The EPISD computer technicians have become the most hated people on Earth. They’re doing some kind of secret experiment that nobody has explained to anyone, for a reason that nobody has explained to anyone, with results that don’t make sense to anyone.
Thanks to the EPISD technicians, computer labs are not useable, printers don’t print, some computers won’t turn on and many teachers have had their hard drives wiped out with no advance warning, losing some important documents and files forever.
All the chaos began in the summer. Administrators knew in May that work on almost all the computers would be done and that they would be reformatted. This was passed along to teachers at our campus at a busy end-of-school meeting where almost nobody listens to a word being said and where some people were absent with legitimate excuses.
At EPHS, I don’t know if any warning was given or not. I know that many teachers were mad when they came back in August and all their saved documents were gone with (they say) no opportunity being given to back them up.
No memo, e-mail or verbal explanation has been given to teachers concerning what good all of this damage will eventually do, if any. We have pieced together facts and rumors and apparently someone wants a new management system where every computer in the district gets controlled remotely in all aspects from a bunker at the technology office.
We’ve heard, once it’s all done, nobody will be able to install a program on their own computer or even update any of the existing programs without calling a technician for service. You get a new printer, need to install software (any two-year-old can do it) – you have to call for help. Need to update Acrobat Reader to see a document (this update usually happens almost automatically) – you have to call for help. Supposedly, a technician (or 2, or 3 or 4?) will be connected and be constantly monitoring every computer in the district to make sure it’s being used appropriately. It’s all very Orwellian.
A few people misuse their computers and some let the students use them for everything EXCEPT academics. We’re throwing the baby out with the bath water here, though. Instead of punishing those who have been irresponsible and making principals supervise technology use more closely, the technology department would rather just make our technology dysfunctional.
Sadly, we have a school technology department that has no clue about how technology should be integrated into an educational environment. They also have shown no concern about communicating anything to the teachers and students who make up the vast majority of their end users. We had a person hired as an educational technology specialist but his knowledge and training have gone to waste as his role has been relegated – for some illogical reason -- to being just another central office bureaucrat.
It’s all very frustrating to the students and teachers. We could take our technology and really fly if somebody had the initiative and the knowledge to lead the way. It’s also very sad for the district and the community as a whole that we SHOULD have much more to show for the millions we spend on technology and we’re falling short because of poor leadership.
Too many of our campus employees have too little training and too little supervision to implement our technology in a smooth manner. But, instead of training them, insisting on better oversight from administrators, and learning to trust everyone, central office would rather stifle the campuses and put obstacles in our way. This type of sorry approach will continue until someone with curriculum experience is put in charge of technology. Such a person would switch the emphasis on technology to teaching and learning and away from record keeping, business transactions, communication and P.R. -- as it presently stands. For the sake of our kids, the existing approach has to change.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Join my gang, or else
I’m starting a new gang. We’re going to wear Dallas Cowboy jerseys, center our gang activities around Cowboy football games, tag the city with the Cowboy’s star, and our name will be the Day Cruisers – or “DC” as in Dallas Cowboys.
Criminal gangs have already hijacked our sports teams, our fashions and our religious symbols. I can’t walk around as a legitimate North Carolina Tarheel fan without being accosted as being a member of the Night Cruisers (NC). Well, at my age, I probably can, but innocent teenage kids can’t.
So, since this kind of thing has already started, I am claiming the Cowboys colors all for myself and my gang members before someone else does. We’re going to wear blue, silver and white rosary beads, put blue bandanas in our pockets and have J.J. (Jerry Jones) tattoos on our necks. We’ll flash 9 fingers (Tony Romo’s number) with one pinky finger down to identify ourselves and our main source of income will be from arranging NFL pots.
