 percent of Black students scored “at goal” versus 50 percent of White students. The scores for Black students “at goal” dropped in all subject areas.
Hispanic students also scored behind their White peers, but made “at goal” improvement in every subject area this year. For example, 26.5 percent of Hispanic students scored “at goal” in math; that’s up from 19.5 percent last year. In reading, their "at goal" score went from 20.1 percent last year to 25.5 percent this year.
The city's two high schools, Norwalk High and Brien McMahon, had similar results overall in math and science. However, Norwalk High scored higher in reading with 42.5 percent at goal versus 39.5 percent at McMahon. In writing, 58 percent of Norwalk High students "at goal" versus 46.5 percent at McMahon.
The CAPT is administered annually in March to high school sophomores across Connecticut. It tests math, reading, writing and science and is used by the federal government to measure yearly progress through the No Child Left Behind law. The CAPT has five levels of performance for each content area: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, Goal and Advanced.
I've contacted school official for their comments and will be updating this story soon.
Norwalk State
Grade 10
Math 2008 38 50.2
Math 2009 37 48
Math 2010 31.2 48.9
Math 2011 35.2 49.6
Science 2008 32.7 46.5
Science 2009 32.3 43
Science 2010 33.5 45.5
Science 2011 32.9 47.2
Reading 2008 31.0 45.5
Reading 2009 36 .1 47.5
Reading 2010 36.7 45.9
Reading 2011 39.6 44.8
Writing 2008 47.9 57.9
Writing 2009 39.6 55
Writing 2010 51.1 59.6
Writing 2011 51.1 61.3
According to the results, math scores increased by 4 percent to 35.2 percent "at goal" and reading scores increased by 3 percent to 39.6 percent "at goal". Since 2008, the district has shown some overall progress in reading and writing. More than half of tenth graders performed "at goal" in writing.
However, Norwalk continues to lag behind the state average by 10 to 15 percentage points in math, science and writing. In reading, however, the gap is narrowing to 5 percentage points between Norwalk and the rest of the state.
The achievement gap between Norwalk's white and minority students remains significant. For example, 9.7 percent of Black students scored “at goal” in math versus 58.2 percent of white students. In reading, 12.3 percent of Black students scored “at goal” versus 50 percent of White students. The scores for Black students “at goal” dropped in all subject areas.
Hispanic students also scored behind their White peers, but made “at goal” improvement in every subject area this year. For example, 26.5 percent of Hispanic students scored “at goal” in math; that’s up from 19.5 percent last year. In reading, their "at goal" score went from 20.1 percent last year to 25.5 percent this year.
The city's two high schools, Norwalk High and Brien McMahon, had similar results overall in math and science. However, Norwalk High scored higher in reading with 42.5 percent at goal versus 39.5 percent at McMahon. In writing, 58 percent of Norwalk High students "at goal" versus 46.5 percent at McMahon.
The CAPT is administered annually in March to high school sophomores across Connecticut. It tests math, reading, writing and science and is used by the federal government to measure yearly progress through the No Child Left Behind law. The CAPT has five levels of performance for each content area: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, Goal and Advanced.
Percent of students at/above “Goal”
Norwalk State
Grade 10
Math 2008 38 50.2
Math 2009 37 48
Math 2010 31.2 48.9
Math 2011 35.2 49.6
Science 2008 32.7 46.5
Science 2009 32.3 43
Science 2010 33.5 45.5
Science 2011 32.9 47.2
Reading 2008 31.0 45.5
Reading 2009 36 .1 47.5
Reading 2010 36.7 45.9
Reading 2011 39.6 44.8
Writing 2008 47.9 57.9
Writing 2009 39.6 55
Writing 2010 51.1 59.6
Writing 2011 51.1 61.3
Monday, July 11, 2011
Haynie: Board Made Budget Cuts Without Plan
Here's an op-ed by Board of Education Member Sue Haynie:
I like plans. I think parents and staff and taxpayers like plans. And, especially when making large financial decisions of a personal nature or as an acting Norwalk Board of Ed (BOE) member, I like plans. The Norwalk BOE reconciled the 2011/12 Operating Budget on June 14th by making $4.1 million of reductions and we did so without a plan. We didn’t use Superintendent Marks reconciled Budget as a guide even though it was an articulated plan containing thoughtful and meticulous suggestions based on 6 months of stakeholder discussion of how best to make $4.6 million dollars of painful cuts. We didn’t use Superintendent Marks reconciled Budget as a guide even though, because of union concessions and internal adjustments made since her original May 2011 reconciliation, $723,000 could be put back at the get-go and even though she had provided prioritized suggestions for position reinstatement.
Instead, BOE Finance Chair Mr. Colarassi orchestrated a presentation whereby we used as a template the budget recommendations of two committees: his 3-member BOE Finance Committee and that of the Budget Committee with its strong Union voice. Neither of these two committees had reconciled their Budgets, nor had made all the necessary painful decisions, so both were short over $1 Million dollars. Both of these two committees violated elements of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by their lack of recorded votes, a Connecticut act that is in large part about transparency of government. Neither of these two committees presented anyone an articulated plan that this Board member is aware of. Additionally, we as a full 9-member Board did not meet prior to June 14th to fully review either the BOE Finance or the Budget Committee plans. We as a 9-member Board did not have our own plan either.
So, on June 14th the Norwalk BOE had to make over $4.1 million in cuts. The dire economy and the core mission of educating our youth demanded that we make fiscally conservative and highly targeted, goal-centered decisions. We didn’t do that. We winged it. We went down the list as suggested by the BOE Finance Chair, keeping some and throwing other positions and functions off the bus, each decision based on our own agendas, opinions, and emotions; data and due diligence be hanged.
This is clearly not the way to protect our children’s educational needs, instill confidence with the city taxpayers or run a $154 million dollar business. The sole purpose of public schools is to educate all our children well. We hired a Superintendent with the expertise and track record to do this and it requires change and new ways of thinking. This is making some people very uncomfortable. It is time for the political and personal agendas of the adults in this City to get out of the way; our children our waiting.
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