Over on peoria.com a poster commented that she has been informed that her school (Glen Oak) did not make AYP. As a result, she is being offered the possibility of a boundary waiver for the 2012-2013 school year. The letter gave her four (4) schools to choose from.
Some of you regular readers may recall that several weeks ago, an Anonymous poster mentioned that only four (4) District 150 schools made AYP for the 2011-2012 school year...
"Just got a letter from District 150 stating that even though they don't have the 2011-2012 testing results they know our school, Glen Oak, is not going to meet state required levels therefore we are eligible to apply to have our student moved to a different District 150 school as long as we complete the application and turn it in before August 26th. My biggest problems with this are:
(1) they aren't guaranteed to accept/allow us to go to another school;
(2) they are not going to tell us IF they lets us witch school until August 26 however school starts on August 20th; and
(3) they list 4 schools that they allow us to pick from - 3 middle schools and 1 elementary.
Mark Bills Middle SchoolCalvin Coolidge Middle SchoolLindbergh Middle SchoolRoosevelt Magnet
The letter states that the district must give priority to the lowest achieving children from low-income families. What this says to me is that since my child has great grades (except Language Arts which she got a C in) we have little to no chance of actually getting the waiver granted. The problem is as long as she showed up, turned in her homework and behaves she gets a decent grade. Now ask me if she learned something last year and my answer is a resounding NO."
51 comments:
The distict has had the preliminary results for some time.
It is a lie that they don't have them. All the other schools in Illinois do. Why the big secrecy? This has to stop. It is like not televising the board meetings.
By law, the district has to send out letters offering another school if their child's school did NOT meet AYP. The problem is; the only school on that list that MADE AYP is Lindbergh(safe harbor is something different). Here are my thoughts. Since it is obvious(tongue in cheek)that Lindbergh has the BEST teachers in the district working there, all the students that "helped" their home schools NOT make AYP should immediately be transferred so the teachers at Lindbergh can get them up to par. I think that is fair. Oh, and my guess is that they will have to add on another wing because their school will be overflowing. As has been my experience, children with high mobility rates, poor parental involvement, behavior difficulties, and truancy are the majority of these cases, excluding students with IEP's(whole different ball of wax). FACT: NCLB is a joke. It only promotes cheating on the part of teachers and administrators. the ISBE actually has a computer program that detects consistant eraser marks on certain sets of tests. When teachers/administrators cheat to make them and their schools look good, they cheat EVERYONE around them, essentially making everyone else look BAD.
Doesn't matter where they go this next year. Their scores still go back to their "home" school. So if your home school is Glen Oak and you transfer to Lindbergh and test at Lindbergh your test scores still go back to Glen Oak. Now the next year your scores would go to Lindbergh. It's based on when they take the "report" for who is where. A bit bogus if you ask me.
Exactly Anonymous, with the mobility rate so high in D150, the teachers have their hands tied and are constantly blamed that it is their fault little Johnnie can't pass ISAT. But I believe you misunderstood the reason for the transfer. The parent doesn't care where their child's score "goes", they just want to put their child in a school that meets AYP.
Don't worry teachers, you will get the very best who are currently trapped in the worst schools.
Chances are the majority of the parents with the failing students don't understand AYP or boundary waivers.
Only the motivated parents will apply for a waiver and of those: very few will want to move their student after school starts; and others will have an issue with providing their own transportation.
I am almost confident that those schools are not the four schools that made AYP? Those are the schools that performed well enough to accommodate students from very low performing schools. Remember, the threshold for AYP is very high. It was almost near impossible, under ordinary efforts, for schools to meet the high standards. If we are compiling a list of AYP schools, what about Washington, Kellar, Charter Oaks, Northmor? These have always been high performing schools.
I thought Roosevelt was a Performing Arts School and only accepted students on an audition basis. Has that concept changed? Is it now open enrollment?
Since you know that the only school on that list that made AYP is Lindbergh, do you know of any other schools that did (make AYP)? Is this the group...
