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, December 29, 2010

Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology.

In a year-end wrap-up of education stories from Columbia Teachers College, I read a review of a late 2009 book titled, Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology. The most notable paragraph gave me food for thought:
The book systematically reveals a compelling picture of the “seeds of a new system of education” that are being sown all around us. The explosive growth of home schooling, workplace learning, distance education, learning centers, educational TV, videos and software, and Internet cafes are testimony not only to technology’s expanding role in learning, but also the new ways, venues, paradigm, and ages for and of learning. The authors argue that these, coupled with the mechanics of a global information economy, are ushering in the third era of education after the apprenticeship and universal schooling eras. Distinct shifts are the defining elements of the critical transformations in all three of these eras. Responsibility shifts from parents to the state to individuals and parents once more, thus seemingly completing a virtuous cycle of evolution; expectations shift from social reproduction to success for all to individual choice; content shifts from practical skills to disciplinary knowledge to learning how to learn; pedagogy shifts from apprenticeship to didacticism to interaction; location shifts from home to school to anywhere.
Such a fascinating time for schools. I'll add this to my (huge) "to read" list.

Public schools have to fail: the corporate takeover of our education system?

Make no mistake: education is big business. Scary big. It’s got a perpetually renewing crop of “customers” in every community big and small. Fear of other countries passing us by. Plus emotion, poor little children, and nothing less than the fate of all (American) mankind at stake. Here in Ridgewood, we know education is expensive. Look at that big budget we’re asked to vote for every year. New Jersey property taxes are the highest in the country. The economy sucks, our paychecks are shrinking. Our houses are worth less. Somebody must be to blame. And somebody must have the simple solution.

No wonder it’s so easy for people like Governor Christie to dangle the magic of charter schools in front of the state. Never mind the fact that overall, charter schools have been proven in study after study to achieve no better results than public schools. Let’s just never mind that for today. Instead, let’s focus on what’s really going on in the oh-so-trendy, brave new world of “education reform.”

I was referred to an interesting article, titled Waiting for SuperFraud, by Michael T. Martin. In it, Mr. Martin made some good points that I haven’t really been considering. He wrote,
Public schools have to fail. There is no alternative. So give up trying to argue otherwise with facts and logic.

The mockumentary Waiting For Superman made this clear. Funded by millionaires, the movie told the story of some privatized schools in Harlem portrayed as saviors of children otherwise condemned to public schools. Privatized schools mostly funded by hedge fund millionaires on Wall Street. They spent two million dollars to promote the film nationally. Another major film titled “The Lottery” told a similar tale: children in Harlem desperate to escape public schools. Funded by more millionaires.
Mr. Martin goes on to tell about a 1999 Merrill Lynch in-depth report titled “The Book of Knowledge, Investing in the Growing Education and Training Industry.” The report notes: “The K-12 market is the largest segment of the education industry with approximately $360 billion spent annually or over $6,500 per year per child. Despite the size, the K-12 market is the most problematic to invest in today.”

In other words, there’s a $360 billion (today more like $700 billion) market – full of desperate taxpayers and scared parents – up for grabs, and private enterprise is being invited in to take over – as an investment strategy, not for educational outcomes.

Big business doesn’t make decisions out of the goodness of its heart, or for the betterment of society, but rather with an eye on huge profits and a captive audience. It’s just something to think about. “Follow the money” as they said in my favorite movie. And evaluate potential "supermen" accordingly.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Please stop texting while driving.

Here's a short (10 minutes) but powerful video on the consequences of texting while driving. Please watch it...then please share it with others, especially any teen drivers in your life. Thank you.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

2010 Parent Survey Reports are online!

The 2010 Parent Survey Reports are online at the District website. Click here to download your school's report, or to see the complete district report. (Note: the surveys were really designed to be school-based, so while the district summary info is interesting, the most useful data will be at the school level.) I am looking forward to hearing what you think about the survey results.

BOE seeks volunteers for Community Planning session.

The Ridgewood Board of Education has announced that we will engage in a community planning process to help structure the District’s strategic planning for the next three years. As part of that process, the Board is seeking residents (not just parents, but any residents) willing to engage in a one-session meeting in mid-January, joining district staff members, village administrators, civic group members and other community representatives.

Educational consultants Sousa & Stern will be facilitating the one-time Community Planning session on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3, from 5 p.m to 9 p.m. If you wish to be considered to be part of this process, please contact Debra Anderson, Public Information Officer, at 201-670-2700, ext. 10555, or via e-mail at danderson@ridgewood.k12.nj.us.

The number of participants is limited, so if you'd like to take part, please contact Debra Anderson by January 3, 2011.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Are we willing to re-think the "Race?"

A few of my thoughts in advance of the third Ridgewood showing of Race to Nowhere, tomorrow (Monday) night at the Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium (7:00 p.m.).

When I watched the movie the week before last, I noticed what I felt was a moment of irony. A parent in the film said that she has always wanted her kids to do better, to succeed, so that they will have "more choices in life." But when I listened to these pressured kids talk, it was clear to me clear that they actually end up having fewer choices. Or no choices. No real choice about where they go to college, or what they're going to study, or where they will find their passion. They are on a track and there is no getting off that track.

On the topic of homework, the film cited research that looked at the correlation between the amount of homework kids have and how they perform academically. (To be honest, I don't remember what they used to measure that performance...I think it may have been standardized test scores.)

According to the research cited in the film, in the elementary school years, there is no correlation between the amount of homework and achievement. In middle school, there is some correlation, but it falls off after one year. And in high school, there is some correlation, but not after an average of two hours of nightly homework. Any more than two hours of homework has no effect of achievement.

This actually dovetails nicely with the Parent/Guardian Survey results, which I wrote about earlier today. In some of the parent comments for elementary schools, parents wrote that they wanted more homework and more rigor in their children's education. There were parents who want more tests in kindergarten and first grade, to "prove" that kids are learning! Here's a little snapshot of the problem, right here in Ridgewood: how do we balance these parents' wish for "academic success" with these emerging conversations about the so-called "race to nowhere?" Are we really willing to make a change?

And on another related note, the principal of Ridgewood High School announced that this upcoming Winter Break will be "homework free." The high school administration wants to see what it's like -- for students and for teachers -- if kids are allowed to simply rest over the break. Of course, in our house, this has already created some confusion. My son has a large research/writing project that's currently underway. My son is wondering how he can just take a week off without falling behind on the project overall. My natural response is to hope he can get enough work done this week so that he can enjoy the experience of the "no homework break" next week. But something doesn't feel right to be "rushing" now in order to "rest" later. Jumping off the merry-go-round is a little scary. Sort of like...jumping off a merry-go-round.

What are your thoughts on the concept of a "race to nowhere?"

Parent Survey results will be public (finally!)

I am so excited to report that the long-awaited results of the Parent/Guardian Survey which the District conducted last June will be available very soon. The reports are being presented to the Board at our meeting tomorrow night. After that, the school-by-school reports will be posted on the District website.

As a member of the Communications Committee, which was responsible for the creation and oversight of this survey, I can tell you -- we certainly did not intend to release these reports in December...a full six months since the survey was conducted! But now that we've gone through the entire process, I can say that we learned a lot about how to make the process better (and faster!) next time.

The reasons for the delay in reporting include:
-- Reduced staff in the MIS/IT Department, which was responsible for assembling the data and creating the survey reports
-- Additional (simultaneous) pressure on the IT Department due to the implementation of the new Skyward student information system. It was "all hands on deck" this Fall to get Skyward up and running!
-- No exact plan up front for the reports -- we elected to see how the data came in and let that information, in part, drive the format for the reports. In other words, we didn't exactly know up front how we wanted the results to be reported...we waited to see what made the most sense. I think this was great in terms of creating truly useful reports, but it was a more time-consuming approach.
-- The committee process for reviewing comments was a bit cumbersome. We wanted parents and staff involved in reading every single comment that was given. Before that could happen, comments which contained identifiable personnel or student information had to be redacted so that confidential information was not made public. Then, a committee (or group of smaller committees) met several times to read every comment and to summarize the themes which could be identified. This was on a school-by-school basis, so the comments will be more useful to parents and staff. After all that reading and sorting was complete, the reports had to be physically put together -- again, with a limited staff at the Ed Center.

