A Better Way to Rate Schools?

A message from Ward 6 School Board member, Joe Weedon, about upcoming decisions on how DC rates schools — and how to make your voice heard on Nov. 16

Currently, schools are rated almost entirely on reading and math test scores–and almost entirely on the proportion of students who are “proficient,” regardless of how much academic progress students in the school did or didn’t make.

This approach has led to many complaints: too much focus on tests and test prep; not enough attention to other subjects;  pressure on schools to focus on teaching students who are close to the proficient cusp instead of kids who score substantially higher or lower; a disincentive for schools to enroll challenging students, whose test scores typically grow more slowly; and, not enough attention to the non-academic aspects of education, including providing a nurturing, safe, challenging, engaging environment.

Thanks to the new federal law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, passed last year, DC has the chance to greatly revise the basis on which we evaluate school quality. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and the State Board of Education (SBOE) have been meeting with members of the community since the spring to hear ideas for fixing the current system.  OSSE produced a “straw man” draft, meant to elicit comment. The SBOE responded with its concerns about what was and wasn’t in the draft.

The discussion now moves to a larger, public stage: the next SBOE meeting, Nov 16 at 5:30. While any member of the public can testify on any issue they want, the three main subjects up for discussion that night are:

  • The Weight of Test Scores:  Our current system overwhelmingly emphasizes test results. We are hearing that this focus on testing has harmful effects on our schools. The OSSE discussion draft suggests a new total test weight of 80%; the SBOE response memo suggests it should be much lower. We need to hear from parents, students, educators, and organizations about how the current testing weight has affected their schools and what they think the new weight should be.
  • The Weight of Growth in Relation to Proficiency:  Rather than holding schools accountable almost entirely for whether their students reach specific proficiency levels, ESSA offers DC the opportunity to credit schools for the progress students achieve each year, meaning that if students enter the year well below proficiency but make above average strides, the school will be credited for that growth–not penalized because the student hasn’t yet reached proficient. We need to hear from parents, students and organizations on what they believe the appropriate balance is between rating schools based on the proportion of students who meet proficiency thresholds and the actual academic progress the students have made.
  • Open, Welcoming Spirit and Other Qualitative Indicators of Quality: In addition to test scores, the SBOE believes that part of a school’s rating should be based on such qualitative factors as whether all students, teachers and parents feel welcome in their schools and such factors as school discipline, attendance, bullying, parent engagement, teacher turnover, student reenrollment, etc. Data for ratings could be drawn from surveys of parents, teachers, and students and from existing data. We need to hear from parents, students and organizations on what factors we should be looking at when assessing our schools.


Please consider testifying before the Board on these or related questions. 
Wed. Nov 16, 5:30 PM
441 4th St NW (at Judiciary Square)

You must sign up by 5 pm, Tuesday Nov 15. Sign up by emailing sboe@dc.gov. Please circulate this information to all interested schools, parents, educators, organizations.

Or, if you can’t attend the hearing, send written statements to me at joe@joeweedonstateboardofed.com and we will make sure your input gets to OSSE. 

Thank you,
Joe Weedon
http://www.ward6education.com/

CHPSPO Meeting Notes – October 18 2016

Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization

Miner Elementary School, Large Group Instruction Room, 601 15th Street, NE

October 18, 2016, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

 

  1. Cross-Sector Collaboration Task Force (Caryn Ernst)
  • DISCUSSION (Policy proposal for by-right, neighborhood schools):
    • In wards 7/8 (and 5) 30-50% of the population mobile throughout the school year (low income). Some schools like Cluster in Ward 6 that also experience churn. Higher percentage of churn in HS than in MS/ES.
      • Most mobility from out of state to in state and from charter to DCPS
      • Task force: What are strategies to reduce mobility
      • By right charter schools as proposed solution. Proposed by DME, not task force and is being supported by the DME
      • The Public Charter School Board did not support the proposal because it would reduce choice for families.
    • Other policy ideas:
      • Since schools impacted by this have a high degree of churn, what if there were a central way to have kids transition via central office and schools have to reserve a percentage of slots for those kids
      • Ed council reps: project churn at school level, set the high churn schools up w/ transition academies to get students transitioned into regular classrooms.
      • Currently, no data about why students are moving
    • ACTION: one of the ward education councils will author a letter supporting policies (not by right)
    • ACTION: Encourage DCPS to discuss policy options under consideration and consider impacts on DCPS
    • (http://dme.dc.gov/collaboration)

