Formula to Grade Teachers’ Skill Gains Acceptance, and Critics

By SAM DILLON
Published: August 31, 2010

How good is one teacher compared with another?

A growing number of school districts have adopted a system called value-added modeling to answer that question, provoking battles from Washington to Los Angeles — with some saying it is an effective method for increasing teacher accountability, and others arguing that it can give an inaccurate picture of teachers’ work.

The system calculates the value teachers add to their students’ achievement, based on changes in test scores from year to year and how the students perform compared with others in their grade.

People who analyze the data, making a few statistical assumptions, can produce a list ranking teachers from best to worst.

Read more HERE

Suggested Reading

Below is a list of some books that have been brought to my attention for suggested reading. If you have read any and want to discuss them, here is your thread.

Please Mr. President, don't speak on school time

Class Struggle
Jay Mathews
August 26, 2010

Here we go again. I dodged a lot of electronic tomatoes last year for suggesting that President Obama NOT give his back-to-school speech during class time. Many readers thought that was a stupid suggestion. The president and his staff apparently agree with them, because the White House has announced he is going to do it again on Sept. 14. The White House is again encouraging schools to interrupt class so students can listen.

I am going to stay away from the political issues. I know this is an election year. Here in the Washington area, including D.C. and the Maryland suburbs where I live, Sept. 14 will be primary election day, with a D.C. mayoral race important to the future of D.C. schools. But I don't think the president's speech will affect that much. That is not why it bothers me.

Last year, at least, the speech occurred on or near the first day of school for many students. That day is often a waste anyway, just finding your classrooms, greeting your friends and sizing up your teachers. This year he will be speaking on what is the second week for some students, and for many the third or fourth week, when serious learning should be underway. Why does the White House think this is a good idea?

Read more HERE.

More Md., Va. students taking ACT for college entrance, data show

By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 19, 2010

An increasing number of Maryland and Virginia high school students are taking the ACT college entrance test in a region where the SAT has long been dominant, according to data released Wednesday.

In Virginia this year, 22 percent of high school seniors who graduated took the ACT at some point in school, up from 19 percent in 2009, according to the state Department of Education.

This year's SAT data have not yet been released. But the percentage of graduating Virginia high school seniors who took the SAT dropped from 73 percent in 2007 to 58 percent in 2009.

In Maryland, the number of graduating seniors who took the ACT grew this year, too, to 11,924 from 11,317 in 2009, the Iowa-based ACT organization reported. The number of seniors taking the SAT dropped slightly from 2008 to 2009, but it remains the state's most widely used test. The number of D.C. students taking the ACT has been flat since 2008.

Read more HERE.

Tasing Demonstration

View Video Here

As a member of the Charles County Board of Education I recently, volunteered for a tasing to demonstrate the safety associated with the deployment of a Taser by a police officer assigned to our county schools.

This demonstration took place on August 13, 2010 at the Charles County Sheriff’s Office Headquarters in La Plata, Maryland.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting 8/10/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, August 10th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session 10 a.m.

Call to order 11 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Recognition

• Sacred Heart Ladies' Auxiliary #301, Knights of St. John International
• Book donation to school libraries from the Maryland Retired School Personnel Association

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Carrington

(yes) Abell, Bailey, Carrington, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update - read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Wise - Pedersen appointment to O'Malleys committee, Maryland Council for Educator Effectiveness
• Abell - Asked for tasing in the schools to be added to the agenda for September as a discussion item and invited board members to attend tasing on Friday, August 13 at noon.
• Richmond - Elliot Cohen to attend in October from the Space Foundation and invited board for 10:30 on October 12.

Education Association of Charles County update - Read report

Student Board Member update - Read Report.

Deputy Superintendent Update - Opening of Schools; evaluations; MSA scores

CIP update - See report; renovations to stay current in the technology fields

Instruction Update - Summer Programs, See report. 5,407 students participated

Human Resources Update - Staffing

• 4 English, 1 Math and 1 of various other openings still need to be filled
• Pedersen - number hired this year to previous years? Remains steady per Hettel

Legal Update - Board Chairman Election Bylaw

• Staff recommendations to make the process more transparent rather than by hidden anonymous ballots

Recurring Resolutions

• Bailey - Questioned what the school system does on 9/17, Constitution Day. Estep will provide update.

Unfinished business

• Pedersen - Blue Ribbon Commission for Diversity...public is invited to attend and share about experiences of diveristy in the workplace.

New business - None

Future agenda items

• Wade - Update on athletic preparations
• Pedersen - Update on overnight field trips
• Wade - Review of cell phone policy; one modification has been made due to the number of suspensions

Public Forum 3:30 p.m.

• Paddy Mudd - wants school named Piney Forest High School, gave history
• Craig Renner - VP Public Relations ACPT - wants school named St. Charles High School gave history

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Wade
(yes) unanimous

• Personnel

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen
(yes) unanimous

• School Naming

Motion by Bailey; Second by Cook to delay vote until next month
(yes) Bailey; (no) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Carrington to name St. Charles HS

(yes) Bailey, Carrington, Pedersen, Wade, Wise ;(no) Cook; (Abstain) Abell

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 8/10/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, August 10, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the August meeting begins at 11 a.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system Web site at www.ccboe.com/live.

Executive session - 10 a.m.

Call to order - 11 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Recognition

• Book donation to school libraries from the Maryland
• Retired School Personnel Association Sacred Heart Ladies' Auxiliary #301, Knights of St. John International

Superintendent's Update to the Board

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Correspondence/Board member updates

Education Association of Charles County update

Student Board Member update

Information Item:

• Preparations for opening of schools
• State CIP 2012
• Summer programs
• Staffing update
• Board Chairman Election Bylaw
• Recurring Resolutions: Health Careers Month; American Education Week; American Freedom Week; African American History Month; Career and Technical Education Month; National School Counseling Week; Read Across America; Women's History Month; Fine and Performing Arts Month; Month of the Young Child; National Student Leadership Week; Teacher Appreciation Week; Administrative Professionals' Week; Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week; National Physical Education and Sports Week; Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leader; Charles County Teacher of the Year; Employees' Retirement; and Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award.

Unfinished Business

New business

Future agenda items

Public Forum

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• School naming

Adjournment

St. Charles Community (SCC) Confirms New High School Fee to School System

The school system and SCC negotiated an agreement last year for SCC to pay $1,000,000 as a fee in-lieu of providing a graded high school site per early county government Adequate Public Facilities requirements (Docket 90). The fee will be paid to county government in three installments and placed in the new high school construction project line item as follows: $250,000 on or before June 30, 2010; $250,000 on or before September 30, 2010; and $500,000 on or before December 31, 2010.

Schools absorb good, bad news

Some can crow about MSA, others must buckle down

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
By GRETCHEN PHILLIPS
Staff writer
Maryland Independent

While six of 29 elementary and middle schools missed state progress goals, school officials remain confident that students are making improvements.

Tuesday, the Maryland State Department of Education released results for the Maryland School Assessment, a test given to students in grades three through eight in math and reading to satisfy requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Students and school systems strive to achieve set standards on the state tests in order to test proficient or better; the percentages of students in each grade who must test at the proficient level to meet the standards for each school rise each year.

