Just having finished helping to judge the first three rounds of the DC State-Level MathCounts competition, I have some sad news. Unless I missed one or two kids, it seemed that NOT A SINGLE STUDENT FROM ANY DC PUBLIC OR CHARTER SCHOOL PARTICIPATED.
Not one that I noticed, and I was in the judging room where all the answer sheets were handed in, and I and some engineers and mathematicians had volunteered to come in and score the answers.*
In past years, for example, when I was a math teacher and MathCounts coach at Alice Deal JHS/MS, the public schools often dominated the competitions. It wasn’t just my own teams, though — many students from other public schools, and later on, from DC’s charter schools, participated. (Many years, my team beat all of the others. Sometimes we didn’t, but we were always quite competitive, and I have a lot of trophies.)
While a few public or charter schools did field full or partial teams on the previous “chapter” level of competition last month, this time, at the “state” level (unless I missed one or two), I am sad to report that there were none at all. (Including Deal. =-{ )
That’s what ten years of Education ‘Reform’ has brought to DC public and charter schools.
there is a massive turnover of teachers and school administrators – a revolving door as enormous percentages of teachers break down and quit mid-year (in both public and charter schools);
these frauds are probably also true at some or all of charter schools, but nobody is investigating them at all because they don’t have to share data and the ‘state’ agency hides what they do get;
DC is still attempting to implement a developmentally-inappropriate “common core” curriculum funded by Bill Gates and written by a handful of know-it-alls who had never taught;
they implemented a now-many-times-discredited“value-added method” of determining the supposed worth of teachers and administrators, and used that to terminate many of them;
they also closed dozens of public schools in poor, black neighborhoods.
Yes, fourth-grade NAEP national math and reading scores have continued to rise – but they were rising at just about that exact same rate from 2000 through 2007, that is to say, BEFORE mayoral control of schools and the appointment of that mistress of lies, fraud, and false accusations: Michelle Rhee.
So what I saw today at the DC ‘state’-wide competition is just one example of how to destroy public education.
When we will we go back to having an elected school board, and begin having a rational, integrated, high-quality public educational system in DC?
* Fortunately, we didn’t have to produce the answers ourselves! Those questions are really HARD! We adults, all mathematically quite proficient, had fun trying to solve a few of them when we had some down time — and marveled at the idea of sixth, seventh, or eighth graders solving them at all! (If you are curious, you can see previous year’s MathCounts questions here.)
Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. made his only trip to New Orleans this season on Friday (March 9), and he wanted to ensure it was a memorable one. After helping the Wizards walk away with a 116-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center, Oubre presented 10 Cohen College Prep high school with $1,000 scholarships, he told The Washington Post.
Oubre, who spent his early years in New Orleans and moved away at age 9 after Hurricane Katrina, awarded the grants to 10 seniors from his father’s alma mater as a way to give back to his hometown. He also made sure to show off his New Orleans roots by wearing the jersey of New Orleans Saints star Alvin Kamara to the game.
When Oluwakanyinsola Adebola signed up to do community service as part of Howard University’s Alternative Spring Break, she knew she wouldn’t be joining her classmates and thousands of other college students who use their week off to party and play in the sun and surf of Jamaica or Aruba or any of a half dozen other Caribbean locations.
Instead, Adebola would be part of the hundreds of Howard students who, each year for more than 20 years, have given up their traditional spring breaks to serve in communities in need in places like Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis and New Orleans.
Ironically, Adebola will travel to a Caribbean island after all. She will be in Puerto Rico aiding the millions of U.S. citizens still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria, which hit the island on September 20.
The storm, which had 155 mph winds, caused at least $90 billion in damage, destroying thousands of homes, killing at least 60 people and decimating the island’s already deteriorating power grid. Currently, about 1,200 generators power some of the homes, hospitals and schools while seven larger, more powerful energy centers, called microgrids, provide energy to key areas near important buildings like hospitals and schools.
