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

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Vacation time...

Just a quick note to let you know I'm away on vacation and trying to stay off the computer...when I get back next week, there are so many things I want to write about...such as: new cut-offs for test scores, the END of the Biddy basketball court case, the Board's annual self-evaluation, committee assignments for 09-10...so come back and read, and post your comments, ok?

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Arrow, RHS Literary Magazine 1921


I found this 1921 issue of The Arrow, Ridgewood High School's magazine, on eBay. It's filled with editorials, features, poetry, jokes, ads, etc. I think every now and then I may post a little something from its pages, just for fun. I'll start with this one:

Lest We Forget
by E.W. Class of '22
We students here in Ridgewood High think, as a rule, that we ARE the school. We enthusiastically support and praise our student organization, the Arrow, the A.A., the Musical Clubs, Athletic Teams, etc., but do we very often stop to think of a certain group which has a very important part in making R.H.S. what it is—namely, the Faculty? Unfortunately, the natural tendency seems to be to forget the fine work that our teachers are doing quietly and unassumingly, day after day. We do not fully appreciate the spirit, energy, and effort which they put unstintingly into the tiresome task of teaching us—and it is some job, to say the least.
Let us try, this year, to co-operate with our Faculty. Let us realize that every member of it is working for us, and wants to work with us, if we are only willing. Why not think of our teachers as real friends, instead of as unfeeling and mechanical beings? The Faculty is out to help us. How are we going to respond?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Follow-up on tenure for Travell music teacher

Friday's Ridgewood News contained a story about the non-renewal of the Travell music teacher. I wanted to share Dr. Fishbein's complete letter which was sent to Travell parents on June 30, because I think it explained the situation very well. I've received a lot of positive feedback from Travell parents on this letter:

Dear Travell Parents:

The Board of Education asked me to communicate with the Travell parents following the decision it had to make about not offering tenure to the Travell music teacher. Many, many parents had strong feelings about the “pros” and “cons” of the situation; and many articulated their thoughts by letter, by e-mail or at public Board meetings. In the end, a decision had to be made, and it was not possible for that decision to accommodate all the different perspectives expressed. The Board and I want all Travell parents to know, however, that their words were heard and given genuine consideration.

Our school district is exceptional for a great many reasons. We have outstanding students who are excited to learn, grow and achieve. We have dedicated parents who understand the value of supporting and promoting education in the home and in the community. We have teachers who are skilled, passionate and committed to nurturing and challenging our students. We have administrators who hold our teachers to high standards and commit themselves to nurturing and challenging our teachers like we do for our students.

Any staff evaluation process needs to look at the “total picture” of each employee’s effectiveness. Issues like collaboration, accountability, planning/goal-setting, cooperation, flexibility and teamwork are all components that must be assessed along with enthusiasm, content knowledge and instructional skills. Our administrators are able to see this “total picture” consistent with the tradition of excellence Ridgewood has enjoyed for generations.

In a community like Ridgewood, which is so engaged in its school system, Board members want to be as responsive to and as open as they can with their neighbors and constituents about the decisions they make. In more ways than most people know, though, the Board is handcuffed by legal mandates and restrictions. In the case of teacher tenure, state law gives no leeway in the timeframe for making tenure decisions. Tenure happens on the 1st day of a teacher’s 4th consecutive year of employment. Period. So, if the Superintendent and the Board are not convinced about a particular teacher’s “total picture” at the end of the teacher’s 3rd year of employment, they have to let that teacher go even if that teacher has shown promise or strength in some areas. What complicates the district’s decision-making in situations like this is the legal right to privacy that each public employee has. Judgments made by supervisors about an employee, whether positive or negative, are confidential information. The district can use this information to make employment decisions, but only the employee himself/herself controls whether any or all of this is communicated outside the district.

Some non-renewal decisions are easy. Some are difficult. I do not make any of them lightly, and neither does our Board of Education. We both value the knowledge and insight that comes from community input because these things ensure we are making the best decisions possible. When all the district can show the public is the end result of this decision-making process, though, all we can do is continue letting our community members know how important their involvement and support have been.

We will move forward from here. We will be vigorous in our efforts to staff Travell with strong teachers who achieve excellence in all aspects of the “total picture” as we do with all of our schools. We ask that you stay as passionate and engaged with us in this process as you have always been, because that is an essential part of what makes Ridgewood so unique and so successful.

I wish everyone a safe and happy summer.

Sincerely yours,

Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Monday's Board of Ed meeting will be introspective...

So this Monday there is a regular public meeting of the Board of Ed (earlier start time 5:30), with a fairly light agenda since it's summer. But before we start the regular business, we'll be conducting our annual "Board Retreat." You may remember my comments about this last year, when I was introduced to the concept. The name "Board Retreat" is a bit misleading...we don't go anywhere, we don't "retreat" anywhere...we'll be at the same table we're always at. BUT we will spend some time talking about the Board and how we conduct business.

We'll start by reviewing our self-evaluation. This is done with a rep from the New Jersey School Board's Association. One of their services is to collect our individual/anonymous evaluations (which we completed last month) and summarize the scores and comments into a report. This is what we'll be discussing tomorrow. Topics will include:
Planning (planning, mission, goal-setting)
Policy (development, review and revision)
Student Achievement (curriculum review and evaluation)
Finance (oversight)
Board Operations (meeting procedures, decision-making skills)
Board Performance (confidentiality, listening, conflict management)
Board/Superintendent Relationship (roles, responsibilities, communication)
Board/Staff Relationships (personnel policies, recognition, expectations)
Board and Community (communication, involvement)

After tomorrow's meeting, I'd like to post the full self-evaluation document here, just in case someone wants to review it. Perhaps we'll get it on the district website.