Read more HERE

Children's Health in the National Spotlight

American School Board Journal
By Naomi Dillon

The much-publicized planting of the White House vegetable garden in spring 2009 was the first sign of something big to come.

Not since World War II and Eleanor Roosevelt had crops of produce appeared on the presidential lawn. Besides First Lady Michelle Obama, the groundbreaking ceremony featured recently appointed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a proponent of sustainable living, and two dozen fifth-graders from a nearby elementary school who would tend and harvest the 1,100-square foot plot sprinkled with 55 varieties of vegetables, herbs, berries, honeycombs, and bees.

By February, Obama had turned her passion into a Cabinet-level cause, unveiling Let’s Move!, a White House initiative that calls on everyone, from parents to policymakers, to make the health of future generations a priority.

Every week since then, it seems like a new group, program, or campaign is being waged in the fight against childhood obesity. PepsiCo recently announced it would stop selling sugar-laden drinks in primary and secondary schools worldwide by 2012. And the new Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation -- a consortium of nearly 80 U.S. retailers, food manufacturers, and nonprofits pledging to reduce 1.5 trillion calories from Americans’ annual food consumption by 2015 -- was set to release a nutrition and exercise curriculum for elementary schools at press time.

Read more HERE

Report: Head Lice Is No Reason to Keep Kids Out of School

By Alice Park
Monday, July 26, 2010
Time.com

They are miniscule, measuring at most 2 mm to 3 mm long, yet few things induce more panic or fear among parents than head lice. But while an infestation of head lice on a child can be uncomfortable, the critters do not pose enough of a contagious hazard to justify the strict policies that many schools use to keep infected children out of class, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

In the clinical report, released by the journal Pediatrics on Monday, the AAP updates its 2002 guidelines for the treatment of lice infestation. The pediatricians group once again urges schools to abandon their strict no-nits policies, which require children to be free of nits, the empty casings left behind by lice once they hatch from their eggs, before they may return to school. Both the AAP and the National Association of School Nurses have long discouraged this policy because it is not proven to lower overall infestation rates and puts children who miss class at a disadvantage...

Read more HERE.

Tasers in School

This serves as follow-up to a previous post. There is a list of article links below involving tasers and their use in schools. Please review them and give me your thoughts. Officers, including the Juvenile Resource Officers in the schools, currently are armed with tasers. There is NOT a policy in place either with the Charles County Sheriff's Office or the Charles County Board of Education regarding the use of tasers on school grounds.

My opinion....if a juvenile warrants being tased and they aren't on school grounds, they will be tased. Are officers supposed to stop them and ask their age before tasing them? Some of these "juveniles" are bigger than I am.

• November 18, 2004 - http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2004/081104tasersinschools.htm
• January 13, 2006 - http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=3806891
• January 14, 2010 - www.chicagonow.com/.../should-cops-taser-kids-in-school.html
• February 7, 2007 - http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/07/cn020707.htm
• March 13, 2010 - www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9021323
• March 23, 2010 - http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2010-03-23/story/glynn-county-school-board-rejects-taser-proposal
• April 29, 2010 - www.charlotteobserver.com/.../deputy-uses-taser-on-teen-at-school.html
• June 11, 2010 - http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/orange_news/061110girl-shot-with-taser-during-school-fight
• OVERALL - http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/tasers.html

19 File to run for Board of Education

Let me know if you have ever heard of any of these people before. Some are complete strangers. Quite a few have come before the board for one thing or another and haven't gotten their way and are now running. Others are just...you've go to be kidding me :)

Jennifer Abell (incumbent)
Douglas Bonaro (anyone know this guy; Never heard of him before)
Patricia Bowie
Maura Cook (incumbent)
Barbara Cooksey-Feeney (Anyone know her; never heard of her before)
Paul Donato
Michael Green
Robert Harlan
Jason Henry Sr. (anyone know this guy; Never heard of him before)
Blaine Lessard (sounds familiar but can't place him)
Mike Lukas
Narain Mathur
Monifa Tarjamo
Shanetta Oliver (Anyone know her; never heard of her before)
Pamela Pederson (incumbent)
Sue Richards (Anyone know her; never heard of her before)
Donald Wade (incumbent) (I can't believe he is doing this)
Michael Wilson (anyone know this guy; Never heard of him before)
Roberta Wise (incumbent)

What to name the new high school? Weigh in before August.

A committee was comprised of county residents, staff, and students to review the submitted suggestions. The committee came before the board on June 28, 2010 and presented their unanimous top three suggestions in no particular order.

• Zekiah
• St. Charles
• Lagrange Point

Other suggestions submitted to the committee are listed below...

• Awossi
• Free State
• Freedom
• Greenway
• High Tech
• Orion
• Perihelion
• Piney Branch
• Piney Forest
• Piney
• Piney Tech
• The Stem

The Board unanimously decided that the new high school should be named after a location not a person and therefore the following submissions would be mute.

• Kris Romeo Bishundat
• Jane Bowie
• Cox/Williams
• Dr. John H. Cox
• Vicki A. Daniels
• George Calvert
• Robert A Heier
• Roy S. Johnson
• Walter Melvin "Johnny" Johnson
• Peter Welford Kendrick
• Lord Calvert
• Willie McCool
• Eleanor G. Robey
• Clarence T. Rodgers
• Robert D. Stetham
• Vietnam Veterans Suggestions (8 names submitted)

Two suggestions were submitted to the committee but were disqualified because they did not follow board policy stating that if a school is to be named after a person, the person must be deceased for five or more years.

• James E. Richmond
• Cecil Marshall

The Board will be voting on the name at the August Board Meeting. Please respond with your vote.

REMINDER: Board Work Session, 06/28/10

The Board of Education of Charles County will hold a work session at 6 p.m., Monday, June 28, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. The meeting will be aired live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and streamed on the school system Web site at www.ccboe.com/boe/live. The agenda is as follows:

Call to order - 6 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Public Forum

Action Items

• AFSCME signing
• 2011 budget

Report

• School naming

Executive Session

Adjournment

Committee recommends names for new high school

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CHARLES COUNTY
AGENDA ITEM

SUBJECT
Naming of new high school off Piney Church Road in Sheffield Neighborhood in St. Charles.

OVERVIEW
The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) plans call for the opening of a high school by August 2013. At the present, no formal name has been given to the school. Charles County Board of Education policy stipulates schools shall have names of either deceased persons or places of significance to Charles County.

The Board appointed an eight-member advisory committee to review recommendations submitted by the public. Seven members actually served. The Board charged the committee to gather public input and offer three recommendations to the Board for naming the new high school.

The committee solicited names from the community both personally and through postings in the Maryland Independent, radio spots and on the school system Web site. It was also advertised on Channel 96. The committee reviewed 35 names for consideration.

