FOCUS DC News Wire 9/13/13

 

 

Finally leaders of D.C.'s charter school movement have public officials in place to finally fix the funding and facility equity issues between them and DCPS. It has been a long time coming.

 

Mayor Fenty was all in for education reform but completely ignored charters that rapidly moved to teach almost as many students as the traditional system. Mr. Gray ran on the promise of funding equity between charters and DCPS, and while little progress has been made on this issue so far the Mayor has not changed his tune.

 

He appointed Abigail Smith as the new Deputy Mayor of Education. Ms. Smith comes from the board of directors of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School and was a consultant for the Public Charter School board on the common lottery issue. Early on in her position she successfully pushed for 16 vacant DCPS buildings to be turned over to charters or other community organizations, a move Chancellor Henderson initially publically opposed.

 

Then this week we learned that the head of the Department of Parks and Recreation Jesús Aguirre is Mayor Gray's nominee to fill the vacant position of State Superintendent of Education at OSSE. Mr. Aguirre and his wife co-founded and operated one of Arizona's first charter school which they ran for 10 years.

The one wild card in all of this is David Catania, the chairman of the D.C. Council's education committee. Mr. Catania has openly worried about the strong proliferation of charters and the lack of coordination regarding the location of these schools with the traditional public school landscape. However, when asked recently if he would support restricting charter growth the Washington Post's Emma Brown has him commenting that “I don’t believe that the answer to improving DCPS schools is closing the opportunity for additional choice." One issue here is that it has been widely revealed that Mr. Catania does not get along with Scott Pearson, the executive director of the Public Charter School Board. However, on the flip side he does appear to have a respectful relationship with Friends of Choice in Urban Schools.

 

So all in all it appears we finally have the perfect maybe once in a lifetime opportunity to straighten out the approximately $100 million a year deficit in public finds that charters receive compared to DCPS. Now, we just need our public officials to have the courage to do what is right for our children.

 

 

The Public Charter School Board has proposed a new system for evaluating charter preschools, and some parents are up in arms. The system may not be perfect, but when the Board takes up the proposal on Monday it should vote to approve it.

 

Last month the Public Charter School Board (PCSB)unveiled a plan to rank charter schools serving young children according to a formula that includes assessments of literacy and math skills. Within days, a petition protesting the move had garnered over 200 signatures. The PCSB is scheduled to vote on the issue at its meeting on Monday, September 16th.

 

Some opponents of the proposal are laboring under the misconception that 3-year-olds will be filling in bubbles on standardized tests with Number 2 pencils. Others argue that the PCSB should give more weight to assessments of "social and emotional learning," a category that includes skills like taking turns and controlling emotional outbursts.

 

Let's start with a threshold question: why is the PCSB evaluating preschools at all? Other charter authorizers don't do it. But that may be because no other authorizers have jurisdiction over preschools. DC is the only place in the nation where public charter preschools exist, and the PCSB feels it needs to monitor these programs to ensure that millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly.

 

The PCSB has applied its Performance Management Framework (PMF) to elementary and secondary charter schools for the past two years. Now it's simply adjusting and extending the PMF to schools serving younger children. But partly because the PCSB is the canary in this particular mine, it's getting a lot of flak for doing it. Some view preschool as akin to daycare, a place where kids should be kept safe while their parents are otherwise occupied and maybe learn to play nicely with their peers. Butresearch has pointed to high-quality preschool as the key to closing the achievement gap between rich and poor students. If kids start kindergarten a year or two below where they should be in terms of readiness to learn, they may never catch up.

 

Especially in the District, where the majority of 3rd-graders perform below grade level and the achievement gap stubbornly persists, ensuring the quality of early childhood education is vital. And ranking charter preschools can help parents find the schools that are doing it best.

 

Tests are observations

It's important to bear in mind that the "tests" the PCSB is proposing to use have little resemblance to the standardized tests that older children take. While the format varies, they all consist of some kind of observation. The children aren't even aware they're being tested, says Jack McCarthy, CEO of the highly regarded AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter Schools. Some of the tests begin with the teacher saying, "Let's play a game."

 

A test of "receptive language," McCarthy explains, might consist of the teacher showing a child a picture and saying, "Show me the bus." To test "expressive language," the teacher might say, "What's this a picture of?" and look for the answer, "A bus." A teacher administering a "math test" might ask a child to make a triangle with popsicle sticks.

 

Some assessments call on the teacher to review observations of a child made over the previous several weeks. Others bring in a principal or coach to observe how the teacher interacts with the class. And it's the school that's being rated by the PCSB, not the kids. Plus, the charter preschools are all using these tests already. So the concern that children will be stressed by the tests seems misplaced. What about the objection that the PCSB is putting too much weight on reading and math skills and not enough on social and emotional learning (SEL)?

