tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post1458268216018986660..comments2023-09-29T06:32:16.005-04:00Comments on My School Committee Blog: More Amherst Schools NewsCatherine A. Sandersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-48223631801060692032010-09-02T22:19:12.297-04:002010-09-02T22:19:12.297-04:00Well it is now Sept 2 add one more voice to the li...Well it is now Sept 2 add one more voice to the list of those who have not received an exit-survey.<br /><br />Our children completed the 2009-10 school year in Amherst and we were, frankly, dismayed on multiple fronts. <br /><br />The "exit", which last year seemed like a tough decision, now seems so glaringly obvious to me.<br /><br />I have a lot of things to say in an exit survey--some of them actually incisive and intelligent, if you ask me, and some that could be helpful to the district as a whole. Alas it seems as if no one cares.<br /><br /> This indifference seems to further vindicate our decision to give up on Amherst public schools.<br /><br /> It is truly sad and so very disappointing. I think that it needs to be said that if a critical mass of families of means depart (read that as families who value a strong education, who are invested in that education, who have other options...), then the task of making the district high performing and high achieving becomes more and more unlikely, and eventually highly improbable.<br /><br />Thank you Catherine for your noble (and hopefully not sisyphean) efforts. We will be watching from the sidelines.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-58877617831061858062010-08-18T08:33:17.359-04:002010-08-18T08:33:17.359-04:00To Anon August 12 8:39am,
I think it took courage ...To Anon August 12 8:39am,<br />I think it took courage for you to pose your question because it is so politically incorrect. However you admit that you are not an expert. Your suggestion that special ed be removed from the department of education is the way it was many years ago before the Americans with Disabilities Act was made into law. It is simply unjust to segregate disabled children from non-disabled children under most circumstances. Special Education law requires that there be a level playing field in education. For example, wheel chair access. Why should a child who uses a wheel chair have to go to a separate school from his siblings and neighbors? School districts must address the special needs of students in order to allow them to access the cirriculum. If a child has cerebal palsy and cannot hold a pencil, then a school occupational therapist must use methods and adaptatations to teach the child to write or type. If a child has a vision loss, adaptations must be made so that the child can travel throughout the school, thus a vision specialist may teach him how to use a cane, or a scribe may take notes from the chalkboard for the student. If a child has a speech impairment, a speech and language pathologist will provide services so that the child will eventually be able to be understood well. All of these skills are required to get an education. Medical personnel and psychologists are not teachers. They may be consulted by schools, but if a disability is preventing a child from learning a cirriculum, the responsibility to help the child access an education belongs to educators. This doesn't mean that the school is responsible for all of the child's needs--only what he needs to be educated. For example, if a child has a neurological impairment such as autism, the school must provide communication training because it is necessary to be able to communicate in order to learn. But this does not mean that the school has to teach the child how to be a great orator or public speaker, unless those opportunities were offered to every other student. I hope this somewhat answers your question. The scope of it is too broad for a blog!Marynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-29035359005117393392010-08-16T12:49:38.894-04:002010-08-16T12:49:38.894-04:00I'm posting a revised version of the comment f...I'm posting a revised version of the comment from Anonymous 12:14 to avoid name-calling (I have deleted two sentences):<br /><br />"Me too - we pulled our child from the district last year and did not receive a survey. <br /><br />My belief is the administration - as is normal for them - does not want to hear from anyone that could possibly criticize their approach. That is why these surveys are spotty at best.<br /><br />That said, I believe that we have great potential in our system. Good and excellent teachers abound. But like a sports team, absentee management - malfeasant management with goals that are not oriented toward educating children but toward feathering their nest or retaining control of a $20MM system - will fail to produce a winning team. The players (teachers) need good and firm management. <br /><br />The school committee needs to decapitate the system, reform the system and utilize the fine resources we still retain in house."Catherine A. Sandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-90709105395639787792010-08-16T12:14:19.418-04:002010-08-16T12:14:19.418-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-30335624076785374232010-08-16T10:05:15.447-04:002010-08-16T10:05:15.447-04:00Administration could care less if kids are leaving...Administration could care less if kids are leaving. All they think about is when they'll be seeing their next salary increases.