Electricity, however remains a challenge. Recurring blackouts plague the island, and about 340,000 people, are still without power. The blackouts have upset traffic and interrupted water service to dozens of neighborhoods, including the historic Old San Juan in the nation’s capital.
The Federal Emergency Management Administration has been providing relief and rescue efforts, providing meals and water to residents.
Adebola and 47 other students, accompanied by two faculty advisors, land in Puerto Rico Friday, March 9, and begin a week of work on Monday, March 12. The ASB participants will paint schools and fix homes and churches in and around San Juan, the island’s capital.
Howard students will also visit and assist in the daily activities at two Boys and Girls clubs in Las Margaritas and Bayamón about 20 minutes outside of San Juan. Students and faculty will be staying about an hour west of San Juan at a campsite in Arecibo, six people to a room.
This year, no students applying for ASB knew where they would be placed when they signed up for the annual service missions. Applicants selected a service preference ranging from “children/orphanages” to “prison rehabilitation.” The luck of the draw would determine at which of this year’s 15 service sites they would be placed.
Adebola, an ASB first-timer, said when she checked “recovery” on her application, she thought she would be going to Houston or Belle Glade, Fla., two U.S. cities that also were hit hard by hurricanes last fall. She said she never expected to be placed in Puerto Rico.
“I’m really excited,” she said.
A native of Nigeria, Adebola moved to the United States to learn mechanical engineering to further technological advancement in her country, which she said lacks proper waste disposal systems, consistent electricity and access to clean drinking water in many parts of the country.
She said old medical equipment failed to save her 13-year-old sister’s diminishing eyesight, leaving her completely blind.
Adebola, who created a nonprofit organization at 13 to help Nigerian children, said that the goals of ASB align perfectly with hers.
“The purpose of ASB is to help people, and it gives me something productive to do,” she said.
More than 700 students will participate in ASB service missions to 14 other underserved areas and regions devastated by natural disaster this year, including St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Martin, Anguilla, Haiti and Ghana. Groups will also go to Chicago, New Orleans, Port Arthur and Beaumont in Texas, the Florida Keys and Flint, Mich.
“We decided to go to places hit hardest by the hurricane,” said Puerto Rico site coordinator Kyliah Hughes, 20.
According to Hughes, ASB planners wanted to “make a statement” about their commitment to service by visiting places further than the usual domestic sites.
Dijon Stokes, 20, a team leader for Puerto Rico, agreed.
“We have to help beyond borders,” Stokes, said. “We go where we’re needed, and we will visit those places devastated by the hurricane until we see real recovery.”
High school teachers from Maryland and Washington gathered in front of the White House to demonstrate to demand President Trump address the issue of gun violence in the wake of 17 killed at a mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. The students earlier marched to the Capitol to tell congressional leaders they want action to keep them safe from gun violence. PHOTO: Amiyah King/Howard University News Service
By Amiyah King
(Trice Edney News Wire/Howard University News Service) – Tens of thousands of high school students across America were marked with an unexcused absence Wednesday, but everyone knew where they were.
In the Washington area, high school students from DC. Public Schools and from public schools in Maryland marched to the Capitol and then to the White House to demand Congress and the president institute gun control legislation that will keep them safe. The march was organized by students from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., and Bethesda-Chevy Chase in Montgomery County, Md., in response to the recent shooting in Parkland, Fla.
It was exactly one week ago Wednesday that 19-year-olf Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 students and wounding dozens more. Cruz, who had been expelled from the school, was charged with 17 accounts of murder of his classmates, teachers and other school officials. The shooting was the 18th school shooting in the first two months of this year.
Student survivors at the school have launched a nationwide effort to focus attention on gun control in the wake of the shooting. Other student demonstrations were reported in Illinois, Florida and Texas.
Washington-area students walked out of their classes today at 9:30 a.m. where they followed each other in procession to Union Station where they joined other protestors who took public transportation from Maryland. From Union Station, thousands of high schoolers marched to Capitol Hill and later participated in a sit-in demonstration outside the White House.
During the sit-in, students gathered in a semi-circle to hear leaders talk about why they were there.