I think self evaluation is an important activity for us. It's good to be introspective and look at our past year with a critical eye. Should be interesting...tune in to our webcast by clicking here (available live and also as a recording after the meeting).

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Cleaning up the landscape, or "the truth of the changing BOE-Village fields relationship."

Hey, long time no post. Hope your summer is going well. I wanted to clarify and expand on the recent Ridgewood News article that sported a sensational headline, something like “Mean old Ridgewood Board of Ed forces Village to lay-off workers.”

Here are the facts: When the BOE first contracted with the Village to have Village workers perform landscaping and athletic field maintenance on BOE fields, the price was extremely reasonable and we saved a lot of money. But since then, the price has increased and increased. (Never mind the one year they overcharged us by a considerable amount…they did finally rectify that mistake.) Meanwhile, as we faced this year’s budget deficit, our excellent custodial vendor, GCA, wanted to bid landscaping and fields. We alerted the Village that we were going out to bid and fully expected to save several hundred thousand dollars. That’s exactly what happened: the bids from GCA (fields) and Jacobsen (landscaping) were extremely low, and we approved them as our new vendors. How could we not? The Board has a responsibility to save money where we can and get the most and best education possible for our budget and taxpayers’ dollars.

If there were a way for the Village to compete and lower their fees, that would be great. The Village workers provided a great quality of service on BOE properties. But there was no way they would be able to reduce their fees enough. So we had to make the switch. The result is that Jacobsen will do landscaping around the school buildings and GCA will perform all field maintenance and prep (lines, dragging baseball clay, etc.) on BOE athletic fields. The Village will continue to take care of Village fields (Vets, Brookside, Habernickel, Hawes, etc.)

At least one of the Village workers has been hired by GCA. I wish there were a way to work all this out so that no one had to be laid off, but it just wasn’t possible. Unlike the portayal by the Ridgewood News headline and somewhat confusing story, this wasn’t a cold and heartless move by the BOE…we had to make a lot of tough decisions this year. Next year will bring more.

Monday, July 6, 2009

What good is the SAT anyway?

Here's more evidence that the SAT's are good for...oh, I don't know...I'll admit they measure something, but I seriously doubt it is "aptitude." I'm sure there are lots and lots of examples of persons who performed less-than-"stellarly" on the SATs and yet achieved success in their fields and, perhaps more importantly, developed their intellects and became truly educated, thoughtful, critical thinkers. If Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor can score mediocre-at-best on her SATs and then graduate Princeton with highest academic honors and go on to reach the upper echelons of her chosen career (law)...well, it's just more proof to me that we need to dial down the reliance on these standardized tests as some sort of "predictor."

This column by Walter Kirn in the NY Times is really good -- I'm also inspired to read his book, Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever. I agree with Mr. Kirn that too often our education system is focused on "results," and too many students figure out early on how to work the system. Not in a consciously manipulative sort of way, but as students we fool ourselves, too, into thinking we are learning more than we truly are. Too often what we are "learning" is the right thing to say to teachers/professors, the right things to write, the right questions to ask, the right way to take multiple-choice tests, and the right classes to take to make our way through the HS and college process and come out as close to the top as possible.

Am I speaking from experience? You bet. I did a lot of that in HS/college. But I also had a few great professors who put the brakes on the overachiever express, and I think I recovered. But enough about me! My point with this post is to focus on our over-reliance on standardized tests like the SAT, and their dubious ability to measure true learning or predict "aptitude."

Friday, July 3, 2009

School’s out for summer!

So the 2008-2009 school year is officially over. My first full school year as a member of the Board of Education. Someone asked me two questions the other day: 1) So how was it? 2) Are you going to run for re-election?

Whoa, baby! Slow down. I just finished the first year of a three-year term. I don’t have to think about reelection any time soon. (Maybe that’s a good sign that I’m not a politician…aren’t they always thinking about and acting with an eye toward, reelection? The heck with that.)

I understand that those two questions are really just two ways to get at the same thing: how did I like the past year? I can tell you there were definitely highlights and low points. I feel like I learned a ton and yet nothing at all.

A few personal highlights?

In September, I enjoyed attending the opening convocation for teachers and staff. It was amazing to see the BF auditorium FULL of teachers, all energized and ready to get cracking on the new year. I’ve definitely learned a lot this year about teachers’ and how they approach their jobs.

The Communications Forum in March was a success, even if it wasn’t well attended. There were maybe 12-15 people who showed up. It was a great conversation – the first “open forum” I can remember in the district. I hope to plan a couple more for next year. Do you think you might attend?

Getting the budget passed in April was a high point. Board members and Dr. Fishbein attended something like 21 meetings and coffees in two weeks. But the citizens we met with were genuinely interested, asked good tough questions and gave good feedback.

Math…whew…for awhile I was reading so many journal articles and books and opinions and blogs, every free minute, my head was spinning…I definitely got some great insight into my personal math issues back in school, and I was glad to educate myself to get above the rhetoric (there’s that word I always mispronounce) and deal responsibly with our Ridgewood math debate.

I also enjoyed being on the Facilities committee and getting up close and personal with our 11 buildings and their various states of need and disrepair. The work we did this past year will form the foundation of our upcoming bond referendum, which will have (positive) ramifications for our district for years to come. Stay tuned, oh boy...

Attending various meetings and functions throughout the Village has been eye-opening, and the chance to meet some great people has been extremely rewarding. I love Ridgewood as much as ever.

Of course, there were some low points for me this year…but you’ll have to tune in next time!

Have a happy 4th of July! See you at the parade!