Welcome!

Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Textbook List Online

FYI, the list of district textbooks which was approved at the 8/25 Board of Ed meeting is now available online. The list covers all grades from K through 12.

Click here to see the textbook list.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

BOE Meeting Notes 8/25

Want some of the highlights from last night's Board of Ed meeting?

At last night's meeting, we had a presentation on Board ethics and our self-evaluation from the NJ School Boards Association. Previously, each of us rated the Board and ourselves on our performance in several areas, such as: planning, policy, student achievement, finance, board operations, board performance, communications, etc. This self-evaluation is mandated by law, but it's also a very good idea even if it weren't required. It's definitely interesting to see how our perspectives differ. I'm sure this document will be useful when we have our Board Retreat 9/15 (see below).

Last night we approved a giant list of all textbooks to be used for the 2008-2009 school year. We will be posting it on the District website soon, in case you're interested.

We also approved a big list of field trips. In the past, the Board approved only overnight field trips, and not day trips. But one of the new state regulations is that we must approve every field trip, even the elementary kids walking downtown, and all those day trips must also be approved by the County Superintendent.

The Board accepted a donation of $80,900 from the Ridge HSA for the replacement of the Ridge playground equipment. Wow ! Great job, Ridge parents! Thank you!

Angelo DeSimone, Business Administrator, made a presentation on behalf of the Facilities Commmittee (of which I'm a member), showing where we're at so far in putting together a list of projects to be included in a bond referendum next year. The district has a lot of needs, and we are working hard to come up with the list. We're focusing on four areas (all of this is POTENTIAL, folks, still up for much discussion and study!):
1) Renovation & Repair of Buildings (every school needs something)
2) Expansion, adding classroom space at GW, Willard, Ridge and Hawes
3) Energy -- Improved Efficiency and/or Generation of Energy
4) Recreation & Field Facilities, both for the education/health of our students and as part of our commitment to work with the community to meet needs

The Facilities Committee will keep meeting to refine a list of projects. We will be discussing portions of the list at every upcoming Board meeting, then we'll be discussing it at HSA meetings and other venues for parent/public input. Please keep an eye out for announcements...check the RPS website...check this blog...keep informed!

So those are the highlights. Our next regular BOE meeting is 9/8, and then we'll be holding a Board "retreat" on 9/15, where we'll focus our discussion on how we operate as a Board, especially relevant in light of our new superintendent, Dr. Fishbein.

As always, please email me or post a message here if you have any questions or comments.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Paying students for AP tests?

Well, I can't say I''m shocked that a controversial program in NYC to pay students $500-$1000 for passing AP tests is showing "mixed results." And by mixed results I think they mean it's a waste of money. Today they announced that in the first year of the program, they shelled out $2 million and -- guess what -- the number of kids passing AP tests actually went down slightly. Brilliant.

You can read about it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/education/20cash.html?ex=1376971200&en=63c3e37cfe6454af&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

I was surprised to read how many of these cash-for-grades or cash-for-attendance programs are out there around the country. States and districts keep trying it, even though there is little evidence that it ever works.

Favorite quote is from Superintendent David Hire of Coshocton, OH, whose district gave out $62,000 in gift certificates to kids who passed state achievement tests: "I think it helps the kids take the test more seriously...It gives them something to look forward to, and it helps to keep them focused."

Does anyone else find this disturbing?

The new cupola!



All I can say is, WOW it looks great!















Thanks to Steve Tichenor for the photos.

New Assistant Principals at BF

The other night at the Board of Ed meeting, we approved the hiring of two new assistant principals at BF. Mr. Greg Wu and Ms. Shauna Stovall will be the new assistant principals. They are replacing Dr. Lorna Oates-Santos and Dr. Cary Bell. Dr. Santos is leaving to become the new principal at Somerville School. Dr. Bell will be retiring (but first he will cover Somerville for three months while Dr. Santos is on maternity leave).

Mr. Wu has been a teacher at RHS, he was a grade administrator at RHS and he has been principal of Ridgewood Summer School. Ms. Stovall has been a teacher at Travell for five years.

I'm so glad we were able to find the two best candidates for BF within the District. I welcome them to their new positions and trust that the BF community will do so as well.

On a similar note, Monday morning the orientation for new teachers in the district began. I was there for the beginning of the session and I loved seeing all the new teachers. (They are undoubtedly experienced teachers, but new to the district!). There was a great positive energy in the room.