The Day Cruisers will, of course, have to have an initiation rite and a structure that assures the loyalty of our members. A prospective member must eat a raw jalapeño, washed down with a shot of 4-alarm salsa, for each year that the Cowboys have failed to have a playoff win. Right now, that stands at 13. Punishment for disrespecting me, the gang itself, or any individual gang member in any way will be expulsion or that you must drink warm non-alcoholic beers throughout the following Cowboy game.
Since most Day Cruisers members will be older, married men, we will assure their sustained membership through sexual blackmail. Each member will have to pose nude with a Piedras Negras prostitute and those pictures will be shown to his wife should a member ever leave the gang – or should they ever root for any other pro football team.
We will wear all our clothing 12 sizes too large, which might be hard for some of our corpulent members who already buy the largest clothes available at the Big and Tall Mens Store. Those guys will just have to find an Extra Big and Extra Tall Mens Store.
No self-respecting gang lasts long without imposing at least a small reign of terror. We’ll intimidate and harass anyone known to have watched any weenie sport or non-sport, which include golf, tennis, bowling, figure skating or synchronized swimming. They will suffer the pain of having their cable wire cut or satellite dish pulled down, any innocent household members be damned.
Another thing we’ll do is claim any sports bar as our own any time we please. We’ll do this by bragging loudly about fictional friends that we have in really bad ass gangs like the Mexican Mafia and the Norteños, something like this:
“My Mexican Mafia friend El Diablo just got out of Huntsville. He’s meeting me here soon and he said he’s going to kill the first guy he sees drinking lite beer.”
“Yeah, my friend El Muerte from the Norteños is getting here in a minute and he’s going to slice open the first guy that looks at him.”
We’ll employ some other tactics, too, stolen from typical street gang playbooks. After time, we will give the Dallas Cowboys name and colors such a despicable reputation that nobody else will want to be seen in public supporting “America’s” team. When you won’t wear a Tony Romo jersey to the mall because you’re afraid of getting beaten up over it, that’s when we will know that our gang has truly arrived.
Criminal gangs have already hijacked our sports teams, our fashions and our religious symbols. I can’t walk around as a legitimate North Carolina Tarheel fan without being accosted as being a member of the Night Cruisers (NC). Well, at my age, I probably can, but innocent teenage kids can’t.
So, since this kind of thing has already started, I am claiming the Cowboys colors all for myself and my gang members before someone else does. We’re going to wear blue, silver and white rosary beads, put blue bandanas in our pockets and have J.J. (Jerry Jones) tattoos on our necks. We’ll flash 9 fingers (Tony Romo’s number) with one pinky finger down to identify ourselves and our main source of income will be from arranging NFL pots.
The Day Cruisers will, of course, have to have an initiation rite and a structure that assures the loyalty of our members. A prospective member must eat a raw jalapeño, washed down with a shot of 4-alarm salsa, for each year that the Cowboys have failed to have a playoff win. Right now, that stands at 13. Punishment for disrespecting me, the gang itself, or any individual gang member in any way will be expulsion or that you must drink warm non-alcoholic beers throughout the following Cowboy game.
Since most Day Cruisers members will be older, married men, we will assure their sustained membership through sexual blackmail. Each member will have to pose nude with a Piedras Negras prostitute and those pictures will be shown to his wife should a member ever leave the gang – or should they ever root for any other pro football team.
We will wear all our clothing 12 sizes too large, which might be hard for some of our corpulent members who already buy the largest clothes available at the Big and Tall Mens Store. Those guys will just have to find an Extra Big and Extra Tall Mens Store.
No self-respecting gang lasts long without imposing at least a small reign of terror. We’ll intimidate and harass anyone known to have watched any weenie sport or non-sport, which include golf, tennis, bowling, figure skating or synchronized swimming. They will suffer the pain of having their cable wire cut or satellite dish pulled down, any innocent household members be damned.
Another thing we’ll do is claim any sports bar as our own any time we please. We’ll do this by bragging loudly about fictional friends that we have in really bad ass gangs like the Mexican Mafia and the Norteños, something like this:
“My Mexican Mafia friend El Diablo just got out of Huntsville. He’s meeting me here soon and he said he’s going to kill the first guy he sees drinking lite beer.”