Anyway, the results are done and it has been (and will continue to be) a truly fascinating and informative process. I hope every parent will download the survey results for his/her school and review them closely. Talk amongst yourselves. Talk to your teachers and principal. Talk to us. I think you'll find the data to be interesting, and the "free-form" comments are quite educational. For one thing, you'll see just how differently parents feel about certain issues. I find it fascinating (and sometimes frustrating) how some parents can have one opinion and others will have a 180-degree different opinion on the exact same topic.

I think parents and the community will also be interested in the level of honesty and passion -- both positive and negative -- in the parents' comments. It's not often that a school district is willing to share the good, bad and ugly. We'll all be experiencing this new exercise in introspection together and I hope we can use whatever we learn for positive growth.

I'll post a reminder when the survey reports are live on the District website.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Race to Nowhere to be shown again Dec. 20

The thought-provoking film Race to Nowhere, which was screened for Ridgewood parents and high school faculty last week, will be shown one more time in Ridgewood, thanks to financial support by the RHS Home & School Association.

Monday December 20 @ 7:00 PM
Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium

All are welcome.

I saw the movie at RHS last week. It was eye-opening, reaffirming, depressing, enlightening, and empowering. For me, anyway. I'll write some more thoughts later.

But for now, if you missed the showing last week, I encourage parents (of any age children) to take some time on Monday night to watch at the Library. And I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Changing the education paradigm

I found this video so fascinating, a well-presented (and entertaining!) lecture that looks at our system of education, why it is structured the way it is, the culture of our schools and ways in which (according to Sir Ken Robinson) we should be changing the paradigm. Check it out!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Ridgewood students dominate All-Bergen band auditions.

Congratulations to the RHS bands!

At last week's All-Bergen County Band auditions, more than 350 students from around the county competed for 85 positions in the performing ensemble recognizing Bergen's best musicians in the county. How's this for a performance? A total of 21 Ridgewood High School band members were selected to perform in this year's All-County Band, the most ever chosen from one school.

That's an amazing accomplishment! I'm very proud of our students and teachers.

You can witness the talent of these students -- and 180+ others -- at the RHS Winter Concert, Wednesday December 8 at 8:00 p.m. at the RHS Campus Center. Admission is free. The program will include the Symphonic Band and the Concert Band & Wind Ensemble.

See you there?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

On my BOE radar this week.

Sorry I’ve been posting a little less frequently than normal…it’s been a busy time around Thanksgiving, I had my mother and her husband visiting for 10 days, and my workload for clients has been extremely heavy. But just because I haven’t been blogging much, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been consumed by Board of Ed business as well. There’s always plenty to do in that area!

Tomorrow night the Board will have a regular public meeting (7:30 p.m., Ed Center, 3rd floor; streaming live click here). A few highlights from the agenda:

• Sheila Brogan and I will present a report on the Facilities Committee meeting which we held last Monday at Ridgewood High School, to listen to concerns from the RHS neighbors regarding the fields and lights. The Board will discuss neighborhood concerns and consider next steps.

• Asst. Superintendent Regina Botsford will present the Districtwide Testing Report for 09-10.

• Dr. Fishbein will give us an update on referendum construction projects

• We’ll get an update on meetings to develop the 11-12 district budget

• The Board will review and approve some course changes at RHS.

• As always, there will be two opportunities for public comment.

Other than tomorrow’s BOE meeting, I have some other Board business I’ll be taking care of this week:

• Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be watching the film Race to Nowhere along with the RHS faculty. The movie, sponsored by the RHS Home & School Association, is being presented to Ridgewood parents at 7:00 p.m. at GW Middle School, but since we have a BOE meeting, some of us will be watching with the faculty. I wonder if it will be a different experience to watch with teachers vs. parents?

• Tuesday night I will join a couple of other Board members and Human Resources Manager Gary Hall at a presentation of the New Jersey School Boards Association, titled “Negotiations and the Toolkit.” This is a roundtable discussion about “negotiations, superintendent contracts, and other employee relations issues in this changing legislative environment.” Supposedly, we’ll learn how the governor’s proposed "toolkit" of bills can affect our negotiations efforts with the REA.

• Wednesday morning I’ll be at the Fields Committee at 7:00 AM – I suffer through these early morning meetings but I have to admit – it’s kind of cool how much time I still have left in the day to get things accomplished.

• Thursday I’ll be at the “You Make a Difference” Breakfast at RHS at 7:15 (another early day!). This breakfast is hosted by Principal Jack Lorenz to recognize students who normally may not receive accolades but who have accomplished small victories at school. After the breakfast I’ll attend the Federated HSA meeting with the presidents of all the schools’ Home & School Associations. Then after that I’ll go to the Somerville Holiday House Tour fundraiser. Whew…busy day Thursday!

I’m telling you my BOE schedule this week just to report on what I’m doing. I’m sure some of you wonder…what does she do anyway, besides attend those boring meetings twice a month? Now you know. As a BOE member, there’s a lot more to do than I originally understood. I truly love being around the schools, though, so when I can, I’m eager to take part in activities that get me into school buildings and that give me a good view of what goes on every day. (My clients aren't quite so enthusiastic about our schools, so sometimes I have to play a little hooky...fortunately as a freelancer I have the flexibility to catch up on work later...sometimes much later...like a few minutes from now.)

After tomorrow night’s BOE meeting – maybe by Tuesday or Wednesday – I’ll write something about the Board’s discussion about the fields and lights (one of the more popular topics in my inbox lately!). Have a great week!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Maroon Men debut at RHS.

Last night the Maroon Men, the new acapella group at RHS, had its debut performance in the Little Theater. Congratulations -- heard it was a great show. (And UConn's Conn Men weren't bad, either.)

I'm always amazed at the talent of some of our students!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Can we get there from here? National Education Technology Plan is released.

In case you missed the news, the "finalized" version of the National Education Technology Plan was released by the Federal Govt last week.

Here is a good blog post that summarizes some of the most significant content, by listing 5 current assumptions (misconceptions) about ed technology, which the plan says will be re-thought in the coming years:

The National Education Technology Plan: 5 huge assumptions about learning are about to change.

The intro to the blog post states:

Corralled by Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Director of Educational Technology Karen Cator, hundreds, if not thousands, of the luminaries from every sector of the education world have weighed in on the plan, which addresses virtually every aspect of modern edutech: assessment, infrastructure, lifelong and informal learning, video games, adaptivity, collaborative learning, teacher tools… the list goes on.

But perhaps one phrase, repeated throughout the document, wraps it all up:

“Rethink basic assumptions.”

Here’s one: In true Web 2.0 fashion, the NETP draft has been publicly available for the better part of this year, with every individual section open to comment. Many an edutech twitterer and blogger have weighed in, and the distinct voices of k-12 educators, education researchers, data wonks, and privateers were all heard in the brilliant, if cacophonous, debates.


Here is a link to the full plan (don't worry, there's an executive summary if you want to skim it):

If you have 35 minutes, you can watch this video of Karen Cator, Director of the Office of Educational Technology, presenting the plan and covering the highlights.

I'll be reading the plan carefully with an eye toward assessing and implementing the principles here in Ridgewood. Let's put it this way: we have a lot of opportunity here! Great things are happening...great learning is happening.

The science of...science.

District Science Panel Presentation
Tuesday, November 30
7:30 - 9 p.m.
Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, 3rd floor

The Ridgewood Public Schools Curriculum Communication Committee is hosting a panel presentation on science on November 30. Parents and guardians are invited to come hear what scientists from our community have to say about:
-- What students need to learn about science by the time they graduate from high school
-- How schools can promote interest and excellence in scientific learning
-- What knowledge, skills and attitudes students will need over the next 20 years to be scientists and/or scientifically literate leaders in their chosen fields.

The list of participating scientists will be available shortly and I'll post that info here when I have it.

Why is the District doing this now? It's part of our rotating curriculum review process. In 2010-11, Science and Social/Emotional/Guidance are in the "Program Review" stage, which is followed in 2011-12 by Curriculum Writing. You can download and review the entire Curriculum Review Plan by clicking here.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this presentation, as I'll be at my son's RHS Soccer Banquet. But I'll be so interested to read the report and hear from parents who attend. Let me know what you think!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Date set for Race to Nowhere film screening.


Ridgewood High School Home and School Association is pleased to present a private screening of the critically acclaimed documentary film, Race to Nowhere.

Monday, December 6, 2010
GW Middle School Auditorium at 7:00 pm

Discussion to follow the screening.

All Ridgewood Parents are invited to view this important film!

