No Teacher Left Behind: The Story of Ballou Senior High Reconstitution

Created by Ballou HS Students @ Teacher Sit-In

By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Ballou teachers stage a sit-in in the cafeteria with their students in protest of their schools reconstitution on Monday-June 15th. Follow
updates @TheWashTeacher - hashtag #TeachersMatter, #BallouTeachersMatter

In a letter to Ballou Senior High staff, dated May 21, 2015, DC Public Schools Deputy Chief of Human Resources, Crystal Jefferson announced the restructuring of the high school.

The Deputy Chief cited poor performance and the desire for the district to improve student outcomes as the reason to begin restructuring the school.

Staff were called into the school's auditorium at the end of the school day with only a day's prior notice. A "Frequently Asked Questions" fact sheet on Reconstitution was distributed. Instructional Superintendent (IS), Daniel Shea cited No Child Left Behind Act as the authority under which restructuring process will begin.

While NCLB allows any school district multiple options for restructuring, IS Shea and Ballou's principal, Yetunde Reeves said that all staff will have to re-apply for their jobs and only 50% would be selected to remain. Of course the schools principal will not be among those heading for the exit door.

Principal Reeves shared a PowerPoint presentation of her new vision for the next school year. Much like other principals before her, you couldn't help but think - here we go again!

Among the 65 teachers currently at the school, Latisha Chisolm, teacher and WTU Building Representative said only twenty-two teachers were chosen to remain next year. Chisolm says she was not selected to remain at Ballou.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was enacted to improve education through a system of accountability for schools and school districts. Schools who fail to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for five years in a row must undergo a series of five restructuring options.

These options include: [1] reopening the school as a public charter; [2] replacing all or most school staff relevant to AYP failure; [3] collaborating with an external partner; [4] submitting to a State takeover; or [5] developing another major restructuring effort.

This is the second time Ballou has been reconstituted in five years. The last time was 2010. At that time Ballou had a 30 percent proficiency rating in reading and 26 percent in math for high school sophomores on the 2010 D.C. CAS. Three years prior (in 2008), Ballou's test scores were in the single digits.

Despite a reconstitution in 2010, Ballou's scores have declined even further to a 16 percent proficiency rating in reading and a 15 percent in math.

200920102011201220132014

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24

30

21

20

14

15

Reading

200920102011201220132014

0255075100

22

26

19

23

19

16

Math

The bottom line: this NCLB strategy doesn’t work.

Ballou, also commonly referred to as a "drop out factory' has a 63 percent attendance rate with a 50 per cent drop-out rate which is lower than the city wide average.

Wouldn't it be wise to consider less drastic measures and try another approach?  After all playing musical chairs with teachers and administrators hasn't yielded better outcomes for our students. This is the definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting different results.

There are five things that schools have to do to rapidly improve their end-of-the-year test scores according to the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. They found five essential supports that matter for student success and school improvement.

The first support is shared leadership in the building. Next, there is the instructional process that occurs in every classroom. There is improving the professional capacity of the teachers and principal. There is engaging parents in what is happening at school.

For example, parents in this study learned the Illinois standards so they were prepared to help with homework. And the last of the essential supports is the climate for learning. These schools have to have a culture and climate where people increasingly trust each other and are able to work together to create these rapid increases in results.

We know NCLB does more harm than good. "It is time to pull the plug on No Child Left Behind. It has had adequate time to prove itself. It has failed. ..... there is no reason to believe that the results of NCLB will get dramatically better. Now is the time for fundamental rethinking of the federal role in education," says Diane Ravitch, research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Ravitch previously served as a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, so I believe she knows that NCLB has not worked in urban schools in high poverty neighborhoods.

© Candi Peterson 2015

A Young Teacher's Voice on the Devastating Effects of Education Reform

Written by Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Recently, I received an email from a New York teacher blogger friend. He thought I'd be interested in a blog post from NY blogger, Carol Burris who writes Round the Inkwell. Burris, a high school principal and former Spanish teacher also guest blogs for Valerie Strauss' who writes The Answer sheet which is featured in The Washington Post. On Burris' blog, she shares a letter from one of her former students who became a teacher.

Presently, this young teacher works in a DC Public High School. In her poignant letter to her former principal, she describes the effects of what education reform has done to teachers and students with the advent of the teacher evaluation system known as IMPACT.

To give some context to how we arrived here post education reform, the DCPS IMPACT teacher evaluation got it's roots in our district in 2009 and linked teacher performance to student achievement on standardized test scores.  A single standardized test score is used as a means to determine teacher effectiveness and there are no controls for differences among students, such as socio-economic level, attendance, learning disabilities, or other factors that are beyond a teacher's control.  Student scores are used to either reward or punish teachers for gains their students have or have not made.

Post Michelle Rhee, the fear factor is alive and well in DC Public Schools. Teachers report that there are strong messages by school/district administrators that they shouldn't speak up, complain, or offer constructive criticism. They fear reprisal, and most are in survival mode. For this reason, Burris wanted to protect her former student's identify. She states, "I have protected her identify, because sadly, that is what must be done in times like these." - © Candi Peterson 2015

Read her story below (Cross-posted from Round the Inkwell blog) and share if you like.

