When comments from SPAM make the blog...

When you have a blog, you find that sometimes interesting comments get caught up in the spam filter. While most of them are truly spam, from time to time, there are some that make you go hmmm.

I continue to get comments from a person who allegedly has info about the principal's meetings that Dr. Lathan conducts. Apparently there is a good deal of berating of principals going on and something about the use of a microphone. Another one of the more recent comments that caught my eye is that principals are being berated for to many students receiving an "F" grade. 

As I read through the comments on the original San Diego Unified piece, in which an administrator accused Dr. Lathan of a lack of focused leadership, I noticed this comment from the Editor of the piece:

"... the district had plenty of funding to provide training for both teachers and principals. Largely thanks to the influx of federal stimulus dollars, the district was in the rare position of having enough money to provide training to just about everybody who needed it.

For once, the problem wasn't funding, but a lack of focused leadership. The training was there, but many teachers and principals didn't take the district up on it, and weren't required to."

Although that article was about inclusion, it had some interesting parallels to what I was hearing about the roll out of District 150's new gifted program. However, it left me wondering about what is going on with inclusion in District 150? Are students needs being serviced? What about the low achievers, for whom summer school is no longer offered? Are the "F" grades a result of those students not being able to keep up the pace without extra help? 

I remember hearing at one time that Glen Oak and Harrison Community schools would be year round. A year round school would certainly give the slow learners the opportunity to catch up. What has happened to that plan? Didn't the District receive enough federal stimulus dollars to implement such a program? 

Word is also out that teachers are now responsible for writing their own special education IEP's and holding their own IEP conferences. My question is, do all teachers have training in the area of students with special needs and more importantly - do they have the time? Special needs could range from students with learning disabilities, to downs syndrome, to true mental retardation. I personally consider all of the above serious stuff. If I were a parent with a special needs student, I would want a professional trained in giving a diagnosis, not just some rank and file teacher. 

One can't help but notice, that so much of what is said to be going on in 150 sounds EXACTLY like the complaints coming from San Diego. Major changes, no training and no mandates from the Board. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the Superintendent does not operate in a vacuum,  the Board is just as responsible for focused leadership as the Superintendent.

Send the entire BOE to Washington

Perhaps the timing of that trip to Washington DC is worth it.

How's this for pressure... the only way the trip to DC by the two BOE members will be worth it, is if they can prove instrumental in securing for Illinois (and Peoria) a win in the Race to the Top competition. This, of course, would require networking their arses off and making a heck of a impression on the powers that be during the week on June 12 - 17.

Illinois Races to the Top
Illinois has been named a finalist in a Department of Education nationwide competition.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin said Illinois is among nine finalists in the Race to the Top competition, which encourages bold education innovation and reform.

"Maintaining the status quo in our schools is simply not acceptable," said Durbin. "We need to elevate the quality of our schools, improve instruction and boost college graduation rates. We owe it to our children to give them stronger skills to compete in the global economy."

In addition to Illinois, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and South Carolina all are eligible to compete for the $200 million prize.

As a part of the application process, Illinois was asked to document past successes in education reform as well as outline plans of continuing improvements for school districts.

Durbin says Illinois is eligible to receive up to $50 million in funding through the Race to the Top education reform competition. Source

A freeze on District 150 Programs

A couple of people have left comments about programs being put on hold at District 150. Of course, the biggest concern for most who comment here appear to be the disposition of the Richwoods IB Program.

From what I have been able to find out, ALL PROGRAMS are under review for the 2011-2012 school year and all information going out (if any) regarding ALL PROGRAMS, will come from Administration.

Personally, I'm pleased that Dr. Lathan is reviewing ALL PROGRAMS. It's evident that ALL PROGRAMS as they currently stand DO NOT WORK FOR THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS.

Additionally, I am pleased that Dr. Lathan's highly qualified team, who appear to be open to equality in education, are from outside of Peoria. We see where the teams from Peoria have left the students of the District.

Riddle me this... Exactly what is wrong with a new administration putting a moratorium on processes until they get a handle on things? Absolutely nothing, that's what. They would be remiss if they didn't. I'm comfortable with letting this group do their work and have no desire to try and get out in front of them with speculation about what they should do.

Manual High School awarded $6 million 1003(g) grant

Per a comment posted by BOE Member, Jim Stowell last night, Manual High School has been awarded the 1003(g) grant, which is $6 million dollars over a three year period.

