Comments for shawnbeightol.com Blog

Comment on UTD again surrenders 2011 Raise with Healthcare Vote, are MDCPS employees being OVER-billed? by Dr. Patrick Williams

Dr. Patrick Williams — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:48:00 +0000

WTF is this? After reading your article, “UTD again surrenders 2011 Raise with Healthcare Vote, are MDCPS employees being OVER-billed?” I am moreso convinced that the “powers-that-be” are putting in the final works to destroy teachers, students, families, and the community along with high-stakes testing. I cant help but agree that, [n]ot only is UTD NOT advancing you and I, they are costing us money.”

Comment on Why Bill Gates’ Education Reform is Off-Target by Dr. Patrick Williams

Dr. Patrick Williams — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:22:00 +0000

I am total agreement with paragraphs 5, 6, and 7. OMFG! so true! these damn parents gonna pay the price. If I have to raise their children, then I want to claim them as dependent for the IRS income tax god damn it!

Comment on Offer to Settle Beightol’s “Unfair Labor Practice” Charge against UTD for Insufficient Notice of Ratification by Marta Laura Zayas

Marta Laura Zayas — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Elementary school teachers may teach all subjects if they are self contained, including PE, Art, and Music. These teachers should be able to choose which subject they want to be evaluated on. MDCPS already has pre and post Spanish tests that are mandated. These should be an available option for teachers that teach Spanish to use in their evaluation.nnI also suggest that Spanish teachers be represented in the focus groups. Please look into AHEAD which is an association of Hispanic Educators. Contact me for more information.

Comment on Story Idea: Major Foundation Funds Florida’s Jeb Bush Education Initiatives, then Trains Journalists to Advocate? by Steve Strizver

Steve Strizver — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:35:00 +0000

Your efforts are appreciated. Tho I cannot now, I would like to help those, like you, who are TRYING. On C-span earlier today, I thought WADE HENDERSON’s position was well-articulated, particularly his last comment.

Comment on Beyond the Closing of Minority Schools for Testing Performance A Letter to Superintendent Carvalho and the M-DCPS School Board by B. Goldstein

B. Goldstein — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Hey you! I was there. I march! If you have the time you should speak next year at the pre rally conference. Beth Goldstein giving you and Shawn two thumbs up………..

Comment on Every Dark Prophetic Literary Work Realized Under Obama/Scott Education Nightmare: see the linked video below by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:52:00 +0000

