tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post8242997931365519099..comments2023-09-29T06:32:16.005-04:00Comments on My School Committee Blog: Articles on Education in Amherst: Math (again), Budgets, Superintendent SearchCatherine A. Sandersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-44656874875353859812010-12-20T15:32:49.917-05:002010-12-20T15:32:49.917-05:00Catherine Sanderson has no problem speaking in a s...Catherine Sanderson has no problem speaking in a strong and clear voice. I hate to tell you this but males have not cornered the market in speaking in a strong and clear voice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-22465615445946028572010-12-12T02:25:31.512-05:002010-12-12T02:25:31.512-05:00"He spoke in a strong and clear voice."
...<i>"He spoke in a strong and clear voice."</i><br /><br />As do most guys who beat up on girls. It is, after all, the woman's "fault" for saying/doing something that got the guy upset...<br /><br />Look at creative fiction to your heart's content but if Jackson had been a UM student, he would have been expelled if not committed to the psych ward for what he did. Look at the much lower standard we have for school employees....<br /><br />And why then would folks disrespect teachers????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-48767934852653350272010-12-11T09:53:42.160-05:002010-12-11T09:53:42.160-05:00Uh, excuse me, Ed. Big guy lunging? There was no...Uh, excuse me, Ed. Big guy lunging? There was no lunging anywhere. Mark Jackson made a comment. He called Catherine on her inaccurate statement. Period. No lunging. No threat of bodily harm. He spoke in a strong and clear voice. Just as others have done in SC meetings, on both sides of the table. This is such a non-issue that YOU have blown way out of proportion to what actually happened.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-72031643156777756812010-12-11T07:41:29.977-05:002010-12-11T07:41:29.977-05:00What the principal did was beyond rude at that mee...What the principal did was beyond rude at that meeting. And was meant to scare Catherine. Period. End of discussion. And what he insinuated about the former Superintendent was probably actionable. It's amazing he still has his job. Only a place like Amherst public schools would allow a bully like that to keep his job. The guy is a bully.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-73190772990101279952010-12-10T23:46:22.608-05:002010-12-10T23:46:22.608-05:00Anon December 10 12:12 PM -- go read the General ...Anon December 10 12:12 PM -- go read the General Laws. <br /><br />Massachusetts is funky, putting someone in reasonable fear (a big guy lunging at a small woman constitutes "reasonable fear" in my book) constitutes an "assault" in Massachusetts where the law is still written in 17th Century terms.<br /><br />Like I said, go read the statutes...Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-67661383553342936782010-12-10T12:12:59.896-05:002010-12-10T12:12:59.896-05:006:19 What planet are you on? Essentially physciall...6:19 What planet are you on? Essentially physcially assault?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-74564524866833176232010-12-10T06:00:19.699-05:002010-12-10T06:00:19.699-05:00Larry, people like the poster who attacked you are...Larry, people like the poster who attacked you are sooo typical of Amherst. They show their true colors. They are for free speech as long as you keep to the party line in Amherst. Otherwise, they want you to stay silent. Everyone smile, be agreeable, be as far to the left as possible on all topics, and you'll fit in just fine here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-37138368042111210512010-12-09T18:19:43.883-05:002010-12-09T18:19:43.883-05:00One other thing -- had a UMass student done what P...One other thing -- had a UMass student done what PRINCIPAL Jackson did at a public meeting last year -- essentially physically assault an elected municipal leader -- UMass would have expelled him.<br /><br />So we hold UMass students to a higher standard of behavior than we do our school administrators? And mentioning this constitutes "<i>a full blown smear campaign</i>"??????<br /><br />Only in Amherst, 43.47 square miles surrounded by reality....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-60289286305244676502010-12-09T12:42:54.891-05:002010-12-09T12:42:54.891-05:00Geeze, there Anon 12/8 6:00 PM:
Could you cite a ...Geeze, there Anon 12/8 6:00 PM:<br /><br />Could you cite a particular sentence or even word that normal folks would consider "hateful" in my post regarding study halls at ARHS?<br /><br />First of all, you spell my name wrong.<br /><br />Second, you cite "so much reference" to my blog here on this one, but out of the current 56 Comments only a half-dozen or so reference my blog by name. <br /><br />And third, you chastise Ms. Sanderson to "know her sources" yet YOU are an Anon. Priceless!Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-44125198200940722332010-12-09T09:31:06.147-05:002010-12-09T09:31:06.147-05:00To Anonymous: I have sent the details to each memb...To Anonymous: I have sent the details to each member of the SC and have provided documentation and have NEVER received and response. I do have documentation and my question about how this district can pass a child on to the next grade after missing 63 days of school w/no tutoring has never been responded to. This is how kids get "pushed"throught a system that cares only about high achievers and staristics. Get rid of over paid useless/redundent administrators ans start teaching all students.Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-3714145499965604592010-12-08T21:58:20.410-05:002010-12-08T21:58:20.410-05:00When I was in high school in the mid-80's, the...When I was in high school in the mid-80's, there was no requirement for a study hall. It was well known that the more ambitious students filled that time with an elective, while the kids who were just passing time in high school took at least one and oftentimes, two study hall periods in one day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-86478894660024801242010-12-08T21:29:47.005-05:002010-12-08T21:29:47.005-05:00the high school does not have required studies thi...the high school does not have required studies this year. kids were moved into electives as space allowed. if someone has a study, it's because he or she wants it to get work done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-24288986099523496142010-12-08T21:12:16.539-05:002010-12-08T21:12:16.539-05:00Anon 6:00pm,
I suppose you are referring to my po...Anon 6:00pm,<br /><br />I suppose you are referring to my post, which I believe to have been both respectful and reasonable. <br /><br />I cited Larry Kelley's blog because he made the issue public. I had actually learned about the potential non-compliance issue at a meeting with the search firm, as I mentioned in my post, but that discussion included only 10 people or so. Had CNN reported the issue, I would have also ask Catherine to comment on it.<br /><br />I don't think that asking a simple question about anything related to ARPS should off-limits, regardless of the original source of the information. <br /><br />And I'm willing to sign my name.Caren Rotellonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-42728751094912800682010-12-08T18:10:12.991-05:002010-12-08T18:10:12.991-05:00Anonymous 6:00 - a poster on this name, using her ...Anonymous 6:00 - a poster on this name, using her name, referenced Larry Kelley's blog in a question to me. I answered it, as I believe is appropriate. I don't control what people post on my blog, nor do I control what people post on Larry's blog. I allow people to ask questions, even anonymously (as you chose to do), and to share information.<br /><br />The issue of the number of hours required for instruction was raised at a School Committee meeting - NOT on Larry's blog (he simply posted a clip of that meeting). Larry didn't create the high school schedule. <br /><br />Regardless of whether and when required study halls first existed, I think parents have a right to ask questions about why these exist and whether they count towards the required hours. Mark believes they do; the law seems somewhat less clear. My recollection is that there were NO required study halls in the high school for years, and that this is a new thing. Certainly the move to two required study halls in the 2009-2010 year was described as unprecedented, and Mark recommended moving to three required study halls in 2010-2011. I believe that is something very reasonable for parents to have concerns about, particularly since other districts in our area have no required study hours.Catherine A. Sandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-5840122831567457752010-12-08T18:00:34.313-05:002010-12-08T18:00:34.313-05:00This blog shows its true colors when there is so m...This blog shows its true colors when there is so much reference to Kelly's blog and not a single mention of the hateful tone throughout the whole piece in his blog. <br /><br />Yes, I believe in free speech, but on this particular post in Kelly's blog there is a full blown smear campaign going on against HS Principal Mark Jackson.<br /><br />By keeping your mouth shut about the hate on Kelly's blog, you are aligning yourself with it. <br /><br />The directed study halls at ARHS pre-date Mr. Jackson by 10 years. ARHS has had these directed SH since ed reform came into the spotlight and the state sat up and said, ok now we're really going to count the hours. That happened in the ed reform act of 1993!<br /><br />So, for decades schools had all kinds of time in school that they counted toward 990 hours: passing periods, home room, lunch. Now none of that counts. You and I went to those schools, by the way, if you went to a public school.