Welcome!

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

Thursday, 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.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

SAT scores: NJ is below (and Ridgewood is far above) the national average.

According to a story last week on NJ.com, New Jersey's SAT scores remain just below the national average. On the other hand, Ridgewood's scores* remain among the highest in the state -- and much higher than the national average.

Most recent scores (total possible = 2400):
US: 1509
NJ: 1506
Ridgewood: 1797

Of course, you may know that I feel -- and research increasingly shows -- that SAT scores are a poor predictor of college success. You can read more about it at FairTest.org.

Read the full article on NJ.com by clicking here.

*Ridgewood's average scores taken from NJ schools report card, most recent data is 2008.

BOE Self-Evaluation 09-10: Board/Superintendent Relationships & Board/Staff Relationships

Here's the latest installment in our Board Self-Evaluation for 2009-10. Remember, 4 = Commendable, 3 = Good, 2 = Adequate, 1 = Unsatisfactory. (The scores are BOE averages, plus the score I personally gave in parentheses.) Also, remember that the presentation and discussion of this evaluation took place at the Board meeting on 8/30, and you can watch the video by clicking here.

Section VII: Board/Superintendent Relationships:

Our Board:
1. respects the management responsibilities and administrative prerogatives of the superintendent. 3.5 (4)
2. works with the superintendent in a spirit of mutual trust and condfidence. 3.5 (4)
3. maintains ongoing open lines of communication, and observes the chain of command. 3.2 (4)
4. keeps the superintendent informed about community/school issues and aspirations. 3.7 (4)
5. conducts a comprehensive and fair annual evaluation of the superintendent in accordance with statute and code as per NJQSAC. 3.7 (4)
6. works with the superintendent to develop performance objectives for evaluation that are consistent with district goals and in compliance with district policy. 3.2 (3)
7. requires regular dialogue on progress towards district goals and objectives, student achievement and feedback on performance. 3.2 (2)

As a board member, I:
A. respect the management responsibility of the superintendent. 3.8 (4)
B. observe the chain of command. 3.6 (3)
C. participate fully in the superintendent evaluation process approaching the task of evaluation fairly and diligently. 3.8 (4)


Section VIII: Board/Staff Relationships

Our Board:
1. provides effective personnel policy direction and oversight. 2.8 (3)
2. recognizes the importance of staff development and provides the necessary time and funds. 2.8 (3)
3. provides for public recognition of staff achievements. 3.3 (3)
4. treats district staff with courtesy and respect, recognizing that the appropriate channel for board/staff communications is through the superintendent. 3.5 (4)
5. ensures that our actions and decision are quickly and effectively communicated to the staff. 3.3 (3)

As a board member, I:
A. communicate all concerns about staff members to the superintendent. 3.2 (2)
B. use and enforce the chain of command. 3.4 (3)
C. attend school and community activities. 3.4 (4)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

"The rat" will be visiting Ridge School.

According to a letter sent by Dr. Fishbein to Ridge School parents, a construction union has been issued a permit to display the union's inflatable rat on Monday in front of Ridge School.

The letter continues: "The construction union is demonstrating against our contractor and his subs because they do not employ union labor. This is not a district issue. It is the district's responsibility by law to accept a contractor's payroll report that certifies that union wages are being paid. The Ridgewood district does not issue any payments until that requirement is satisfied. To date, all contractors working in the Ridgewood Public Schools have met that requirement."

You may have seen the rat recently at Valley Hospital or the Ridgewood Country Club. I saw it...and at those locations it was accompanied by a coffin holding a small, baseball-cap-wearing mannequin. While it is the union's right to exercise their freedom of speech, I sincerely hope there is not a coffin outside Ridge School, to frighten children.

Any questions, please contact Dr. Fishbein's office at 201-670-2700 ext. 10530 or email dfishbein@ridgewood.k12.nj.us.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Why don't more people run for the BOE?

A commenter on a previous post said:

The fact that no one would run for the seat Charles Reilly now holds speaks volumes about what the citizens think of our BOE. But I suppose you don't see it that way, now do you?

Setting aside the commenter's sarcasm, it's a legitimate question, and I do think about it from time to time.

I suspect there are many reasons people don’t run for the Board of Ed, and I suppose “what the citizens think of our BOE” could be one for some people. For others it could be the hours. Or the sheer size of the challenges. For some it’s too much responsibility. For some it may not be enough responsibility and they’re not comfortable working as part of a group. Some may not want to be criticized in the newspaper or on blogs or whatever. Some might be afraid of making a mistake. Some don’t like confrontation. Some choose other ways to make a difference in their world. Some feel they can’t possibly make a difference in a system they think is broken. Some have small children, so they don’t have time. Some have grown children, so they’re tired and want to enjoy their empty nest. Maybe a few have heard it described as a “thankless job.” Maybe others like to watch TV on Monday nights. Some people are happy to let others of their choosing handle it. Some are happy to let anyone (but them) handle it. And some just, plain and simple, do not care.