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-26374560961649926912010-08-15T15:23:27.474-04:002010-08-15T15:23:27.474-04:00Surveys too quickly? My child left the district l...Surveys too quickly? My child left the district last year and we never received a survey even though the claim was that one would be sent whenever a child left. Wouldn't it make sense that a form go out the day (or next) when notice of withdrawal is received? Unless no one really cared why kids are leaving.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-28104934592380718612010-08-15T09:25:10.254-04:002010-08-15T09:25:10.254-04:00Anonymous 8:23 - I would imagine people believed (...Anonymous 8:23 - I would imagine people believed (including me) that the surveys should have gone out quickly, so that the district could learn what feedback was provided. If that feedback was provided in the early summer, perhaps it could be used to implement changes for the upcoming year. But if the feedback is provided at the end of August, that is more difficult to do. That is why I give surveys at the end of each class I teach -- so that I can re-vamp my class accordingly. It would be hard to do that if I waited and contacted students 3 weeks before I taught the class again.Catherine A. Sandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-34223633280773922010-08-14T20:23:37.705-04:002010-08-14T20:23:37.705-04:00I'm confused about why a few people were so an...I'm confused about why a few people were so anxious to have the surveys mailed out in such a hurry. The responses would be the same if sent home in a kid's backpack on the last day of school or 20 work days after the last day of school, so what's the rush? It implies to me that some people don't see the survey as a tool to gather data as much as they do another venue to vent and complain, which they just couldn't wait to do some more. I believe Irv is right; some people are just angry and unhappy no matter what.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-67037510445287283712010-08-12T08:39:24.285-04:002010-08-12T08:39:24.285-04:00I am certainly not an expert but have an observati...I am certainly not an expert but have an observation that has been occurring to me lately. <br /><br /> Why is special education under the auspices of the Dept of Education and not under the auspices of health organization with medical and psychological expertise such as Dept of Developmental Services? Disabilities appear to me to be health related--physical/developmental, mental/behavioral which could be better served by the medical working with psychological community to service students and school system rather than squeezing the $ out of education taxes and using some trained (rarely medically) and a lot of untrained personnel. <br /><br />There's an awful lot of duplicate effort that is going on as well and I do think it's due to our necessary reliance on the school structure to serve children of all abilities.<br /><br />I know this is would mean wholesale change but it has always seemed to me that we expect our teachers and schools to absorb this huge endeavor as just "education" when there is so much more to consider. <br /><br /><br />E.S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-16756052106673264852010-08-08T11:43:28.267-04:002010-08-08T11:43:28.267-04:00Ed said, "And homeschooling. You don't ne...Ed said, "And homeschooling. You don't need money for that." This is so innaccurate. We homeschooled our son on two different occasions: once in the middle school years and once in the high school years. He was in special education and he lost all of his therapeutic services:speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, academic interventions and social skills training. Our health insurance paid for some of these services but we had to pay the majority out of pocket. We had to provide transportation to these appointments which impeded our ability to work. Also, my wife had to reduce her job hours from full time to part time so that she could stay home with our son, who, because of his disability, could not be left home alone. When I came home after work, she went out again to work at another part time job in the evening. We incurred great debt because we chose home schooling, and our time together as a family was fractured. You may wonder why we put ourselves and our other children through this. It was because the special education program in Amherst was deplorable, and my son was not making progress in any area. We were never given any kind of exit survey, nor did we receive any kind of guidence around home schooling cirriculum, as is required by law. I would like to say that I think disabled students in Amherst are not treated fairly. They are not valued for the diversity they bring to a school. Homeschooling is not a free luxery. I know that we could have sued Amherst and maybe won but we could not afford the retainer that the lawyer required. It is sad to say that even an alledged rapist or murderer is given a free lawyer in this county but not a disabled child who is alledgedly being mistreated at school. There will not be social justice in our schools until disabled kids are included in the picture, along with children of color and those of low economic means. God help those who belong to all 3 groups.must remain anonymous, sorrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-79848716283923902432010-08-07T22:04:11.374-04:002010-08-07T22:04:11.374-04:00Catherine asks:"Have you [Gill-Montague Schoo...Catherine asks:"Have you [Gill-Montague School District] been able to implement exit surveys?"