From the press release:
Filmmaker, Vicki Abeles, aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that has invaded our schools and our children’s lives. This remarkable new film shines a light on the price young people pay for this “race to nowhere.” High-stakes testing has replaced meaningful teaching and learning. Cheating is commonplace. Stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant. Many young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. Attend the screening and become part of the grassroots phenomenon that is feeding a groundswell for change. www.RaceToNowhere.com

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Buyer beware: Superintendent salary caps are a bad a idea.

Hey, I thought Republicans were supposed to be about less government intrusion into our lives! Why on earth does Governor Christie think he knows better than the residents of Ridgewood what goals we expect our superintendent of schools to achieve, and how we should compensate our superintendent for his achievement of those goals? I'm joining a growing number of New Jerseyans in saying, "Back off, big guy."

Superintendent Salary Caps 101. What are they?
Governor Christie has proposed establishing caps on the salaries paid to school superintendents. Seventy percent of superintendents in New Jersey are currently earning more than the proposed caps. In Bergen County 62 superintendents’ salaries exceed the proposed caps.

Christie's capped salaries would be set based on district enrollment. In addition, superintendents could receive non-pensionable merit pay -- as much as 15% of salary -- if he/she achieves goals. This would be a one year increase to the salary. In addition if the district has a high school, the superintendent would receive an additional stipend of $2,500.

The proposed salary caps are:
Student Enrollment..........Maximum Salary
0 – 250 students..........$125,000
251 – 750..........$135,000
751 – 1,500..........$145,000
1,501 – 3,000..........$155,000
3,001 – 6,500..........$165,000
6,501 – 10,000..........$175,000*

*The Commissioner, could also approve, on a case by case basis, a waiver of the maximum salary amount for districts with a total enrollment of 10,000 or more.

Superintendents could also earn $10,000 more for each additional district they supervise.

School boards would not be permitted to increase a superintendent's base pay (for example, with longevity increases) beyond these salary caps. Additionally, no superintendent contract that includes a compensation package above these salary caps could be extended; at its expiration, the new compensation package of the superintendent would need to conform to this new policy.

Click here to view the contract for Ridgewood superintendent Dan Fishbein, which is approx. $40,000 over the cap. Dr. Fishbein has declined his salary increase for the past two years.

Strangely, Governor Christie has stated that this proposal does not need legislative or NJ State Board of Education approval and that it can simply be added to regulations. It would become effective February 7. Wow...if it's that simple, why doesn't he just rewrite all the laws and do away with that pesky representative legislature...or state Board of Education. That would sure streamline things!

What's wrong?
As a taxpayer, I do understand the wish to deal with our state's high property taxes. Really, I do. But as a school board member who has been elected to provide leadership to our school system, I have real concerns about this plan. Here are a few:

1. Some of New Jersey’s most experienced superintendents will choose to resign or retire rather than continue to work at the same job with the same responsibilities for less money. This state is going to experience an exodus of qualified superintendents (and it's already hard enough for districts to fill superintendent positions). As the chairman of one nationwide search firm told the Star-Ledger, "The fact of the matter is the pool of really good superintendents is smaller than the 17,000 school districts across the country. If you want mediocrity, they are out there and will continue to be. But if you want people who will really make a difference, this [caps] will hurt."

2. Some of New Jersey’s superintendents will choose to leave New Jersey, and commute relatively easily to jobs in New York, Connecticut or Pennsylvania. This drain on leadership will have negative consequences for our schools.

3. In some districts, high school principals and district administrators will have higher salaries than superintendents.

4. Why is he only focusing on public school superintendents? What about charter school superintendents? What about private special ed school directors? They both are paid with taxpayer dollars?

5. Over the past few years, superintendents have found their jobs further and further complicated, thanks to dwindling resources, reduced state aid, tax and spending limits, and more. In some, smaller districts, superintendents serve multiple roles, such as principal or special education director. Christie's proposed salaries do not seem to reflect the realities of the job.

6. Minnesota tried capping superintendent salaries to a level that could not exceed that of the governor. After 10 years, leadership had deteriorated so much, the state legislature abolished the law.

6. If you look at the actual list of things for which a Board of Education is statutorily responsible, it's not that long. One of the most important items on the list is hiring, setting goals for, evaluating the performance of, and negotiating compensation for a superintendent. This responsibility should remain in our community, undertaken by members of the community who are elected to do so.

Share your thoughts.
Several people have asked me how they can comment on the proposal to cap superintendent salaries. If you're interested, you can comment in person or in writing:

In-Person Testimony:
Monday, November 29, 2010
6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
North Warren Regional High School auditorium, 10 Noe Road, Blairstown, NJ 07825

Thursday, December 2, 2010
6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Cumberland County College Conference and Events Center
3322 College Drive, Vineland, NJ 08362

Tuesday, December 7, 2010
6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Burlington County Institute of Technology
Westampton Campus auditorium
695 Woodlane Road, Westampton, NJ 08060

Written comments by December 31, 2010 to:
Eric Taylor, Director
Office of Statute and Code Review
New Jersey Department of Education
River View Executive Plaza
Building 100, P.O. Box 500
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0500

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Mother-Daughter evening with Queen Bees author Rosalind Wiseman at GW this Wednesday.

Ridgewood mothers and teen daughters are invited to a very special evening with author Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World, on Wednesday 11/17 at 7:00 p.m. at GW Middle School. The evening will feature an interactive discussion about "confidence, friendships, sweat-inducing moments and common mother-daughter challenges." A Q&A session and book signing will follow.

Tickets are $40 per mother/daughter pair and includes two books: mothers will receive a copy of Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World and daughters will receive Wiseman’s debut young adult novel, Boys, Girls, and Other Hazardous Materials. Additional tickets are $20 each.

If you haven’t read Wiseman’s Queen Bees book, I highly recommend it. And if you have read it, and you have a teen daughter, I know you’ll want to attend this event.

For tickets or more info, contact GW HSA President Kim Lucky, 447-3923 or kplucky@yahoo.com.

A little clarity in reporting of administrators’ contract.

Friday’s Ridgewood News contained a letter to the editor that was a response to some one-sided reporting in the previous week’s edition: a classic example of two wrongs making something even more wrong (or something like that!).

The topic of both was the school district’s contract with the Ridgewood Administrators Association (RAA), which the BOE voted to approve at our meeting on October 18. Friday’s letter complained about the salary increases that were included in the contract. I would like to add a few facts that were left out of the original article, so that residents can form opinions that are more reflective of reality.

1. The Nov. 5 article focused only on increases – it did not list any of the concessions made by the RAA. All together, if you add up any increases and subtract any decreases in compensation, the net increase in the cost of the total contract is approx. 2.1%.

2. The salary increases included in the contract range from 2.5% to 4.0%.

3. The contract also includes concessions on the part of the RAA, the most significant of which being that all members will now pay 1.5% of their salaries toward healthcare premiums.

4. The RAA contract was negotiated before the district learned of cuts in state aid last spring. The Memorandum of Agreement with the RAA was signed on March 10. We learned about our 100% aid cut of approx. $3 million on March 17. I’m not sure why it takes until October to actually have a signed and approved contract, but that’s what happened. What we approved on October 18 was something that was negotiated and to which we agreed in another era – the era back when we used to receive aid from the state. Despite the seemingly short timeframe, today's world is a very different world.

I believe that negotiating these terms with the RAA has no negative bearing on our strength in negotiating the REA’s (teachers’) contract this year. Speaking for myself (because I'm not allowed, by law, to speak for the BOE), I promise that I will be, in the words of Friday's letter-writer, “strong, will pay attention to the costly details and will keep the contract fair and affordable.”

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Feeling the pressure.

The HSA meeting at the high school Tuesday night included a frank and open discussion about the pressures that Ridgewood students feel –as well as where the pressure comes from, what are the effects, and what can/should we, as a community, do about it?

The discussion was sparked by a report from the Global Classroom Conference, which took place at Ridgewood High School last year. A group of students from around the world came to Ridgewood and conducted a research project. The theme they chose for Ridgewood, after speaking with students, faculty and their host families, was pressure. Specifically, the tremendous pressure students are under to achieve and excel. The Global Classroom participants created a video and a written report – the video was shown at the HSA meeting (and hopefully will be available on YouTube or on the RHS website soon).

The video was enlightening, interesting, and somewhat depressing, featuring RHS kids speaking quite honestly about the reality of growing up in Ridgewood and the enormous expectations for college and future success.