2. November Wilson Building Visits – topics & attendees

  • Topics for discussion include:
    • Chancellor search
    • Cross-sector task force – opportunity to raise concerns about mobility proposals, and balance on task force
    • Modernization issues
  • Who to visit: Grosso, Allen, White, Cheh

 

3. Summer Modernization Hearing Follow upWhen

4. Monthly Best Practices Discussions

  • Topics suggested:
    • PTO
    • Fundraising
    • Aftercare
    • Environmental/sustainability

5. Walk-to-School Day Closeout

6. Changes to Nursing (Beth Bacon):

  • Information meeting notes:
    • Charged w/ improving outcomes
    • DOH mentioned needs assessment and some outreach to public but parents not clear what that entailed
    • Moving resources; working w/ community resources/primary care physicians
    • Only 40% of students have universal health forms completed
    • Algorithm which determines 20-40 hours/week support (though not enough nurses currently to cover the support)
      • Special health needs
      • Enrollment
      • Health suite use
      • Profile data
    • Could be reassessed monthly
    • Presentations, etc: http://doh.dc.gov/service/school-nurses
  • Ed Committee Roundtable on October 25.

Next CHPSPO Meeting: November 15, 2016

  • Liz Davis
  • Enrollment Office

Upcoming Events

DCPS State of the Schools

October 18, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Roosevelt High School

Cross Sector Collaboration Task Force

October 25, 6 pm, Location DC Taxi Cab Commission 2235 Shannon Pl SE #3001.

Open Houses

October 19, 6 pm, Jefferson Academy

November 2, 9:30 am and 6 pm, Eliot-Hine Middle School

November 3, 9:30 am and 6 pm, Stuart Hobson Middle School

November 16, 6 pm, Jefferson Academy

December 13, 9 am, Eliot-Hine Middle School

Fall Festivals

October 22, 10 am – 2 pm, Maury Fall Festival

October 22, 11 am – 3 pm, Tyler Harvest Festival

October 26, 4 – 6 pm, Miner Oktoberfest

October 28, 5:30 pm-  8 pm, Hilloween at Eastern Market

October 29, 6 – 9 pm, Capitol Hill Montessori@Logan Haunted Harvest Festival

 

Update on Changes to School Health / Nurse Program

Follow up on this with good news.

Yesterday, Councilmember David Grosso (At-Large, Chair of Education Committee) introduced emergency legislation to require “any school receiving school nurse services above 20 hours per week to continue at the existing level of services for the remainder of the school year 2016-17.” That means school nurse allocations can’t be cut starting in January with the implementation of the new Department of Health (DOH) School Health Services plan.

Here’s a link to Councilmember Grosso announcing the emergency bill:

At this Tuesday’s Roundtable, there were many, many witnesses speaking out against reductions in school nurse allocations — and speaking up for the value of school nurses. Beth Bacon testified as an SWS parent — and as a CHPSPO/Ward 6 rep, and Sandra Moscoso will submit written testimony with the responses from seven Ward 6 schools on our quick survey. If you would like to add your responses, please answer the 3 questions by 10/31/16.

The hearing lasted 5+ hours – with Councilmember Grosso questioning DOH Director, Dr. Nesbitt, for few hours at the end. Lots of details in the new DOH plan — and Councilmembers Gross and Allen (Ward 6) were adamant about the lack of public engagement and clear explanations on these changes. Note that DOH is transitioning from a nursing contract (which goes through DC Council for review) to a grant program (which doesn’t) — which means that advocacy and monitoring on the part of parents and advocates is not done!

Thanks to everyone who had a hand in this!

Changes to School Health Services Program, Concerns, and What You Can Do

The Department of Health is changing the method of delivering school health services and school nurse staffing allocations starting in January 2017.

For background, see the slide presentation made at two community forums in October to explain these changes or read more information on the school health services program here.

Overview of the changes

According to the DOH presentation, the goals of the changes is to improve health outcomes for our students and standardize level of care provided. Changes reflect an underlying belief that public health initiatives for schools don’t require a credentialed nurse in each school 40 hours per week, despite documented value of school nurses.

There will be a new algorithm to determine whether a school gets 20 or 40 hours per week of nurse coverage will be based on four elements: children with special health needs; enrollment; health suite use; profile data. These data will be reassessed monthly, so coverage could increase or decrease monthly at a school if one or more of the data points changes.