The email conversation between myself, another teacher and the host of this video:nn—–Original Message—–nFrom: Beightol, Shawn E.nSent: Sat 8/20/2011 8:31 AMnCc: MC; FJnSubject: Teacher Evaluation Rubric Videon nAt the end of the video we watched yesterday on the calculation of a teacher’s impact, there was a link to see the video online.nnWould it be possible to get that link?nnThanks,nnShawn Beightolnnn—–Original Message—–nFrom: F JnSent: Sat 8/20/2011 9:17 AMnTo: Beightol, Shawn E.nCc: MCnSubject: RE: Teacher Evaluation Rubric Videon nMy concern is that the method of evaluation is Communist.nnMost of my colleagues cannot wrap their heads around the idea that 50% of *ALL* high school teachers’ ratings will be based on 9th/10th grade FCAT math/reading scores. So even if you teach science to 12th graders, 50% of your rating for “merit pay” and rating that gets published online to the public will be based on something you don’t even teach.nnWhat if you’re a photography teacher and your students win prestigious prizes in photography, but the kids in your school are not making significant reading gains?nnJudging people based on the efforts of the collective or the commune seems to be downright Communistic.nnWhat happened to the concept of individualism that America prizes so greatly? Further, FCAT scores are not really an accurate way to judge the effectiveness of teachers. Mountains of research proves this.nnI sincerely hope that this new method of evaluation is revisited and revamped. nn—–Original Message—–nFrom: MCnSent: Saturday, August 20, 2011 10:48 AMnTo: FJ; Beightol, Shawn E.; nSubject: RE: Teacher Evaluation Rubric VideonImportance: HighnnShawnnnWhile I completely understand your concerns, please be aware that the law requires every district to move forward with the student achievement portion of the evaluation system even though the state has not yet provided districts with all of the needed assessments – their plan is to have the other assessments ready by the end of Race To the Top which is the 2014 school year. The district negotiated our current plan with the Untied Teachers of Dade and we expect changes will be made for 2012-2013 as additional tests come online. This may not be what you want to hear but it is the truth. The one big issue that rings clear for me in all of this is that everyone at the school regardless of what they teach and administrators need to get their heads around helping ALL students improve their reading skills. Hopefully, the video made it clear that school administrators are also accountable in their evaluation.nnThe link to the video is: http://prodev.dadeschools.net/ which is the professional development web site — because of the size it must be viewed in four segments.nnMCnnn—–Original Message—–nFrom: Beightol, Shawn E.nSent: Sat 8/20/2011 12:09 PMnTo: M C.; FJnSubject: RE: Teacher Evaluation Rubric Videon nMs. MC:nnRe: “I completely understand your concerns” – there’s a little misunderstanding – I didn’t express any concern in my email to you. I just asked for the link to the video.nnThank you for the link.nnPerhaps your typo “Untied Teachers of Dade” was an educational equivalent of a Freudian slip? (just kidding!).nnFinally, regarding your statement: “everyone at the school regardless of what they teach and administrators need to get their heads around helping ALL students improve their reading skills” – is quite telling:nn1) that an entity could be considered a “school” without always having made literacy a top priority is a tragedy indeed and is partially the ammunition with which those in the privatization movement have loaded their “guns.”nnFYI, for years as the data has been available, I have declared that FCAT science was a reading test (1:1 correspondence between reading and science FCAT scores statewide with high r^2 value >0.9) and require my students to read and journal each day. This year we will be reading Brian Green’s “Elegant Universe” in Chemistry again.nn2) it mirrors and perpetuates the states’ and fed’s reduction of literacy and education on the whole to merely the actions at the school. It reduces the act of education to a single variable, ignoring the multitude of variables (and their non-linear, non-multiple regression effects) identified and proclaimed by all the top researchers, including Diane Ravitch (as you know, formerly a proponent of such quantitative efforts to measure quality). nnUntil we tender a “mathematical calculation” of student achievement that controls or accounts for such things as poverty, familial attitudes/values toward education, parental involvement, marital status, cultural variations, etc. etc., our (mis)diagnoses will only disguise and delay the true nature of persistent student illiteracy (numerical, verbal, civic, social, cultural, etc).nnIn writing my blog about testing and teacher evaluation, one of the conclusions I came to is that parents utilized a very “organic” approach to choosing teachers and schools for their children when choice is available: teachers and schools are not quantified in their schema, rather, teachers and schools are _qualified_ through such evaluative imperatives as:nn* Observe some teachers at workn* attend the lessonsn* observe the relationshipsn* Look for loving care of the child coupled with high standardsn* Ask teachers and inquire about their training and experience.n* Find out about the teacher’s expectations of his/her studentsn* Talk to parents of other studentsnnThese activities were culled from an article on how to choose a music teacher for home study of the violin through a channel completely separate from public/formal education. But these are echoed in many articles about how to choose good teachers or schools in other contexts.nnWhy don’t we also in public education promote parent/child centered education? Recognize that it is the value and efforts of the family that ultimately establish the desire and provision for learning, that it is the engaged/involved parent who best matches child with educational program, teacher, or school.nnWhy do we rather engage and endorse in methods that the bulk of modern and unbiased research show to be harmful to students and ultimately to our community, workforce, and society?nnI know this is not your decision, but they are the questions that plague we remaining thinkers who are too stubborn to do what many of our peers have done and bail out on public education. nnRegards,nnShawn Beightolnnp.s. the blog on teacher evaluation and testing (written right after Washington DC SOS rally in response to a former student on Facebook inquiring about alternatives to high stakes testing and teacher quantification):nnhttp://shawnbeightol.com/blog/2011/08/02/on-testing-and-evaluating-teachers-and-schools/n nn—–Original Message—–nFrom: FJnSent: Sat 8/20/2011 12:50 PMnTo: Beightol, Shawn E.; MC.;nSubject: RE: Teacher Evaluation Rubric Videon nI was just a little concerned because I’m just finding it difficult to understand why our education system is caving to political agendas rather than heeding the research of Ravitch and other eminent scholars.nnResearch that is stated in articles like the one below seems to be completely dismissed:nnMajor intl. study shows US “reforms” not found in high-performing nations: http://t.co/AypBCvh nnTop performing nations don’t judge teachers by student test scores, don’t test yearly, says NCEE study. Invest in teaching profession.nn”Just because test scores have improved doesn’t mean that a quality education has taken place.” –Diane RavitchnnI’m also finding it difficult to understand why our school system is spending millions upon millions of dollars to test kids rather than spending that money to limit AP class sizes which are now at 40 students a class, etc. etc.nnThank you for your time. n

Comment on On Testing and Evaluating Teachers and Schools by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:57:00 +0000