<br /><br />We have not implemented exit surveys (and to be honest I'm not exactly sure what an exit survey is!) What the new Superintendent Carl Ladd has finally done is implement a survey of parents who have "choiced out" of the district under the school choice program (a big problem for us). They have gotten a lot of responses and are attempting to pull together some sort of report. <br /><br />However, this raises some key expertise and admin capacity issues for me. I am not convinced the administrators of these districts have the expertise, time etc to actually do this kind of analysis well. Not intended as a criticism of our Superintendent but are ed people really trained and do they have time to do this sort of thing? It's not as simple as it might appear.<br /><br /> This gets into broader policy issues actually - the ability of these relatively large and expensive organizations to do the kind of policy analysis they need to do. Especially in the context of all the stuff thrown at them by the state and federal governments (not to mention internet bloggers like us!)<br /><br />Keep in mind you are asking a social question - why do parents/kids leave public schools - that is not on the radar screen of the state and national ed leadership. Our district was declared under-performing because of a lack of "adequate yearly progress" on MCAS by certain "subgroups." Not only were these terms barely defined in the evaluations (and in fact the measure of AYP may have been methodologically invalid!) but the evaluators did not seem to notice that the school district was leaking huge numbers of middle class students.Jeff Singletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05829958496039269438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-58535086689263602002010-08-07T18:56:31.249-04:002010-08-07T18:56:31.249-04:00"The administration NEVER said that they did ..."The administration NEVER said that they did not want to do the exit surveys. Just because they did not come out as soon as some wanted does NOT mean that they needed to be coaxed to do them."<br /><br /><br />Coaxed??<br /><br /><br />LOL<br /><br /><br />They need to be TOLD what to do...<br />as a parent tells their child to clean up their room.<br /><br />Not trying to be negative but, that's exactly how it is...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-74712577214076734562010-08-07T17:40:11.758-04:002010-08-07T17:40:11.758-04:00When it takes multiple calls, messages, none of wh...When it takes multiple calls, messages, none of which get returned, yeah coaxing is the right word. My exit survey didn't come for several years after my kids left the district, and they were telling people the exit surveys were going out at the end of each year. This just wasn't true. It IS important that the school district send these forms out and find out WHY people are leaving the district. Of course they have other stuff going on, but this is important also. I bet it took coaxing, and then some.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-13047582791543159322010-08-07T14:16:29.793-04:002010-08-07T14:16:29.793-04:00And why are we assuming that they are only going o...And why are we assuming that they are only going out because they were coaxed? Perhaps the administration was busy doing other equally important things.<br /><br />That is the main problem I have with the majority of people who post here on this blog...EVERYONE assumes the worst of the schools.<br /><br />The administration NEVER said that they did not want to do the exit surveys. Just because they did not come out as soon as some wanted does NOT mean that they needed to be coaxed to do them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-78501146923290889542010-08-05T21:24:28.837-04:002010-08-05T21:24:28.837-04:00Nina, thank you for informing us that the exit sur...Nina, thank you for informing us that the exit surveys are going out. Can you give any acknowledgment that it took a lot of "coaxing" to get the admin to actually follow through with this request -- and also that this might be an example of why people are frustrated with the way that issues and requests are dealt with at ARPS?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-27260626447946474302010-08-05T08:21:34.700-04:002010-08-05T08:21:34.700-04:00Catherine - do you have any demographic and SES in...Catherine - do you have any demographic and SES info on the parents who are leaving the public schools? <br /><br />We can presume that they are white wealthy 2-parent families -- that is what I read between the lines of your posting -- but I would want to see some data to support it.<br /><br />First, wealthy two-parent minority families (of which there are quite a few in Amherst) act identically to rich white parents. They won't admit it, but they do -- once family income gets to six figures, particularly $150K or more, money more predicts actions than race.<br /><br />And if the wealthy minority children are being pulled out of the uber-progressive ARSD, well wouldn't that be interesting to know.<br /><br />And if it is <b>NOT</b> the wealthy but the middle class who are pulling kids out of the ARSD, this in many cases is worse because you will wind up with a dual district -- some kids with lots of home resources and some with no home. <br /><br />Catherine, respectfully, I am not willing to buy your claim that it is the wealthy parents who are leaving the district without some evidence supporting it. Yes private school is expensive and there is the transportation issue.