I’ve heard all those things and more, both before and after I was involved with the Board. Heck, I’ve probably said most of them myself, at one point or another. As a resident, it bothers me when no one shows up to run. It’s not the way things are “supposed” to work in a democracy. But it is what it is. Getting involved with an elected position is a personal choice that everyone makes for their own reasons.

BOE 09-10 Self-Evaluation: Board Operations & Board Performance

And now for the latest installment of my report on the Self-Evaluation exercise the Board undertook last month.

You can click here to see what the ratings of 1-2-3-4 mean. (Also, the first number is the average score; the 2nd number (in parentheses) is the score I gave.) Also, remember that the presentation and discussion of this evaluation took place at the Board meeting on 8/30/10, and you can watch the video by clicking here.

Section V: Board Operations:

Our Board:
1. holds our meetings in compliance with applicable statutes, policies and bylaws. 3.8 (4)
2. provides a climate that allows free, open and orderly discussion by all members at our meetings. 3.3 (3)
3. develops and utilizes skills in teamwork, consensus-building, collaborative problem solving and decision-making. 2.7 (2)
4. uses good decision-making processes, acting only after all appropriate information has been received and studies. 2.8 (2)
5. acts only after giving administration time to gather information and make recommendations. 3.0 (3)
6. respects the administration's leadership by thoughtfully deliberating on recommendations. 3.3 (4)
7. provides time, funding and opportunity for orienting and updating our members on local, county, state and federal levels in accordance with statutory travel regulations. 3.2 (4)
8. Our board method of governance contributes to overall effectiveness and efficiency of the board. 3.0 (2)
9. Our board method of governance has clearly defined bylaws. 3.2 (2)
10. Our board method of governance lessens the total work of board members. 2.5 (2)
11. Our board method of governance ensures appropriate communication to the board. 2.8 (2)

As a board member, I:
A. introduce new issues through the agenda process, allowing sufficient time for appropriate study. 3.4 (4)
B. recognize the importance of teamwork, problem solving and effective decision-making. 3.6 (4)
C. attend workshops to increase my effectiveness as a board member. 2.4 (2)

We seem to have a wider diversity of opinion on our Board operations...how we do business and work with each other. I think it's probably worth exploring these issues as a group. Not sure what the others think. Perhaps it's OK to agree to disagree?

Section VI: Board Performance:

Our Board members:
1. recognize that authority rests with the board as a whole, sitting in a legally authorized board meeting. 3.0 (4)
2. make every effort to attend all board meetings, coming prepared and having done their homework. 3.8 (4)
3. recognize the need for, and the importance of, confidentiality. 3.7 (4)
4. work together in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. 2.8 (3)
5. ensure that all members have input into decisions. 2.7 (3)
6. avoid even the appearance of impropriety or conflict of interest. 3.3 (4)
7. operates in accordance with the board member's Code of Ethics and the Ethics Act. 3.5 (4)

As a board member, I:
A. make no personal promises nor take any private action. 3.2 (3)
B. make every effort to attend all meetings, having done my homework and prepared to contribute. 3.6 (3)
C. maintain the confidentiality of board proceedings. 3.4 (3)
D. am respectful of everyone at our meetings and I listen with an open mind. 3.2 (3)
E. adhere to ethical standards. 3.2 (3)

It seems we still feel we operate ethically, honestly and confidentially, but some of our "working together" scores are a bit low. Something to work on (although not exactly sure how...)

The next post on this topic will cover Board/Superintendent Relationships and Board/Staff Relationships.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

NJ Monthly high schools ranking...what does it mean?

Someone asked me yesterday, "Why did Ridgewood drop from #7 to #20 in the latest New Jersey Monthly ranking?" I went through the data and the methodology to see what I could find out.

First, it's important to note that the schools in the top 20 tend to move around within that 20 from year to year. In 2006 Ridgewood was #24 overall. In 2008 Ridgewood was #7 overall. And now for 2010, we are #20. I suspect in 2012 we will be somewhere else in the top 20. (Note: it's a bi-annual list.)

The NJ Monthly ranking looks at three main areas: school environment (class sizes, faculty ratios, etc.), performance (test scores) and outcomes (college plans).

In the important areas of performance & outcomes, Ridgewood scores very well:
SAT Scores #4
Math Scores #4
Language Scores #10
AP Classes #6
Students going to 4-year college #5 (tie)

To me, those are the most important things, and we do well in those areas.

