Schools' Toughest Test: Cooking

Interesting story in today's NY Times about efforts to serve "real" food in New York City schools. And by "real," the article means food cooked from scratch, with fresh ingredients, and that doesn't rhyme with "ackaroni and ease" or "rench ries."

I wish we could do more of this in Ridgewood, but most of our schools don't have kitchens and all our lunches are provided by the Pomptonian Food Service. Our lunches are not terrible, but...I do believe there is MUCH that could be done to improve school lunches and I'm just sorry I don't have time to spend on this issue right now...still, wanted to share this article.

Click here for NY Times story.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

What is Learnia and why are students taking more tests?

As you may know, I’m not a big fan of standardized tests as the be-all, end-all of determining success in education or learning. (Visit FairTest.org for more info on why.) So you may wonder why I support the use of Learnia in our schools, which at first glance looks like more testing.

First, all testing is a form of “assessment.” We assess what students have learned. Of course we do. Learnia is a type of “formative assessment.” What is that?

Two definitions, according to FairTest.org:

“Summative assessment is the attempt to summarize student learning at some point in time, say the end of a course. Most standardized tests are summative. They are not designed to provide the immediate, contextualized feedback useful for helping teacher and student during the learning process. High quality summative information can, of course, shape how teachers organize their courses or what schools offer their students.

By contrast, formative assessment occurs when teachers feed information back to students in ways that enable the student to learn better, or when students can engage in a similar, self-reflective process. If the primary purpose of assessment is to support high-quality learning, then formative assessment ought to be understood as the most important assessment practice.”

In simpler terms, Learnia allows teachers to see how students are doing during teaching/learning. It gives feedback on specific areas within subjects – showing what needs more attention and what is being mastered. And it shows this on an individual student basis, collecting learning data over time. So instead of just getting a score of 000 or “Proficient” on a test, the teacher can see that Johnny is doing better with decimals but not with fractions. (That’s a super-oversimplication -- in reality the results are much more precise and detailed.)

NJASK or those other summative assessments may be great for drawing lines in the sand and evaluating districts or schools from 30,000 feet, in order to assign funding or populate magazine rankings, but formative assessments such as Learnia are much more useful in terms of teaching and learning…which is what we’re here for, right?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

"Don't you know there's a recession going on?"

Perhaps you asked that question when you read the letter to parents from the Board of Ed last week. (A similar letter will be going out to non-parent community members shortly.) I would like to answer with my own personal opinion:

Do we know there's a recession going on?
Yes, so it's a good thing we held the list of projects in the referendum at $48 million and not more.

You see, the Board of Education has an obligation to our students, the education of whom must be our #1 priority. While we all live within local and national economic conditions, and I am respectful of (and share in) the struggles of many in the community, the students are whom we must do right by.

Our students deserve to be educated in the best facilities possible. They deserve their 43-93 year old buildings to last another 43-93 years. They deserve to not have water dripping through the ceiling, loose bricks and mortar, inadequate plumbing, and asbestos beneath their feet. They deserve to have us spend less money on heating and electricity, year after year. They deserve to have fields on which they are allowed to safely play sports, on campus. They deserve to have the outdoor wellness education required by the state. They deserve to be taught in proper classrooms, not in the hallway or in a divided room or in a borrowed administrator's office. And they deserve to not be moved from school to school, wherever they can be squeezed-in for the specialized education they require (and we are required to provide).

As a member of the Facilities Committee that worked for over a year to create it, I can tell you the list of projects was not created lightly. Believe me, the complete list of "total" needs is far longer than this. The high school alone had $20 million in facilities needs revealed by a detailed engineering study. The Ed Center building -- constructed in 1895 -- needs a whole lot of work, but we took it off the referendum list, instead focusing entirely on projects that will benefit student learning on a day to day basis. We got rid of everything cosmetic, everything simply convenient. There is no painting for painting's sake, no beautifying. And no trendy solar panels. (Calm down, I'm as "green" as the next person, but we studied them and spoke to energy experts, and solar panels have too a high cost and too low a return on investment -- it would take decades for them to pay for themselves. Putting in relatively low-cost devices to conserve electricity and control temperatures, and in some cases enhancing ventilation systems, will save us a lot of money year after year.)