As much as I hate summer coming to an end, I'm excited for the new school year!

Got to go now and check out the cupola installation! If you stop by to watch, be sure to stay well away, over on Ridgewood Ave or on the track (enter from Stevens). The crane they're using is enormous.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

RHS ranked #7 in state

Hot off the press: Ridgewood High School has been ranked #7 in the state by New Jersey monthly magazine. I know some of you have heard me say that the magazine rankings -- designed by editors and not educators -- are not anything to get too excited about, and I really do give them very low priority when actually judging school quality...HOWEVER, that said, I have to be honest and say I definitely smiled to see that we moved from #24 to #7 since the magazine's last ranking two years ago!

I have not seen the full article yet to read what their criteria were, I'll fill you in with more detail later.

One other interesting note: the #5 school on the list is Glen Ridge, from where our new superintendent Dan Fishbein just came. That's a good sign, don't you think?

OK, here's #1 through #10

1) Millburn (3)
2) McNair Academic (Jersey City) (1)
3) Tenafly (2)
4) Mountain Lakes (5)
5) Glen Ridge (10)
6) Princeton (13)
7) Ridgewood (24)
8) Northern Highlands Regional (Allendale) (7)
9) Northern Valley Regional (Demarest) (16)
10) Chatham (12)

(the number in parentheses is last year's ranking)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Board of Ed Meeting 8/18

Just wanted to let you know the Board of Ed will be meeting tomorrow night, Monday 8/18, at 5:00 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is primarily some human resources decisions. You can see the full agenda here: http://schoolsite.capturepoint.com/assets/resources/8-18-08%20SPM1.pdf

It will be a very short meeting.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The cupola is coming!

The new and improved cupola at the high school is completed and will be traveling from Kentucky next week. I saw photos and it looks great! Glad it will be back in place for the start of the new school year.

The district has actually been very busy this summer on capital and maintenance projects. The wall at Willard is being repaired, asbestos tiles are being removed at several schools, and a number water-damaged classrooms are being repaired to better-than-ever shape at the high school. Gym 1 looks amazing! It's going to be great for students to come back to some of these improved facilities.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Great Schools

What a coincidence! I had made a note to myself that I wanted to tell you about two cool websites on education. The first was ED in 08, which I told you about in my previous post. The second site is Great Schools. www.greatschools.net. It's a site I ran across a few months ago and visit now and then. Little did I know till just now - Great Schools has actually teamed up with ED in 08 to turn up the volume on the topic of Education during this national election year. Very, very cool.

GreatSchools is a national, independent nonprofit organization committed to helping parents choose schools, support their children's education and improve schools in their community. It's a good resource and I especially like the community aspect. You can read and chat with parents like you, share concerns and ideas for improving schools, learn about what other schools and communities are doing... next time you have a few minutes online, check it out.

Make Education a priority in Election 08!

I wanted to tell you about a campaign called ED in 08. The purpose of this campaign is to make sure that EDUCATION is one of the major themes in the 2008 general election. We hear a lot about the economy, healthcare, Iraq (ok, not as much about Iraq as I would have expected, but...). But where do the candidates stand on education?

ED in 08 is a project of the Strong American Schools foundation. This group does not endorse or support any candidate or political party. All they want is to ensure that the state of Education in America is a priority in the election. Here's what their website says:

The world is changing, jobs are evolving, and far too many students are simply not being prepared to be successful adults:
• Seventy percent of eighth graders are not proficient in reading—and most will never catch up.
• Every year, more than 1.2 million students drop out of high school.
• Many of those who do graduate are not ready for college, for the workplace, and for life.
This is not about schools in some far-off city. This is about the students you see in your own neighborhood. This is not someone else's problem. This is an American problem that affects us all.

I encourage you to visit the website at www.edin08.org. Read some of the scary statistics about how American students match-up to their counterparts around the world. In your own election year activities (and I hope you do plan some election year activities or involvement beyond voting), please do your part to ensure that Education is part of the discussion. Ask questions. Write letters. Participate in online discussions.

And if you'd like a cool ED in 08 button to wear, email me. I've got plenty to share.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Olympic fever!