The Committee suggests the following three names for consideration:

• Zekiah High School
• St. Charles High School
• La Grange Point High School

RECOMMENDATION/FUTURE DIRECTION
That the Board accept the naming report for the new high school and prepare for a vote at the August meeting.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting, 6/01/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, June 1st will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance La Plata High School's JROTC unit

Swearing-in of new Student Board member

Recognition

• Westlake High School coed indoor track team
• Maurice J. McDonough High School's unified track team
• Indian Head Elementary School's Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) team
• SMART team, Henry E. Lackey High School
• Alexander Smith, La Plata High School, Maryland 2010 Trigonometry Competition

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update - read report

Correspondence/Board member updates - None

Education Association of Charles County update - Read report

Deputy Superintendent Update - Graduation & Project graduation

Student Board Member update - Thank you's & introduction of new members

CIP update - See report; capacity for new high school approved at 1600; Gwynn Center renovation has been approved

Unfinished business - None

New business and future agenda items

• EACC negotiations

  Motion by Pedersen; Second by Wade
  (yes) unanimous

• AFSME negotiations

Motion by Bailey; Second by Pedersen
(yes) unanimous

• Award bid to Scheibel Construction for Phase 1 of new high school

Motion by Abell; Second by Pedersen
(yes) unanimous

Future agenda items

• Pedersen - nutrional values of lunches

Here there was a 90-minute recess so , a side note for your amusement and for me to see who actually reads these notes...right before the recess I received a frantic call from my 13 year old saying the downstairs ceiling was "leaking" and there was water everywhere. After answering all my questions we concluded that the AC unit in the attic of the second floor was leaking through the second floor ceiling onto the carpet and then trough the first floor ceiling and onto the hardwood. Needless to say a quick trip home was needed. After doing a quick change from my dress clothes, grabbing a ladder, flashlight, screw driver, and placing buckets out I hoisted myself into the attic (ladder was too short). Upon investigating, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Some insulation was absorbing condensation running down a section of a tape and leaking onto an area outside of the drain pan. So after removing some foil tape and wet insulation, problem solved.Clean-up is needed but that part can wait till after the meeting later tonight. Now I rushed and put the dress clothes back on, ran to Lowe's for more foil tape, and now I'm finishing the meeting with a very itchy fiberglass rash and cough. Why the heck do they put fiberglass in the insulation and what do you have to do to get it off? Life, as always, is never boring.

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Maryland Retired School Personnel Association book donation
• Students
• 2009-10 Student Liaisons
• Outstanding vice principal award
• Outstanding support staff awards
• Resolution Charles County Teacher of the Year Mark Howell, social studies teacher, Westlake High School
• Resolution Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award Jill Jowdy, physical education teacher, Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School
• Recognition of Charles County Teacher of the Year nominees Joy Thompson, reading teacher, Milton M. Somers Middle School; Mary Long, reading resource teacher, Higdon; and Jennifer Gimmel, prekindergarten teacher, Williams A. Diggs Elementary School
• Recognition of Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award nominees Richard Ivanac, art teacher, Somers; Linda McLaughlin, foreign language teacher, North Point High School; Jo Anne Shelak, elementary teacher, Diggs; and Gina Tallon, mathematics teacher, Westlake
• Employees' retirement resolution

Public Forum 6 p.m. - none

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Wade
(yes) unanimous


• Personnel

Motion by Carrington; Second by Wade
(yes) unanimous


• Educational facilities master plan

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Carrington
(yes) unanimous

• Out-of-county tuition fees

Motion by Cook; Second by Pedersen
(yes) unanimous


• Policy 3910 (debt management); 4740 (severance); 4820 (general policies and procedures: duties and responsibilities); and policy series 6000

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen

(yes) unanimous

• 3320 (expenditure: purchasing procedures)

Motion by Cook; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Cook, Carrington, Pedersen, Wade, Wise

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board Meeting, 06/01/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, June 1, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules for Channel 96 are available on the Charles County Public Schools Web site at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance La Plata High School's JROTC unit

Swearing-in of new Student Board member

Recognition

• Westlake High School coed indoor track team
• Maurice J. McDonough High School's unified track team
• Indian Head Elementary School's Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) team
• SMART team, Henry E. Lackey High School
• Alexander Smith, La Plata High School, Maryland 2010 Trigonometry Competition

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update

Action item

• EACC/AFSME contract and signing

Correspondence/Board member updates

Education Association of Charles County update

Student Board Member update

CIP update

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Maryland Retired School Personnel Association book donation
• Students
• 2009-10 Student Liaisons
• Outstanding vice principal award
• Outstanding support staff awards
• Resolution Charles County Teacher of the Year Mark Howell, social studies teacher, Westlake High School
• Resolution Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award Jill Jowdy, physical education teacher, Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School
• Recognition of Charles County Teacher of the Year nominees Joy Thompson, reading teacher, Milton M. Somers Middle School; Mary Long, reading resource teacher, Higdon; and Jennifer Gimmel, prekindergarten teacher, Williams A. Diggs Elementary School
• Recognition of Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award nominees Richard Ivanac, art teacher, Somers; Linda McLaughlin, foreign language teacher, North Point High School; Jo Anne Shelak, elementary teacher, Diggs; and Gina Tallon, mathematics teacher, Westlake
• Employees' retirement resolution

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• Educational facilities master plan
• FY 2011 budget
• Out-of-county tuition fees
• Policy 3910 (debt management); 4740 (severance); 3320 (expenditure: purchasing procedures): 4820 (general policies and procedures: duties and responsibilities); and policy series 6000

Adjournment

Maryland endorses core standards for public schools

By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Maryland on Tuesday became one of the first states to endorse academic standards that are part of a movement to unify reading and math instruction across the nation, a move that would affect every public school student in the state and require new teacher training and standardized tests.

The new common standards for math and reading, developed by a state-led coalition with encouragement from President Obama, are part of national efforts to improve public education. Current standards and tests are a patchwork of varying quality.

The reforms mean that Maryland's 844,000 students would study the same topics in the same year as peers in other states that sign on to the standards. The changes come alongside others that will tie student performance to teacher evaluations and toughen graduation requirements in math and science -- all part of Maryland's effort to win as much as $250 million in federal Race to the Top education grants.

Read more HERE.

Executive Session Meeting, May 24, 2010

The Board of Education will be meeting in executive session at 6:00 p.m. tonight, May 24, 2010 to perform the superintendents annual evaluation.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting, 5/11/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 11th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Thomas Stone High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• Read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Pedersen - mentioned various system-wide events
• Carrington - Gale-Bailey's spring concert
• Wade - kudos to Richmond on forging forward and swaying state officials to approve the high school at 1600 student capacity.
• Wise - North Point High School Engineering Projects

Education Association of Charles County update

• Read Report

Student Board member update

• Read report
• Thank you to all board members and staff

CIP update

• Read Report
• Lights at North Point complete and adjusted
• Gwynn Center Renovation
• All Day Kindergarten renovations

Educational Facilities Master Plan

• Read report

Instruction Update - Title I Parent Involvement Update

• Read report and power point presentation

FY 2011 Budget

• Read report

Out-of-County Tuition Fees

• See report

Policy: 3910 (debt management); 4740 (severance); 3320 (Expenditure: Purchasing Procedures); 4820 (General Policies and Procedures: Duties and Responsibilities) and Policy Series 6000

• Bailey - proposed change to Policy 3320. "THE SUPERINTENDENT SHALL OBTAIN BOARD APPROVAL PRIOR TO EXECUTION OF ALL CONTRACTS SUBJECT TO THE PROCUREMENT LAWS OF THE EDUCATION ARTICLE."