“No more thoughts and prayers,” said student leader Daniel Shepard. “If this isn’t the last school shooting, we’ll be out here every opportunity we get.”
In response to the speakers, students shouted, “No more silence and gun violence. Hey, hey. Ho, ho. the NRA (National Rifle Association) has got to go.”
Teachers and parents were mixed with the crowd of demonstrations either as chaperones or to provide support for their children and their cause.
“I don’t think they need my help,” said Mandi Mader, mother of three who attended the march in support of her children. “I’m just one more body to represent them here.”
Classmates, from left, Sally Egan, Emma McMillan and Avery Brooks are classmates display their signs seekingbetter gun control. There were similar student rallies across the nation. PHOTO: Amiyah King/Howard University News Service
Most students said they were advocating for the implementation of gun control laws in Congress as a solution to the crisis.
Talia Fleischer, a sophomore at her high school, said she hopes to see “a sign that something will be done in Congress.”
“Countries like Australia and England have great gun control laws, and they have no mass shootings,” she said.
In 1996, Australia passed the National Firearms Agreement after a mass shooting in Tasmania in April of that year. In that incident, a 28-year-old man, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, shot and killed 35 people, and injured 18 others<http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/australia.php>, in what was known as the Port Arthur Massacre. Under the 1996 law, Australia banned certain semi-automatic, self-loading rifles and shotguns, and imposed stricter licensing and registration requirements.
Paul DeVries and his daughter, Brechje DeVries, were among the demonstrators. Brechje DeVries, 17, moved from the Netherlands to the United States a year ago and attends high school in Maine. Her father was in the U.S. for one of her sports activities in the Washington, and the two decided to attend the demonstration.
Brechje DeVries said mass shootings are almost unheard of in her country. Her country has experienced only one mass shooting in its history. She said she is stunned and frightened by their frequency in the United States.
“It’s scary,” she said. “There have been threats at schools near me, so it definitely comes close to me.”
Her father said he is worried for his daughter.
“I feel the frustration,” he said. “There are a lot of teenagers here. and I think that speaks for itself.”
Joseph Byler, a senior at his school, said the Florida shooting is what sparked him to attend.
“[I hope] the inability of Congress to pass gun control policies disappears,” Byler said. “I hope after today, we get universal background checks on gun purchases.”
Since the shooting in Florida, President Trump has flirted with the idea of proposing restrictions to purchasing guns, from more intense background checks for gun purchasers to the elimination of bump stocks, the tool the Las Vegas shooter used to kill more than 50 people.
Via Twitter, Trump said, “Whether we are Republican or Democrat, we must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!”
Trump, who received millions of dollars in support from the National Rifle Association in his run for presidency, until now has consistently backed away from any restrictions on guns.
Student protestor Steven Vasquez said his school has armed security and students feel relatively safe.
“But not right now,” Vasquez said. “Hopefully our kids dying will help the government see that they need to do something.”
Public schools in the nation’s capital recently reported that the graduation rate for 2017 was the highest in the school system’s history.
According to school officials, about 73 percent of Washington public schools’ students graduated on time, another record high for a school system that had struggled years ago to graduate even half of its students. The graduation rate marked a four-point rise from the previous year and a 20-point gain from 2011, when just over half of D.C. Public School students graduated within four years.
In response, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser proudly described the school system as the “fastest improving urban school district in the country.
“These graduation rates are a reminder that when we have high expectations for our young people and we back up those expectations with robust programs and resources, our students can and will achieve at high levels,” Bowser said in a statement.
But it was all false. A report by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shows more than one of every three diplomas awarded to students were not earned. The report found that 937 out of 2,758 graduates of D.C. public schools did not meet the minimum attendance requirements needed for graduation. Teachers even admit to falsely marking students present.
Washington is the latest of a series of public school systems found guilty of widespread cheating. Similar cheating was found in public schools in Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Memphis, Los Angeles, Columbus, Ohio, and Atlanta.
The perpetrators in these scandals weren’t the students but the administrators and teachers. Both have admitted to falsifying records on standardized tests, graduation requirements and student grades.