“Yeah, my friend El Muerte from the Norteños is getting here in a minute and he’s going to slice open the first guy that looks at him.”
We’ll employ some other tactics, too, stolen from typical street gang playbooks. After time, we will give the Dallas Cowboys name and colors such a despicable reputation that nobody else will want to be seen in public supporting “America’s” team. When you won’t wear a Tony Romo jersey to the mall because you’re afraid of getting beaten up over it, that’s when we will know that our gang has truly arrived.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Self improvement would beat forced improvement
Plans for more administrator walkthroughs in the classrooms. Making all school personnel including teachers and principals clock in and clock out. Threats about getting tougher with use of cell phones on campus. Write-ups for not being at your duty stations.
Seems like teachers will soon be watched more closely than the students, but a minority of teachers abusing their independence has made it necessary. To me, the motivational speaker at the district-wide assembly hit the mark in urging educators to “do the right thing even when you’re not being watched.”
Because some personnel took advantage of not being constantly watched, we’re all getting an overload of oversight both in and out of the classroom.
Recalling the speaker’s words -- There are three kinds of people: 1’s - who always do the wrong thing. 2’s – who do the right thing as long as they’re being watched. And 3’s – who do the right thing even when not being watched.
We heard a lot of praise and congratulations from the superintendent about how well our district fared in the accountability ratings. So, we applauded ourselves, and now we’ll get back to work with the goal of improving even more. Those improvements would come more easily if all district employees would be 3’s.
EPISD has a few slackers, like any employer. People come late, leave early, take long lunches. Some people use their phones in the classrooms, give their students very little work, don’t record grades as often as required, and act inappropriately toward students of the opposite sex.
We have some aides who go through their days without anyone really knowing where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing. Sometimes people treat trips for school business as personal vacations. Some people don’t dress professionally.
These things happen because the nature of our organization prevents everyone from being constantly watched. Then, as part of human nature, some people try to get away with whatever they can. So, everyone gets treated like they’re a “2” because everyone has to be treated equally and not everyone has reached the third level.
As we heard, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our students would all be 3’s? But how can we expect them to be if the grownups around them are not? How can we expect students to abide by a cell phone ban when some teachers are there at their desks for half the day using their own? How can teachers who are always running late insist that their students be in class on time?
Abuses and problems are not widespread, but they exist, and the effort to eliminate them inconveniences everyone. If we cannot improve on our own without threats, reprimands, and increased monitoring, then the district will eventually just impose a suffocating level of supervision.
We all need to start challenging ourselves to always do the right thing, even when we don’t have to, even when a wrong action has no negative consequences. It would improve us, it would lead the students to improve themselves, it would improve our schools, and as time passes, it would leave our district with nothing to hide, so Eagle Pass could be even more proud of what we have.
Seems like teachers will soon be watched more closely than the students, but a minority of teachers abusing their independence has made it necessary. To me, the motivational speaker at the district-wide assembly hit the mark in urging educators to “do the right thing even when you’re not being watched.”
Because some personnel took advantage of not being constantly watched, we’re all getting an overload of oversight both in and out of the classroom.
Recalling the speaker’s words -- There are three kinds of people: 1’s - who always do the wrong thing. 2’s – who do the right thing as long as they’re being watched. And 3’s – who do the right thing even when not being watched.
We heard a lot of praise and congratulations from the superintendent about how well our district fared in the accountability ratings. So, we applauded ourselves, and now we’ll get back to work with the goal of improving even more. Those improvements would come more easily if all district employees would be 3’s.
EPISD has a few slackers, like any employer. People come late, leave early, take long lunches. Some people use their phones in the classrooms, give their students very little work, don’t record grades as often as required, and act inappropriately toward students of the opposite sex.