It is true that as the largest school in the top 20, we have higher average class size (#19) and faculty:student ratio (#17). We have held to those class sizes and teacher ratios over the past few years, even as enrollment has grown and budgets have shrunk. All of the schools in the top 20 are smaller than Ridgewood, and almost half were able to reduce their average class sizes from 2008 to 2010. Our budget did not allow us to do that, so that probably contributed to our lower ranking.

The other thing that contributed to our lower ranking was our percentage of students scoring 3 or better on AP Exams. In 2010 we were ranked #17. One of the reasons for this is Ridgewood's policy to require all students in AP classes to take the AP exams. Previously in Ridgewood (and still in some of the other high performing districts), students were allowed to opt out of taking the AP exam. We think requiring all students to take the exams is better for the students, but it also means that some lower scores are now factored into our average. This is not the case in all the top 20 schools.

When you look at the data, all the schools in the top 20 are very similar to each other and very small statistical differences are required in order to create a ranking.

I could probably do more analysis to see what exactly caused our change from 2008 to 2010, but the reasons have as much to do with changes in the other schools as they do with changes (or non-changes) in Ridgewood. For our part, it seems to boil down to a combination of higher class sizes, higher faculty ratios and lower AP exam scores.

Personally, I try not to give much weight to magazine rankings, and instead focus on our successful achievement, as reflected in our test scores, SAT scores and college plans.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

It's National Arts in Education Week


Just found out this week has been designated National Arts in Education Week. Click below for more info on how to promote and celebrate the arts in our schools.

Arts in Education Week

Detailed referendum projects update (with photos!).

At last night's Board of Education meeting, representatives of our architect (LAN Associates) and construction management company (EPIC Construction) presented a detailed update of the referendum projects which have been completed, are in-progress right now, or are still to come.

A tremendous amount of work has ben done. (But then you may know that, if you've been trying to navigate the trucks, dumpsters, construction barriers, etc., all summer.

Click on the link below to download and view PDFs of the presentation and photos.

Some of my favorite photos you'll see:
-- Overhead drawing of the RHS roof showing just how much has been replaced;
-- Glen School window wall: before & after
-- Massive concrete slab at Hawes new addition
-- Mess of wires which was discovered inside the Ridge ceiling (and which then required the entire school to be completely rewired)
-- Willard School 2nd floor addition drawings

Referendum Update presented by Epic Management and LAN Associates at the 09-13-10 Board meeting.

Status Report - Athletic Field Projects presented by M. Disko at the 09-13-10 Board meeting.

Monday, September 13, 2010

News from the BOE

What's that? You didn't watch tonight's meeting on webcast or on Cablevision Channel 77? Here's a little bit of what we covered:

Dr. Fishbein presented the Opening of School Report, the key fact of which was how much the District's enrollment has grown since last year.

Enrollment Figures as of 9/10/10*
(9/09 figures are in parentheses)

Glen (36) 44 +8
Hawes (408) 409 +1
Orchard (323) 340 +17
Ridge (478) 496 +18
Somerville (533) 540 +7
Travell (410) 408 -2
Willard (456) 501 +45
TOTAL ELEMENTARY (2,644) 2738 +94

BFMS (687) 694 +7
GWMS (675) 693 +18
TOTAL MIDDLE SCHOOL (1,362) 1387 +25

RHS (1,666) 1692 +26

Total Enrollment (5672) 5817 +145

*These numbers can be expected to change a little still, as families who moved away are removed from the rolls.

Also at last night's meeting, Dr. Fishbein recognized Jane Blakely, who was the recipient of the 2010 Ashby Award for her contributions to Ridgewood High School over the past 26 years.

Michele Lenhard read a list of all donors to the Ridgewood Public Schools for the 2009-10 year. It's a long list (maybe I'll post it here later), but the total was $546,695. That's amazing! Thank you, Ridgewood!

The Board's new Student Representative, Max Z., reported on the opening of the high school. Bottom line: the new lockers are a big hit.

We had a great presentation from our architect, engineer, and construction managers on the status of various referendum and capital projects throughout the District. The detailed report, complete with photos, amounts spent and percent complete, will be posted on the website, hopefully tomorrow. I'll post a link when it's there.

Business Administrator Angelo DeSimone presented the reorganization of the IT (formerly MIS) Department and described some of the many projects that department has been busy with all summer. Right now, the big effort is in getting all students and families set-up in Skyward, the new student information system. There were some "glitches" with the initial mailing of instructional letters to parents: apparently there were old, out-of-date address still existing in the old SASI system, and they were mistakenly imported into Skyward. So about 250-300 letters were unable to be delivered, and those parents are having to correct their information (and prove residency, if their address has changed). It's definitely a lot of work for everyone (including parents), but they are working through it and the system is going to be a huge improvement once it's all in place.