I almost forgot...just wanted to let you know that I have Olympic fever. I LOVE THE OLYMPICS! I'm busy setting up one of my computers to stream live video, I've got the MSNBC schedule for all TV and online coverage set up as a widget on my desktop. (NBC's coverage plan is truly amazing.) Don't be surprised if I start posting Olympic results...or maybe I'll just add the widget to the blog. Oh man, how am I going to get any work done?

Blackboard

I hate to even reference the Ridgewood Blog, but one interesting topic was raised over there this week: it started, I think, with someone complaining about how not enough teachers, at the middle school and high school levels, use Blackboard. Are you familiar with Blackboard? It's a web-based service for students and teachers, primarily. The idea is that teachers can post assignments, links to research, interesting and/or helpful info, grades, study calendar, etc. Students access Blackboard and get assignments, turn-in homework, see grades, send messages to their teacher or post messages for online class discussions, etc. I think it has great potential. My daughter's college -- and many, many colleges -- use it for everything from classwork, extracurricular activities, tuition payment, grades, etc. I'd like to hear what you think about Blackboard...does your child use it? Do they/you have any problems accessing Blackboard from home? Let me know.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

On being on the Board...

Today I ran into someone who asked me "how's it going" on the Board of Ed? They asked, "Is it what you expected?" Hmmm...interesting question. One thing I can say is that it's actually like nothing else I've ever done. I've been on plenty of committees, HSAs, community groups, etc. I've worked in large and small offices. And I've been to quite a lot of meetings. I've always felt like I know how to get things done. But the mechanics of the Board of Ed are different in several ways. (I suspect it's not about the Board of Ed per se but rather about public committees/groups in general). The pace is so slow and stilted. We legally must discuss things in public meetings, but those meetings -- especially in the summer -- are not so frequent. So in between, we can't really do much. We can't carry on discussions via email, because apparently "cyberspace" is considered a meeting and would therefore need to be public. We can have one-on-one emails and conversations, but that's not so efficient. Imagine having four separate conversations on one topic.So I find myself sort of chomping at the bit...watching time tick by...and creating a list of things that I want to bring up at future meetings.

The other issue I'm grappling with is how to handle my position vis-a-vis the superintendent, assistant superintendents or other staff. As an individual, I basically have no more or less standing than any other individual in town. I only have "power" (if you can call it that) as a member of the five-person Board. We make decisions and give direction as a group. That's fine, I understand that. But on a practical, day-by-day basis, I sometimes wonder. When should I contact Dr. Fishbein or Mrs. Botsford (for example) directly? When is an issue something I should bring up one on one, and when should it be added to the next meeting's agenda (and as I mentioned above, that means waiting.) And should I expect them to "jump" every time I have an idea? Probably not. I'm sure I'll get the hang of things, I know I will, but...I'm just trying to answer that person's question from today.

One thing that will help -- the Board will be holding a "retreat," where we will focus on how we operate, how we communicate, etc. A lot of my questions and concerns can be dealt with at that time, and perhaps I'll feel a little less lost. (And before you get all upset that the five of us will be "retreating" to some posh resort or secret undisclosed location, don't worry -- the retreat takes place right here in Ridgewood. It's basically a fancy name for an all-day meeting. A refreshing change from our all-night meetings. Ha.)

On the bright side, the slow summer months are giving me time read up on and think about several issues, meet with various staff people for research, and formulate some ideas and opinions on a few key issues, including: improving 2-way communication with the public, improving the district website, establishing facilities priorities and improving the budget process. Those are sort of my "pet" issues right now, and I hope to get moving on them beginning with our August meeting.

What concerns RHS parents?

I've been meaning to post this for awhile. At the June meeting of the high school HSA, there was a brainstorming activity among the 30-40 attendees. One of the questions asked "what are the 'hot issues' among HS parents?" I posted those answers back in June. Another question was "What is concerning you as parents?" I thought you might like to see what the parents said.

What is concerning you as (RHS) parents?

• Constant staff turnover
• Student feedback of teachers
• Handling classroom issues between students and teachers – What is best approach? When should parents become involved?
• Lack of Blackboard use! (possibly select different a program to communicate if necessary)
• Class size
• Department exams vs. individual written exams
• Drug culture/use – not being addressed?
• Exam timing – kids less stressed when exams are spaced over a weekend

Do you agree with these concerns? Any comments? Additions?

Hope your summer is going well...

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Amazing video: please watch!

This has nothing to do with Ridgewood schools, but this video is so cool I just want to share it. Check it out.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.