 

That charge has been leveled by, among others, Sam Chaltain, a DC education blogger and charter preschool parent. Chaltain initiated the petition, which to date has 280 signatures, asking the PCSB to change its evaluation formula.

 

The proposed PCSB formula not only places more weight on reading and math readiness than on SEL, it also makes testing the latter optional. If a preschool chooses to have SEL included, it counts for only 15% of its overall score, while literacy and math skills together count for 45%. If a school opts to omit SEL, literacy and math count for 60%. At the kindergarten level the optional SEL component decreases to 10%, and reading and math can count for as much as 80%. (Additional factors include attendance and re-enrollment rates.)

 

Too much weight on reading and math?

Opponents of the formula argue, reasonably enough, that this uneven weighting will lead schools to emphasize reading and math skills over SEL when in fact they're all connected. Chaltain advocates a formula that would give equal weight to all three measures, while also factoring in things like creativity. Those on the other side of the issue don't disagree about the interconnectedness of SEL and academic skills. "It's like asking, what do you need to create water, hydrogen or oxygen?" says McCarthy. "You need both. The same is true with school readiness."

 

But while McCarthy and Sara Mead, a member of the PCSB, agree that SEL is just as important as reading and math, they say it's harder to measure. Research shows that tests of literacy and math skills are better predictors of future success than currently available tests of SEL, Mead has said.

 

And determining whether a child has, for example, acquired the ability to resolve disputes by "using his words" is inherently a more subjective exercise than determining whether he's learned his letters. Some charters may be unwilling to have their scores based partly on tests that are still considered unreliable. Both McCarthy and Mead also point to another mandatory measure in the preschool formula, an observational test called CLASS, part of which measures how well a teacher is supporting a child's social and emotional development. McCarthy says that much of the SEL research is new, and that in time better measures are likely to emerge. Eventually, he predicts, the PCSB's weighting will change.

 

"I look at this as a first step," he says. "No one has done this yet."

 

This appears to be one of those times when we shouldn't allow the perfect to stand in the way of the pretty darn good. The preschool PMF has been almost three years in the making, and most charter preschool operators in the District were involved in its creation and support it.

And the CLASS assessment, which counts for 30% of the preschool score, is a measure of child-teacher interaction that should help to ensure a nurturing, stimulating environment and guard against the kind of rote drilling that opponents of the proposed formula fear. So let's at least give the PCSB's proposal a try before condemning it. 

 

 

D.C. education officials highlighted the responsibility of parents for their children’s success at a six-hour event Saturday, while also previewing new online tools that promise streamlined access to data on the city’s public schools. 

 

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s second annual “Parent and Family Engagement Summit” drew hundreds to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

  

The summit began with a morning keynote address from Chicagobased education consultant Sunny Chico, the author of the book series “You: Your Child’s First Teacher.”  Noting that 92 percent of an average child’s life is spent outside of school, Chico urged parents to consider the disproportionate influence they have on their kids. 

 

“You have all probably realized how much more our children learn from us than they’ll ever learn in school,” she said. “We teach them how to live in this world, how to treat each other, how to work hard every day and what to value. As important as school subjects are to know, what our children learn at home can set them apart, raise them up and hold them down.” 

 

In an interview after her talk, Chico also stressed that her message isn’t reserved for parents and families from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

 

“In the most affluent areas, which we don’t seem to discuss, we have bullying, we have drug addiction, we have high suicide rates, because a lot of the focus is on children achieving,” she said. “You have many students who are highperforming but have issues.”

 

The superintendent’s office holds an annual summit in part because of a commitment to increasing parental involvement in exchange for flexibility in implementing the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, said chief of staff Jose Alvarez.

 

 “Every parent wants to be involved,” he said. “They’re trying to find ways to do it.” 

 

The agency spent several of the summit’s breakout sessions offering attendees a preview of a new online portal on its website, learndc.org.  The portal will soon allow anyone  with an Internet connection to compare District schools in terms of  standardized test scores, graduation  rates, extracurricular activities, and  availability of Advanced Placement  classes, number of highly qualified teachers and a variety of other metrics. 

 

When the site launches next month, students and their families for the first time will be able to find comprehensive data about charter schools and traditional public schools in the same place. They will also be able to see how an individual school compares to the average District public school on an array of measurements. 

 

The site will also have more indepth data on individual schools, including the number of AfricanAmerican students in a particular high school who enroll in college, or the number of economically disadvantaged students who do so, based on data from the past few years.

 

“The LearnDC site will put all the information in one place,” said Athena Hernandez, a spokesperson for the office who ran breakout sessions on the new portal. She said access to this data is particularly important because the District is a “school district of choice,” where parents can send their children to any public school that enrolls them, even one halfway across the city. This makes comparing schools critical. 