Made AYP:
Quest
Lindbergh
Calvin Coolidge
Washington Gifted
It would be nice if parents could get the AYP info in a timely manner before school starts back - some may decide to opt out of District 150, rather than take a waiver to another school and then turn around and have to decide for the 2013-2014 school year, they need to move their child to a different school.
Parents should be able to have the option of a Kellar, Charter Oaks and/or Northmoor if they did make AYP.
Additionally, if Roosevelt has open enrollment, so should Quest and Washington Gifted.
The biggest problem I have seen in the past is that parents get the letter with the options and, when they fill it out and select a school, they are then told the 2nd school does not have the room for the students. It is such a game because the option is given but it isn't really an option because they won't take the kids.
I have a hard time believing Roosevelt made AYP.
It is not hard to believe that the school is full. If every possible classroom is used and full, whaat can they do. Just whip up another classroom? Maybe meet in a trailer. If you do not think they are full, visit the school.
District 150 is a cluster. Face it. No transparency and completely disorganized.
Why has Dist 150 not been forced to publish the scores? Where can the average person obtain them so we can publish them on this site. Why would Lathan's contract be renewed if they have not published the scores? What again is she and the board hiding?
If everyone is rushing to put their child in the schools with higher ISAT scores, then WHY is Glen Oak using the community rooms as classrooms because they are so full. Going to be well over 800 students in a building built for 600(max).
Washington Gifted....not hard to figure.
They are basing it on preliminary data the schools recieved from ISBE. But the district has to "put" all the students in the right schools to get a more accurate profile.
Lathan stopped the audition process last year and made Roosevelt a neighborhood school. Roosevelt was making AYP and had awesome scores until Lathan came in and changed everything. Many awards including most improved school and spotlight school. NCLB has some scools up to 94% meets and exceeds which is impossible for schools of large numbers od special education children and impoverished families. Roosevelt is an outstanding school with outstanding teachers.
Also Roosevelt had a core set of support staff in place to help the school run smoothly and keep children learning. All of those support staff positions were cut thanks to Lathan's budget cuts. no home school liason, no officer , no technology people, no glue that held the school together. I would be very surprised if they made AYP with all the cuts and challenges thrown at them.
Did the letter say these schools made AYP or that Glen Oak didn't? We are assuming that the four schools in which the parent could choose made AYP? We are not thinking of maybe low enrollment in certain grades or low enrollment at these schools. Since Glen Oak is crowded, this could be a way to decrease the situation? Just trying to think their way.
In order for schools to make AYP their test scores in Reading and Math had to be 92.5%. When I viewed the ISAT scores at Quest Academy the scores were not 92.5%. Are we being mislead here? I also doubt, if any middle school in PPS 150 was at this level with one exception, Lindbergh. It is high unlikely that any others reached this level.
Washington is not included. All the students at that school school meet/exceed.
Why don't you parents demand the scores from your Superintendent and the Board?
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/searchBySchool.aspx?searchby=cityName&language=english&year=2011&keyword=peoria&type=card&city=Peoria
If they aren't on the ISBE website, which the above link has only through 2010-2011, then who's to say the districts have them?
Why is the school given as an option if they are full? That is my point.
She got rid of all those people at Glen Oak as well. With all the poor decisions she has made and we are aware of, there are these decisions such as turning Roosevelt into a neighborhood school, that many people aren't aware of. Her continue destruction of 150 makes me sick.
She left one assistant principal at Glen Oak, whose husband is in Lathan's cabinet...
The school report cards are compiled by the ISBE. The report cards include not only test scores, but financial data, demographics, etc. The report cards are typically made available at the end of October on the ISBE website - all schools are shown at that time. Schools have access to preliminary data earlier, though. For example, on the ISBE website, under "What's New", you can see that student level ISAT scores were only made available on 7/31. However, the school report card remains incomplete until published - usually in October.
The boundary form is a mess. I think many families would be discouraged from completing it due to the complexity.
Cannot believe the boundary waiver process is so flawed in design that students granted boundary waivers are moved after the school year begins. And if it is the lowest performing students that are typically granted waivers then WOW! just WOW!