Mr. DeSimone also spoke about many hardware projects completed or currently underway, including replacing 350+ computers and upgrading our wireless internet service. When it's complete, there will be full wireless service in every school -- no more hot spots or dead zones. And, I was glad to hear that students will be able to access the internet eventually, once they can install good firewalls that can't be hacked, with students trying to get in and change grades, etc. Full wireless access in our schools -- especially the high school -- will be a great step forward in terms of our students' connected learning.

Sheila Brogan gave a legislative update, and said the Obama administration has announced a third round of Race to the Top grants -- will the third time be the charm for New Jersey?

Finally, Regina Botsford reported that, while we are waiting for official scores, it appears that Hawes Special Ed students may not have met AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) in Language Arts, which would place Hawes on the "Early Warning List." I'll write more in the next few days about what this means, but it appears we will have plenty of company from some very high performing districts. (The last time Ridgewood had a school on the Early Warning List was RHS in 2005-06, again due to special ed students' scores in Language Arts). More to come on this...

Sunday, September 12, 2010

BOE 09-10 Self-Evaluation: Student Achievement & Finance

To save time, I'm combining two topics in the ongoing report of our Board of Education Self-Evaluation for the 09-10 school year.

Once again: Board members (and Dr. Fishbein) rated each statement on a scale of 1-4:
1 = Unsatisfactory.
2 = Adequate
3 = Good
4 = Commendable
("Not Observed" was also an option)

Each section has two subsections: "About the Board" and "About You, the Board Member." (Only Board members rated the statements in the second subsection.)

I am sharing the average scores for each statement and then, (in parentheses), the score I gave. Also, remember that the presentation and discussion of this evaluation took place at the Board meeting on 8/30, and you can watch the video by clicking here.

Section III. Student Achievement:

Our Board:
1. determines the district educational goals with input and data from administration. 3.2 (3)
2. requires written curriculum with specific evaluation components in accordance with all statutes. 3.3 (4)
3. requires systematic evaluation of and feedback on the instructional program. 3.2 (2)
4. uses the expertise of the professional staff, in development of curriculum, insuring it is focused on student achievement. 3.5 (3)
5. monitors the effectiveness of our instructional programs by measuring student achievement aqgainst state and local standards and other pertinent data. 3.7 (4)
6. sets high standards for all students based on multiple, assessment measures. 3.3 (3)

As a Board member, I:
A. am involved in determining district educational goals. 2.4 (2)
B. am aware of the communitiy's educational aspirations. 3.4 (4)
C. focus on improving student achievement as a basis in my educational decision-making. 3.2 (3)

The comments in this section mentioned the challenge of balancing student needs and high standards with financial constraints.

Section IV. Finance

Our Board:
1. exercises financial oversigh of all aspects of district operations in accordance with statutes. 3.7 (4)
2. provides policy guidelines and parameters, related to our goals, for budget development/evaluation. 3.2 (4)
3. requires that all requests for unbudgeted expenditures be accompanied by specific indication of need and funding sources. 3.2 (4)
4. balances the educational needs of students with the impact of budgetary increases. 3.7 (4)
5. reviews, understands and evaluates all financial reports to ensure that all educational dollars are used in an efficient and effective manner. 2.8 (3)

As a Board member, I:
A. understand the relationship between our budget and our district's goals. 3.4 (4)
B. understand and participate in our district's budgeting process. 3.6 (4)
C. understand and review the monthly reports. 3.4 (4)
D. understand and review the results of the annual audit. 3.0 (3)

Comments in this section talked about the difficult budget development process last year.

So, there you have it. The next sections of the self-evaluation cover Board Operations and Board Performance.

Board of Ed Agenda for Sept. 13

The Board of Education will be meeting tomorrow night (7:30 p.m., Ed Center), and here are a few highlights from the agenda:

We'll have several presentations, including the official Opening of School Report with attendance figures. (Here's a hint: good thing we're expanding some buildings!).

We'll get a report on maintenance projects completed over the summer, and an update from our architects and engineer on referendum projects.

We'll review the new organization chart for the IT (formerly MIS) department.

The Board will have the first reading of revisions to Policy 7250 (School and Facility Names), which you can read attached to the agenda (click here).

We're approving the enrollment of a couple of tuition students: one at the high school and one at Hawes and, yes, they will be paying tuition. I don't know if I'm allowed to discuss their reasons for attending Ridgewood schools (it's probably confidential student info), but their enrollment was approved by the building principals and Dr. Fishbein.

Various changes of assignment, appointments, leave of absence, etc.

The Board will acknowledge the total donations from various groups and individuals over the 2009-10 school year.