Peoria High, Woodruff and Manual High School were all eligible to receive the funding because of their inability to meet state and federal academic performance standards. However, in April of this year, the District decided to forgo applying for 1003(g) grant for Peoria High School, because it would have required them to remove Principal Randy Simmons.

There are four mandatory options for receiving the grant: close the school; convert it to a charter school; replace the principal and half the staff or more; or replace the principal and initiate a series of changes that include removing low-performing staff and instructional reform.

Manual High School, which is considered a Tier II school, was initially federally mandated to restructure in 2008. Under the restructuring plan, Manual was required to initiate changes that called for replacing the principal and removing a large number of staff members.

Some of the changes Manual has undergone so far, include adding seventh and eighth grades at the high school and instituting program changes based upon research by Johns Hopkins University.

Amidst calls to end the John Hopkins program, because it is too costly, just recently Dr. Lathan made the statement that Manual would be continuing with the program. Many in the educational community are concerned with the monies spent on the John Hopkins program. Hopefully, the awarding of this grant will ease some of those concerns.

Congratulations to Manual High School and Principal Kherat.

District 150 targeted by State for school reform

Turning around schools is difficult and highly controversial. Going into broken schools and creating a new culture is a quagmire. There will be colleagues who will fight for the status quo and figuring out who is really on your team won't be easy. If children in Peoria are to have any hope of a decent future, there is no denying that our schools must be turned around. IF Dr. Lathan comes to District 150, her past experience should serve our schools well, IF we should be so fortunate as to actually be a part of this initiative to improve low performing schools.

Illinois partners with Mass Insight and five other states in public-private initiative to improve lowest-performing schools

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced February 2, 2010, it will participate in a three-year, $75-million public-private partnership with five other states to develop long-term reform strategies for their lowest-performing schools. Illinois was selected to join the initiative, along with Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York by Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, a Boston-based non-profit education organization focused on closing achievement gaps.

"We’re excited to work with these states and Mass Insight to identify and implement new strategies to turn around struggling schools," said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. "This initiative, funded by an unprecedented amount of federal dollars and private donations, calls for dramatic broad-scale interventions."

The Partnership Zone Initiative will be funded by a variety of private and public sources, including increased federal funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Additional money for these six states could also be awarded through the federal Race to the Top competitive grant program.

The states will initially establish Partnership Zones in a limited amount of districts with clusters of low-performing schools that will serve to demonstrate the success of a more strategic approach to turnaround. Each cluster of schools will be teamed with a lead partner, an organization that directly supports principals in turning around schools. Lead partners are experienced turnaround leaders selected by districts that have been pre-qualified by the State Board of Education. The Illinois Partnership Zone will also include assistance from "Supporting Partners" who will help the district and lead partners improve the effectiveness of teachers and principals in Partnership Zone schools.

Illinois will likely select the initial Partnership Zone participants from the 12 districts or Local Education Authorities (LEAs) that have signed on to accelerate improvement efforts as "Super LEAs" in the state’s Race to the Top Application. Schools chosen for the Partnership Zone will be given a higher degree of priority to receive funding through Illinois' share of federal school improvement grants, and may receive as much as $750,000 per school year for three years.

Much of the additional funding will go toward increased teacher compensation to support extended learning time, intensive professional development and incentive pay in Partnership Zone schools.

Illinois’ Super LEAs, as identified in the state’s Race to the Top Application, are:
■Community Unit School District 300
■De Pue Unit School District 103
■Decatur School District 61
■Kankakee School District 111
■Meridian Community Unit School District 101
■Peoria School District 150
■Plano Community Unit School District 88
■Rich Township High School District 227
■Rockford Public Schools District 205
■Elgin Unit School District 46
■Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215
■Zion-Benton Township High School District 126

The Partnership Zone is a hybrid model that combines the benefits of a district with the operating flexibilities most frequently associated with charter schools. Zone schools remain inside the district and may continue to tap into the efficiencies of many district wide services. However, Zone schools also give school level leaders the freedom to make staffing, scheduling, curriculum and salary decisions, in return for being held accountable for dramatic student achievement gains within two years. (this is the part the teacher's union will hate)

The six states were selected for this group based on:

■A commitment to the Partnership Zone framework set forth in Mass Insight’s 2007 report, The Turnaround Challenge;
■A commitment to investing the resources necessary for successful turnaround; and,
■Alignment and support of state leadership.

States plan to launch Partnership Zones on a flexible but aggressive timeline; with some states, including Illinois, implementing zones as early as the 2010-11 school year.

WONDERFUL NEWS - VERY EXCITING!!