Frustrated, you are confusing different CHOICE programs. There are 4 distinct CHOICE programs in D150.
The first is NCLB, which is a federal mandate. That program requires parents be given a 30 day window to request a different AYP school. Like most other districts, D150 can't be certain which schools are going to meet AYP until, in this case, the summer (and even then, it's based on preliminary data). As such, for a NCLB waiver, unfortunately students who are selected to be moved to the few, if any, available spots, must wait until after the school year has started. And it is the NCLB program that requires a focus on the lower performing students.
The second program is Specialized Programs, such as Northmoor Edison and Roosevelt Magnet. Students able to opt in to those Specialized Programs should be able to start on time.
The third program is Boundary Waiver. Again, any students selected on a boundary waiver should be able to start in their new school on time.
The fourth program is Charter - i.e. Quest. I think you already understand how that process works.
For the District's Specialized and Boundary Waiver options, first priority for any available spaces is given to students who have a sibling already at the "new" school. The remaining students are chosen by random drawing.
If anyone has questions about the various CHOICE programs at D150, I suggest they email their questions to the following:
choice@psd150.org
On the form where it lists the four schools to choose from all except Calvin Coolidge are "Pending AYP Results". I read this as meaning that the results aren't back for those schools but wouldn't the results for the whole district come back together? How could they have the results for Calvin Coolidge but none of the others?
The form tells us to pick 3 schools and put them the order of which we would like 1st, 2nd and 3rd. However for my child there is only 1 option, Roosevelt, as she is going into 3rd grade. So all parents from Glen Oak who have kids in 1-4th grade only have one choice so even if only 1/2 of the parents complete and retun the form there are going to be some upset parents who don't get to move their kids because basically there is just not enough room at Roosevelt for that many additional kids.
The whole District 150 mess is why Meanjarhead is killing himself in 100+ degree days working non-stop to try to save up enough money to pay for her to go the St Thomas.
Emerge I would love to share the actual letter and form with your readers. Just let me know and I will email it to you to post.
Those are the 4 I heard. Based on this list Dr. Lathan is right on by saying the problems in 150 have nothing to do with socioeconomic status. Give me a break!
To comply with NCLB(on the surface)Most people have known the glaring flaw in the concept for a long time. You can only offer transfers within the district, because the other districts are always full as well. It is no different than the charter school lottery in that there are more people that want to go than there is room to take them. The difference is, if you actually move, than they have to take you. That is why they stay full. Next year, the very motivated parents will have moved to a different house or apartment to get their child out of the undesired school
Actually, that is not true. All area districts have come to an agreement NOT to take other district students because it would bankrupt districts like 150, all their students would be sent to Tremont and the like. Then you bankrupt Tremont because they do not have the space or teachers to take on a failing district. The only reason districts like Tremont aren't failing is because they do not have the required number in subgroups to include them in their ISAT numbers. It is not because the students are smarter and the teachers are better, it's because the have VERY small subgroups that don't have to be claimed.
Well the put quotes around "full." Then it is exactly what you say. The fact is that for whatever reason, no area district has ever taken a 150 student because of NCLB. So the choice part of the law has ALWAYS been a farce and so what is left is a test and condemnation, but nothing else. Hoops to jump though but hardly any results.
Yes, please go ahead and email it to me on emergepeoria@comcast.net.
Thanks
Jon, your wealth of information is outstanding. However, there are no Edison Schools in Peoria. D-150 cancelled that contract last year. Northmoor is not an Edison School. The District reference to it as a Specialized Program has to do with it extended school day.
A few years ago, under a different administration, the NCLB students were already scheduled in a school before the first day of school. There were no disruption in scheduling and instruction. The students didn't show up two or three weeks after the start of school and were referred to as the NCLB kids. As a teacher, we didn't know who they were. They were just new kids in our building.
Jon - thanks for the explanation. I understood the difference between the categories, but I misunderstood what form those eligible for transfer under the NCLB provision were completing.