Motion by Bailey; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Abell, Bailey (no) Carrington, Cook, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Unfinished business

• Pedersen - What Counts in Education Committee is working on consolidating responses before publishing on the web-site. Proposes all responses go out to those invited to attend the event, a letter to the editor, and the possibility of encouraging PTO and PTSO Presidents to hold similar meetings.

New business and future agenda items

• Wise - Pedersen reappointed to Blue Ribbon Commission
• Bailey - Staff provide list of requirements for different recognitions given at graduation.

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Ruth Ann Hall Awards

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• None

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen


• Personnel

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Carrington

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• Policy #6411.21 Physical Education and Athletic Programs for Students with Disabilities

Motion by Abell; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Adjournment

Police Tasers and their use ...on our students, our BABIES?

This is a topic that was recently brought to my attention by a parent. Does CCPS have a policy on the use of Tasers on students (by law enforcement, of course). My answer, "No, we do not." Next question was whether CCSO has a policy on the use of Tasers on students? Answer...no, it does not. Here is the statement I received from CCSO:

"To date there have been no Taser deployments in the schools against students. The Use of Force Continuum is the same for all persons. The only variances for the Taser are for age, weight and known medical conditions. Please remember that the Taser is an intermediate weapon that has through study been proven to reduce injury to both the officer and violator in a physical confrontation as well as avoiding the use of deadly force where if the Taser was not available the officer would have been forced to fire their pistol. The use of the properly deployed Taser has been proven to bring an immediate resolution to dangerous confrontations. As an entity we conduct an extensive basic Taser User Course, as well as a mandatory yearly re-certification, with the system to include practical exercises, legal updates, manufacturer updates and following a policy review a written test. I would invite any interested party upon completion of a written waiver to attend the course and experience an exposure. The exposure breaks no bones, leaves no scars and knowledge of the Tasers presence and existence deters resistance. Please let me know if there is any other questions."

With that being said....how do you feel? Give me your opinions. Do we need a policy? If so, provide me with wording so we can discuss the pros and cons.

As with all policy, I believe in doing my homework thoroughly; therefore, I will, in the near future, allow CCSO to Taser ME. Why, you might ask? Because I want to see how bad it really is BEFORE one of our students is hit with it.

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting 5/11/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, May 11, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Thomas Stone High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update
Correspondence/Board member updates
Education Association of Charles County update
Student Board member update
CIP update
Educational Facilities Master Plan Update
Title I parent progress update
FY 2011 budget update
Out-of-county tuition fees
Policy Updates 3910 (debt management); 4740 (severance); 3320 (expenditure: purchasing procedures); 4820 (general policies and procedures: duties and responsibilities); and series 6000

Unfinished Business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Ruth Ann Hall award winners, presented by EACC
• Students
• Employees

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• Policy 6411.21: Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

Adjournment

About those school lunches...

From Jamie Oliver to Rear Admirals, the quality of school lunch offerings is under ever-increasing scrutiny. Some current blurbs:

Jamie Oliver improves Huntington, W.Va.’s eating habits

By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

It's happy-ending time for Huntington, W.Va.: Six-year-olds can now distinguish between tomatoes and potatoes. Cooks are tossing apple-cucumber salads with honey dressing for the lunch line. College students and parents are learning to make omelets and soups in free cooking classes. And Jamie Oliver, the crusading British chef who arrived last fall to help change habits in "the unhealthiest town in America," has apparently won the hearts, minds -- and stomachs -- of the locals.

With the finale of his ABC program this Friday, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" has officially been televised. But can the six-part, prime-time series help a real revolution take root?

There is progress!

Report says school food making kids unfit to serve

By MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 20, 2010; 9:30 PM

WASHINGTON -- Too fat to fight? Many American children are so overweight from being fed french fries, pizza and other unhealthy foods at school lunchrooms that they cannot handle the physical rigors of being in the military, a group of retired officers say in a new report.

National security is threatened by the sharp rise in obesity rates for young people over the last 15 years, the group Mission: Readiness contends. Weight problems are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected, the group says, and thus jeopardize the military's ability to fill its ranks.


Read more HERE.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting, 4/20/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 20th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Maurice J. McDonough High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• Read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Wade - kudos to board members attending national conferences
• Cook - spoke on sessions attended at conference
• Pedersen - spoke on sessions attended at conference
• Carrington - ditto
• Wise - attended conference in Colorado Springs

Education Association of Charles County update

• Read Report

Student Board member update

• Read report

CIP update

• Read Report
• One Room School House - Edward L. Sanders, wife and son attended and spoke of the donation of the school house to CCPS. It has been relocated to the Davis Middle School Site.
• New High School - reviewed design & floor plan. Budget is $59,580,000 without pool. Pool would cost $6.2M. Bidding to start soon & bidding is very competitive. Possible for budget to include pool. Still planning on 1600 seat HS (school will open overcrowded)...state wants 1300; building designed for plan to cut back, but would delay planned opening of 2013.

Instruction Update

• Career & Technology - See Report

Budget Update

• See Report

Legislative Update

• Maintenance of Effort bills did NOT pass
• Labor Relations Board PASSED (mediators b/n boards and unions)
• Race to the Top PASSED
• Policy on Gangs and violence PASSED
• Youth Crisis hotline PASSED
• Parents of Multiple Births student placement PASSED
• Ethics - Conflict of Interest Policy PASSED
• Virtual Schools PASSED
• Transfer of Pension committee

Draft policy update 6411.11 Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• Request from Michelle Obama to have one member from every Board to be on the Let's Move committee

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• Latrina Carr - concern about implementation of topics discussed at the What Counts Forums? Wants to see topics implemented. Concerned about communication between parents and teachers and the lack thereof. Has asked on numerous occasions for responses from teachers. Needs attention.

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Cook
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• Personnel

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• Revision to Superintendent's Contract

Motion by Wade; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Carrington, Cook, Wise, Wade, Pedersen: (no) Bailey: (abstain) Abell

• SY2011 - 2012Calendar

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Wade
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 4/20/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, April 20, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Maurice J. McDonough’s JROTC Unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Superintendent’s update
• Correspondence/Board members updates
• EACC update
• Student Board member update
• Deputy Superintendent’s update
• CIP update
• Oral update on high school project 2013
• Instruction update – Career & Technology Education
• Budget
• Legislative update
• Draft Policy update – Policy #6411.21 - PE & Athletic Programs for Students with Disabilities

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Teacher Appreciation Week
• Administrative Professionals’ Week
• Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week
• National PE & Sport Week
• Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leader

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• SY 2011-2012 Calendar

Adjournment

Study of space becoming a victim of school budget cuts

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 2, 2010

The David M. Brown Planetarium opened a few months after the United States put a man on the moon. More than 40 years later, little has changed in the weathered white dome that marks the entrance to the Arlington County school system's headquarters. Students sit in the same faded electric blue stadium seats and stare up at a stellar showcase provided by 16 slide projectors, two laserdisc players and the original Spitz A4 star projector.