Hmm...doesn't sound like too late a meeting, does it? We'll see! You are welcome to attend -- there are seats for everyone! Or you can watch live on Cablevision Channel 77 or see the webcast at click here. (Webcast can be viewed live or go to the website any time to view archived webcasts!).

Friday, September 10, 2010

BOE 09-10 Self-Evaluation: Policy

continued...

This is a continuation of my previous post on our Board self-evaluation, which was discussed at the 8/30 Board meeting (click here for webcast).

Reminder: Board members (and Dr. Fishbein) rated each statement on a scale of 1-4:
1 = Unsatisfactory.
2 = Adequate
3 = Good
4 = Commendable
("Not Observed" was also an option)

Each section has two subsections: "About the Board" and "About You, the Board Member." (Only Board members rated the statements in the second subsection.)

I am sharing the average scores for each statement and then, (in parentheses), the score I gave.

So here we go. Today let's look at...

Section 2: Policy:

Our Board:
1. operates as a "policy-making body." 3.2 (3)
2. develops broad policies that give the administration sufficient authority and latitude to manage the day-to-day operations. 3.2 (4)
3. uses written policies as the framework for our decision-making process. 3.0 (3)
4. reviews and updates the policy manual regularly as required by NJQSAC insuring that our bylaws, policies and procedures reflect current regulatory, and statutory requirements. 3.7 (4)
5. ensures that the administration develops appropriate procedures and regulations to implement the board's policy intent. 3.3 (4)

As a board member, I:
A. am familiar with the Board's policies. 2.8 (2)
B. use Board policy as a basis for decision-making. 3.0 (3)
C. leave policy implementation to the administrative staff. 3.2 (3)
D. avoid involvement in day-to-day operations of the district. 3.0 (2)

My next Board Self-Evaluation post will cover Student Achievement.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Alfie Kohn's take on the failure of "value-added" teacher evaluations.

today's Huffington Post contained an essay from education expert Alfie Kohn, offering some good points on the dialog about measuring value-added data for teachers, "What Passes for School Reform: 'Value-Added' Teacher Evaluation and Other Absurdities." If you're interested in this nationwide discussion of how to improve teaching and learning by ensuring effective teachers, I recommend you read it.

The most interesting section (in my opinion) is this (reprinted):

What if we asked other questions instead? We could do so about any of the policies I've mentioned, but for now let's consider the idea of judging teachers with a "value-added" method.

Question 1: Does this model provide valid and reliable information about teachers (and schools)? Most experts in the field of educational assessment say, Good heavens, no. This year's sterling teacher may well look like crud next year, and vice versa. Too many variables affect a cohort's test scores; statistically speaking, we just can't credit or blame any individual teacher.

Unfortunately, many of the experts who point this out tend to stop there, even though the problem runs far deeper than technical psychometric flaws with the technique. For example. . .

Question 2: Does learning really lend itself to any kind of "value-added" approach? It does only if it's conceived as an assembly line process in which children are filled up with facts and skills at each station along a conveyor belt, and we need only insert a dipstick before and after they arrive at a given station (say, fourth grade), measure the pre/post difference, and judge the worker at that station accordingly. The very idea of "value-added measures," not just a specific formula for calculating them, implicitly accepts this absurd model.

Question 3: Do standardized tests assess what matters most about teaching and learning? If not, then no value-added approach based on those tests makes any sense. As I've argued elsewhere -- and of course I'm hardly alone in doing so -- test results primarily tell us two things: the socioeconomic status of the students being tested and the amount of time devoted to preparing students for a particular test.

Regarding individual students, at least three studies have found a statistically significant positive relationship between high scores on standardized tests and a relatively shallow approach to learning. Regarding individual teachers, let's just say that some of the best the field has to offer do not necessarily raise their kids' test scores (because they're too busy helping the kids to become enthusiastic and proficient thinkers, which is not what the tests measure), while some teachers who are very successful at raising test scores are not much good at anything else. Finally, regarding whole schools, if test scores rise enough, and for long enough, to suggest a trend rather than a fluke, the rational response from a local parent would be, "Uh-oh. What was sacrificed from our children's education in order to make that happen?"

It won't do to fall back on the tired slogan that test scores may not be perfect, but they're good enough. The more you examine the construction of these exams, the more likely you are to conclude that they do not add any useful information to what can be learned from other, more authentic forms of assessment. In fact, they actively detract from our understanding about learning (and teaching) because their results are so misleading.

Notice, by the way, that everyone who declares that we ought to reward good teachers and boot the bad ones is assuming that all of us agree on what "good" and "bad" mean. But do we? I'd argue that a dipstick, test-based model is endorsed by newspapers, by public officials, and by billionaires who have bought their seat at the policy-making table (seat, hell; they own the table itself) precisely because we often don't agree.