DOH plans to staff point people at schools to calculate the algorithm and identify student needs related to Individual Health Plans. The goal is to improve health outcomes for DCPS students (currently only 40% of DC public school students have complete universal health forms, which includes up-to-date immunizations).

When a nurse is not there, schools will be responsible for using its own staff to cover health needs, or calling 911.

Concerns raised about these changes

* Decreased coverage in light of national recommendations (CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend full-time school nurses)

* Possible need to rely more heavily on 911 when the nurses aren’t there

* Starting a new program in the middle of the school year

* Lack of transparency and community engagement in how decisions were made about the changes and what is driving the need for cost savings?

How you can help

1. Send feedback ASAP on school nursing (to help provide Ward 6 perspectives to the City Council). Send us an email at chpspo@gmail.com or share feedback this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lK3PNEDuVKElGhIrybcfNe4cyC5xq_XeAJNHY1o22-4/edit?usp=sharing

Please share:
* What is the value of school nurses to you personally or your school community?
* What is the impact on your school when school staff has to cover nursing duties when a school nurse is not on site?
* Name of your school

2. Sign a petition from the Washington Teachers’ Union and the DC Nurses Association. Every Child Deserves a Full-Time Nurse in His or Her School

3. Testify in front of the City Council or submit written testimony for the Education Committee’s Public Roundtable on School Health Services Program on Oct. 25:
http://dccouncil.us/events/education-public-roundtable5
Note: If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Written statements should be submitted via email to jgiles@dccouncil.us or by mail to the Committee on Education, Council of the District of Columbia, Suite 116 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. The record will close at 5:00 p.m. on November 8, 2016.

October 18 CHPSPO Meeting at Miner

The Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization will hold it’s October 18 meeting at Miner Elementary. We will be discussing the cross-sector task force, visits to the Wilson building planned for November, follow up to the Summer Modernization hearing, and more. Hope to see you on the 18th.

Suzanne Wells

101816 CHPSPO Agenda.docx

Council hearing: summer modernization roundtable, Childhood Lead Prevention Act

For those of you tuning into tomorrow’s hearing (http://dccouncil.us/events/te-e-public-hearing) please see materials distributed by CM Allen’s office.

Ahead of the DCPS/DGS hearing tomorrow on summer modernization work and the Childhood Lead Prevention Act, Councilmember Allen asked DCPS and DGS a number of advance questions about the condition of and work at Ward 6 schools. Their responses are attached. If you haven’t already signed up to testify but would like to submit written testimony, the hearing record will close on October 20.

If you are unable to testify in person, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted to Ms. Aukima Benjamin, staff assistant to the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 108, Washington, D.C. 20004. They may also be e-mailed to abenjamin or faxed to (202) 724-8118. The record will close at the end of the business day on October 20, 2016.

Tomorrow’s witness list is also attached. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Regards,

Laura

Laura Marks, Chief of Staff

Office of Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 6

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 406

@CM_CharlesAllen | www.charlesallenward6.com

ATTACHMENT — DCPS Ward 6 Work Order list 10.4.16.pdf

DGS pre-hearing questions letter response CM Allen 10.4.16.pdf

2016-10-06 Summer Modernization, B21-831 Childhood Lead Prevention.docx

Walk to School Day, Oct. 5

Join the Capitol Hill schools family on October 5th at Lincoln Park to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Walk to School Day  — in the company of our Councilmember Charles Allen and Mayor Bowser!

walk-to-school-day_oct-5-2

Do you know where your departure point is for your school?

wtsd-capitolhill-departure

 

CHPSPO meets September 20 at Payne Elementary

Dear Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization members,

CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, September 20, at Payne Elementary (1445 C Street, SE). Liz Davis, the President of the Washington Teachers Union, will join us at our meeting. In addition to the discussion with Ms. Davis, we will be discussing the final preparations for Walk-to-School Day, share school practices on morning drop-off, and begin planning for visits to the Wilson Building in October.

I also want to share a recent interview Andy Shallal did with Gary Ratner, Executive Director of Citizens for Better Schools, on the Pacifica Radio show, “Business Matters,” about the need for a new education strategy and what skills our city should be looking for in the next Chancellor to carry out this new education strategy. A voice recording of the 20 minute interview is available at www.wpfwfm.org . Click on “Archived Shows”. Scroll down to “Business Matters” for September 12, 2016, 9:00 am and click on “Play.” (Interview starts around 9:15 and you can skip to that by clicking on grey progress bar to right of the pause button.)