Our facilities are big, they are old, and they cannot be made adequate on the $1 million to $2 million per year we have been able to budget in recent years. If we wanted to incorporate these renovations and expansions into our yearly budget, at $2 million/year how does 24 years sound?

(Time out -- just need to remind you that this is all my personal opinion. I have my own perspective. Of course, the other Board members did vote to approve the referendum projects, but I am not speaking for them as to their motivations or priorities.)

The analogy I think of is this: anyone who owns a home -- especially an old home -- has repairs come up from time to time. A broken window. A leaky faucet. A squeaky floorboard. We do the repairs as soon as we can. But eventually, if we occupy our house long enough, the roof needs to be replaced. We can do some patches here and there, but guaranteed, at some point a roof replacement is necessary to protect and shelter our lives and belongings and all that we do in our homes. I don't know anyone who can just write a check for that roof replacement, and absorb the cost in the weekly home budget. Most people I know will take out a home improvement loan and put on the new roof.

Are there things that could/should have been done differently in the past, so as not to allow our buildings to reach their current state? Perhaps. But I believe that every administration and every board of ed makes decisions based on the reality of their situations, the conditions at the time, and their best judgment. Whatever choices made in the past were made. They're done and gone. We can't change that. Right now, I am dealing with our reality. Trying to do what I feel is best for our students. This referendum will allow us to repair our buildings, accommodate growth and make the most of all our space going forward.

I hope people will continue to ask questions and get the facts before making snap "I'm voting no" decisions right now. The referendum is December 8 -- there's time for you to learn the facts. Please, email the district at referendum09@ridgewood.k12.nj.us, or email Dr. Fishbein, or email the Board, or email me, or post a comment right here. Come to a meeting or coffee. Go to the district website and read the detailed plans. Attend a community presentation on 10/27 or 11/30. Take a tour of a school (date TBA). Learn as much as you can and then make a decision.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

You're invited: Renowned educator Alan November speaks to the community on 10/22

If you have a little time on Thursday, October 22, at 7:30 p.m., come on down to the BF Auditorium. Alan November will be speaking on “Preparing 21st Century Learners: How and Why Their Schooling is Different from Ours." Mr. November is a great speaker and his thoughts on this subject are really fascinating.

From the press release:
Mr. November is known as a dynamic speaker on the topic of the relationship between technology and learning. Named one of the nation’s 15 most influential thinkers of the decade by Classroom Computer Learning Magazine, he was also selected by the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse as one of eight educators to provide leadership into the future. In 2007 Mr. November was selected to speak at the Cisco Public Services Summit as part of the Nobel Prize festivities in Stockholm. His writing includes numerous articles and a best-selling book, Empowering Students with Technology. He is co-founder of the Stanford Institute for Educational Leadership Through Technology.

A short video by Alan November (http://novemberlearning.com/) can be viewed by clicking here.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

National Banned Books Week 9/26-10/3

This is a good time to reflect on our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and recognize the danger of restricting unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints in a free society. At the Banned Books Week website, you can see a map of recent book challenges around the country. Like me, you may not realize how often books are banned or attempted to be banned in our country in this day and age.

Here's some info from the event's website:

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. Click here to see a map of book bans and challenges in the US from 2007 to 2009. People challenge books that they say are too sexual or too violent. They object to profanity and slang, and protest against offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups--or positive portrayals of homosexuals. Their targets range from books that explore the latest problems to classic and beloved works of American literature.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. Banned Books Week is also endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.

Where's our "Obama stimulus money?"