School officials estimate that it would cost $500,000 to make the facility, named for an Arlington graduate killed in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, state of the art again. Instead, Superintendent Patrick K. Murphy has proposed closing the dome and converting it to standard classrooms. His proposal follows a decision last year by the Fairfax County School Board to cut funding for elementary field trips to the nine planetariums there.

More than 500 planetariums were built in the heat of the space race, many of them proud additions to public schools made possible by federal funding. Today, school boards across the country are debating whether the costs of maintaining or updating the aging domes are worth it for a generation of students shaped more by the Information Age than the Space Age. Read more HERE.

What makes a teacher great? (School reformers, take note.)

Our kids need great teachers. Who makes the grade?
By Marc Fisher

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 28, 2010

The YouTube video shows an anonymous first-grade teacher trying, and failing, to get her students to discuss a book. You see kids yammering away, wandering off, squabbling with each other. The teacher snaps her fingers at one child, sends another to the corner and tells a boy, "You're really bugging me."

My job was to study a roomful of would-be teachers as they watched -- and gauge their reactions to determine if these candidates for a fellowship had what it takes to be "inspired teachers." But what could I really tell about a person's aptitude for teaching from how they responded to a few minutes of video?

When one candidate praised that first-grade teacher for her classroom management -- and then recommended using candy to get the kids to quiet down (Starbursts would be particularly effective, she said) -- even I knew that was the wrong answer.

But that same aspiring teacher, a few hours later, was the only one in the room to challenge a competitor who suggested that the way to teach geography to D.C. schoolchildren was to ask parents to talk to their kids about where their families lived before they came to the District. "You can't assume they can help their kids," she said. "You have to focus not on giving the kids the facts, but on getting them to want to know the facts."

Now I was confused; her ideas about discipline were flawed, but couldn't she become a teacher who opens up a child's world?

Read more HERE.

Character More Important Than Winning

By: Gregory Kane
Examiner Columnist
March 11, 2010

Nick Romero is my new hero.

It is at this point many readers might be saying, "I don't know Nick Romero from a tree stump." And the truth is, neither do I.

Romero is a wrestler for LaPlata High School in Maryland's Charles County. Don't tune out just yet.

This isn't a story about high school wrestling; it's a story about character, which is in shorter and shorter abundance these days.

Last Saturday, at Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, Romero taught me a lesson about character that will stick with me for the rest of my days. It's a lesson all of us would do well to learn.

After Romero's lesson, the crowd gathered at Cole Field House to watch the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association wrestling championships was on its feet cheering, and I'm willing to bet there was nary a dry eye in the place.


Read more HERE

Governors, state school superintendents propose common academic standards

By Nick Anderson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 11, 2010

Maryland and several other states are pushing rapidly toward adoption of new academic standards proposed Wednesday for English and math, adding momentum to the campaign to establish common expectations for public school students across the country.

The District also is on track to adopt the common standards drafted by experts in a project led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. However, it is possible that Virginia will not join the apparent surge toward approval.

Widespread adoption of common standards would mark a watershed for schools, triggering consequences for curricula, textbooks, testing and teaching. Some critics say common standards amount to a thinly disguised ruse to establish national standards under federal control -- an allegation that state and federal officials deny.

In most places, power to adopt standards rests with state boards of education.

Read more HERE.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting on 3/09/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, March 9th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• Read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Carrington - What Counts, Spelling Bee etc. Attended awards at McDonough & would like to see more participation
• Cook - What Counts has been posted on Channel 96 and all participants will be receiving the results personally. Attended awards at LaPlata and it was well attended and had several different presentations
• Pedersen - Over 70 participants non-school related...thanks to everyone; Westlake High School awards recognition successful; attended band and orchestra events and wow!
• Bailey - requests that results be mailed to ALL who were invited
• Wise - congrats to Stone for going to regionals in basketball

Education Association of Charles County update

• Read Report

Student Board member update

• Read report

Deputy Superintendent Update

• Haitian Relief; read report

CIP update

• Read Report - snow was not detrimental to ongong projects
• New high school - into the "small details" stage planning. Department of Environment has reclassified "good" dirt to "bad" dirt at the site. Meeting tomorrow

Early childhood

• See report - I requested more information on the Judy Centers

Race to the Top grant

• Federal funds could in jeopardy for those systems not participating early.

2011-2012 school calendar

• Abell requested a second look at in-service days in November and February to see if they can be moved closer to existing holidays to provide for a 4-day weekend.

Legislative update

• Senate Bill 590 Labor bill; we oppose, hearing this week
• Maintenance of Effort - bunch of bills in Annapolis...one waives the penalty to Montgomery County

Draft policy 6411.11 Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

• Draft new policy; Abell requested a review of the assigned number....

Unfinished business

• Pedersen - Policy 6000 -- Should we wait to review after "Race to the Top"
• Abell is prepared to discuss and make changes now; last reviewed in 2005, then we have a fresh, good policy before "Race to the Top"

New business and future agenda items

• Race to the Top proposal

Motion by Wade; Second by Carrington

(yes) Carrington, Wade, Wise, Bailey

(no) Abell, Cook, Pedersen

• Request for waiver of school days

Motion by Bailey; Second by Pedersen

(no) Abell

(yes) Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• School naming committee - Each board member submit a name by April 1

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Maryland Society for Educational Technology Outstanding Educator Using Technology Award winner: Sandra Chisholm, Piccowaxen Middle School
• Resolutions: Month of the Young Child and National Student Leadership Week.

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• Female - Child at Lackey High School. Needs to attend a full day of classes to monitor problems with child. Parent visitation policy and principal doesn't allow
• Female - EACC Representative believes the teachers should receive a 3.5% COLA worked into our budget

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen


• Personnel

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Adjournment

How to ruin a child: too much esteem, too little sleep

By George F. Will

Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Washington Post

Memo to that Massachusetts school where children in physical education classes jump rope without using ropes: Get some ropes. And you -- you are about 85 percent of all parents -- who are constantly telling your children how intelligent they are: Do your children a favor and pipe down.

These are nuggets from "NutureShock: New Thinking About Children" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. It is another book to torment modern parents who are determined to bring to bear on their offspring the accumulated science of child-rearing. Modern parents want to nurture so skillfully that Mother Nature will gasp in admiration at the marvels their parenting produces from the soft clay of children.

Those Massachusetts children are jumping rope without ropes because of a self-esteem obsession. The assumption is that thinking highly of oneself is a prerequisite for high achievement. That is why some children's soccer teams stopped counting goals (think of the damaged psyches of children who rarely scored) and shower trophies on everyone. No child at that Massachusetts school suffers damaged self-esteem by tripping on the jump rope.

Read more HERE.

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 3/9/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, March 9, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update
Correspondence/Board member updates
Education Association of Charles County update
Student Board member update
CIP update
Early childhood
Race to the Top grant
2011-2012 school calendar
Legislative update
Draft policy 6411.11 Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• Race to the Top proposal
• Request for waiver of school days
• School naming committee

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Maryland Society for Educational Technology Outstanding Educator Using Technology Award winner, Sandra Chisholm, Piccowaxen Middle School
• Resolutions: Month of the Young Child; and National Student Leadership Week.

