Mama always said: "Haste makes waste"

The election for BOE is April 5th - what's the rush?
I would be curious to know what the people currently running for school board think of the vast changes that may be coming down the pike (I bet CJ is working on that).

By the time they make it to the board, what input will they be able to have on the direction of our school district? It seems to me, that the March 28th date to say yea or nea on the changes recommended yesterday, seems a tad bit hasty.

If I am not mistaken, 99% of the BOE all have day jobs. Can they really be expected to make a completely informed decision of this magnitude by March 28th? Do they even know what Compass Learning, the 95 Percent Group or APEX Learning is? Do they understand why they should vote to go along with Compass Learning over APEX Learning, even though there is inconclusive data as to Compass Learning's effectiveness? Do they know exactly what and who it would take to implement the Edison program without the Edison Company? Do they really understand why parents in the audience cheered, when it was recommended to do away with Open Court Reading?

I believe that most taxpayers would agree, the BOE making an informed decision goes beyond just voting on the information fed to them by the Administration. We expect them to do their due diligence - get out into the schools, talk to parents, actually see the programs they have been asked to cut in action (or inaction as it were). In other words, we are going to need them to take a leave of absence from their day jobs and do a little home work... set a good example for the students.

Related: The District 150 2011-2012 Budget Recommendations

What does the District 150 curriculum audit info really tell us?

Dr. Kennedy was really sweet when delivering the news last night at the BOE meeting. She had jokes, she had props, she had our attention and she relished it, at one point teasing with the recommendations saying "that's what your' here for isn't it"...

However, as I listened to Dr. Kennedy disperse the curriculum audit findings of her team, I found it was no laughing matter to find out how much teachers are doing every day, that is actually ineffective. As you read the information below, let me know if you agree, that the information disclosed by the auditor indicates that there was NOT a whole lot of teachin' goin' on (for whatever reason).

Curriculum Audit Info presented by Dr. Kennedy
Dr. Owen Roberts, is the outside auditor that was hired by the District. He audited Edison Schools, Compass Learning, 95 Percent Group, Open Court Reading, the APEX program and Reading 180. He sent the surveys to specific schools that had those specific programs. There was an incentive offered to have your name entered into a raffle for turning the surveys in. The auditor sent the survey to specific schools that had the specific programs.

The auditor was looking for implementation fidelity, curriculum alignment, school buy in and engagement, implementation, teacher readiness and evidence based implementation. He found that we need a monitoring system and a protocol to check for fidelity.

"Fidelity is defined as the extent to which a program is delivered in accordance to the intended design. That would include delivery (teachers), how often and where lessons are conducted, the materials, targeted population, who was delivering (teacher or aide), qualifications of person delivering the program and whether or not there was training."

What the auditors found, is that with the exception of the Edison Program, the other programs were not done with fidelity. Materials were not utilized (especially with Open Court) as there was not enough time to implement Open Court. The curriculum alignment is not adequately aligned to the state standards and the exception as reported by the by school practitioners. The reading intervention did not provide adequate differentials so they could get more information about each identified program. Teachers are not ready to present Open Court. Open Court provided the least evidence of impact on student learning. Open Court was low for everybody audited and showed declining achievement for Edison. At Franklin Edison achievement was declining and at Northmoor the gap was widening using Open Court.

Compass learning, Open Court and APEX did not have the appropriate school engagement in the decision making to implement. What that is saying is there was no buy in from the schools on these programs.

Teacher's knowledge of how to use the data generated with Open Court, Compass Learning and APEX were inadequate to support instructional decisions made in the classroom.

The primary school program interventions, namely the Edison Projects 95 Percent group, professional development support had a moderate to high positive impact on student achievement. Open Court had a low impact on student achievement.

Compass Learning's impact was inconclusive due to several reasons - inadequate time for full implementation of the program, inadequate professional development to support teacher practice and no evidence of a monitoring process in place of program fidelity review.