I still stand by my original post comment, however, that the boundary waiver process is flawed.
Last year, my family wanted to attend District 150 on the "tuition option" which for some reason (at least at that time) is bundled together with the boundary waiver. Met with the Richwoods counselor, who could not have be more welcoming,and put together a great schedule only to be told by administration they would "let me know" if my child could attend "a week or so before school."
My child was a rising Senior at the time so to "let me know" a week before school if my child would be able to attend is an unbelievable response. Here she was, writing her college essay and applications over the summer while not being sure she would even be able to graduate.
Old habits. How about Edison - "lite" ? Maybe Edison - esque ?
I would also say that Tremont parents are probably a whole lot more involved in their child's school life and have higher expectations for the student than, "Out of the house til 3:45 so I can sleep".
Our District has missed out on some very good students because of a lackadasical attitude toward parents who are trying to obtain a quality education for their student. I hope things worked out for your daughter.
She will get a good education I am working day and night to pay for it. I shouldn't have to. But this school district is god awful. I hurts me so much to walk away from that big awesome building full of some of the most caring people that i have had the honor to meet. That me and my family have invested so much time and effort into but we have to think of our child We gave the school district a child 3 years ago that was ahead of every other child and have watched our kid be dumbed down year after year. I will not allow my child to grow up and be a failure because the school district is. If lathan would heed her own words and really think of the children she would listen to her wonderful staff and not play mind games with them that don't help anyone at all. I am proud to have that building in my neighborhood i adore most of the people inside of it but i will not raise my child to be a burger flipper or a wal mart cashier. I expect a school to do more for my child than prepare her to be a minimum wage slave. I have seen several children with their talents wasted. I would love to get them out of Glen Oak also but i have to think of my child first. I am not a selfish man but i have to make sure that my child returns to the head of the pack where she belongs and that will not happen in district 150. So we are off to St. Thomas. hopefully because i cant risk my childs education while lathan plays her power trip games. Sorry Glen Oak your parental dream team (Annette Colemans words not mine) have left the building. Sorry.
You and Teri will be greatly missed!
My heart breaks for Glen Oak. Why can't it be understood that the behaviors MUST stop? Not only are the misbehavers getting robbed of an education, so is everyone else. What happens when every parent who is truly invested leaves? What happens when the fantastic teachers are all gone? We have lost so much since May. Parents and teachers leaving, quitting, retiring, just to escape the madness. Greatness can come, but not in the middle of complete chaos. A standard must be set and followed.
It seems to me that a superintendent would want to make her district better. Shouldn't she want to work with parents, teachers, and principals so everyone is fighting for the same cause? The cause seems to be so obvious to me. Our students deserve better. They all deserve a school where students know they have to stay in the classroom and if they don't, consequence. They know disrespect of adults is not tolerated or--consequence. Parents who are involved should be praised, encouraged, and asked how to make the school a better place. Teachers should be consulted on what works, what doesn’t, and what they need. Principals are given license to take back control of their schools. Ones who are running things really well are given praise, asked how they’ve done it, and get to share the knowledge with others.
The common thread through this mess is fear. Parents fear their children are not getting a decent education. Teachers fear the new evaluation tool which seems to give the superintendent license to fire at will. Principals fear if the numbers at their school go up or come down, they will be browbeaten, fired, demoted, publicly humiliated, etc. The only people involved in this process who seem to have no fear are the students. They are being taught at an alarming rate that they have nothing to fear. No detentions, no suspensions, no expulsions, no punishment. Don’t like your teacher? Call her a bitch and run the halls. Don’t like the kid sitting next to you at lunch? Punch him in the face, throw your food, and go back to class after running around for a bit. IT HAS GOT TO STOP. No principal can make the kind of changes needed at District 150 schools if Wisconsin Avenue is not tough enough, not strong enough, to stand up and say ENOUGH! Parents, it is time for you to be accountable and I don’t care how high these suspension/expulsions numbers go. We want peace in our schools.