I’m also sharing a letter that was written by a Ward 4 parent regarding changes to staffing for school nurses. CHPSPO has discussed in the past issues dealing with school nurses, and I thought people would want to see this letter.

Hope to see you on Tuesday.

Suzanne Wells

Dear DC Government Officials,
I am writing you to express my concern over changes I recently learned were planned to the way school nurses are provided in our public schools. At a Ward 4 Education Alliance meeting on 9/14, Dr. Schumacher of DCPS confirmed a rumor that schools will no longer have a minimum of 1 nurse per school, and instead have a minimum of 1/2 nurse per school as part of a larger initiative to increase coordination of care with physicians and community health organizations. It was stated that these changes were intended to be implemented by January 2017.

I support the general notions that were presented, including increased equity and better utilization of public resources. But I object to the way the actions are being carried forward. I request that you preserve a full time nurse at each public school. If there are worthwhile initiatives to increase performance and efficiency, then please add to the budget to pay for those. Don’t pay for it by cutting nurse staff to our schools.

In the meeting, it was stated that school staff can manage issues while the school nurse is not present. I strongly object to this for two reasons. First, I don’t see any additional funding going to cover staff positions as we add collateral duties, and I don’t believe you get something for nothing. If anything, the staff should have fewer collateral duties or increased staff to better handle them. Second, the little training that staff gets does not take the place of a true nurse. While they may be able to handle minor bumps and scrapes, can they handle infectious disease outbreaks? Will they know the signs of more serious illness? Waiting until the nurse is back in the office is not an acceptable response. And I do not trust the idea of having centralized resources to supplement by phone. Nothing takes the place of a full-time nurse in the school invested in the school community.

I’d also like you to address the lack of transparency in this process. This represents a notable change in our schools, and you’ve hidden this from us until it’s nearly a done deal. You can do much better than that, and you have in the past. Take, for example, the school boundary realignment process. While it was painful, I do feel that you heard us and adjusted the actions in response to what you heard from us. There has been no such thing for this change, and I don’t think you’re taking us in a direction that many parents want to go. I request that you put a hold on this process and try again with parent input. There’s generally little trust in DC government and this lack of transparency erodes what little is left.

While you state a goal of promoting equity, I don’t think you’ve fully recognized the inequity that reducing nurse staffing drives. For example, when my daughter hit her head, we were fortunate enough to be able to pick her up from school and bring her to a doctor because there was no nurse available in the school. The same would be significantly more difficult for the child of a single parent with a less flexible job.

As it is, your actions seem to be related to the current shortage of nurses, which is already affecting our schools. It’s disturbing to me that the current contract provisions that require at least one nurse per school are not being maintained. What is DOH and DCPS doing about this? Is the council even aware?

Thank you,
Joshua Hertzberg
Ward 4 parent of 2 DCPS students

CHPSPO Agenda 092016.docx

CHPSPO Meets August 16 at Maury

CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, August 16 at Maury. We will be discussing the search for the new Chancellor, the cross-sector collaboration task force, and planning for Walk-to-School Day. Try to stay cool this weekend!

Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization
Maury Elementary
12th & Constitution Ave., NE
August 16, 2016
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

6:30 – 6:35 Introductions

6:35 – 7:00 Chancellor Search, DME representative (invited)

7:00 – 7:30 Cross Sector Collaboration Task Force, DME representative (invited) and Caryn Ernst

7:30 – 8:00 Walk to School Day Planning Committee

Next CHPSPO Meeting: September 20, 2016

Upcoming Events

First Day of School,
August 22

Chancellor Search Community Meeting
August 30, 6:30 pm, Roosevelt High School
September 7, 6:30 pm, Eastern High School
September 14, 6:30 pm, Savoy Elementary

Cross Sector Collaboration Task Force
September 27, 6 pm, EducationCounsel, 101 Constitution Ave., NW, Suite 900

2016 Walk to School Day
October 5, Lincoln Park

Register at www.walkbiketoschool.org

Suzane Wells

Meet Isamar Vargas – Eliot-Hine’s New Principal!

Please come meet the new Eliot-Hine Middle School principal, Isamar Vargas, learn about her vision and the school’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme.
 
    Wednesday, August 3, 8 – 9:30 am, Pretzel Bakery (257 15th St., SE)
    Thursday, August 4, 8 – 9:30 am, Mia’s Coffeehouse (101 15th St., NE)