 

“It is truly our goal to make it as easy for parents as possible, because choosing a school for your child is complex,” Hernandez said.

 

Throughout the summit, speakers described the ideal relationshipbetween schools and families as a partnership, but Coolidge High School parent coordinator Terry Goings summed up the event’s main message, insisting that improving his child’s education is largely up to him.

 

“That is my responsibility,” he said. “Not the school’s responsibility. Not the city council’s responsibility. Not the neighbor’s or the teacher’s responsibility. My responsibility.”

 

Chico commended the District for holding the weekend summit, saying large events of its kind are uncommon. 

 

She said schools must give parents and families feedback on how 

they can improve their children’s education. “It’s important for parents to feel empowered,” she said. “It’s important for parents to feel they’re not alone.”

 

 

The world of special needs and special education is complex, scary, and often overwhelming. In addition to having to readjust your expectations for how your family’s life will be, you also need to learn a whole new language! In the next series of articles, I will attempt to put together a primer of sorts to introduce some often-used terms. Below are terms that have to do primarily with school-based education.

 

IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a federal law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities. Children are covered under this law from birth to age 18 or 21. Under an amendment to the original Act, the students must be prepared for further education or employment, and independent living. At the time the law was enacted, approximately 4.5 million children were not being provided any sort of effective instruction. Children with diagnoses such as blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, and “mentally retarded” were specifically excluded from attending any type of public school.

 

Eligibility for Services: Having a disability does not necessarily mean that a student qualifies for special education services. There has to be a need for additional or different approaches to education in order for that child to participate in school in a manner similar to his/her typically developing peers. Students with the following diagnoses who, because of their condition need special education and related services, are covered under the IDEA:

 

 

Subsequent court rulings have added that even if a student is completely incapable of learning, for example the child is unconscious or in a coma, the school is still required to provide educational services to the child.

 

IEP: The IEP specifies is a formal document, developed by the IEP team, that outlines the student’s current levels of performance, states how disabilities affect academic performance, and lists accommodations, modifications, and services that will be needed to provide the child with an appropriate education. The IEP team consists of such school system personnel as the principal, teacher(s), speech therapist, psychologist, and special education teacher. It also includes, most importantly, the parents/guardians! You have the legal right to be invited to (in writing) and to attend your child’s IEP meetings.

 

Often the most important part of an IEP is the number and kind of hours and services that are provided to the student. Additionally, accommodations and modifications can be crucial to a successful school experience. Most people understand the concept of one-on-one instruction with a special educator, but that is not the limit of what can be provided.

 

Other Related Services: Other Related Services include things such as Occupational Therapy (for fine motor skill development and to help with sensory processing issues), Physical Therapy (for gross motor skill development – in school specifically to help the student navigate the environment), Speech and Language Therapy (articulation, processing issues, dyslexia), and psychological services. Other services are audiology, teaching of Braille, school health services, parent training, music therapy, therapeutic recreation, and social work services. Often these services are as important, if not more, to the success of the student in a public school environment.

 

FAPE: A Free and Appropriate Public Education is the goal of IDEA and the writing of a useful IEP. The education provided must provide what the student needs and allow the student to receive educational benefit (the child must not simply be sitting in a room without accessing the same education as the other students). The special education and related services provided must meet the student’s unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. It is important to keep in mind, however, that a FAPE does not have to be the best possible education the child could receive. “Appropriate” does not mean perfect, unfortunately.

 

LRE: The goal of IDEA is that the education of the student be provided in the Least Restrictive Environment. The most ideal environment, according to this goal, is one in which the disabled student is solely educated in a classroom with typically developing students with supports and services provided within that context. The next step down is providing those supports and services both within and outside the typical classroom. Another step down is a special needs only classroom (self-contained) that contains only special needs students but that is co-located with a regular school and allows for interaction between the other students and the special needs students. After that level is a special school in which all of the students have disabilities. Lastly, there are students who are not able to attend school at all and who need to be instructed at home, in the hospital, or in another location. Those students are still the responsibility of the public school system.

 

504 Plan: Students who have disabilities that do not require an IEP are automatically protected by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Section 504 dictates that no child may be excluded from participation in educational programs solely because of his or her disability. The people covered under this include children between the ages of three and twenty-two who have a disability that causes limitations to one or more major life activities and that substantially reduces a student’s ability to access learning in an educational setting. The kinds of disabilities included are diabetes, epilepsy, allergies, heart disease, and chronic illness. Accommodations that can be provided under a 504 Plan can include things such as visual aids, enlarged print, an extra set of textbooks for home use, taping lectures, oral tests, preferred seating, computer-aided instruction, positive reinforcements, and behavior intervention plans.

 

The above is merely a small sampling of the kinds of language used in the world of special education. Please check this column for future explanations of the many strange phrases, acronyms, and words of our lives.