Good Morning Dr. Burris,

"I am not sure if you remember me, but I was a student at SSHS.  I went on to become a teacher and started my career right out of college at a high school in Washington DC.  In the four years since, I have seen what education reform has done to teaching and learning.
 
While I did not have any experience as a teacher prior to the introduction of common core, I have seen enough to know that this used to be a different game.  My first year of teaching, I felt incredible.  I worked in a school for students who struggled in mainstream classroom environments due to emotional or behavioral issues, but I had managed to figure out a way to reach them and make them excited about learning.  I found texts that not only challenged them academically, but also encouraged them to change the way they looked at the world.  I taught them the foundation skills they were missing and maintained a level of rigor throughout each lesson.

I was evaluated by my principal, assistant principal, and two “master educators” (unknown persons who show up in your classroom unannounced whenever they please).  I received a score of highly effective, which was to come with great recognition and a cash bonus. I was beyond elated.  My students were learning.  My students were excited.  I was learning and excited.  This seemed like great success, right?  Wrong.

After my students, who arrived reading at 2nd and 3rd grade levels, took the 9th grade DC CAS exams, my evaluation score dropped significantly.  No longer was I considered highly effective.  Their success in my classroom, while great, did not directly translate to the formulaic nature of the test; therefore, we were both unsuccessful. This didn’t just happen to me; it happened to all teachers in “testing grades.” For some teachers, this drop in scores meant that they were placed on probation, their pay was frozen at its current step value, or that they were simply pushed out of the system altogether.

My principal, though she worked SO hard to help us to improve the school culture and learning environment in our building, was soon under fire.  She was let go and replaced.  Under her replacement, the school culture/safety suffered, but teachers continued working.  Miraculously, we managed to improve our test scores.  Imagine my surprise when that still somehow negatively affected my overall evaluation score.

The teacher evaluation system in DC is a direct product of the damage that education reform is doing to real education.   Master educators and principals are encouraged not to give out too many “highly effective ratings.” Our value is based largely on test scores and our overall scores are calculated using a combination of a rubric and an “Individual Value Added” formula that we do not have access to.   It’s a process that I think fosters a culture of “teaching to the test” rather than really teaching young people to think and be curious, innovative forces in the world.

So many teachers are so frustrated, but so many administrators are following along because this is the mandate that has been given.  I have since moved schools, but common core hasn’t gotten any better.  The PARCC exam left many of my students frazzled and discouraged.  As teachers, we are struggling to keep up with what is required of us, both according to that test and our high stakes evaluation systems.  It is clear to both us and the students that this just isn’t working, but it’s not a truth that many want to hear and/or face.

I first heard about your work on this front when a coworker asked me if I had ever heard of you.  I was confused at first because I wasn’t sure if the Carol Burris everyone was buzzing about was really Dr. Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School.  Sure enough, after some quick research, I realized it really was you.  I said of course I had heard of you and that I had actually been a student of yours.  My coworker said, “your school must have been amazing.  She’s standing up for all of us.”  I told her that she was right: that it was, and that you are.

I may have been a bratty kid.  I may not have always understood you when I was a teenager.  However, when I tell you that I am so proud to have gone to high school with you as my principal, it is the truth.  You had our backs then, as students (even though we may not have always realized it), and you have our backs now, as teachers.  I am so grateful to you for taking the position you have and for standing on the front lines defending teaching and learning as it should be. From RVC to DC, your voice is heard and appreciated.  Thank you for all that you do."

Best,

No Professional Development Day For You- DC Teachers !

How did your professional development day shape up ?

No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) emphasis on accountability and demands for a high quality teacher in every classroom has spawned an industry of professional development opportunities. Although DC schools had been closed most of this week due to unprecedented snow accumulations - this Friday school opened on time @ 8 a.m. (unlike the Feds) only to teachers, service providers and administrative staff for what was scheduled to be a full day of professional development. Chancellor Rhee confirmed the importance of this day in a written email in which she stated: "Because we have such a limited number of these days, and because the worst of the weather has passed, I have decided to move forward with the scheduled activities tomorrow." The agenda in many schools included more on the job training on the IMPACT evaluation (the new teacher evaluation) in which many teachers have complained that training has been wholly inadequate so far.

DCPS teachers and related service providers including myself received an email yesterday evening alerting them that all off-site professional development sessions in DC public schools were cancelled due to inclement weather. We were told to report to our school site. A copy of this announcement was also posted on the DCPS website on February 12.

DC Teacher Chic tweeted earlier today: "Neither the principal, the vice principal, nor the instructional coach is here. Who is running this so-called professional development? " So far I have heard two reports of how city-wide professional development day went for most- one that half of the teachers showed up and professional development was called off and another that half of the teachers showed up and professional development started at 10 and ended at noon. Some teachers were advised by school administrators that they could do whatever they wanted to do with the remainder of the afternoon including go back home.

I'd love to hear how your professional development day went at your school. Please feel free to weigh in with your stories.

Posted by The Washington Teacher, featuring Candi Peterson - blogger in residence

OSSE Slow To Deliver NCLB Scores As Promised

I just checked again at eleven this morning and OSSE has not yet posted the NCLB scores for 2009-10. I wonder what's the hold up. Here is the link, so please feel free to check and let me know when they're posted.

OSSE website: http://nclb.osse.dc.gov/index.asp

Posted by The Washington Teacher