<br /><br />Please don't tell me you didn't know about the hateful tone. Referencing Kelly's blog on anything is like referencing fox news. Know your sources. That's somehting every good school wants to teach its kids, I hope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-64593149112533919782010-12-08T09:46:27.386-05:002010-12-08T09:46:27.386-05:00Kathy, Please give some details to avoid stirring...Kathy, Please give some details to avoid stirring up the paranoics. Parents have disagreed with school practices without being forced out. If you have, explain it, instead of just claiming it. It looks ridiculous otherwise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-59379280485316781922010-12-08T06:24:47.515-05:002010-12-08T06:24:47.515-05:00Oh Kathy, you have got it so right!!!Oh Kathy, you have got it so right!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-54160252476311726102010-12-08T03:04:44.340-05:002010-12-08T03:04:44.340-05:00Parents are threatened and intimidated until they ...<i>Parents are threatened and intimidated until they either back down on compliance issues or take their kids out of the District or the District gets DCF to do the job.</i><br /><br />Kathy: <a rel="nofollow">http://www2.ed.gov/print/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/disabharassltr.html</a> <b>READ IT!</b><br /><br />And then: <a rel="nofollow">http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html</a> <a rel="nofollow">http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html</a>Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-46632849431262957302010-12-07T19:21:18.625-05:002010-12-07T19:21:18.625-05:00No one REALLY wants to know what goes on in our sc...No one REALLY wants to know what goes on in our schools. Parents are threatened and itimidated until they either back down on compliance issues or take their kids out of the District or the District gets DCF to do the job. Another child left behind.Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-29475906804355541872010-12-07T19:11:53.042-05:002010-12-07T19:11:53.042-05:00I believe Mark and Maria disagree with this interp...<i>I believe Mark and Maria disagree with this interpretation of the state law, and believe that having a certified teacher in the room allows study halls to count as instructional time.</i><br /><br />Catherine, take this to its logical conclusion: putting all the kids into one really big room and just having ONE certified teacher supervising them all day -- would that count as "instruction?" <br /><br />It wouldn't. Nor do study halls...<br /><br />And I would like to see a breakdown of teacher assignments into teaching duties, supervisory duties, and prep periods. Is the rumor that some teachers don't actually TEACH at all during some trimesters true? (This is public info!)Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-2655656294678939462010-12-07T19:06:33.857-05:002010-12-07T19:06:33.857-05:00As a CERTIFIED TEACHER (which the Interim Superint...As a CERTIFIED TEACHER (which the Interim Superintendent is not), I can answer the "directed study" question and unless ARSD has taken heterogenous grouping into an alternate dimension, I can also emphatically say that the study halls are not it!<br /><br />"Directed study" or "directed instruction" is the exact opposite of "independent study" which is what is happening in the study halls (if we are lucky). Independent study is like watching the History Channel at home, or going to the library, or doing your homework (even if you do get to ask the teacher a question or two).<br /><br />The law is written this way to facilitate both SPED and AltED -- so that the kids in those programs will be considered as having met the minimum hours of instruction that the school is required to give them.<br /><br />However, there are still some important things to remember. First, directed study has a <b>curricuum</b> -- the teacher has a specific <b><i>something</i></b> that he/she/it is trying to teach. There are <b>learning objectives</b>, things that the teacher expects the students to learn (concepts, facts, etc). There is a <b>Check for Understanding</b> at the end to ensure that the learning objectives were met. All of this, and more, is in something called a <b>Lesson Plan</b> which is something that Principals ought to be looking at from time to time.<br /><br />In order for these study halls to be "directed study" they have to be directed toward a specific subject of learning (ie Math, History, Sex Ed) and everyone in the room *ONLY* working with that topic. And the teacher "teaching" the study hall would have to be certified in that subject, and be teaching it, with a lesson plan, etc....<br /><br />This is happening in study halls?!?!?!?<br /><br />Teachers have three kinds of duties assigned during the day: "Teaching", "Supervisory" and "Preparatory" (often called the "free period" where they are supposed to be preparing for their teaching assignments). <br /><br />Supervisory duties are not educational ones, and the reason why we hired all the aides over the past 2-3 decades is to shift these duties to less-expensive non-teachers which raises one very big question <b>why are we paying teachers $50K-$90K to do something that we can pay aides $15K a year to do?