RHS Director of Guidance, Jeff Nyhuis, has been working with Dr. Anne Robinson, a Ridgewood parent and pediatrician, to bring the issue of our pressured students to the forefront. The conversation at Tuesday’s HSA meeting was great. Two students spoke about pressures to participate in extracurricular activities regardless of their interest or enjoyment, pressure for grades, cheating, lack of sleep, and the difficulty of meeting parent expectations for grades and college acceptances. Parents complained about teachers who give way too much homework, and children spending too many hours on homework and sports or afterschool activities, leaving little time for relaxation, socializing with friends and SLEEP.

Parents also talked about our own role in creating this pressure. Not only do our children feel how much we want them to succeed, teachers know that parents expect our schools to be “successful,” with higher test scores or better rankings in New Jersey Monthly magazine. This undoubtedly fuels the teachers’ decisions to add more homework, more grades, more tests. Parents in Ridgewood often get nervous when they feel their children aren’t being kept busy enough. Free time, with absolutely nothing scheduled and nothing due, can seem odd or undesirable to many Ridgewood parents. So even if the school were to lessen the load, many parents would fill the space created with more activities, more sports, more drama classes, more volunteering, more scouts...

As the next step in this process, the RHS HSA will be screening a very important and critically acclaimed documentary film, Race to Nowhere. According to the movie’s website, Race to Nowhere’s director “ignites a national conversation in her new documentary about the pressures faced by American schoolchildren and their teachers in a system and culture obsessed with the illusion of achievement, competition and the pressure to perform. Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired….Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.”

The film will be screened at BF middle school, sometime during the first week of December, and all Ridgewood parents will be invited. When the date is set I’ll post it here.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

BOE and Village working on arrangement with Verizon FIOS to broadcast BOE and Council meetings.

I'm told by the Ed Center that a deal to get Village Council and BOE meetings broadcast on Verizon FIOS in addition to Cablevision is being wrapped up, and this WILL be happening. I didn't get any kind of an ETA, but I'll check into it after a month or two (if I don't see the meetings on my FIOS).

This will give another alternative to the webcasts for BOE meetings, which are problematic for a few people. (And of course the Village Council doesn't webcast, so adding FIOS will be a great improvement in public access.)

New Jersey School Boards Association questions need for administrator salary caps.

From the most recent issue of School Board Notes:

Proposed salary caps for New Jersey superintendents and other central office school administrators are unnecessary and could prevent school boards from securing the best possible leaders for their education programs, according to NJSBA’s review of the proposal. The review took into account recent statute and regulations that have dramatically increased state oversight of local school district finances.

NJSBA President Ray Wiss will formally present the Association’s position to the state Department of Education on Nov. 18 during the first of four regional hearings on the proposal.

Unnecessary NJSBA supports certain aspects of the plan, including the concept of merit-based bonuses tied to educational goals and incentives for small school districts to share administrative services voluntarily. However, recent additions to state law and administrative code, such as the 2-percent property tax levy cap and the Accountability Regulations, render the proposed salary caps unnecessary.

“In practical terms, the new 2-percent tax levy cap, which is part of the governor’s toolkit to control government spending, coupled with reductions in state revenue make it financially imprudent for a school board to grant excessive compensation packages to administrators,” said Marie S. Bilik, NJSBA executive director. “Clearly, a school board that did so would have much to explain to its taxpayers and voters.

“In addition, the 2008 Accountability Regulations require all new contracts for central office administrators to receive approval from the state’s executive county superintendents. Such approval is granted only upon compliance with state-developed criteria that limit compensation, including benefits and salary increases.”

That review process is far-reaching and brings into question the need for rigid salary caps, according to NJSBA. In fact, Governor Christie relied on it last week when he instructed the executive county superintendents not to approve any superintendent contract extensions that exceed the salary caps and which would begin before the Feb. 7 effective date of the regulations.

Disadvantage “We share the goal of controlling the growth of all school district salaries and would consider reasonable constraints,” Bilik explained. “However, the limits proposed by the state might put some New Jersey school districts—especially those in areas with a high cost of living and which border other states—at a disadvantage when hiring superintendents and other administrators.”

When the proposed salary caps were introduced in the summer, NJSBA stressed that the role of the board of education is not to advocate for administrators’ salaries, but to ensure quality school leadership.

Low Administrative Costs Spending on school administration has not been a problem in New Jersey, according to federal statistics.

The latest report from the U.S. Department of Education places New Jersey’s overall spending on education administration below that of 42 other states. Compiled by the department’s National Center for Education Statistics, the data show that New Jersey public school districts devote 9.5 percent of their operating budgets to central office and school building administration, compared to a nationwide average of 10.8 percent. At the same time, the state’s spending on instruction and student support services (71.9 percent of total expenditures) is higher than the national average.

The Proposal The salary caps would be implemented through “commissioner regulations” as an amendment to the state’s Accountability Regulations without the need for approval by the state Board of Education.

Under the plan, salary caps would range from $125,000 for districts with fewer than 250 students, increasing incrementally to $175,000 for those with 6,501 to 10,000 students. Districts with more than 10,000 students would be able to apply for a waiver from the commissioner of education to exceed the top cap. The plan would also allow additional compensation in a district that operates a high school and for an individual who serves as superintendent for two or more districts. (A description of the proposal appeared in last week’s School Board Notes.)

New grading system at RHS

The following information was emailed to parents by Principal Jack Lorenz. As a parent who has gone through 6 years of high school grades, I do think this will result in more accurate and consistent grades. I have some other thoughts, too, following Mr. Lorenz' letter:

[Email from Mr. Lorenz:]
We are in the process of implementing our Skyward student information system and Skyward Grade Book. In preparation for this implementation our faculty through the Curriculum Steering Committee examined the old grading patterns system and reached consensus on a revised grading system.

Parents and students have frequently requested that we include plus and minus grades for each quarter. Students, parents, and the Curriculum Steering Committee requested that we use a percentage grade to arrive at semester and yearlong grades. The system we have adopted provides students and parents with a more accurate picture of student achievement.

Since we are implementing these changes across all grades, the playing field is level and no one has an advantage over another student. The final grade in a semester course will be determined by averaging the two quarters with the mid-term counting no more than twenty (20%) per cent of the 2nd quarter guide. The final grade for a year long course will be the average of four (4) quarters with the final examination counting no more than twenty percent (20%) of the fourth quarter guide. Letter grades will be assigned as follows:


A 93–100
A - 90–92
B + 87–89
B 83–86
B - 80–82
C + 77–79
C 73–76
C - 70–72
D + 67–69
D 63–66
D - 60–62
E* 0–59

For example, a student who receives a 91 percent, 86 percent, 82 percent and 88 percent for quarter grades would have an average of 86.7 percent which would result in a B+ for this final grade. We are confident that this system of grading will yield a positive result for our students.

John A. Lorenz, Principal

***

I have spoken with some fellow RHS parents who were concerned about the implications of this mid-high-school-career change for some students. They are worried about how Ridgewood graduates' grades will appear to college admissions officials. In speaking with several administrators, I learned the following:

First, with the new system, GPAs are just as likely to go up slightly as they are to go down. In terms of individual grades, many students who would have received a B under the old system will now receive a B+.

In terms of how Ridgewood’s GPAs will look to college admissions offices, it’s hard to predict. Over the past 15-20 years, there have been as many as four grading systems at RHS and for each system I'm sure there was a contingency of parents/teachers who were opposed to the system. At one point, colleges were surveyed about their view of high school grading systems and the fact is they do not care -- they have to make sense out of literally thousands of systems -- some numerical, some letter, some narrative, some weighted, some unweighted -- but all in all they recalculate using their own system to standardize for all so they can make decisions in a systematic way. Apparently, colleges are more interested in decile ranges than GPAs created by various different systems.

The good news is that RHS has been known for grading fairly and with integrity and not all schools have such a reputation since grade inflation is rampant in this country. No matter the system, our students should be evaluated fairly.

If I can share the way I’m personally looking at this issue: I am glad to know that my son’s grades will now be more mathematically accurate. I hope it moves him up in cases where he is on the fence, but even if it moves him down, at least it will have been fairly reached.

*On a side note, whatever happened to the good old "F"?

Monday, November 8, 2010

Board of Ed is waiting for legal input before commenting on field lights.

Since the story in last Friday's Ridgewood News failed to present a balanced account of the discussion at last week's Board of Education meeting, I thought it would be helpful to share the following statement, which was made by Board of Ed president Michele Lenhard at that meeting. This statement has been posted on the District website:

We are aware that some members of our community have concerns and questions about the field lights currently being installed at RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields. When the project is complete and fully powered by PSE&G our lighting engineer will undertake tests to measure light output to adhere to the specifications in the design plans. This includes light spill surrounding the fields.

