You CANNOT claim to be centered on equity, justice, antiracism —all while pushing through kids, especially the marginalized and minoritized, that can’t read, write and do math at grade level (& in the case of d65 not even close to grade level).
The hypocrisy here is astounding. It’s actually criminal.
You CANNOT claim to be centered on equity, justice, antiracism —all while pushing through kids, especially the marginalized and minoritized, that can’t read, write and do math at grade level (& in the case of d65 not even close to grade level).
The hypocrisy here is astounding. It’s actually criminal.
I didn’t appreciate how bad those numbers are trending. It would be one thing if all the focus on equity worked but it seems to have no or negative impact.
At the last meeting, one board member (if memory serves-Kim) berated the community for asking to return to fiscal responsibility and getting back to academic responsibility. She said these things are compatible with the equity goals. I personally feel strongly that you can and should be fiscally responsible, improve academics for all and improve equity. It does not need to be an if/or. However, these academic numbers and the dire financial situation show that this board is incapable of ANY of the three.
This is playing out all over the country —in schools, colleges, corporations…very little has actually improved with these initiatives—and in fact in most scenarios things have gotten worse.
And to think there were Board candidates who saw the writing on the wall. To think there were people who questioned the removal of advanced math, for example. We were told it was racist and inequitable and that’s why it was eliminated. The equity warriors patted themselves and Horton in the back for their brilliance; for figuring it out. And yet —the immediate question that should have been asked: what are you doing to address why there weren’t enough students of color in the advanced math pipeline to begin with? But of course no one asked that. And it was never addressed. This wasn’t actually about lifting kids up. It was about pushing them down. This is the Evanston way. It’s always about the immediate headline.
And then the best part? The best part is that the Evanston mob called anyone who dared to question this, racists, Kkk and whyte supremacists. It begs the question now: who is the actual racist?
Here's an example from a couple parents I've heard: If you wanted your kid to skip a grade, you had to fill out a bunch of papers and your kid had to take some tests. One of the forms they had to fill out had a question that was something like "Is there another kid in your child's class performing at or above your child's level?"
If you answered YES, then I guess D65 denied the grade skip. I wanted to punch myself but it's such an obviously clear case of "Hey who is that other kid doing well?" and promote both of them. But not what happened on the ground.
I have so many examples of this across a wide array of D65 stuff
Yes not just tests but tests proctored by Northwestern proctors with stern admonishments that parents can’t be present and you can’t use outside materials or you will be disqualified. Then if you passed the test multiple meetings with the school psychologist to take more tests (during recess of course)! With prying questions because you know can you really handle a whole extra level of math????! Emotionally? Is your family life stable? Are you stable? This apparently all relates to the Pythagorean Theorem.
It sounds like some principals no longer follow this insane regimen but it seems some still do……
Oh and if you qualify and are in 5th grade you take a bus to the middle school. This will cause kids to miss their specials (art, music, coding)…..
I think part of the problem is that in so many of our systems, in order to fix this problem we were pretty big changes and people to do extra work. In this case above, someone needed to take ownership and be like "Yes, I am the person responsible for this and going to identify other high performing kids and work to advocate for them" .. and maybe there are lots of people in the administration who want to do that (or maybe there aren't). But good leaders find way to empower staff to make things better and take risks.
The leadership approach here has been: shove all the staff and teachers into a couple of hours of questionably effective training, write some six figure checks to consultants, and check off the box.
I’d think that the head of curriculum, if even slightly decent at their job, could have a huge influence here. All of these administrators —and there are so many of them — get paid a lot of money….and for what? How are they measured year in and year out in terms of objectives & deliverables? How do you end up with numbers like this and still have a job? By hoping no one notices? By counting on the fact that the community is in a zombie like state?
I mean, even the Superintendent's contract doesn't even have numeric goals, just broad statements about doing things! This kind of stuff needs to start at the top - the Board consistently giving Superintendents fluffy contracts sets the tone:
Like, even Larry Gavin said that contract is unusual and the goals part is barely even compliant with the state rules regarding Superintendent contracts. If we can't even set numerable expectations for a Superintendent, how can we expect them to set it for staff?
And if you look at budget spending over the last 5 years, it's clear that nobody was looking at any budgets or had any idea how much money was being spent or by whom. It sure looks, from the outside, like a total free for all.
Do you recall if this is consistent with Horton's contract? Or did they reduce the quantifiable goals in part because they realized it's a bad look for them to hand an extension to someone who's not even hitting the goals they laid out?
The problem is that there is often a gap before kids even enter kindergarten, so teachers are desperately trying to close the gap from day one. More money needs to be put into birth to pre-k services. Also, it is my experience that most of these students who want to skip grades aren't necessarily ready - just because you are a fast learner doesn't mean you don't need the content and standards that are being taught at that grade level. I don't know why so many parents are obsessed with having their kids skip grades.
Finally someone mentions the immeasurable impact of GOOD early childhood education! This would help close the gap and yet nothing substantial has been done in this area, a real missed opportunity here.
They need to focus on literacy instruction with evidence based strategies in the early grades. Once kids are behind in reading, everything else falls behind as well.
That's what they are supposedly doing now. Fingers crossed this is THE thing that will fix all the problems. I am forever hopeful when the newest thing comes around...
You CANNOT claim to be centered on equity, justice, antiracism —all while pushing through kids, especially the marginalized and minoritized, that can’t read, write and do math at grade level (& in the case of d65 not even close to grade level).
