We will be going through restructuring next year. Thanks AYP

[demtenjeep]

We made AYP 2 years ago, Most of the staff are the same, but the entire admin has changed since then and our scores went down...but the principal has already said they would be returning so if we want to keep in that building, we have to basically suck up to admin...


I fear that this next year will be rough on everyone

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Take it from a teacher in a failing district

It sucks and nothing they do to "help" is actually helpful. It is just more paperwork for teachers.

[demtenjeep]

2. I figured as much

One of our teachers that has been through restructuring in a different building says that the stress level will increase 1000 fold and that when the process is over we will feel like gum on the bottom of the admin shoes

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. And you'll be so sick of data that you'll want to puke

[demtenjeep]

4. I already am

!

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. It's the....

...Educational "Reform" Consultant and Panacea Peddler Full Employment Act.

I did a regional accrediting body re-accreditation visit to a high school this March who busted AYP, and work at another.

What will happen: A bunch of people who don't teach will come in and tell you how to do it right. Usually there's enough Federal money for several teams of people who don't teach to come in and tell you how to do it right in mutually contradicting ways. Much hardware -- white boards, LCD projectors, etc. -- will be purchased, installed wrong, and rarely used, because no one will get training. Then they'll all go away. And your scores will move a bit, up or down, because movement over the AYP cut-line is probably stochastic noise anyways.

We busted AYP last year, because of SAT scores. This year's scores just came out -- and we made AYP. But that was before dollar one of the Federal money got spent. All improvement due to in-house, no-additional-cost initiatives. Doesn't get us off the shit list, though. That's a three-year sentence.

My hope is next year, the consultants all come in, a million and a half of taxpayer money gets spent, and we go down. It's a 50-50 possibility

Find out who makes three-ring binders (Avery?) and go long their stock. That way you'll get something out of it besides tsuris/

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. OMG those damn 3 ring binders!!

Last week as we were packing our closing schools, we were ordered to save all of our 3 ring binders so they could be reused.

Just after that announcement the custodian brought a big barrel in my room. I looked at my co-worker, picked up a HUGE 3 ring binder I hadn't opened in years and tossed it in the barrel.

There was applause. :)

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. I thought that under the Turnaround and Transform models...

...you had to fire your principal.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. It's an option

None of that firing / rehiring is mandated. It's all optional.

[donco6]

9. Not always.

If the supt. or the board or some state wonk comes in and makes you choose the real turnaround option, it's mandatory. Fire the principal and at least 50% of the staff. Most don't, because they're smart enough to realize that if you fire all your teachers, you just wind up with a school full of newbies. Duh.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. But that turnaround model is optional

That's what I meant to say. But I didn't do it well. Thanks for the help.

[donco6]

11. Yeah it's one of four options.

And they're cracking down on the one of the four that doesn't require firings.