More good points to ponder...

Khan Academy: The power of YouTube (plus a great teacher).

Maybe I'm a little late to this party (which is kinda strange since I'm a bit of a tech nerd), but I just was introduced to Khan Academy, a not-for-profit educational organization created and sustained by Salman Khan. Khan Academy's mission is to "provide a high quality education to anyone, anywhere" via a free online collection of more than 1,600 videos on mathematics, science, history, and economics.

From Wikipedia:

Salman Khan is a Bangladeshi American born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...He holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a BS in mathematics, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and an MS in electrical engineering and computer science. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. In late 2004, Khan began tutoring his cousin in mathematics using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad. When other relatives and friends sought his tutorage, he decided it would be more practical to distribute the tutorials on YouTube. Their popularity there and the testimonials of appreciative students prompted Khan to quit his job in finance in 2009 and focus on the Academy full-time.

As of December 2009, Khan's YouTube-hosted tutorials receive more than 35,000 views per day in over 17 million visits. Each video runs for approximately ten minutes, and is produced using video capture on SmoothDraw. Khan eschewed a format that would involve a person standing by a whiteboard, desiring instead to present the content in a way "akin to sitting next to someone and working out a problem on a sheet of paper: If you're watching a guy do a problem [while] thinking out loud, I think people find that more valuable and not as daunting."

I watched a couple of the algebra videos (and I can assure you, I was no algebra star). Mr. Khan has an amazing ability to explain concepts clearly. Students (of all ages) post comments and questions on the videos, and give each other help or feedback (peer-to-peer tutoring). The website also includes 70+ modules of automated exercises with continuous assessment for self-paced learning.

Check it out. Maybe your kids can use it for homework help...remedial help...SAT prep. (Speaking of SAT prep, Khan Academy actually has videos working through every single problem in all 8 math practice tests (432 problems) in the "The Official SAT Study Guide" by the College Board. So a student can take the practice test, see which problems they get wrong, then watch the Khan Academy videos to show them how to solve them correctly. WOW -- way cheaper than a Kaplan class or private tutor!)

It's a truly remarkable resource...described by one educator as "reason enough to unblock YouTube in schools."

Check it out at www.khanacademy.org

Help me test this new live anonymous polling feature!

UPDATE 9/14/10: I took down the poll test. It was pretty cool, but it has a few issues that I need to work out, namely that it was a little hard to read (too small). I'll play around with it more later, but for now it was cluttering up my page so I've taken it down. I'll keep you posted.!)

You may have noticed a window at the top of this page. I'm testing out a really cool app called Poll Everywhere. It is mainly designed to be used during meetings or presentations or classroom sessions. It allows the audience to use their cellphones to text-in feedback or answers to questions, which are then displayed live on a screen. It's a cool way to engage the audience in the discussion, better than having people raise their hands to comment, nobody can hear what they said, taking turns, etc. Much more dynamic. Anyway, there is also a web component, so that answers can be displayed online, like here on my blog.

I thought I would test it out here first, before I try using it in some meeting scenario.

So text in your answers, whenever, wherever, as many times as you like...share with your friends...let's see how this thing works!

See the instructions above the poll window -- text 112137 plus your response to 22333.

I'll keep this up for a few days and see what happens...

BOE self-evaluation discussed at 8/30 meeting.

At our last BOE meeting, members of the Board reviewed our annual "self-evaluation." As I did last year, I thought it would be good to share the results of our evaluation with you.

A little background...
The state requires Boards of Education to conduct self-evaluations each year, and actually Ridgewood has been doing an annual evaluation since long before the state required it. Currently, we use the services of the New Jersey School Boards Association. NJSBA gives us a Self-Evaluation form, which is completed by members of the BOE and Dr. Fishbein. Each topic includes questions about the Board’s performance, and then questions for individual Board members to evaluate their own performance. We all completed our evaluations, which consisted of questions with ratings from 1 to 5 plus the opportunity for free-form comments, and then our NJSBA rep compiled the responses and brought us back a report. We don’t know how individual members answered, and we don’t know which comments are from whom.

One of the purposes of the self-evaluation is to help us identify challenges facing the district and to guide us as we develop Board and District goals for the school year. After we reviewed the evaluation, we brainstormed on goals. I think we'll be discussing the potential goals we came up with, at our next meeting (Sept. 13).

So, like I said, I want to share the ratings from our self-evaluation, just so you can see where some of the conversation was focused. (What? You didn't watch the meeting on Channel 77 or live on the web?!?)