In response, some teachers have been fired and stripped of their licenses to teach again. In other places like Atlanta, teachers and administrators have gone to jail. In Washington, D.C., Antwan Wilson, District of Columbia schools chancellor, resigned Feb. 20 after it was revealed he used his position to get his daughter into a preferred school.
The real culprit in these cheating scandals, according to education experts and teachers, is the increased — and some say unfair — pressure on education officials from the government to meet a certain level of student performance. If they don’t meet the mandated standards, school systems could lose funding, and with less money to pay for staff and supplies some people could lose their jobs.
President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 and former President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top created an “accountability system,” education experts said, linking student performance to Title I funding, which are federal grants given to schools with a high percentage of low-income students.
No Child Left Behindwas the first law requiring federally-mandated tests to measure student performance. Prior to the law, states and cities used achievement tests to measure what students were learning to decide how effective their instruction was and what changes they might make.
Harvard professor Dan Koretz, author of the book The Teaching Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better, said cheating by teachers — in many cases sanctioned or encouraged by administrators — is fueled by the misuse of standardized tests to measure school performance which has pressured teachers to raise scores beyond what is reasonable.
“Some cheat and, ironically, all of these shortcuts undermine the usefulness of tests for their intended purpose—monitoring what kids know,” Koretz said.
Koretz and other education experts believe standardized tests can be a useful measure of students’ knowledge, when used correctly.
A survey by the Washington Teacher’s Union and EmpowerED echoes Koretz’s assertion that teachers feel pressure to cheat. The survey found that almost 60 percent of teachers said that they’ve felt pressure or coercion from superiors to pass undeserving students.
“There has been strenuous pressure to hit specific targets regardless of student performance or attendance,” an anonymous D.C. public school teacher said on the survey.
Another teacher said, “Administrators, parents, and teachers just want good grades so the school system and the student look accomplished on paper.”
A study conducted by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, showed that over 45 percent of Black students nationwide attend these low-income or high poverty public schools. Meanwhile, only 8 percent of White students attend these same schools.
Education expert Morgan Polikoff, a professor of education at the University of Southern California, said the result is that cheating is found primarily among majority-Black schools, which lack the educational tools and support they need in order to adequately serve their students.
“There are teachers who’ve felt pressure because they don’t feel that they have the capacity or support to achieve expectations through realistic measures,” Polikoff said.
Koretz said the cheating underscores the fallacy of rewarding and punishing schools based on standardized tests.
The answer “is to reduce the pressure to meet arbitrary targets,” he said. “Another is to routinely monitor how schools are reaching their targets. Yet another is to broaden the focus of accountability in schools to create a more reasonable mix of incentives.”
The chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia’s Committee on Education is pushing Mayor Muriel Bowser to broaden the scope of an investigation that uncovered a high school graduation scandal to include public and charter elementary and middle schools as well as charter high schools.
In a Feb. 21 letter, Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) asked Bowser to direct the Office of the State Superintendent to retain Alvarez & Marsal or to hire another independent firm that would build on a December investigation that audited DCPS’ high school attendance and graduation policies.
“After holding two public hearings on graduation accountability and receiving compelling evidence that teachers throughout the city, across grade levels, and in both sectors of public education feel pressure to pass students, it appears that these issues may extend beyond high schools,” Grosso wrote in his letter to Bowser.
Alvarez & Marsal released a report in January that showed 34 percent of the DCPS class of 2017 received diplomas in violation of district attendance or grading policies. The ensuing fallout cost four DCPS officials their jobs and prompted system-wide policies and stopgaps to make sure students have truly earned their diplomas.
“Those results were extremely troubling, but they do not tell the whole story,” Grosso said in the letter. “A cross-sector, system-wide examination will provide a more accurate picture of whether or not our children are prepared for the next milestone in their academic career before advancing.”
Grosso has requested a response from Bowser by March 1.