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was designed to stimulate the economy in the short term and invest in education and other essential public services to ensure the long-term economic health of our nation. The Act appropriated new funding for programs under Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Ridgewood Public Schools were awarded $1,195,766 under ARRA/IDEA. There were many rules and stipulations that accompanied the funds (you can read all the fine print here), with the main point being the funds were to be used primarily for Special Ed. Our district administration put together a distribution plan, which Dr. Fishbein presented (and the Board of Education approved) at the BOE meeting on 9/14/09. Here's how it breaks down:

Preschool - Curriculum & Supplies (RED Program) ($41,768)
SAIL Program –Start-up ($48,579)
Differentiated Curriculum (Development and RTI Training ($12,206)
Renovations at Somerville ($30,720)
Additional LLD Classroom ($10,000)
Student Information System SE ($31,972)
Evaluation Materials CST ($40,000)
Augmentative Devices ($29,240)
Assistive Technology ($148,760)
Multi-Sensory Reading – Training and Supplies ($50,000)
Middle School RISE/ADL Equip. Purchase ans Installation ($20,000)
Storage of SE Files ($53,043)
Autism Class – Start-Up Costs ($93,885)
Instructional Supplies/Non-public ($1,302)
Tuition ($580,292)
Total - $1,195,766

Because we were allowed to use a portion of the funds for tuitions (which we pay for out of district special ed placements), we were able to free up additional funds for allowable (non-special ed) items not included in the ARRA requirement:

3 Busses (2/24seats &1/16 seats) – ($150,000)
Student Management System Skyward ($235,404)
Virtual Learning Communities ($29,600)
Textbooks ($165,288)
Total - $580,292

Back to school Night!

As I've mentioned before, I love Back to School Night! Tonight is Ridgewood High School's...another chance to meet the teachers (somehow Pete has managed to have almost NONE of the teachers his sister had), get lost in the maze-like building, get crushed at "the intersection," find out what the teachers' expectations are, debunk some of the myths that sophomores and others try to perpetuate, and see some friends.

See you there!

Letter to Parents about the December Referendum

Following is the text of a letter that was mailed this week to parents in the school district. The purpose was to lay out all the facts on the upcoming referendum, so parents can make an informed vote. The letter was accompanied by a Fact Sheet with a school-by-school breakdown. Click here to read the Fact Sheet.

The facts about Referendum 2009

Dear Parents,
On December 8, 2009 Ridgewood voters will be asked to vote on a bond referendum. Before going to the polls we want voters to have the facts in order to make an informed decision. Our school buildings, built between 1919 and 1966, are in need of capital improvements. We also need additional instructional space to keep pace with enrollment increases for our general education and special education programs.

The cost of the bond referendum is $48 million and will allow us to complete needed repairs and capital projects at all of our schools and to add classrooms to GW Middle School, Hawes, Ridge, and Willard. It also includes building a 400-meter track at BF Middle School and installing synthetic turf on Stevens and the RHS Stadium fields.

New Jersey approves our construction needs & offers money to help offset costs.

For over a year, the Board of Education’s Facilities Committee performed an in-depth review of every building. The committee consulted principals, reviewed the District’s five-year facilities plan and RHS engineering study, studied energy conservation opportunities and worked with our architects to prioritize needs. Last winter, we applied to the state for construction grant money, and the state approved our request, validating our needs assessment and awarding Ridgewood $9.8 million in direct grant aid towards the building projects and $2.1 million in debt service aid for the track at BF and for improvements on Stevens and RHS stadium fields. This state aid will lessen the burden on taxpayers and reduce the amount the district will have to borrow. With this state aid commitment, the total bond amount will be $38 million, and the tax impact on the average Ridgewood home valued at $802,107 would be $300.55 a year on a 25-year bond assuming a 4.75% borrowing rate.

Our continued growth: 50 new students every year…for 10 years.

The enclosed Fact Sheet outlines the carefully considered repair/capital improvement and energy conservation projects included in the bond referendum. In addition, proposed additions at GW, Hawes, Ridge and Willard address our need for more instructional space. With enrollment having grown by 500 students over the last 10 years, space limitations have resulted in instruction currently happening in school hallways, in subdivided classrooms and in principals’ offices.