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Adjournment

Changes to Two-Hour Early Dismissal Days

Superintendent James E. Richmond has made several decisions regarding 2010 calendar changes. The Superintendent intends to request a waiver of three days from the state. If the state grants the waiver, Mr. Richmond will submit the recommendation to the Board of Education to restore the three days now scheduled to be made up during Spring Break. That decision will be announced March 9 at the Board of Education meeting.

Before granting waivers, the state is requiring school systems to show that sufficient efforts have been made to make up for lost instruction through calendar planning and modifications. The school system is going to make up for some lost instructional time by converting two-hour early dismissal days for students to full days.

The Superintendent has changed a number of two-hour early dismissal days into full days of instruction for students. Two-hour early dismissal days that are now full days for students are:

· Thursday, March 4

· Wednesday, March 24

· Wednesday, April 28

· Wednesday, May 26

· Friday, June 11

· Monday, June 14

Please change this information on your calendars.

The two-hour early dismissal days on April 8, May 12, June 15 and June 16 remain as early dismissal days for students.

As of Feb. 25, the school system had closed seven days for inclement weather. Four days are built into the calendar, leaving three days to be made up elsewhere. The school calendar, set by the Board of Education more than a year in advance, calls for any additional days used to be made up during Spring Break on March 29, March 30 and March 31. Also, if weather causes future closings, additional calendar changes are possible.

Official: FBI probing Pa. school webcam spy case

(A cautionary tale...?)

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press
Friday, February 19, 2010; 9:27 PM

PHILADELPHIA -- The FBI is investigating a Pennsylvania school district accused of secretly activating webcams inside students' homes, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press on Friday.
The FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Days after a student filed suit over the practice, Lower Merion officials acknowledged Friday that they remotely activated webcams 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing student laptops. They insist they never did so to spy on students, as the student's family claimed in the federal lawsuit.

Families were not informed of the possibility the webcams might be activated in their homes without their permission in the paperwork students sign when they get the computers, district spokesman Doug Young said.

Read more HERE.

A bipartisan look at No Child

By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 18, 2010

Senior House Republicans and Democrats plan to announce Thursday that they will team up to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law, a rare show of bipartisanship in the polarized Congress.

Last month, the Obama administration launched talks with lawmakers on an overhaul of the 2002 law, which mandated an expansion of standardized testing and established a national framework for school accountability. This month, President Obama's budget proposed eliminating the standard of "adequate yearly progress" for schools to close test-score achievement gaps, a key element of the law.

Read more HERE.

Grasmick to propose waiving 180-day rule for state schools

by Marcus Moore
Staff Writer
Gazette.net

‘We have to be sensitive to the weather,' state superintendent says

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is planning to request a waiver for some of the instructional days school systems would have to make up because of this week's snowstorms.

Grasmick will ask the state school board later this month to waive three or four instructional days, she told the Gazette on Thursday.

Under state law, school systems are required to provide 180 days of instruction to their students. However, some systems have sought waivers of the 180-day rule due to the snow blanketing the state.

Back-to-back storms have kept schools closed this week and forced school systems to use all of their snow days.

For each instructional day lost because of inclement weather, the school year is extended one day.

Some school systems are concerned about losing much-needed instructional time for students, but "we have to be sensitive to the weather," Grasmick said. "We're going to be looking at what's viable."

Some systems are seeking to hold classes Monday, which is Presidents Day, and Grasmick said she would allow them to open their schools. However, weather forecasters predict another 3 inches or more of snow Monday.

Policy 6000 Review

Well it's that time again! The Policy Review Committee (myself, Pedersen, Cook) will be meeting soon (date TBD) to review and discuss changes that need to be made to Policy 6000, which involves curriculum and instruction. Please take some time and review this Policy and forward and recommended changes to me as soon as possible.

POLICY 6000

Race To The Top

I attended the abbreviated BOE meeting on 2/9/10 to catch the budget briefing, but what I ended up finding most interesting was the presentation on the new "Race To The Top" federal educational grant program (Power Point presentation found here ). This grant program ushers in a new set of standards and assessments that local school systems will be forced to accept in order to be eligible for the money. What's interesting, and was pointed out during the presentation, is that the new standards and assessments will be in addition to NCLB, not in place of it. How the two sets of government mandates and controls will be reconciled was not addressed.

Per the presentation, the state of Maryland would be eligible for between $125,000,000 and $250,000,000. Fifty percent of that total would be distributed to the Local Education Agencies (LEAs), with the remainder staying at the state level. Of that total Charles County would be eligible for approximately $1.5 to $1.7 million. The question was asked what the state would use the remaining fifty percent (between $75,000,000 and $125,000,000) on, and the answer was to develop the new data collection systems, curricula, and standards and assessments. (Here is where I'd love to voice my opinion, but I made a promise)

Additional information included in the presentation:

• All schools, including charter schools, are expected to "embrace the effort."
• The MOU must be signed by the school superintendent, BOE president, and the local teachers' union leader (as of now, the EACC is refusing to sign)
• Each LEA must develop a performance and evaluation plan
• Lowest performing schools will get the most funding
• Teachers and principals will be evaluated based on the achievement of the students in their control. Higher performing teachers and principals will be reassigned to lower achieving schools.
• LEAs must adopt numerous state dictates on core standards, assessments, data collection, remedial actions, teacher and principal evaluations, etc.
• Program will include four "intervention models" for underachieving schools.

Again, how all these new standards and criteria are going to exist side by side with NCLB has not been addressed. Considering all the overhead involved in simply running the program (local systems have to develop and maintain new data collection and analysis systems, new assessments for students, new evaluations for teachers and principals, and new reporting systems) one has to wonder how much of the $1.5 to $1.7 million will actually go toward anything remotely associated with instruction.

With Federal Stimulus Money Gone, Many Schools Face Budget Gaps

By SAM DILLON
Published: February 7, 2010

Federal stimulus money has helped avoid drastic cuts at public schools in most parts of the nation, at least so far. But with the federal money running out, many of the nation’s schools are approaching what officials are calling a “funding cliff.”

Congress included about $100 billion for education in the stimulus law last year to cushion the recession’s impact on schools and to help fuel an economic recovery. New studies show that many states will spend all or nearly all that is left between now and the end of this school term.

With state and local tax revenues still in decline, the end of the federal money will leave big holes in education budgets from Massachusetts and Florida to California and Washington, experts said.
Read more HERE

A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools

By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: February 7, 2010

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will begin a drive this week to expel Pepsi, French fries and Snickers bars from the nation’s schools in hopes of reducing the number of children who get fat during their school years.

In legislation, soon to be introduced, candy and sugary beverages would be banned and many schools would be required to offer more nutritious fare.

To that end, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver a speech Monday at the National Press Club in which he will insist, according to excerpts provided to The Times, that any vending machines that remain in schools be “filled with nutritious offerings to make the healthy choice the easy choice for our nation’s children.”