Recommendations for the usage of the fields and the lights will be made by the Fields Committee in the form of policy. They are currently revising the Field Use Policy to reflect the changes to the Stadium and Stevens Fields. The policy will come before both the Village Council and BOE for approval. The spring 2011 schedule of sports activities is being developed and will be posted to both the BOE and Village website when complete.

On October 27th [resident] Jim Morgan presented a statement to the Village Council on behalf of his neighbors, which differed significantly from the concerns recently brought before this Board. In the past when concerns were raised, we met directly with the neighbors and supported requests for adjustments to fencing, traffic, parking and landscaping. Mr. Morgan emailed a copy of the statement to BOE members, and on 10/29 Dr. Fishbein and I met with Colleen Kossoff, Jim Morgan, and Mayor Killion to better understand concerns. Unlike concerns raised to date, it questions Village Council or Planning Board authority over Board of Education activities. Prior to commenting on specific allegations raised by Mr. Morgan we are consulting with legal counsel.

Understanding our neighbors’ concerns is an important part of our evaluative process as we look to institute policy to manage the use of RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields. We hope that we can continue to work together to achieve mutual satisfaction for the neighbors, the Board of Education, and most importantly the children of the Village of Ridgewood, whose best interest we strive to serve.


Believe me, I wish we could just talk more freely as we work everything out (and I personally believe we will work it out), but once the possibility of lawsuits was raised, the Board had an obligation to consult our attorneys. Hopefully we'll be able to say more at our next BOE meeting, on November 15.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Bullying: no easy solutions (except, perhaps, the Golden Rule).

As attention on bullying – the old-fashioned playground kind, the new-fashioned cyber-kind or the equally insidious (and no doubt perennial) spousal, workplace, elderly, political and other varieties – seems to swirl around and around us like Fall leaves on a windy day, the calls to “end bullying” are reaching a frantic pitch. Naturally, some would argue, schools are the primary target. Bullying ground zero. With all those hours kids spend in our classrooms, surely our teachers and principals and administrators can be doing more to discourage, reduce or, what the heck, just end bullying.

Last week, some New Jersey lawmakers announced proposed new legislation that would become the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation. The “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” requires “training for nearly all school employees on how to spot, prevent and report acts of intimidation. Each district must form a ‘school safety team’ that reviews complaints, lead by a counselor designated as an ‘anti-bullying specialist.’…The measure (A3466) would also require school employees to report harassing actions they learn about that take place off school property — and those who don’t could face disciplinary action.”

It all sounds so sensible and sensitive and powerful. Tough talk designed to get results and whip this bullying monster once and for all.

The trouble is, as with most things in life, it’s not as easy, not as cut and dried and not as black and white as it seems. You see, on Monday you can be all about bullying, and the answers – in the form of laws and regulations and school polices – can seem so obvious. But then Tuesday rolls around and guess what Tuesday’s focus is – oh, a little concept our founding fathers called “freedom of speech.” Suddenly it’s hey, remember all those laws we came up with yesterday to solve the bullying “epidemic?” Did anybody run those through the freedom’o’speech detector? Yeah, didn’t think so. Houston, we have a problem.

Last week, not two hours after I read about New Jersey’s anti-bullying legislation, I read another article that was a stark counterpoint. A student In California had videotaped herself and some friends talking trash about another student, calling her a slut and other bullying-type things. They posted the video on YouTube. About 15 students watched the video, and it was brought to the attention of school officials, who suspended the “videographer” for two days. The suspended student claimed – successfully – that the suspension for out-of-school cyberbullying was a violation of her right to free speech. (Disclaimer: what this girl did was wrong, stupid, immature, mean and not nice. She deserved to be punished – by her parents, certainly. By her school, not sure.) The problem is: teenagers have freedom of speech, in school and out of school, and subsequent court decisions have set very clear reasons under which school officials can limit and/or punish that speech.

What are schools, teachers and administrators supposed to do, with all these conflicting laws and court cases? How are we going to decide (and who is going to decide), day to day, minute to minute, this speech is OK, that speech is mean, this speech is free, that speech is bullying? What is bullying's "yelling fire in a crowded theater" exemption from free speech?

And as distasteful as it is to bring money into the discussion, one has to ask: who's going to pay for all this? At the end of the day, every 15 minutes spent on anti-bullying activities, Open Circle, school safety team meetings and state bullying reports is 15 minutes not spent on math or reading, and it's 15 minutes that a teacher or administrator must be paid. I'm not saying any of these things, per se, isn't "worth it." But let's be realistic and understand what it is we're legislating.

This is all a roundabout way to get to my main point – I don’t think the laws and the courts are going to be able to fix this problem, folks, and we shouldn’t expect them to. Bullying, being “mean,” talking trash, whatever you want to call it...instead of focusing solely on controlling the behavior, or punishing the behavior, maybe we should focus more on where this behavior is coming from.

Which leads us to the Golden Rule. My question isn't “do they teach that in schools?” but rather, “doesn’t anybody teach that at home anymore?” We shouldn't need a law to enforce the Golden Rule.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

'Jeffrey and The Bossy Frog' event for Village youth

Received this message this AM:

Thursday Nov 4th at 11am Jeffrey and The Bossy Frog character will do a special Thursday morning music concert for the Ridgewood, NJ Parks and Recreation Department. Community Center at Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
$5 for all attendees. Pre-school Audience
Tickets sold in advance at Ridgewood Parks & Recreation, The Stable 259 N. Maple Ave. Ridgewood, NJ 07450 or call (201) 670-5560

Thursday, October 21, 2010

"Other than the lights, are there no other pressing issues in the village?"

Funny thing happened last night at Village Hall. I went to a Village Council Candidates Night, and a Board of Ed debate broke out. (That's supposed to sound like the old joke about going to a fight and a hockey game broke out...sound familiar? Anybody?)

Well, not really a BOE debate, more like a repetitive airing of grievances and misinformation.

I thought it was odd how so much of the conversation focused on the new lights at RHS Stadium and Stevens fields, as well as the Council's handling of the defeated school budget last spring. And by "conversation," I obviously mean mis-statements and vague promises.

Contrary to one of the candidates' statements, at no time did the school district approach the Village for funding of the lights, and the current funding arrangement was not developed following any "heated discussions" of any kind.

It was odd to hear such criticism of the users of the lighted fields, consistently referred to as "them," as those "others" who are somehow benefitting. Hello? They are the thousands of children of our town, children of our taxpayers. They are us, and we are all going to benefit from better, more efficient use of our limited field space.

To those candidates who lamented the short timeframe the Council had in which to cut (or not cut) the school budget (with the implication being, if they only had more time, they could have cut the budget more): Board of Ed members and Dr. Fishbein were all over town prior to the budget vote, offering to review the budget in detail and answer any questions. Long before the vote, the Board invited the Councilmembers to a meeting to review the budget and answer any questions -- in as much detail as desired. And as for the "new" idea that a Village councilperson could serve as a liaison to the BOE -- there has been one for a long time. Anne Zusy was the liaison to the BOE...prior to that Jacques Harlow was the liaison. My point is, there are many opportunities for communication and (no pun intended) education between the BOE and the Council. I don't believe communication or lack of time is what determined the Council's decision on the budget. As I've said before, the leading factor was undoubtedly the fact that we had already cut $6.9 million from the budget. There really was not room to cut more without damaging the district.

Anyway, back to the Candidates' Night: it was surprising to me how few questions there were from the audience. Not sure what that means...more voter apathy, I suppose.

I heard the Stop Valley people will be naming "their" candidate soon (possibly tonight). It should be an interesting couple of weeks till the election.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

On the agenda for the 10/18 Board of Ed meeting.

The Ridgewood BOE will meet at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow (Monday) at the Ed Center, third floor. A few highlights from the agenda:
-- Annual report on school violence and vandalism, presented by Basil Pizzuto, Assistant Principal at Ridgewood High School. Mr. Pizzuto will also review school activities designed to reduce and prevent violence
-- Approval of out-of-district placements for 2010-11. There are a total of 93 students placed in non-Ridgewood schools, primarily for special education needs specified in the students’ IEPs (Individual Educational Plan).
-- Acceptance of various donations, including $25,000 allocated by the Fields Committee for the RHS field lights.
-- Approval of agreements with West Side Presbyterian Church for parking for GW staff, and with the Ice House for ice time for RHS hockey
-- Approval of various change orders for construction projects

As always, the meeting will be broadcast on Cablevision channel 77, and webcast on the District website (click here).