It’s imperative that our facilities meet the educational needs of our students.

In recent years, our number of special education students has increased to 14.3% or a little over 800 students. Our special education students who require individualized programs have moved from school to school, as space is available. As we build new classrooms at Ridge, Willard, and Hawes, we will be able to minimize the moving of our special education classes and allow these students to remain in the same school for all of their elementary years. At the same time, classroom space will be freed-up at Somerville, Travell, and Orchard, eliminating the need to redistrict. New instructional space will also include new library/media centers at Willard and GW and a new full-size gymnasium at GW with enough bleacher seating for the entire student body.

Improving our wellness & athletic facilities.

Currently the Ridgewood High School fields are not appropriately sized nor resilient enough to allow use by multiple athletic teams. In addition, the RHS track is too small for our track team to hold competitive meets. For these reasons, the Stadium field often sits empty, contributing to the District-wide and Village-wide field shortage as identified in the Village’s Recreation Master Plan. It is time to address these deficiencies.

Our plan allows for construction of a regulation 400-meter natural grass-center track at BF and installation of a synthetic surface on the RHS Stadium and Stevens fields. At the Stadium, a smaller track will remain for PE classes and community use. These improved fields will enable girls and boys to play soccer and lacrosse, in addition to football, on site at the high school, and will add needed outside teaching stations for physical education and Project Adventure. Detailed plans for these synthetic fields have been submitted to the NJ DEP for review and approval.

As the community has seen the merits of the synthetic field at Maple Park, the addition of synthetic fields at RHS will further reduce the wear and tear on our grass fields, will bring high school sports back to the high school campus, and will provide our student athletes and youth rec sports players with additional quality playing surfaces.

Know the facts. Get your questions answered.

Please familiarize yourself with information about our proposed projects. All of the school and field plans are posted on the district web site at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us under the Board of Education link. Soon, information sessions will be held at each school and in homes throughout the Village, providing opportunities to hear more and ask questions. Guided tours of our schools will be scheduled and open to the public.

On December 8th make an informed decision about the Ridgewood Public Schools’ bond referendum.

Sincerely,

Joseph Vallerini
Robert Hutton
Sheila Brogan
Michele Lenhard
Laurie Goodman

P.S. Questions are welcome! We want you to have the facts in order to make an informed decision on Election Day. Please email referendum09@ridgewood.k12.nj.us or call 201-670-2700 ext. 10530 with any questions.

Parental Guidance program tonight at GW

Wondering what teens in Ridgewood are up to these days? Looking for advice on how to talk to your teens about living a healthy, drug-free life? The Ridgewood Municipal Alliance Committee is offering Ridgewood parents and community members a 1-hour presentation called "PG: Parental Guidance for Teens" tonight at 7:00 p.m. at George Washington Middle School.

Information to be covered includes current drug trends being seen here in Ridgewood & Bergen County, symptoms and availability, and suggestions for how parents can answer tough questions teens might ask. This is an interactive presentation, facilitated by Dee Debernardis of The Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources. The program is being offered by the Ridgewood Municipal Alliance Committee with funding from the New Jersey Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Ridgewood Municipal Alliance grant.

Questions or for more information call Ridgewood Parks and Recreation 201-670-5560.

What a dilemma: Board of Education meeting, Parental Guidance program or Monday Night Football...

Family fun at the 1st Ridgewood Dog Show...Oct. 18!

The First Annual Community Dog Show, presented by the Ridgewood Education Foundation and the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, is set for Sunday, October 18th from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Graydon Pool Parking Lot. This is a fun-filled family event! Contests include: Best Costume (on a dog); Dog-Owner Look-A-Like; Best Dog Trick; Smallest Dog; and Biggest (lap?) Dog. Proceeds will benefit REF's classroom grants and Arts Fund programs. Pre-registration is required. Click here to fetch your entry form.