The evaluation covered the following categories:

Planning
Policy
Student Achievement
Finance
Board Operations
Board Performance
Board/Superintendent Relationships
Board/Staff Relationships
Board & Community

Over the next week or so, I will report on our self-evaluation for each of these categories. First up will be Planning...

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Adolescent Brain: A Work in Progress

The following information was provided by the Ridgewood Municipal Alliance (on which I also participate), regarding a program for interested parents.

Have you ever wondered why teenagers act the way they do? According to recent studies and neuro-imaging research, the prefrontal cortex of the human brain, which controls planning, emotion, impulse control, and the ability to assess future consequences, is not fully developed until one is in their early- to mid-twenties.

Come and learn about the adolescent brain at the GW Middle School Auditorium 7 PM on September 14, 2010. This program is open to all parents.

The presentation will help parents to understand:

• How can teens be so clever, accomplished, and responsible -- and reckless at the same time?
• What part of the brain is shutting down during this time of change?
• Why does your teen respond so strongly to graphic images?
• Your role as a parent during this incredible time of change in your young person’s brain
• Why adolescence is a risk-taking period during which teens are more likely to try drugs.
• What influences addiction in a young person?

Questions, please call the Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department at 201-670-5560.

Presented by Dee DeBernardis from the Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources, a program of Children’s Aid and Family Services. Funding provided by GCADA – NJ Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Ridgewood Municipal Alliance

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Students' test scores only show part of a teacher's "effectiveness."

Yesterday I wrote about the LA Times' recent project to score and rank (and publicize) teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Teachers are able to review their scores online, and they have the opportunity to respond in writing to their scores.

This response from a 5th grade teacher to his score is indicative of the problems with value-added data scoring. How can this teacher be reduced to "less effective" or "average?" Clearly he is neither of those things.

I shake my head, hating to think that someone (parents, administrators) skimming down a list of scores, could write-off this teacher as not effective.

1st Day of School!

Wishing everyone a happy first day of school and a great school year. Driving Pete to RHS, we passed several families taking photos on front porches and even a few kindergarteners holding Mom's hand and getting an early start toward Somerville School. One kid had quite the large entourage, with what looked like grandparents, aunts and uncles, plus Dad videotaping the walk down Spring Ave. :)

Have a great day!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Willard is looking good...with so much more to come.


More notes from my tour of school construction projects last Friday...

The beginnings of Willard School's massive renovation are almost complete. If you're familiar with Willard, you'll recognize that the new floor looks pretty much exactly like the old floor -- except it's flat and level and not falling apart. What a pretty room this is, in such a beautiful old building!

Willard's roof is being replaced and the faux slate, which received the blessing of the Historic Preservation Commission, looks really good. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

The asbestos abatement under the school was also completed, along with the installation of a trap door for easier access to the pipes, etc., located below.

Next summer Willard will really change, with the addition of the second floor over the kindergarten wing...

Welcome back to school, Willard!

Count on this: no easy solutions in the effort to evaluate teachers.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

This quote is usually attributed to Albert Einstein (although I couldn’t find any proof of his writing or saying it). It’s an interesting and valid thought. And it’s often mentioned in the nationwide conversation about teacher performance and test scores.

Last Wednesday’s New York Times contained the story, “When Does Holding Teachers Accountable Go Too Far?” I found it to be a good review of some of the challenges faced by educators who, with budget-driven urgency, are trying anew to determine the best way to evaluate teachers (and, it follows, to better connect performance with compensation). The story’s main focus was the concept of measuring “value-added data” for teachers. This is a statistical technique where student test scores are analyzed, measuring improvement from when a teacher started teaching the student to when he/she completed the year. According to the theory, the change in test scores is a measure of the “value” added by the teacher: more increase = more value added and, it follows, better teaching.

The Los Angeles Times recently analyzed seven years of elementary school test scores and created a ranking of 6,000 teachers. “The newspaper named a few teachers — both stars and laggards — and announced that it would release the approximate rankings for all teachers, along with their names.”

The Los Angeles Times articles got teachers riled up, the union called for a boycott of the paper, but...the union also said, more calmly, that they’re willing to discuss making such scores at least a part of teachers’ evaluations. That’s encouraging.

The critics of value-added data point to some real limitations. According to the NY Times, “scores can bounce around from year to year for any one teacher...so a single year of scores — which some states may use for evaluation — can be misleading. In addition, students are not randomly assigned to teachers; indeed, principals may deliberately assign slow learners to certain teachers, unfairly lowering their scores. As for the tests themselves, most do not even try to measure the social skills that are crucial to early learning.” And, thinking about Ridgewood, what about teachers who are already very successful or whose students begin at fairly high-achieving levels? If your students already score very high, and there’s not much higher for them to go, is it fair to judge that teacher as not “adding value?” This is exactly what happened to Ridgewood in last year’s state QSAC evaluation – the District received a lower score in student achievement because our test scores didn’t improve enough. But it was physically impossible for our scores to improve that much – they would have had to have been higher than 100% perfect.