We have some aides who go through their days without anyone really knowing where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing. Sometimes people treat trips for school business as personal vacations. Some people don’t dress professionally.
These things happen because the nature of our organization prevents everyone from being constantly watched. Then, as part of human nature, some people try to get away with whatever they can. So, everyone gets treated like they’re a “2” because everyone has to be treated equally and not everyone has reached the third level.
As we heard, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our students would all be 3’s? But how can we expect them to be if the grownups around them are not? How can we expect students to abide by a cell phone ban when some teachers are there at their desks for half the day using their own? How can teachers who are always running late insist that their students be in class on time?
Abuses and problems are not widespread, but they exist, and the effort to eliminate them inconveniences everyone. If we cannot improve on our own without threats, reprimands, and increased monitoring, then the district will eventually just impose a suffocating level of supervision.
We all need to start challenging ourselves to always do the right thing, even when we don’t have to, even when a wrong action has no negative consequences. It would improve us, it would lead the students to improve themselves, it would improve our schools, and as time passes, it would leave our district with nothing to hide, so Eagle Pass could be even more proud of what we have.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Students have their good sides
Whenever I pass out tests or worksheets to my students, a few of them each class period say, “Thank you.”
While I appreciate and truly am impressed by this politeness, I kind of laugh inside because I feel like they would say “thank you” if a person gave them an activated hand grenade. It’s odd to hear a “thanks” in response to receiving something that’s not really desired, but it’s uplifting to see young people utilize good manners, as many do in our classrooms.
You hear a lot of war stories about teaching, so most people (including parents) don’t know how great the kids can be. I found this out first-had a few years ago with a teen relative of mine who had constant conflicts with her parents and raised hell at home. But, her parents would go to open house at school, and all the teachers would say, “Oh, I love your daughter,” and “She’s just a joy to have in my class.”
Her parents thought this girl must have had multiple personalities, but I soon realized that most kids act much better at school than they do at home where their parents come across to them as controlling, critical, suspicious and embarrassing.
In reality, at school we see the best sides of the students a lot more often than we see the worst sides. They’re usually energetic, upbeat, carefree, humorous, respectful, intelligent and unselfish, and that’s why I really like my job. In what other career could you spend your days surrounded by hundreds of other people that you could describe that way.
I feel fortunate that I don’t have to work alongside only adults. Too many grownups have turned cynical and bitter or they still act immature even though their youth has long passed. Our students, when they act immature at least have an excuse – they ARE immature. Give me the young people to be with any day.
I’ve been a teacher for a long time, and I don’t see myself ever wanting any other job, although I might want to change grades or subjects before long for a change of pace – so I can keep growing as a person instead of falling into a monotonous routine and stagnating. Teaching offers variety and challenge and more independence than most jobs in education.
The best part, though, is the interaction with the students. If you keep your ears open, you can learn a lot from the students as you teach them. In each class, there’s about 25 people, each an expert in a different area. One might know about cars, another about music, another about sports, yet another about art, and so on. Half of what I know about computers, I learned from watching the students doing their work.
Often you hear people say that they fear for the future because they see our high school students and think our future leaders will be incompetent idiots. I see our students as the kids that they are. I urge them to reflect on where they’re at maturity-wise, act appropriately for the situation at hand, and keep striving to grow up. I trust that someday they’ll be in a position of responsibility, and they’ll be in good shape to handle it.
In another week, the students return even though I’d like for summer vacation to last until Thanksgiving. Yes, I like my job, but they’re a lot of leisure activities that I like much better. I’m realistic, though, and I know nobody gets a free lunch – except all of the Eagle Pass children. I’ll go back to work with a smile and I’ll go back grateful to have a job that helps keep me young.
While I appreciate and truly am impressed by this politeness, I kind of laugh inside because I feel like they would say “thank you” if a person gave them an activated hand grenade. It’s odd to hear a “thanks” in response to receiving something that’s not really desired, but it’s uplifting to see young people utilize good manners, as many do in our classrooms.