Friday, October 15, 2010

Congrats Ridgewood Girls' Cross Country: Big North Champs!

Congratulations to Coach Jacob Brown and the Ridgewood girls' cross country team for their Big North league championship yesterday at Darlington. I am happy to see the team picking up some steam again. I miss those days watching my daughter run, along with Ridgewood stars Meredith Jones, Ashlyn Llerandi, Justine Lupo, Meg O'Connell and others. It looks like we are creating some new champs!

Good luck tomorrow at the Ridgewood Invitational at Vets Field (girls run at 3:15, boys at 3:40). Come on out and watch -- it's impressive to see teams from 17 schools take off across Vets Field. Next Friday Ridgewood will run at the Bergen County Championships, back at beautiful Darlington Park.

Go Maroons!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Progress Reports for high school and middle school students are viewable online.

Parents of RHS, BF and GW students should have received an email this week, alerting us that progress reports are available for our students online, via the District's new Skyward student information system. I jumped on to check my son's report and was interested to see what kind of info was reported.

Once parents or students log-in to Skyward, for each class you can see your child's current grade as of the progress report cut-off date (not sure what that date was). You can also see comments from the teacher. In my son's case, all his teachers posted some sort of comment. One of his teachers specifically indicated some things that she would like him to do differently, and also recommended that he come after school for help. I'm not trying to air his "dirty laundry" -- my point is, I would not have known that he was having any "issue," whatsoever, in this class. I really appreciated having this info this early in the semester.

Of course, the real question is -- what do we parents do with this info? As much as I love transparency and access to information, I am keenly aware of my own tendency to get, shall we say, "over-involved." It's not that I want to meddle or interfere with teachers or assignments...but I know that as soon as I saw my son's progress report, I spoke to him about ways he could do some things differently. That's fine -- that's what I would have done if he had received a printed progress report. But looking into the future, I worry about giving parents like me access all semester long...I don't want to start checking grades every day and reacting to whatever I see, creating stress and conflict for my son.

It's exciting to start having more tools for engagement and more insight into our children's achievements, but we as a school community will need to carefully implement increased access for parents. We'll have to see how it goes.

Click here for instructions from the District on accessing Skyward progress reports.

Rumor control: Is the BOE going to "dump" Driver's Ed?

A friend pointed out to me that one person with a blog has claimed that the Board of Ed is "looking to dump" driver's education at Ridgewood High School, and asked if it's true. In light of the fact that some blogs run ads and may choose to stir up controversy in order to maintain readership levels and thus justify ad rates, making things up is understandable (I guess). I'm glad this one parent decided to verify the "facts."

The fact is, the Board did review financials for the Ridgewood Community School during the 9/27 public meeting. Driver's Ed is run through the RCS. And it is true that on a line-by-line basis, Driver's Ed is not a profit-maker. It is a net expense. That is, it costs us more to run the program (salaries, cars, etc.) than it brings in via fees charged. It is also true several other Ridgewood Community School programs (mostly athletics) run a healthy profit. Overall, the entire Ridgewood Community School runs at a slight profit.

At the 9/27 BOE meeting, I said, "The reality is, some of the other programs are subsidizing driver's ed, which is fine." The conversation around the table was in agreement. We actually talked about not wanting anyone to think that we were expecting driver's ed to make a profit...we mentioned that it's important that we offer Driver's Ed. In fact, I asked if we could do an estimation of how many more students we would need to add to get the program to break even, if that's even possible.

So, rest assured, Driver's Ed is not in danger.

P.S. I was going to recommend that anyone who's curious could watch the webcast of the 9/27 meeting. I watched myself and discovered that the video for that particular meeting is having technical difficulties. A few minutes in, the screen goes blank and there is just audio, which has a terrible echo. It is very difficult to make out the conversation. Hopefully the video file can be improved.

While I'm at it, let me just make a quick plug for those video webcasts of our public meetings. I frequently go back to watch or listen, to remind myself of what was said. The videos are posted quite soon after the meetings. I encourage anyone who is interested in BOE business, but doesn't have the time or patience to attend a meeting or watch live online or on Channel 77, to watch the archived webcasts. You can fast forward to the "good parts!" Have a good day!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A mom's letter to her daughter contains vital advice.

There's a blog post written by a Branchville, NJ mom named Vicky Bell that went viral last week, and is being eagerly read, copied and emailed by worried parents all over the country.

Part of Vicky Bell's message to her daughter goes like this:

You may or may not have heard about the NJ college student who killed himself last week because his room-mate had posted videotape of him having sex with another guy. A terrible, senseless tragedy.

My mommy job requires that I remind you of two essential things:
One:
Nothing ruins your life forever. NOTHING.
Two:
Nothing ruins your life forever. NOTHING.


The blog post/letter goes on to reinforce that message and give guidance and hope, should her child ever find herself feeling desperate, for any reason, large or small. Read the entire message by clicking here.

It's written so well, I copied and sent the message to my own kids. Just wanted to share it here, in case you are looking for a way to try and make sure your children understand.

"Childhood During the 19th Century" @ the Schoolhouse Museum

I went to the opening of the Schoolhouse Museum's new exhibit last Saturday. It's called "Childhood During the 19th Century," and consists of many, many artifacts and items owned and used by the children of local families in the 1800s. The exhibit was very well put-together, as they always are. I loved seeing the old toys, clothes, photos, furniture, school supplies, books and games, and more. Kids will love to see the simple toys, especially.

I'm not sure how long the exhibit will be going on -- possibly July?

Read more about the exhibit and see some photos at Patch. com.

The Schoolhouse Museum, on the grounds of the Old Paramus Reformed Church, is truly a local treasure and we are lucky to have it here. If you've never been there, pop in the next time you are heading to/from Rte. 17 on Glen Ave. The museum is open Thursdays and Saturdays from 1 to 3 p.m.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Reinventing standardized tests.

Apparently U.S Education Secretary Arne Duncan is publicly acknowledging the severe limitations of conventional standardized testing. In a recent speech, Duncan said, “Students, parents, and educators know there is more to a sound education than picking the right selection for a multiple choice question." I'm glad to hear him talking about "Assessment 2.0" or "next-generation assessments." (Click here for the New York Times article about the speech.)

Jonathan Martin, Principal of St. Gregory College Prep in Tucson, Arizona, wrote on the blog Connected Principals, "I want us to be held accountable for educational excellence, and I believe that by using external measurements, we are able to demonstrate that accountability. I think too that we can use this data for marketing our school as we seek to grow it. But most of all, I want to know how well our school is doing compared to others so I can receive the hard truth about where we are not doing well enough, and I can know where to focus for improvement."

Martin continues, "I do think we should evaluate ourselves by our school’s own standards, but not only by them; it is too easy for us to be seduced by our own biases. We know our schools, and we love our schools, and sometimes it is hard to see our blind spots or fully appreciate where we may be under-achieving. But that I seek and appreciate external measurements doesn’t mean I love or like scantron multiple choice bubble tests of basic skills that are administered once a year to “grade” a teacher or school. I don’t."

Mr. Martin says what he likes in “next-gen” assessments is, first, "that we can now evaluate higher order thinking skill development in tests that are not multiple choice, but authentic assessments where students write essays reviewing and responding critically to documents and offering thoughtful solutions to complex problems."

Second, Mr. Martin appreciates "new assessments which are computer adaptive, able to shape themselves to individual student proficiency levels, give immediate feedback to students, teachers and parents, and provide the information we need to better personalize instruction."

These “2.0″ approaches are what Secretary Duncan called for in his speech. As for the first, he says:

New assessments will better measure the higher-order thinking skills so vital to success in the global economy of the 21st century… To be on track today for college and careers, students need to show that they can analyze and solve complex problems, communicate clearly, synthesize information, apply knowledge, and generalize learning to other settings.

The PARCC consortium will test students’ ability to read complex text, complete research projects, excel at classroom speaking and listening assignments, and work with digital media. Problems can be situated in real-world environments, where students perform tasks or include multi-stage scenarios and extended essays.

