School Discipline Policies: Helpful, Hurtful, Both?

Do out-of-school suspensions help or hurt school climate? Are student discipline problems getting worse or better? Betsy DeVos has eliminated the Obama era policies of federal oversight of discipline policies that may impact some student groups more than others. She charges that the Obama policies that are intended to reduce inequitable discipline practices have made problems worse. When teachers are afraid to refer students to the principal, and schools are afraid to suspend students acting in a dangerous way, are school classrooms becoming a ‘free for all zone’? Some teachers may think so. Others claim that minority students are often subjected to harsher penalties than white students for the same offenses. Suspending students, moreover, may simply make student problems worse. It is a conundrum.

There is a report: School-safety that addresses these concerns and the need for more attention to factors within and outside of schools that impact student safety. There are best practices identified from which states and local district are urged to select those that fit their circumstances.

One has to wonder if this data driven educational system based on student test scores and a ‘test and punish’ mentality is also at fault. Students’ schools are labeled as failing or near failing; so are the students themselves. Even students who are achieving at grade level may feel alienated when they do not qualify for a particular magnet program or other selective program. Students feeling tense, left out, and inadequate may well act out.

Some parents opt out of local schools only to find that they enter into a separate system of schools where take it or leave it policies prevail. What they are forced to put up with in many charter and private schools has little to do with student achievement. Discipline and discrimination, moreover, may be even more rigid and arbitrary. These schools have everything to do with which kids get in, which do not and who gets kicked out. There is a better way, a more equitable way, where students and parents from diverse backgrounds feel a sense of belonging. These schools exist. How can we create more of them?

VAM Hits Good Teachers Hard

Six teachers with good overall teacher evaluations must be transferred from Greco Middle School in Hillsborough. The school has had a ‘D’ grade for two years. It is one of those HB7069 things. Teachers at the school whose value added (VAM) scores for their students were not high enough were targeted by the State of Florida. How can this happen? The Florida Department of Education website says that VAM scores are not mandatory….or are they?

Check out the State Board of Education rules for low performing schools. Even though teachers may be rated as effective or highly effective using the district evaluation systems (that also must include student achievement growth measures), if their students’ achievement gain scores are below what similar students across the state gain based on the state VAM scores alone, those teachers must be removed from the school.

What are these VAM scores? They indicate the growth of student achievement scores on the English Language Arts and Math scores from grades 4 through 8, plus Algebra I. Three year average scores of all students in the state are calculated and adjusted by differences in school characteristics and student performance. Average scores for similar groups of students and schools statewide are compared to each teacher’s student scores. These VAM scores are calculated for about one third of Florida’s teachers. Evaluations for the other teachers must include some measure of student growth, either VAM or other locally determined measures of achievement. Local districts determine how best to evaluate their teachers.

The outcry by the American Statistical Association and others that VAM scores alone are not a valid measure of teacher effectiveness was heard in Tallahassee. VAM scores use became optional for district teacher evaluations even though they must include some measures of student progress. Maybe the State Board of Education was not listening. They still make decisions about teachers’ futures based on invalid VAM scores. Let me give you an example of how unfair this is. A teacher here was removed from a low performing school who had an ‘highly effective’ rating. Her ‘mistake’ was to take over a classroom mid year when the district had been unable to fill an empty slot created by the illness of the assigned teacher. The class had several long term substitute teachers….not good for anyone whether teacher or student. The class did not score well on the state assessment. The good teacher who stepped in to help was blamed. We may see more of these cases as the teacher shortage increases.

NPE: Five Reasons Why Charters Can Not Be Reformed

Some charters are innovative and productive; most are not. Why not? Here are five reasons why Diane Ravitch and Carol Burris believe that no reform of the ‘charter system’ will work. I have listed the reasons below, and you can read the rationale for these inherent flaws in the charter school system here. It’s good to have the five points at your fingertips as you talk about your concerns about school privatization.

  1. Freedom from regulation and oversight through public governance has resulted in persistence and undeniable patterns of waste and fraud.
  2. Defacto discrimination is baked into the charter school model.
  3. Charter schools bleed money from the public school system, which results in either a lesser education for public school students or an extra burden on tax payers.
  4. Charter schools eliminate democracy from school governance, and this lack of voice is most acutely felt by parents in disadvantaged communities.
  5. Loose laws around conflict of interest combined with a lack of transparency regarding spending have provided a fertile ground for profiteers and grifters.