Read more HERE

BOE vs Commissioners - Budget FACTS

• On April 22, 2009, at Mr. Cooper’s and the Commissioners' request, the Board of Education was required to sign a “settlement agreement” which agreed to the terms and conditions of funding the BOE 2010 operating budget effective July 1, 2009. Included in that request was a commitment statement that the County would “meet its Maintenance of Effort Obligation” for 2010 and rescind their MOE waiver request.

• During this same timeframe, Mr. Richmond was called over to a meeting with the Commissioners where he was asked to sign a separate confidential agreement indicating that he would not XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Mr. Richmond refused and indicated to them that it would be illegal to do so and a violation of collective bargaining. Mr. Richmond, Mr. Balides, all five commissioners and the County Administrator were present at this meeting.

• On September 09, 2009 the county administrator announced across the board cuts totaling $8-10 million based on anticipated future cuts from the state. Of that amount the County requested that the BOE cut 2% or $2.9 million. "I am proposing these reductions so that we are able to sustain future anticipated state cuts, sustaining a loss of revenue due to the economic recession and to prevent additional cuts throughout the year," said County Administrator Rebecca B. Bridgett in an article in the Maryland Independent.

• On September 10, 2009 Mr. Cooper met with Mr. Richmond, Col. Wade, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Balides at Hawthorn Country Club, to discuss the County’s budget problems. Mr. Richmond and Col. Wade reminded Mr. Cooper that we could not (and would not) violate the maintenance of effort law by returning funds below the maintenance of effort level. If the county government wanted to violate the law, that was its option. It was at this meeting that Mr. Richmond also told Mr. Cooper that the teachers' contract required us to open negotiations for salaries in January, and that we hoped to have saved enough money to make good on the contract. Mr. Cooper stated “that would be great.”

• On September 18, 2009 the County identified $934,000 in BOE funding cuts which would not violate the maintenance of effort laws.

• On October 23, 2009 the County Commissioners sent over a letter indicating that they were reversing a longstanding agreement which allowed the Board of Education to transfer funds between categories as long as it did not require additional funding from the County.

• In a meeting on November 3, 2009 between Mr. Cooper, Ms. Patterson, Col. Wade, Ms. Wise, Mr. Richmond, and Mr. Balides, Mr. Cooper indicated that the intent of the letter was to prevent the BOE from using fund balance so that could revert back to the County at year end. Once again Mr. Richmond, Mr. Balides and others reiterated the maintenance of effort law and emphasized (provide Mr. Cooper and Ms. Patterson with documentation) of prior attorney generals legal opinions that any fund balance that a school system generates does not relieve a county from its maintenance of effort obligations.

• On November 18, 2009 Gov. O’Malley announced a second round of cuts which did not include cuts to local County governments. Interestingly enough, the County still implemented the cuts from its earlier $10 million estimate, including staff furloughs.

• January 12, 2010, the BOE approves funding step and scale increases (no COLA) through internally generated savings. The MSEA teacher’s representative indicated to Mr. Balides and Mr. Hettel that she had had several conversations in the past with Mr. Cooper and he was supportive of providing teachers their scale increase.
  

NOTES from Board of Education Meeting, 2/9/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, February 9th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

(PLEASE NOTE...THE MEETING WAS CONDENSED FROM THE ORIGINAL AGENDA DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER)

Executive session - 11 a.m.
Call to order - 11:20 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• DVD on new high school

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Wise reported on the annual Beg-A-Thon in Annapolis
• Carrington-Thanks students at Dr. King breakfast...Canadian Embassy/Space Foundation
• Pederson-Unity in the Community Forum

Education Association of Charles County update

• See Report

Student Board member update

• See Report

Race to the Top grant

• See power point presentation, lots of information...EACC is strongly against...see separate post
• Evaluations tied to student achievement
• Compensation tied to student achievement
• Difficult to staff schools in trouble
• Tenure

Report item: FY 2011 budget

• See power point presentation

2011-2012 school calendar

• See proposal and provide input to CCPS

Legislative update

• Labor Relations Bill H#243; S#590 (Middleton is one of the leads)
• Eric Schwartz says we oppose

Unfinished business

• Review RSVP's for What Counts and call them

New business and future agenda items

Resolutions

• Read Across Charles County
• Women's History Month
• Fine and Performing Arts Month

Action items

• Minutes - YES Unanimous
• Personnel - YES Unanimous

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 02/09/10

The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session - 12 p.m.
Call to order - 1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance, Westlake High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Superintendent's update: DVD on new high school
• Correspondence/Board member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• Student Board member update
• Schools system's outreach to Haiti
• CIP update
• Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) and equity training
• Race to the Top grant
• Report item: FY 2011 budget
• 2011-2012 school calendar
• Legislative update

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• New business
• Future agenda items

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Maryland Society for Educational Technology Outstanding Educator Using Technology Award winner, Sandra Chisholm, Piccowaxen Middle School
• Resolutions: Read Across Charles County; Women's History Month; and Fine and Performing Arts Month

Public Forum - 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Public hearing on FY 2011 budget

Work session on FY 2011 proposed operating budget (if needed)

Action item

• FY 2011 proposed operating budget

Adjournment

Finding the better high school

Jay Mathews
Washington Post

On the second page of the Post's Metro section, and on this Web site, you see the results of the 12th annual Washington Post survey of high school student participation in college-level tests, what I call the Challenge Index.

The ranked list of public schools -- both the Washington area version in the Post and the national version in Newsweek each June -- gets lots of attention, but the outrage and acclaim usually swirls around the issue of whether ranking schools is good for you. With much support from Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate teachers around the country, I think it is. But how can you use it?

I invented the list to show that some schools in good neighborhoods don’t deserve their great reputations, and some schools in poor neighborhoods don’t deserve their terrible ones. Opening up AP and IB courses to everyone who wants to work hard -- the philosophy of the teachers who inspired me to do this -- is a relatively new idea. Ten years ago, most schools in the United States did not let students take these courses unless they had strong grade point averages or teachers’ recommendations.

Many still have those rules, or at least don’t encourage students to challenge themselves as much as they could. The list helps you find the ones that have shed those old, bad habits.

Read more HERE

Administration Outlines Proposed Changes to ‘No Child’ Law

By SAM DILLON
Published: February 1, 2010

The Obama administration said on Monday that it would ask Congress to raise education spending by about $3.5 billion, a 7.5 percent increase, for the 2011 fiscal year, even as it sought to limit other categories of domestic spending.

In outlining its budget request, the administration also said it would seek an extensive rewrite of the main federal law governing public schools, known as No Child Left Behind, and would seek to replace the law’s much-criticized system for rating schools based on student test scores.

The administration proposed replacing that system, known as adequate yearly progress, with a new accountability system that officials said would more fairly characterize schools’ academic progress.

Read more HERE

Why students fail AP tests

Wasington Post
Jay Mathews

My column last week about how to reveal the secrets of which teacher is getting the best Advanced Placement results received many more comments than I expected. This was, I thought, a topic only for insiders, AP obsessives like me. I forgot, once again, that college-level exams have become a rite of passage for at least a third of American high schoolers, with that proportion increasing every year.