You hear a lot of war stories about teaching, so most people (including parents) don’t know how great the kids can be. I found this out first-had a few years ago with a teen relative of mine who had constant conflicts with her parents and raised hell at home. But, her parents would go to open house at school, and all the teachers would say, “Oh, I love your daughter,” and “She’s just a joy to have in my class.”
Her parents thought this girl must have had multiple personalities, but I soon realized that most kids act much better at school than they do at home where their parents come across to them as controlling, critical, suspicious and embarrassing.
In reality, at school we see the best sides of the students a lot more often than we see the worst sides. They’re usually energetic, upbeat, carefree, humorous, respectful, intelligent and unselfish, and that’s why I really like my job. In what other career could you spend your days surrounded by hundreds of other people that you could describe that way.
I feel fortunate that I don’t have to work alongside only adults. Too many grownups have turned cynical and bitter or they still act immature even though their youth has long passed. Our students, when they act immature at least have an excuse – they ARE immature. Give me the young people to be with any day.
I’ve been a teacher for a long time, and I don’t see myself ever wanting any other job, although I might want to change grades or subjects before long for a change of pace – so I can keep growing as a person instead of falling into a monotonous routine and stagnating. Teaching offers variety and challenge and more independence than most jobs in education.
The best part, though, is the interaction with the students. If you keep your ears open, you can learn a lot from the students as you teach them. In each class, there’s about 25 people, each an expert in a different area. One might know about cars, another about music, another about sports, yet another about art, and so on. Half of what I know about computers, I learned from watching the students doing their work.
Often you hear people say that they fear for the future because they see our high school students and think our future leaders will be incompetent idiots. I see our students as the kids that they are. I urge them to reflect on where they’re at maturity-wise, act appropriately for the situation at hand, and keep striving to grow up. I trust that someday they’ll be in a position of responsibility, and they’ll be in good shape to handle it.
In another week, the students return even though I’d like for summer vacation to last until Thanksgiving. Yes, I like my job, but they’re a lot of leisure activities that I like much better. I’m realistic, though, and I know nobody gets a free lunch – except all of the Eagle Pass children. I’ll go back to work with a smile and I’ll go back grateful to have a job that helps keep me young.
Friday, August 14, 2009
This ain't no cover up
In his ongoing campaign to end oppression of women, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who previously suggested a ban on the Islamic burqa, now has proposed a ban on winter, because it also forces women to cover their bodies from head to toe.
“A burqa or a long, hooded coat, mittens, scarf and boots – there’s no difference,” Sarkozy told the Paris Daily. “We shouldn’t be forcing women to hide their identities behind these layers of unalluring clothing.”
Asked how a ban on winter could be effected, Sarkozy said his scientific advisers believe it could occur if humankind continues to increase global warming through excessive pollution and by aggressively cutting down more trees.
Sarkozy’s fashion concerns continue to expand. Most recently, during a meeting with cultural advisers he expressed frustration at surveys showing that fewer French women choose to go topless at the country’s beaches.
Many French activists believe woman can help prove themselves equal to men by wearing only trunks on the beach – the same as men do -- and they would hate to see a turnaround in this sign of progress.
“It’s absolutely unfair and oppressive when women have to cover their breasts and men don’t, not even the fat guys with the double D’s,” Sarkozy said.
Some French citizens see their president as nothing more than a horndog eager to see more female skin exposed in public, but he has a ready answer for such criticism.
“I’m not saying women should, or must be more revealing in their dress,” Sarkozy said. “I’m just saying if they want to do that, then society shouldn’t discourage them from it in any way (wink, wink).”
The French president has even privately discussed legislation to outlaw g-strings at strip clubs.
“All strippers should have the right to undress to total nudity,” he said. “We should not prohibit these women from revealing all the abundance of their natural beauty.”