<br /><br />But the charter and religious schools aren't that expensive and poor people also have access to cars. It isn't always easy to coordinate but I have seen parents work together and it isn't as big a burden to drive to a distant school if you are only doing it one day a week.<br /><br />And homeschooling -- you don't need money for that. <br /><br />The questions I would ask - and these can't be asked this directly:<br /><br />1: Household income, including value of any public assistance (including Sect 8), and percentage of income coming from public assistance if any.<br /><br />2: Number of parents in household, are they married to each other or not, and are they the biological parents of the child?<br /><br />3: First language(s) of the parent(s) -- and then what the parent(s) want the child's first language to be. (A lot of immigrants insist that English be their child's first language - their native language is an acceptable second one, but they don't want their child to have an accent).<br /><br />4: Demographics. Not just race and sexual orientation but also extent to which organized religion (any organized religion) is important and political orientation (e.g. "whom do you hate more, Bush or Obama?").<br /><br />5: Social issues -- extent to which child was removed to keep child away from a specific peer group (specific named individuals whom the parent didn't want child associating with - not just racial or class bigotry but specific kids) or to remove the child from the influence of drugs, violence, or (particularly in the case of girls) sexual activities.<br /><br />Now I know that Nina is going to say that the ARSD is some Shangri-La but I spent a decade conversing with low income parents on a daily basis and it isn't just the rich parents who are upset. And this was before Catherine & Steve were on the school committee...Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-33107891903844321572010-08-05T07:40:48.625-04:002010-08-05T07:40:48.625-04:00Those numbers will increase somewhat in the fall w...<i>Those numbers will increase somewhat in the fall when the schools learn about incoming graduate student families, she said.</i><br /><br />I am not so sure. TA funding at UMass has fallen through the floor, the student loan market tightened up at the same time that traditional-aged students are going to grad school because of the economy (and as a means to defer repayment of their loans). <br /><br /><i>More parents of secondary students are opting to send their children to private or charter schools <b>or to home-school them, Mazur said.</b></i><br /><br />While I agree with you Catherine on the fear of Amherst becoming like some parts of Connecticut where only the servant's children attend the public schools, home schooling is the poor man's private school. <br /><br />And - trying to say this neutrally - there isn't the level of religious fervor in Amherst that exists elsewhere in the country - we don't have parents upset about the ARSD teaching evolution or sex ed - so why the significant home schooling in Amherst?<br /><br />Is it because the Middle School s****? Yes, Nina, I said that -- and I will go one step further and remind everyone that the home schooling movement <b> exists entirely in response to parental concerns about schools</b>. <br /><br />Home schooling does not exist because parents think that the local schools are great. No, Nina, it exists as the desperate attempt of parents who love their children too much to subject them to schools they find unacceptable. Parents who believe that whatever they can cobble together for a curriculum is going to be far superior to what the professional educators are offering...<br /><br />And when are we going to talk about bullying and violence in the Middle School? That is what I, personally, have always heard whispered as the biggest concern over there.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-4343630731930957202010-08-04T20:39:19.780-04:002010-08-04T20:39:19.780-04:00At the end of this school year, I called the Distr...At the end of this school year, I called the District office and asked about an exit survey. The woman on the phone told me she'd call me back. After waiting for her to do so for a week, I called again, on the day before the last day of school. The woman who helped me this time put me on hold, and when she came back, she told me that the Superintendent knew that I was calling (I had given my name when I called) and that I would have the survey tomorrow. I asked if I should look for it in the kids' backpacks or if it would be e-mailed to me. The woman rather curtly replied, "The Superintendent knows who you are and you'll get the survey tomorrow."<br /><br />It never came, of course. I thought about e-mailing members of School Committee, but at the end of the day, I am just tired of fighting for things. <br /><br />Traci WolfeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-52067346875161198762010-08-04T20:20:39.931-04:002010-08-04T20:20:39.931-04:00The exit surveys are being mailed this week.The exit surveys are being mailed this week.Nina Kochhttp://www.arps.org/users/hs/kochn/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-63502035010892456002010-08-04T18:41:54.716-04:002010-08-04T18:41:54.716-04:00O.K., Kip and Farshid have appeared to suggest tha...O.K., Kip and Farshid have appeared to suggest that stability, in the form of Maria, is a positive.<br />You say, "Each SC member can then evaluate whether stability in leadership is a better outcome than change".<br />I'm wondering if you think it's possible the schools could have BOTH Maria and change?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-8448037793573642682010-08-04T18:39:18.042-04:002010-08-04T18:39:18.042-04:00I;m interested in CS response to: 2:27 on July 30 ...I;m interested in CS response to: 2:27 on July 30 from "Not Good Enough in Math to Help My Kids"..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-21568896918807279582010-08-04T16:30:51.020-04:002010-08-04T16:30:51.020-04:00Hi Catherine,