The column provided links to the several local school districts that have posted the subject-by-subject AP results for each school. I was shocked that any were doing it, since five years ago when I asked about this, few school officials had given it much thought. Since the AP tests are written and graded by outside experts, a teacher who does not challenge his students in class is likely to have lots of low scores on that school report, which until now hardly anyone had a chance to see.

Many thought I glossed over the effects of opening up AP courses to anyone who wants to get a useful taste of college trauma, sort of like camping in the back yard before your dad takes you to the Sierras. Enough mediocre students have enrolled in AP, and a similar program International Baccalaureate, to lower average scores even in the classes of the best teachers.

Read more HERE

Exercises can help combat and prevent girls' ACL injuries

MisFits
by Lenny Bernstein
The Washington Post by Lenny Bernstein
Thursday, January 28, 2010

It's no secret that young women athletes are suffering an epidemic of crippling injuries to their anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs), one of the four strong bands of tissue that connect the leg bones at the knee joint. A decade of research and books such as Michael Sokolove's "Warrior Girls" have shown that our daughters are three to eight times as likely as our sons to tear an ACL.

Less recognized is that preventive measures can be quite effective if the right program is implemented in the right way, according to some of the same research.

Read more HERE.

Notes from the APFO Meeting with the Commissioners

The Board of Education met with the Charles County Comissioners on January 26th to discuss the next Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) Cycle. To view all the documents click HERE.

Interesting facts....

• The state recently analyzed the use of classrooms in our schools and derived new state rated capacities (SRC) for eight of them. Of these eight, six were elementary schools that received renovation to accomodate for the all-day kindergarten. In other words it was expected. The two remaining schools were NOT expected and are listed below. (Old SRC/New SRC)....Lackey 1474/1539........Davis 949/1148
• Bad news.... if you were interested in building a home in the following school districts, Diggs, Jenifer, Malcolm, T.C. Martin, LaPlata or Westlake....ummmm...there is none. Sorry Charlie :(.

One last side note and something to ponder...so what is exactly happening to the DRRA funds that are collected for the building of the schools? The balance is decreasing at alarmingly levels but the school system hasn't received any of it....(scratching my head)

Your school's AP secrets

Jay Mathews’s Class Struggle
January 21, 2010
The Washington Post

[This is my Local Living column for Jan. 21, 2010.]

Ever seen the Advanced Placement Grade Report for your high school? I thought not. Most people don’t know it exists. That is why I have so much pleasure going over the reports. It is like reading the principal’s e-mails, full of intriguing innuendo and secrets that parents and students aren’t supposed to know.

Although these subject-by-subject reports rarely appear on public Web sites, some schools will show them to me if I ask, for the following reasons: 1. I am very polite; 2. no reporter has ever asked for them before, so there are no rules against it; and 3. they don’t think anyone will care.

They are wrong on that last count. The AP Grade Report allows the public to see which AP courses at a school produce the most high grades, and the most low grades, on AP exams. You can gauge the skill of the teachers and the nature of the students who take various AP subjects.

This region’s schools have made AP (and the similar International Baccalaureate, which provides comparable reports) the most challenging and influential courses they have. On Feb. 1, The Post will publish my annual rankings of Washington area schools based on participation in these tests, written and scored by outside experts. Students who do well on them can earn college credit. Many people would be interested in the actual results (different from the participation figures I use in the rankings) if they were readily available. To my surprise, that is beginning to happen.

Read more HERE.

In Suburban Schools, an Alternative to A.P.

By WINNIE HU
Published: January 8, 2010

JERICHO, N.Y. — In a St. John’s University English class the other day, 10 students tackled George Orwell’s “1984” like generations of collegians before them. But while there was plenty of higher-order thinking, the class — and the students — were technically still in high school.

The college class is one of 16 being taught at Jericho High School here on Long Island, half of them added in the past two years through new partnerships with St. John’s in Queens, Molloy College in Rockville Centre and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Jericho students simultaneously fulfill their high school graduation requirements and, for a reduced fee, earn college credit.

These so-called dual-enrollment courses have long been used in urban schools to provide some higher education to poor and minority students and encourage them to go on to college. But now many top suburban high schools are embracing dual enrollment as a way to challenge their brightest students and ward off senioritis once college applications are done. They say the college courses offer an alternative to the high-pressure AP program, in which students receive college credits or advanced placement based on their performance on an exam at the end of the year. The courses are also attractive in the current economy because they award college credit for a fraction of the normal tuition cost. (At Jericho, for example, students pay $250 for a three-credit course, while the cost for a St. John’s student would be $2,934.)

READ MORE HERE

Another "PRIVATE" Meeting?

When will the commissioners learn that Charles County citizens do NOT condone or want the county business decided at the golf course, country club or behind closed doors?

On Wednesday January 13 there was a meeting that occurred between BOE Chair Bobbie Wise, BOE Vice-Chair Donald Wade, Commissioner Wayne Cooper, and County Administrator Dr. Rebecca Bridgett. Mr Wade and Ms. Wise were informed that the Commissioners were very "disappointed" that the Board of Education gave their employees their step increase. Dr. Bridgett wanted to know why the Board of Education didn't transfer any extra money they had in the salary category to another category that would allow "students to graduate without any fees" or "transfer to a category so that teachers don't have to spend their own money on supplies" and "every department gave back 2% except the Board of Education". "What are you going to do next year when you don't have the money for this reoccurring expense?".

Fees? What fees?

Transfer? Wasn't the BOE told we could not do this at our budget meeting?

Did they ever hear of MOE?

Well read the press statement you have in front of you - it states exactly what could happen next year.

Lots more was said and discussed and I suggest that you the public query those that were present!

Charles Schools Will Pay 73% of Employees Retroactive Pay Raises

Posted on January 13, 2010

LA PLATA, Md. (Jan. 13, 2010) -- The Charles County Board of Education voted Tuesday to provide eligible employees step increases, effective immediately and retroactive to July 1, 2009. The change affects 73 percent of employees.

The vote closes this school year’s negotiations, which did not provide for any raises in July, but were left open for renegotiation in January to discuss step and scale increases. No cost of living (COLA) raises were provided. Negotiations were completed earlier this week with the school system’s two bargaining groups, the Education Association of Charles County (EACC), which represents certificated employees including teachers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents support or classified employees.

READ MORE HERE

Union Chief Seeks to Overhaul Teacher Evaluation Process

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: January 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — Facing criticism that her union makes it too hard to get rid of bad teachers, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on Tuesday announced a union-backed effort to develop a new model for how public school teachers should be evaluated, promoted and removed.

The effort will be run by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the federal government’s special master for executive compensation.

In a speech at the National Press Club, Ms. Weingarten sought to present a more flexible, cooperative face for her union as she announced Mr. Feinberg’s new role and called for sweeping changes in how school districts evaluate teachers and work with teachers’ unions.

READ MORE HERE

As School Exit Tests Prove Tough, States Ease Standards

By IAN URBINA
Published: January 11, 2010

A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact.

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma.

READ MORE HERE