I posted this comment about school site and “downtown” leadership/administration on the Facebook page for “opting out” one’s children from high stakes tests:nn[Over testing, over reliance on testing] is not just lack of leadership. Its presence of Vendorship – businesses have slipped in where an opportunity without any other (ready) solution has developed. The causes of low student achievement (and the growing rejectio…n by older students of the traditional teaching model) are many, but include lack of leadership: poor principals do not adequately address poor teachers.nnThere is definitely leadership missing – at the school site. Poor principals are even harder to “quantify” than teachers, but Principals have the task of ensuring good teachers are in each classroom, that students (and families) are doing their part, as well as the business aspects of the school. That’s too much work / responsibility for most of them, I gather…or we haven’t put the same effort into researching and publicizing the role of good administration in the educational process.nnIn addition to healthy local leadership and decision making is the observed trend to centralize decision making (including curricular choices and mandates) at the “downtown” level. Perhaps in the business model, this might make sense, but as has been said time and time again, we’re not producing widgets, we are conducting brain surgery in the field. Our surgeons are the teachers and the field conditions are dynamic and best addressed “on the fly” by the professionals on site (teachers and administrators jointly advising the stakeholders and reaching decision conclusions together, like a medical team with the family).nnHere’s a link to a study on decision making and its effect on learning: http://cnx.org/content/m14112/latest/nand a full text essay/survey on characteristics of principals who affect change positively in the school sites:nhttp://www.sedl.org/change/leadership/character.html

Comment on Is Public Education Essential to our Leaders Anymore? by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:54:00 +0000

KMV:nnThat’s a good question “do kids whose parents love school do better?” Rather than opine about that, I’ll join you in “reading up on this idea”:nnIn looking to do so, I ran across many articles that address this subject, some very narrow in their scope (affects on math attitudes, etc), other’s, like this one, quite broad:nhttp://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/18617/Desforges.pdfnnA very powerful statement taken from the summary page of this article is:n”the impact caused by different levels of parental involvement is much bigger than differences associated with variations in the quality of schools.”nnOther significant conclusions from the Desforges survey of research follow:nniv This research consistently shows thatn* Parental involvement takes many forms including good parenting innthe home, including the provision of a secure and stable environment,nintellectual stimulation, parent-child discussion, good models ofnconstructive social and educational values and high aspirations relatingnto personal fulfillment and good citizenship; contact with schools tonshare information; participation in school events; participation in thenwork of the school; and participation in school governance.nn* The extent and form of parental involvement is strongly influenced bynfamily social class, maternal level of education, material deprivation,nmaternal psycho-social health and single parent status and, to a lesserndegree, by family ethnicity.nn* The extent of parental involvement diminishes as the child gets oldernand is strongly influenced at all ages by the child characteristicallyntaking a very active mediating role.nn*Parental involvement is strongly positively influenced by the childu2019snlevel of attainment: the higher the level of attainment, the morenparents get involved.nn*The most important finding from the point of view of this review isnthat parental involvement in the form of u2018at-home good parentingu2019 hasna significant positive effect on childrenu2019s achievement and adjustmentneven after all other factors shaping attainment have been taken out ofnthe equation. In the primary age range the impact caused by differentnlevels of parental involvement is much bigger than differencesnassociated with variations in the quality of schools. The scale of thenimpact is evident across all social classes and all ethnic groups.nn*Other forms of parental involvement do not appear to contribute to thenscale of the impact of u2018at-homeu2019 parenting.nn*Differences between parents in their level of involvement arenassociated with social class, poverty, health, and also with parentalnperception of their role and their levels of confidence in fulfilling it.nSome parents are put off by feeling put down by schools and teachers.nn*Research affords a clear model of how parental involvement works.nThis model is described in the report. In essence parenting has itsninfluence indirectly through shaping the childu2019s self concept as anlearner and through setting high aspirations.nnv Research on interventions to promote parental involvement reveals a largennumber of approaches ranging from parent training programmes, throughninitiatives to enhance home school links and on to programmes of familynand community education.nnvi Evaluations of this very extensive activity revealn*There is a perceived increased need and an evident increase in demandnfor such supportnn*High levels of creativity and commitment are evident amongstnproviders and high levels of appreciation are recorded by clients.

Comment on Is Public Education Essential to our Leaders Anymore? by Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:09:00 +0000

Hi Shawn. I am adding a comment here regarding something you said on HuffPost in Parenting. ( I would go there, but I’m more interested in asking you some questions than staying on that thread.) It’s about what you said about needing “parental involvement in the home study process”. I think about this often: what is missing from the parents at home? I’ve been teaching 2nd grade and K for about 4 years, and I’m not talking about signing the homework form and volunteering here and there, but more about the need for parents to show by example what they love about learning and help to spark something in their child. I’m not sure how to put it into words, but adults need to be the ones to love reading, math, science, experimenting, testing, critical thinking, school in general…sometimes I think parents just need to talk more about their favorite author or teacher, or concepts…can you point me in any directions to read up more on this idea? Or what you were trying to say? Do kids whose parents love school do better? I know you are busy, but I’d love to hear more from your point of view if you have a moment. Thanks. -KMV

Comment on Matt Damon and MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Deliver Machine Gun Steady Defense of Teachers by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:01:00 +0000

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/02/the-ridiculist-matt-damon/nnAnderson Cooper breaks down Matt’s Bourne moment on reporter frame by frame:nn”He doesn’t even need hair…his words are his numb-chucks…”