I've tried to run the votes to ...Hi Catherine,<br /><br />I've tried to run the votes to see how votes would affect running a SI search. Please educate me if I am wrong on this- if all Amherst SC members voted for a SI search and all the other members voted against, wouldn't it still pass? Region: 5-4 (5 yes from Amherst and 4 no from non-Amherst members) and Union 26: 3-3 (3 yes from Amherst and 3 no from Pelham)? Thus, winning by a single vote?<br /><br />This being, of course, what I think is an unlikely scenario...Abbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989627808442831131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-20967758213303084682010-08-04T15:58:14.490-04:002010-08-04T15:58:14.490-04:00My responses:
Anonymous 10:14 - I believe the com...My responses:<br /><br />Anonymous 10:14 - I believe the community should have input on the selection of a superintendent, and I was quite surprised to hear both Kip and Farshid's thoughts that this was not their view. Each SC member can then evaluate whether stability in leadership is a better outcome than change, depending on the candidates and their qualifications. I hope this will indeed occur.<br /><br />Anonymous 10:34 - none of the Amherst members on the SC have any link to the public schools in terms of finances. Two of the 4 regional members not from Amherst do: one is a former ARHS teacher and one is married to a current ARHS teacher. <br /><br />Anonymous 9:01 - I agree that a full and open search will be very important. I believe residents in Amherst at least would be quite concerned if the regional SC voted to not conduct a search at all and simply appoint the current interim.<br /><br />Jeff - thanks for your words ... though I'm not sure if it makes me feel any better that the problems we see in Amherst aren't entirely unique! Have you been able to implement exit surveys?Catherine A. Sandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-67011372680068413202010-08-03T16:19:28.684-04:002010-08-03T16:19:28.684-04:00As a member of the Gill-Montague Regional School D...As a member of the Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee I can tell you that the resistance to listening to the concerns of those who leave district schools is widespread. We have had declining enrollments for years (often leaving for Amherst!) but until recently district leaders have reacted with denial and resentment. Hopefully that is changing but until you establish good mechanisms for identifying problems and a strong problem-solving culture within the district it will not happen.<br /><br />Why should implementing an exit survey be like trying to turn the Titanic? That is why liberals like myself often become conservatives. It sometimes appears as if "the market" - that is the threat of going out of business- is the only way to get institutions to pay attention to their customer base.That is why Charter schools are appealing to me - if parents choose not to send kids to them they will go out of business.<br /><br />Having said that, exit surveys (which I support) can be tricky if not implemented with good will and a good methodology. The reasons for the choices parents make are so varied and sometimes contradictory that it is easy to throw up one's hands and say nothing can be learned from them...<br /><br />especially if that is what you are inclined to say!Jeff Singletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05829958496039269438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-82433449627225806582010-08-03T16:01:58.028-04:002010-08-03T16:01:58.028-04:00As a member of the Gill-Montague Regional School D...As a member of the Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee I can tell you that the inability to identify and respond to the concerns of those leaving schools in a district is widespread in public education. So is resentment toward criticism and a tendency to "shoot the messenger."<br /><br />This is why liberals like myself often become conservatives. Just getting a district to implement an exit survey seems like trying to turn the Titanic. Thus "market mechanisms" - that is, the threat that the organization will go out of business if it does not listen to customers - seems like the only way to get those in charge to listen to parents.<br /><br />I strongly favor exit surveys (and surveys of those who stay!) But they can be tricky without a good methodology and people of good will to interpret the data. The reasons why people make their choices are so diverse and contradictory that there is a tendency to throw up one/s hands and say nothing can be learned from it.<br /><br />...especially if that is what you are inclined to do anyway.<br /><br />Jeff Singleton<br />Gill-Montague School CommitteeJeff Singletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05829958496039269438noreply@blogger.com