The Ban the Book Brigade

Florida Citizen’s Alliance has an agenda to censor textbooks. Which books?
1. Anything with sexually explicit text e.g. Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’; LBGTBQ transgender themes e.g. ‘Being Homosexual’ by Richard Isay
2. U.S. History texts, World History, Understanding Economics and other books that are charged with issues such as having a ‘left bias, opposition to right to bear arms, failure to emphasize federalist vs. anti federalist conflicts, bias against supply side economics, and stating evolution as a settled fact.
3. Religious indoctrination e.g. books about Islam
4. Science e.g. books about environmental dangers such as global warming; Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that do not explicitly say that these are ‘theories, not facts’.
5. Common Core Math critical thinking, problem solving methods

The FCA is headed by Keith Flaugh who is part of the coalition centered around Erika and Byron Donalds and others who support the Christian conservative charter schools known as Classical Academies. They typically challenge text book adoptions at local school boards in Florida. They are included in the DeSantis education transition task force.

The Drum Beat Rolls On

Representative Byron Donalds was named Chair of the Florida House PreK-12 Education Quality subcommittee. Donalds is married to Erika Donalds from Collier County. She was the organizer of the alternative Florida school board association whose members represent charter school interest. She was also sponsor of portions of the Constitutional Revision Commission’s Amendment 8 to create an independent school system. Since that amendment was removed from the November ballot, forms of it will no doubt emerge from the upcoming legislative session. The Donalds also helped found a Classical Academy charter school and are starting another one. These charters focus on ‘Christian values’.

What will our children be taught?

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2018/12/under_flas_new_governor_science_curriculum_challenges.html

Education Week posted an article describing the implications for changes in the Florida science curriculum based on at least two of the education taskforce members views…Keith Flaugh and Erika Donalds from Collier County, Florida.  Jeff Sawchuk, he author of the article:  Coming Soon to Florida: More Challenges to District’s Science Curricula bases his concern on a law based in 2017 to allow independent challenges to district text book selection by not only parents but any citizen.

As a member of Citizens Alliance, Flaugh submitted dozens of challenges to text books last year.  He was quoted as saying ‘”Books that treat evolution as a proven science are discriminating and bully children and their families against their religious beliefs”.

Citizens Alliance trains local protestors to challenge textbooks.  Last year challenges were submitted in Collier, Martin and Nassau counties.  The local school boards voted 3/2 to retain the books.  (This split vote is one example why these Christian advocacy groups are targeting school board elections.)  Moreover, Governor DeSantis has already announced that the task force will conduct a curriculum review of the Florida State Curriculum Standards.  

Public Outcry About Corcoran Nomination

Governor DeStantis’ proposal to appoint former House Speaker Richard Corcoran as Commissioner of Education is a last straw.  With the announcement of Jennifer Sullivan, a home schooled college dropout as House education chair, concern about her qualifications arose.  It seems her role as the curriculum developer for TeenPact, an organization dedicated to educate conservative youth on the proper role of government, was her only experience in education.  TeenPact is supported by Americans for Prosperity.

Then, Manny Diaz, a former House member was appointed Senate education committee chair.  He is an employee of the for-profit Academica charter management firm that launched a private non-accredited college with no students or faculty to award dual enrollment credit to their charter high schoolers that was not transferable.  

The Tallahassee Democrat summarizes the concerns from public school advocates across the state.  You can read their article here. WordPress won’t embed the url today, so you can google the Tallahassee Democrat article:  Public School Allies Sound the Alarm over Corcoran to read quotes from public school advocates across Florida (including mine!).

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/12/08/public-school-allies-sound-alarm-over-corcoran-recommendation-and/2241797002/

League says “Just Say No”

Patti Brigham, President of the Florida League of Women Voters has issued a letter to the Florida State Board of Education urging them to conduct a national search for the Commissioner of Education.  Governor DeSantis wants to name Richard Corcoran, the former House Speaker to the job of running the Florida Department of Education.  His main claim to fame is his personal agenda to dismantle public schools and support privatization.  Read the letter below.