The hypocrisy here is astounding. It’s actually criminal.
I didn’t appreciate how bad those numbers are trending. It would be one thing if all the focus on equity worked but it seems to have no or negative impact.
At the last meeting, one board member (if memory serves-Kim) berated the community for asking to return to fiscal responsibility and getting back to academic responsibility. She said these things are compatible with the equity goals. I personally feel strongly that you can and should be fiscally responsible, improve academics for all and improve equity. It does not need to be an if/or. However, these academic numbers and the dire financial situation show that this board is incapable of ANY of the three.
This is playing out all over the country —in schools, colleges, corporations…very little has actually improved with these initiatives—and in fact in most scenarios things have gotten worse.
And to think there were Board candidates who saw the writing on the wall. To think there were people who questioned the removal of advanced math, for example. We were told it was racist and inequitable and that’s why it was eliminated. The equity warriors patted themselves and Horton in the back for their brilliance; for figuring it out. And yet —the immediate question that should have been asked: what are you doing to address why there weren’t enough students of color in the advanced math pipeline to begin with? But of course no one asked that. And it was never addressed. This wasn’t actually about lifting kids up. It was about pushing them down. This is the Evanston way. It’s always about the immediate headline.
And then the best part? The best part is that the Evanston mob called anyone who dared to question this, racists, Kkk and whyte supremacists. It begs the question now: who is the actual racist?
Here's an example from a couple parents I've heard: If you wanted your kid to skip a grade, you had to fill out a bunch of papers and your kid had to take some tests. One of the forms they had to fill out had a question that was something like "Is there another kid in your child's class performing at or above your child's level?"
If you answered YES, then I guess D65 denied the grade skip. I wanted to punch myself but it's such an obviously clear case of "Hey who is that other kid doing well?" and promote both of them. But not what happened on the ground.
I have so many examples of this across a wide array of D65 stuff
Yes not just tests but tests proctored by Northwestern proctors with stern admonishments that parents can’t be present and you can’t use outside materials or you will be disqualified. Then if you passed the test multiple meetings with the school psychologist to take more tests (during recess of course)! With prying questions because you know can you really handle a whole extra level of math????! Emotionally? Is your family life stable? Are you stable? This apparently all relates to the Pythagorean Theorem.
It sounds like some principals no longer follow this insane regimen but it seems some still do……
Oh and if you qualify and are in 5th grade you take a bus to the middle school. This will cause kids to miss their specials (art, music, coding)…..
How would a parent even know if there was another kid in your child's class performing at or above grade level?
That’s crazy, Tom. And yet —par for the course.
I think part of the problem is that in so many of our systems, in order to fix this problem we were pretty big changes and people to do extra work. In this case above, someone needed to take ownership and be like "Yes, I am the person responsible for this and going to identify other high performing kids and work to advocate for them" .. and maybe there are lots of people in the administration who want to do that (or maybe there aren't). But good leaders find way to empower staff to make things better and take risks.
The leadership approach here has been: shove all the staff and teachers into a couple of hours of questionably effective training, write some six figure checks to consultants, and check off the box.
I’d think that the head of curriculum, if even slightly decent at their job, could have a huge influence here. All of these administrators —and there are so many of them — get paid a lot of money….and for what? How are they measured year in and year out in terms of objectives & deliverables? How do you end up with numbers like this and still have a job? By hoping no one notices? By counting on the fact that the community is in a zombie like state?
I mean, even the Superintendent's contract doesn't even have numeric goals, just broad statements about doing things! This kind of stuff needs to start at the top - the Board consistently giving Superintendents fluffy contracts sets the tone:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14bdH3MVr6MBuhcXk2V_Mh9HuGhjNm2QG/view
Like, even Larry Gavin said that contract is unusual and the goals part is barely even compliant with the state rules regarding Superintendent contracts. If we can't even set numerable expectations for a Superintendent, how can we expect them to set it for staff?
And if you look at budget spending over the last 5 years, it's clear that nobody was looking at any budgets or had any idea how much money was being spent or by whom. It sure looks, from the outside, like a total free for all.
Do you recall if this is consistent with Horton's contract? Or did they reduce the quantifiable goals in part because they realized it's a bad look for them to hand an extension to someone who's not even hitting the goals they laid out?
His was pretty fluffy too, but there were at least some actual quantifiable things:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k7_NAQqulFUwyTlA7pszX56dRIg0H3Jx/view
Her expectations are basically just hand waving
But then they gave him a pass on the quantifiable things, right? No point in having them if you're not going to stick to them!
One of the reasons given for Dr. Goren being let go was “failure to meet academic benchmarks”.
Beardsley has got to get the ax.
The problem is that there is often a gap before kids even enter kindergarten, so teachers are desperately trying to close the gap from day one. More money needs to be put into birth to pre-k services. Also, it is my experience that most of these students who want to skip grades aren't necessarily ready - just because you are a fast learner doesn't mean you don't need the content and standards that are being taught at that grade level. I don't know why so many parents are obsessed with having their kids skip grades.
Finally someone mentions the immeasurable impact of GOOD early childhood education! This would help close the gap and yet nothing substantial has been done in this area, a real missed opportunity here.
They need to focus on literacy instruction with evidence based strategies in the early grades. Once kids are behind in reading, everything else falls behind as well.
That's what they are supposedly doing now. Fingers crossed this is THE thing that will fix all the problems. I am forever hopeful when the newest thing comes around...