As for the second approach, Mr. Duncan said:

Most of the assessment done in schools today is after the fact and designed to indicate only whether students have learned. Not enough is being done to assess students’ thinking as they learn to boost and enrich learning, and track student growth. [new] assessments will make widespread use of smart technology. They will provide students immediate feedback, computer adaptive testing, and incorporate accommodations for a range of students.

The SMARTER consortium will test students by using computer adaptive technology that will ask students questions pitched to their skill level, based on their previous answers. And a series of interim evaluations during the school year will inform students, parents, and teachers about whether students are on track.

Better assessments, given earlier in the school year, can better measure what matters—growth in student learning. And teachers will be empowered to differentiate instruction in the classroom, propelling the continuous cycle of improvement in student learning that teachers treasure.

I agree with Principal Martin that no single assessment will ever be perfect. We need multiple approaches and multiple ways to assess how our students are learning and how well our teachers are performing. This fact, which seems so obvious, is what makes me worry when I hear about school rankings based on state tests, or teacher hiring or pay decisions based on value-added assessments (which use test scores to judge "value added").

I agree with Mr. Martin:

"We must not ever substitute data and “evidence” for an educator’s judgement. Data inform judgement, but data must never replace discretion and wise judgment."

On the other hand, "let’s not refuse to improve data collection because of the inappropriate abuse of poor data; let’s seek to improve it and use it appropriately."

As our students in Ridgewood continue to take the NJASK year after year, it's encouraging to think that the "powers that be" may be (quietly) acknowledging that we need a better way. Two that I am interested to check out are the College & Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA) and the NWEA’s Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP). Both of these offer hope that maybe we can finally move on from outdated techniques and use creative new tools to truly measure and improve learning.

District and School Board goals for 2010-11.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Education, the Board approved goals for the 2010-11 school year. These goals were developed during our Board Retreat on August 30, and discussed and refined in subsequent meetings. (Goals are followed by specific action plan items in italics.)

District Goals

1. Meet identified student achievement goals at each school.

a. Develop school-based student achievement goals and action plans and monitor implementation.
b. Survey other districts regarding gifted and talented programs.


2. Implement new online student information tools for families, staff and students.
a. Develop formal plan with timeline expectations for implementation of entire system.
b. Develop plan to integrate and/or discontinue current redundant software.

3. Realign and maintain professional development opportunities across the district.
a. Align with school goals and action plans.
b. Investigate consortia for professional development.

4. Manage and complete referendum building projects within budget.


Board Goals

1. Conduct a community planning process.
a. Involve community.
b. Develop administrator's action plans.


2. Advocate regarding specific educational issues affecting Ridgewood on a state level.
a. Involve the community in this effort.

3. Negotiate in good faith with the REA by evaluating, among other things, the financial and educational effect on the district of any potential contract settlements.

4. Focus on timely communication with the public as we evaluate the current financial planning process.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Charter schools: the secret is out.

The US Department of Education released a report, "The Evaluation of
Charter School Impacts
," in June 2010.

According to the report, the evaluation was conducted in 36 charter middle schools across 15 states and compares outcomes of students who applied and were admitted to these schools through randomized admissions lotteries (lottery winners) with the outcomes of students who also applied to these schools and participated in the lotteries but were not admitted (lottery losers).

The key findings, as stated in the Executive Summary (italics are mine):

• On average, study charter schools did not have a statistically significant impact on student achievement.

• Study charter schools positively affected parent and student satisfaction with and perceptions of school.

Oh, I get it. This must be what all the fuss is about...students don't actually do any better in charter schools. They just feel better about their schools. Wow. No wonder Governor Christie, President Obama, Arne Duncan and the rest are so excited.

"Not My Kid:" What every parent should know about youth suicide prevention.

At tonight's Board of Education meeting, RHS principal Jack Lorenz and the District's Crisis Intervention Counselors, Kevin Feeley and Lauren DePinto, talked about how the school has been handling the recent suicide of RHS graduate Tyler Clementi, as well as the suicide last summer of Caitlin Alvaro and the death last winter of Eddie Mulhare. Wow, when I list those three names together and realize what our community has gone through over the past year, it's sobering. It hurts. It's been a rough year for our young people, especially. For parents, we struggle with how to feed that basic human need to make sense of such tragedy, and we struggle even harder to inform, comfort and protect our children.

One program should help, if you're interested:

“Not My Kid: What Every Parent Should Know About Youth Suicide Prevention”

THIS Wednesday, October 6, 7:30 p.m., Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium, 335 North Van Dien Avenue.

According to an email from Dr. Fishbein, Parents, staff and adult community members are invited to this important presentation, given by Scott Fritz and Maureen Underwood of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide. Scott Fritz is a father who lost a child to suicide, and a founder of the society. Maureen Underwood is a clinical social worker and nationally recognized expert in youth suicide prevention. This presentation is for adults only and will include an opportunity for questions.

For those who can't make it on short notice, the presentation will be taped and will be broadcast later on Cablevision Channel 77 and on the District website.

For more information contact Dr. Fishbein’s office at (201) 670-2700, ext. 10530. Information about the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide can be found at www.sptsnj.org.

In the meantime, hang on and take care.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Monday's Board of Ed meeting: what's on the agenda.

Monday the Ridgewood Board of Education will meet and the agenda doesn't look too unwieldy -- mainly because we just met a week ago. Some of the highlights (full agenda available by clicking here):

-- Recognizing Ridgewood High School's National Merit and Advanced Placement scholars
-- Presentation on some of the math routines our kindergarten students participate in every day
-- Info on crisis management in our schools
-- Approval of our submission of a Grant Application to the Bergen County Historic Preservation Fund for funds to replace the Ed Center's slate roof.
-- Review of some proposed revisions to BOE by-laws and Board policy.

As always, the Board of Education meeting can be viewed live and in person at the Ed Center, 3rd floor, at 7:30 p.m. You can watch the meeting on Cablevision Channel 77, or you can view the live webcast by clicking here. Later, you can view the archived webcast by clicking here.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Fun today: Tri-State Education Technology Conference.

updated 10/12/10

I’m blogging live from the first annual Tri-State Education Technology Conference, being held at New Milford High School. What a cool event. Considering this conference was conceived just a few months ago, it is amazing to see 400 educators here, attending approx. 40 different sessions on technology and education. There’s quite a lot of focus on social media technologies in the classroom – for example Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, wikis, and mobile tech (cell phones, etc.). Also a lot of focus on all the amazing (and FREE) professional development that’s available today.

Speaking of social media, the keynote session by Lisa Nielsen, Professional Development Manager for New York City Public Schools, opened with a video commentary on Ridgewood's own BF Principal Tony Orsini’s interview last spring on Good Morning America. Awkward! Haha not really, I mean, I have seen Ms. Nielsen’s video response before and I’ve corresponded with her over Twitter, so it was nice to meet her face to face. I just wasn’t expecting to sit today with 400 people who probably think differently than Mr. Orsini...it makes sense, I was just caught off guard. No worries.

As you know, since I started blogging about it when Mr. Orsini’s message first hit the media, I totally support and appreciate the intent of Mr. Orsini's message. He was focusing first and foremost on the safety and well-being of the children in his school. I do believe, however, that on another level, his thoughts and comments represent a good starting point for some much-needed dialogue in Ridgewood, among parents and educators.

Lunch break is over, I’m going to get back to the conference now. In the meantime, why don’t you watch Ms. Nielsen's video response to Mr. Orsini, and share your comments if you like. You can see Ms Nielsen's video by clicking here.

Find out more about the Tri-State Education Technology Conference, click here.

This is part of the Tri-State Education Technology Conference (TSETC) Blogger Café Contest sponsored by edSocialMedia. TSETC is brought to you by Schoology.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Letter from Dr. Fishbein re: this week's tragedy.

Sent via email today:

Dear Parents/ Guardians, Staff and Students:

Today I spoke with a representative for the family of Tyler Clementi, confirming both Tyler's continued status as a missing person and the family's grief and request for privacy.

This time is one of deep sadness for the entire community of the Ridgewood Public Schools. Tyler was a product of the Ridgewood Public Schools since kindergarten, having attended Travell Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin Middle School before graduating from Ridgewood High School in 2010. A top student and gifted musician, Tyler was known in our learning community as a talented, humble, kind and gentle young man who left a positive impression on everyone he met. An advanced musical student since his freshman year at RHS, Tyler's proficiency earned the highest respect from his teachers and fellow students.

I emphasize the importance of supporting our students and staff members at this very difficult time. It is particularly important that children be encouraged to voice their feelings to a trusted adult. To assist with that process, the district's Crisis Intervention Counselors are available and on call for any student or staff member needing their services.