</b><br /><br />Throw in the fact that educational research shows that teachers neither like supervisory duties nor are particularly good at them -- that this is one of the main contributions to young teachers leaving the profession, and why are we doing this?<br /><br />My gut feeling: teaching is work while supervision isn't -- and like reducing class size, the fewer classes a teacher teaches, the more teachers the district has to hire...Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-60171973052466235412010-12-07T18:35:59.075-05:002010-12-07T18:35:59.075-05:00The typical series would be “Very satisfied”, “Som...<i>The typical series would be “Very satisfied”, “Somewhat satisfied”, “Somewhat dissatisfied”, “Very dissatisfied”. </i><br /><br />I was taught that you go with five responses consisting of two positive, two negative, and one neutral/no opinion. <br /><br />Hence it should have been written as follows: "Very Satisfied", "Somewhat Satisfied", "Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied", "Somewhat Dissatisfied" and "Very Dissatisfied." <br /><br />Furthermore, if you have more than one question, you switch the order on some of these questions so to balance the person who just checks a certain row without reading them.<br /><br />There also is an issue with just a general "how satisfied" concept -- define "satisfied" and it can be anything from your child is making academic progress to your child isn't coming home in tears, from the classroom roof isn't leaking and the teacher is sweet to you are a math curriculum expert and think this is the best thing you have ever seen.<br /><br />The survey should have been broken down into components including satisfaction with teacher, with curriculum, and I would have added "compared to the math instruction you had as a child..."<br /><br />In three contexts, the general "very satisfied" will include children learning absolutely nothing -- false positives not unlike in a drug test.<br /><br />In the first situation, the teacher and the students essentially agree that nothing is going to be taught and the kids love that because they didn't want to learn this boring stuff anyway, so they text and facebook and flirt and whatnot while the teacher reads the newspaper. These kids are happy, getting good grades, and parents not knowing the better are satisfied.<br /><br />In the second case, and this is common with SPED, a child who has had a problematic relationship with school isn't. Kid may not be learning anything, but the school isn't calling complaining about the child, the parents aren't having to go in and apologize for why the school is upset with their child this time, and hence they are damn satisfied in that they presume the school is teaching and they know the school isn't complaining.<br /><br />And the third group -- Ken, many of these are your "privleged" parents -- are so busy that as long as the school isn't bothering them, they are happy. The child already has a trust fund anyway so it really won't matter and they want to be told how smart and well educated their kids are.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-48235695074045301162010-12-07T17:50:52.841-05:002010-12-07T17:50:52.841-05:00Why aren't we teaching the metric system? Why...Why aren't we teaching the metric system? Why are we sooo behind the rest of the world?? Whose in control of this anyhow?? How do we get on board and stop using an outdated system over and over and over again...generation after generation?? Even the English, the crators of this sytem do not use it anymore!!I don't get it, really? We can debate until the cows come home, but the short end of this is how so very behind, as a nation our 'public' schools really are. Confused--what is the real issue here? Our children advancing or our adults debating??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-41985722923150806652010-12-07T17:02:19.796-05:002010-12-07T17:02:19.796-05:00Even if the Interim Superintendent is right, and A...Even if the Interim Superintendent is right, and ARHS is in compliance with minimum instructional hours (which seems unlikely, given the wording Catherine has quoted for us), one still has to ask why we are paying so much more money per student than in other districts and still just squeaking by on minimum hours. (And, as has been noted in other threads, requiring less math than most other districts, etc.)Caren Rotellonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-34498322877964107712010-12-07T15:27:02.779-05:002010-12-07T15:27:02.779-05:00I would like to take this one step further, if ind...I would like to take this one step further, if indeed (certified) teachers are somehow directing learning in study halls, why can't they instead direct learning in a classroom? I suspect this is the point of the guidelines of the state law. It suggests that we have the people-power to teach (as they can otherwise be occupied with a study hall) but instead these teachers are monitoring study hall (and are likely spending their time prepping for courses and grading but NOT directing any student study).Abbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989627808442831131noreply@blogger.com