Washington, DC – The DC State Board of Education (SBOE) announces its next High School Graduation Requirements Task Force meeting on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 1114 at 441 4th Street NW. During this meeting, the task force will discuss options for improving the preparedness of students for high school coursework, college, and career and talk about potential technical adjustments to the graduation requirements themselves.
This task force marks an historic citywide effort to review, analyze and, as necessary, make thoughtful, implementable recommendations to adjust DC’s high school graduation requirements for all DCPS and public charter school students. Under the leadership of Ward 1 representative Laura Wilson Phelan and Ward 8 representative Markus Batchelor, the members of the task force mirror our school-aged population, with half of the task force members living or working East of the Anacostia River.
All task force meetings are open to the public. However, individuals and representatives of organizations are not permitted to speak or participate during task force sessions. District residents may stay involved and provide input throughout this process in a variety of ways. Individuals and representatives of organizations may submit written testimony or information for consideration by the task force by emailing sboe@dc.gov or by filling out this online form. Members of the public can also request to join our discussion group here to share input regarding the work of the task force.
The DC State Board of Education is an independent agency within the executive branch of the Government of the District of Columbia which works to advise the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), which is the District’s state education agency. The Board approves education policies, sets academic standards, and determines teacher qualifications. The State Board views its role in the achievement of this mission as one of shared responsibility, whereby it engages families, students, educators, community members, elected officials and business leaders to play a vital role in preparing every child for college and/or career success.
For the latest updates on the work of the task force, please visit sboe.dc.gov/gradreqs.
The District of Columbia public school lottery deadline for pre-K through 8th grade students is fast approaching; just as new figures confirm that District public charter schools now educate 47 percent of all D.C. students enrolled in public schools. This vote of confidence in these unique public schools is a tribute to the diversity and strength of the educational programs they offer.
Tuition-free and open to all District-resident students, public charter schools are free to design and develop their school curriculum and culture, while being held accountable for improved student performance by the city’s Public Charter School Board.
D.C.’s school lottery, accessible online at myschooldc.org, allows families to choose from the District’s public schools, charter and traditional, that are out-of-boundary—schools that are not the local option provided by D.C. Public Schools and for any pre-K program. Parents and guardians rank up to 12 choices, allowing them to express a preference for over-subscribed programs. Names are drawn at random until available spots are filled.
The lottery is backed up by practical support, including an education festival with different schools exhibiting and an email and telephone hotline with multiple language options. Free public transportation allows students to attend schools across the city without extra cost.
[/media-credit] Dr. Ramona Edelin is executive director of the D.C. Association of Chartered Public Schools.
While some schools are in such demand that there are waitlists, the lottery randomly fills places, but shortlists students who don’t make it into a chosen school—some 85 percent of students are awarded a place at one of their top three school choices.
Charters were introduced to the District to raise public school standards by increasing choice. While these unique public schools have led the way in raising standardized test scores and on-time high school graduation rates, they also have introduced themes and approaches that boost college and career readiness. This has been particularly important in the District’s most underserved communities: charter students in D.C.’s Wards Seven and Eight are twice as likely to achieve state benchmarks for college and career preparedness than their peers enrolled in traditional public schools.
Thanks to an expansion in preschool pushed by public charter schools and the city-run school system, nearly all four year olds and most three year olds attend preschool. Charters have the flexibility to tailor their programs to provide effective early education.
By allowing public charter schools to offer different paths to educate young scholars so that they may access the higher education and advanced career options that position them to succeed in life, best practices evolve from which all educators can learn. Families also are brought to the table because, as schools of choice, parents and guardians have a say in what works for their children. Public education dollars follow the student in the District, so charters have incentive to inspire confidence.
The District of Columbia model of school choice for all regardless of income has multiplied quality public school options—especially for the least advantaged. Today, three in four students exercise families’ rights to attend an out-of-boundary school rather than simply accepting their neighborhood school place. And as the next generation of children is increasingly provided with the skills necessary to succeed, all of our communities can look forward to better opportunities and a more secure future.
Dr. Ramona Edelin is the executive director of the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools.
Building:
by: Lenore T. Adkins Special to the AFRO