In order to transform a school of chaos into a building of education, some numbers will go up (suspension, expulsion). Guess what. Other numbers will go up too (ISAT, DIBELS, NWEA). The problem is that we live in a society of “right now”. No school will be turned around over night. It will take some time. Everyone seems aware of that because any time they are defending a program, you hear, “It takes time”. Let me tell you something else it takes---stability. How come, when Glen Oak students return in a few short weeks, their building will be staffed with 10-20 new faces? How come the principals they met in the last couple years are practically all gone? How come the parent volunteers who greeted them in the morning and visited their classroom can’t be found this year? More than most, Glen Oak students need to see familiar faces year after year. They need to be able to visit with their 1st grade teacher once in awhile even though they are now in 5th grade. They need to see people invested in their lives and they aren’t getting that with a revolving principal door and different faces leading the classrooms each fall.
Another year cannot go by before things are set in motion at Glen Oak. Set the rules, state the rules to everyone, and enforce the rules. ENFORCE. Twenty kids sent home today? Good. Twenty the next day? Even better. Anyone with any sense is going to know certain students will fight the new standards. This is the time to not back down, ENFORCE, and hold parents accountable. If the rule is broken, out they go. The time of “oh, the best place for him is in the classroom because that is where he is going to learn something” should be over. For some of these students, the classroom is the last place they need to be because not only are they not learning anything, they are not allowing anyone to learn anything. These kids are the ones who are learning, at school, they can grow a little older and steal things from the zoo. They can grow a little older and have big, mob fights on the streets of Peoria. They can grow a little older and hold up a gas station. School has taught them ONE thing---do what you want because ‘aint nuthin’ going to happen to you.
Glen Oak needs to mourn the loss of yet another principal, many staff members, and dedicated parents who gave their time to make their child’s school a better, safer place. It also has to bounce back and move forward. Another school year is set to begin very soon. Once again, a new team walks the halls and it is my hope that this year is the start of something truly remarkable for the staff, parents, and students of Glen Oak.
TeachingRocks - you hit the nail on the head EXACTLY. Please don't think that we blame Glen Oak or the teachers for our daughter not getting the education she needs. You could have the best teachers and principals in the world (and I believe we did) but the other kids who's parents just don't care have kept you guys from being able to educate the kids actually there to learn.
I want everyone at GelnOak to know that the decision to our daughter to a private school was not an easy one by any means. But ultimatly the most important thing is her education.
Bravo to you for analyzing the situation and making the best decision for your child. Because you are heading to a private school, don't believe it is perfect. All schools have their hiccups. Keep your eye on things, be active in the school community, and get to know the system there. Sounds like you already understand how to advocate for your child. Also, please know that PND offers some scholarships so be thinking about how you can your develop your child to be an attractive candidate for this type of opportunity, i.e. excel in an area such as academics, sports, the arts. The future looks bright for your daughter.
If Dr. evil would get her head on strait and let teachers be teachers and make it so Glen Oak can be the building to be proud of that i know it can be. I well put her back there in a heartbeat. The teachers at Glen Oak are great and caring people. However the real root of the problem is that there is ZERO accountability for awful children in district 150. The parents are god awful i had a 3rd grader threaten to drop a cap in my ass. 2 days later i had to deal with an angry mother that bragged about how great of a parent she is after she slapped her son in front of me. I have smelled people that reek of pot walk into parent teacher meetings. The kids can not hear because they are getting dropped off with music blaring so loud it shakes the windows of the art room. These children bite, kick, hit, steal, cuss, threaten, talk back, run the halls, run out of class and have no respect for anyone or them selves. I want my daughter to go to public school i want her to grow up with kids that don't have a silver spoon in their mouth. But district 150 is to screwed up because of lathan and her yes men school board. I am still going to run for school board so i can do my part to fix this district. and when it is fixed my child will return to the public school system. Until that time i guess i have to work 7 days a week sun up to sun down to pay for private school because district 150 fails because of it leadership.
A great tool to look at test scores and compare them to other schools in the area is the Illinois Interactive Report Card http://iirc.niu.edu/
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