It is also important that we support the Clementi family's request for privacy. As such, the district will limit itself to acknowledging only confirmed facts about the ongoing police investigation.

I know that you join with me in your thoughts and prayers for Tyler and the Clementi family.

Sincerely yours,

Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Urgent message to troubled teens.

I urge you to share this message with the young people you know:

The "It Gets Better Project" has already received 130+ videos submitted by adults whose message to gay or "different" teens is that no matter how dark and difficult it seems, it does get better -- by the time you get out of high school or college. 220,000 views on YouTube, featured in Time Magazine & other media. See one of the videos by clicking here.

Perhaps this message can help save one bullied young person. Before they do something tragic, they need to know it does get better.

Peace.

Community planning process on the agenda for 2010-11.

I'm sorry to be brief and infrequent in my posts lately, but I'm really under water on some work projects, with many deadlines crashing down at the same time. (Wow, such violent -- yet accurate! -- imagery!)

Anyway, one thing I wanted to tell you about was the discussion at the Board table Monday night regarding one of our goals for 2010-11. Originally Dr. Fishbein had suggested a "strategic planning" process, to create a five year plan. That sounded pretty good to me, especially when we talked at our August 30 meeting about involving the community in the process. Over the past couple of weeks and at our meeting last Monday, the goal has evolved into a "Community Planning" process. This is also a good thing.

Mind you, I think an in-depth strategic planning exercise would be good, but I do understand some Board members' and Dr. Fishbein's concern that a traditional strategic planning project can take many months, require substantial resources of time and energy (and money), and often results in a giant binder that sits on a shelf gathering dust for a few years, until the next strategic plan update. That's not something we need.

What evolved during Monday's meeting was a Community Planning process. In a nutshell, it means inviting 50 or so members of the community -- parents, Village leaders, business owners, non-parent taxpayers, students, teachers -- to come together and brainstorm goals for school district and action plans for achieving some of those goals. It's not an in-depth analysis of what we do and what we can do differently or better -- although those conversations are certainly part of the activity. But I do think it will be a positive and productive experience for our schools and for the Village.

More detail will be forthcoming on this, but I wanted to let you know it's on the horizon. You can watch the recorded webcast of last Monday's discussion by clicking here. (Click on Board of Ed Webcasts down toward the bottom, then click on 9/27/10 -- it's not posted yet, as of today.)

I need to get back to work. I hope to have some time in the next day or so to reflect on some of the reforms and changes which were proposed by Governor Christie yesterday. Lots of talk and not much substance, that's all I can say for now...

I also wanted to write about developments or conversations I've had and heard following last week's Federated HSA meeting regarding Valley Hospital. For now, I'll just say that Patch.com's article shows the problems of reporting a news story based on a transcript alone, without follow-up interviews with the participants. The description of certain elements does not match my recollection of what I saw or heard.

Have a great day!

Monday, September 27, 2010

BOE Meeting tonight.

You can tell how busy my work is by my less frequent posting on this blog. Sorry...as much as I would love to spend all day, every day on education and the Ridgewood Public Schools (and quite honestly, most days I would love to do that), I do need to make a living. Work is very busy right now.

Tonight the BOE will meet at 7:30 p.m. and as always you are invited to join us! You can also watch the live webcast by clicking here, or view the live broadcast on Cablevision Channel 77.

Quick agenda highlights:

-- Financial Report on Ridgewood Community School
-- Discussion of Strategic/Community planning process
-- Referendum projects update
-- Discussion of Board and District goals for 2010-11

The full agenda can be viewed by clicking here.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Back to School Night at RHS tonight.

I love Back to School Night! Always have. Tonight I can't wait to stumble around the high school, looking for my son's classrooms...pushing through "the intersection"...meeting all the teachers...and admiring, once again, all the great work that was done on the building over the summer.

I'm always amazed at how many teachers I still don't know, even after having two kids go through the HS and meeting teachers here and there through various Board of Ed activities. When I look at Pete's schedule for this semester, I realize that I don't really know any of his teachers. So...it will be fun!

Back to School Night is also when I see lots of parents that I don't run into around town or on the soccer sidelines.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Parents and teachers as partners.

As we're deep into the "Back to School night" season, here's a good article on how parents can partner with teachers for student success. Click here.

It's from a pretty good website I don't remember seeing before -- www.schoolfamily.com. There was quite a lot of good info, message boards, lots of tips from parents and teachers. Seems like a lively site. Parents, check it out.

Ridgewood to receive $98,000 in Federal money.

Well, we finally know the status of New Jersey's share of the Federal education jobs bill that was passed last month. Ridgewood is (of course) receiving one of the smaller allocations: $98,941 which can be spent on education jobs and related services. Trenton has not released any more detailed rules on how the funds can be spent, so the Ed Center hasn't made any decisions regarding how we'll use the funds. One thing to be mindful of -- since this is a one-time infusion of money, any position funded this year would not be funded next year -- without funds coming from elsewhere in the budget. Normally, when a district receives a one-time allocation of cash, it is wise to not use it for salaries or any expense that will be recurring. For example, supplies or repairs or something like that are usually safe. But in this case, the money is designed for jobs...which we will then be required to either fund again in subsequent years, or cut.

More details to come on where this money will be spent.

You can read the full story from NorthJersey.com by clicking here.

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Federated HSA-Valley Hospital meeting. What gives?

You may have heard that the members of the Federated Home & School Association (made up of the presidents of each school’s HSA, plus an executive board and member-at-large) will be meeting with representatives of Valley Hospital on Wednesday 9/22. It seems there are some community members who have misinterpreted this meeting, and are up in arms.

As one of the Board of Ed liaisons to Federated (and a former Secretary/Treasurer of the group and former member as Somerville HSA president), I hope I can shed some light on the facts of the situation, and help tone down some of the anxiety.

Wednesday’s meeting was conceived and scheduled by Federated following a brainstorming session in June. They decided to hold a "special" Federated meeting in September, to address the Valley Hospital Renewal project. Federated invited representatives from Valley Hospital, along with reps of the Village Council and the Board of Ed, to address questions and concerns regarding the health, safety and well being of our students should a hospital expansion project go forward. The purpose is simply to learn, listen and gather facts as they exist at this point in time, just as Federated has done in the past at their meetings on all important issues facing our educational community.

Federated’s President, Elizabeth Resnick, has stated that she sees Wednesday’s meeting is a beginning for these HSA presidents (don’t forget, they only started in their positions in June) to “get a grasp of the current status so they can be ready to decide how to best involve their parent communities moving forward.” The only motivation for Federated is to try and keep communication open and work together as a school community.

Some residents refer to Wednesday’s meeting as “the closed Valley meeting,” implying that there is something to hide or something untoward going on. The only reason it was scheduled as a special meeting was so that there would be enough time – those Federated meetings are long! And it’s not “open” or “closed.” It’s just a Federated HSA meeting. A meeting of the members of the Federated HSA. I guess in that sense it’s closed.

Others have questioned why Valley is being presented with questions in advance. Mrs. Resnick is trying to plan for an efficient meeting. Remember, the purpose is to get information, that’s it.

Some have asserted that “the other side,” the Concerned Ridgewood Residents, should have their opportunity to present “their side” to Federated. This isn’t about “sides.” It’s not about whether the master plan should be amended. It’s not about the decision that the Planning Board made, and it’s not about the decision that the Village Council will be making. It is about this: IF the project, in its current form, goes forward, these HSA presidents (and their constituent parents) have questions about how it will work and how their kids will be protected from harm.

Some residents have expressed their belief that Valley will simply present “slick powerpoints” or that they will lie or bamboozle the Federated members. That’s fairly insulting to these Home & School volunteers. They may not represent every single parent in town, but in attempting to do the right thing for their communities, why can’t they be trusted to ask the questions they feel are important and, likewise, to judge the answers they are given?

I find it particularly sad that our Village has degenerated to such a state of mistrust. How in the world are we going to face the challenges that we need to face, if no one trusts each other?

Any resident of this town has the right to pick up the phone or send an email to Valley and ask whatever questions they want. This group of residents, members of Federated HSA, has that same right. And by limiting their focus to health and safety around the proposed project, they are also exercising their responsibility to not get caught up in the politics.

Did I mention that the minutes of Wednesday’s meeting (taken by a professional court reporter, so no worries about accuracy) will be posted on the Federated HSA website? They will be.