Some educators feel that value-added data can probably help identify the best and the worst teachers, but probably won’t help much in truly evaluating teachers in the middle. Other educators have suggested using the value-added data on the school level, without tying the scores to individual teachers' names. I agree with the NY Times’ writer’s feeling that an important first step would be for us all to agree that no system will ever be perfect. No system can do it all. And, personally, I will never feel good about placing too much emphasis on standardized tests, especially when the tests we have are so imperfect.

The New Jersey Department of Education recently announced a special committee that will be working on teacher evaluation. The big deal, according to them, is that the committee contains teachers, administrators, school board members, legislators, "experts," etc. An apparently inclusive group that will calmly and rationally research and develop some solutions. When I heard they wanted school board members, I immediately tried to volunteer. Turns out, their idea of school board representation was that a staffer from the New Jersey School Board Association will participate. Darn.

Clearly, parents and communities want their schools to be accountable. I believe teachers want to be accountable. It’s in our human nature to rank things, to create order, to understand the value (relative or intrinsic) in everything we do. Test scores are such a seemingly easy solution – what could be more cut and dried than numbers? “The scores don’t lie,” sounds so simple. But aren’t there more things that “count?” Can’t we find a way to wrap our human brains around the concept of things that can’t be counted?

Something to think about as we begin the new school year – a school year in which a new contract will be negotiated with our Ridgewood teachers.

Have a great first day of school tomorrow!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

RHS site work is extensive (and almost done).



Friday I took a school construction tour with Dr. Fishbein and BOE member Sheila Brogan. So much work being done at the high school. Outside, there have been repairs and rebuilding of sidewalks, stairs, railings, drainage, etc. It's looking so nice! And the roofs -- with the completion of this work, the entire high school should be dry this winter!

Have you noticed the new copper on the clock tower roof? I was on West Ridgewood Avenue driving toward town last week and was blinded by a ridiculously shiny something in the distance. Turns out it was the high school tower! It looks great (along with the new -- accurate! -- clock).



The decorative brick entry on Heermance, a gift from the Class of 1923, has been repaired, too. It will look even nicer once all the new fencing and landscaping around the new field is complete.

And lest you worry that I'm commenting only on how "nice" everything looks, rest assured that these projects were not about looks. The sidewalks and stairs around campus were safety hazards as well as financial drains, requiring constant repairs, repointing of bricks, etc. The Heermance arched wall was leaning precipitously and, sure enough, as soon as they started to repair it, the whole thing fell down. And the roofs, well, that copper looks nice but the real motivation is the leaks endured for years, with our facilities department constantly playing catch-up, when what was really needed was full-scale repair and replacement of the remaining sections.

All District staff kick-off the new school year.


I attended the all-staff Convocation last Thursday at BF Middle School. (BOE members Charlie Reilly, Sheila Brogan and Bob Hutton also attended.) The morning began with coffee and such in the cafeteria, and it was nice to see all the teachers and other staff greeting each other after a summer apart. Then everybody headed to the auditorium. The theme of the day was "Moving Forward." BOE Vice President Bob Hutton gave a nice speech, wherein he noted that his youngest son and his son's RHS-graduate friends all completed college in four years and were gainfully employed or pursuing law school, med school, etc. I was happy to hear no mention of upcoming budget troubles, contract negotiations, etc., which I think would be out of place on this day of anticipation and enthusiasm. (Bob spoke because BOE president Michele Lenhard was away helping her son move in to college for his sophomore year.) Bob also led the room in a rousing rendition of America the Beautiful. Ridgewood Education Association President Maria Cannon spoke, too. Normally her convocation speeches are very warm and a little emotional and teacher-y, with enthusiasm for the coming year. This time, though, she focused almost entirely on Governor Christie and his "demonizing" of teachers. Hmmm. Not exactly "moving forward," but... Finally, Superintendent Dr. Fishbein gave a nice speech where he talked about his oldest son leaving for college last weekend...more than a few teachers came up later to tell him he made them cry.

My favorite part of Convocation is the student presentations. We had musical performances (violin and percussion), a dance performance and the Second Annual Ridgewood Convocation Feud, sort of like Family Feud, where the topics are Ridgewood school trivia, presented by some New Players kids.

Convocation also included the presentation of the 2010 Lloyd W. Ashby Award, which has been awarded every year since 1967. This year's recipient is Jane Blakely, who recently retired as Supervisor of Social Studies.

No matter what rumors your kids try to tell you (there is no ceiling collapse), every Ridgewood school will start this Tuesday, September 7.