Concerning the burqa issue that started this whole campaign, supporters initially believed Sarkozy had a sincere concern for women’s rights, but inside sources say his opposition to burqas began following an embarrassing incident at a political rally. Apparently, he made a pass at a burqa-clad woman whom he described as having a “sexy bedroom voice,” then later found out she was an 80-year-old grandmother.
“We men want to play the field, but these frigid Islamic fanatics won’t play by the rules,” Sarkozy allegedly proclaimed to a cabinet member.
“A burqa or a long, hooded coat, mittens, scarf and boots – there’s no difference,” Sarkozy told the Paris Daily. “We shouldn’t be forcing women to hide their identities behind these layers of unalluring clothing.”
Asked how a ban on winter could be effected, Sarkozy said his scientific advisers believe it could occur if humankind continues to increase global warming through excessive pollution and by aggressively cutting down more trees.
Sarkozy’s fashion concerns continue to expand. Most recently, during a meeting with cultural advisers he expressed frustration at surveys showing that fewer French women choose to go topless at the country’s beaches.
Many French activists believe woman can help prove themselves equal to men by wearing only trunks on the beach – the same as men do -- and they would hate to see a turnaround in this sign of progress.
“It’s absolutely unfair and oppressive when women have to cover their breasts and men don’t, not even the fat guys with the double D’s,” Sarkozy said.
Some French citizens see their president as nothing more than a horndog eager to see more female skin exposed in public, but he has a ready answer for such criticism.
“I’m not saying women should, or must be more revealing in their dress,” Sarkozy said. “I’m just saying if they want to do that, then society shouldn’t discourage them from it in any way (wink, wink).”
The French president has even privately discussed legislation to outlaw g-strings at strip clubs.
“All strippers should have the right to undress to total nudity,” he said. “We should not prohibit these women from revealing all the abundance of their natural beauty.”
Concerning the burqa issue that started this whole campaign, supporters initially believed Sarkozy had a sincere concern for women’s rights, but inside sources say his opposition to burqas began following an embarrassing incident at a political rally. Apparently, he made a pass at a burqa-clad woman whom he described as having a “sexy bedroom voice,” then later found out she was an 80-year-old grandmother.
“We men want to play the field, but these frigid Islamic fanatics won’t play by the rules,” Sarkozy allegedly proclaimed to a cabinet member.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
School ratings? Get real!
A while back, a comment to this blog asked if I want to start some kind of crusade. Not at all. I just want to entertain a little and have some fun.
If I were to choose to begin a crusade, though, it would concern the state accountability ratings for Texas schools. These ratings – released just last week for 2009 – give little indication of a school’s actual quality. Our state leaders know this, and it really pisses me off that they don’t push for a more accurate system of evaluation.
Teachers, school personnel and parents of students see first-hand the failings of the accountability ratings. My crusade would be to make sure EVERYONE knows about this fiasco, so that the ratings would be treated with the skepticism given to tabloid gossip instead of accepted like the word of God.
A couple of Eagle Pass ISD examples will make my point. Shortly after it opened as an 11th-12th grade campus, C.C. Winn in one year moved its rating up simply by insisting that students be retained at EPHS unless they had met all of the requirements for promotion to Winn. Winn, overall as a school didn’t change one iota, and its rating improved. What changed? The student body (slightly).
More recently, Liberty Elementary dropped from being exemplary, second best in the state (according to Texas Monthly) blah, blah, blah, to not even being the best or even second best elementary in Eagle Pass. Very little changed there over that time as far as the teaching, curriculum, administration, etc… to sink their high standing. What changed? The students.
At least 90 percent of a school’s rating depends on the quality of the students coming in, the neighborhoods they come from, and their income levels. It’s not fair that after all the TAKS scores get analyzed, the reports all say “Travis High received an unacceptable rating.” This gets into people’s heads as “Travis High is an unacceptable school” when sometimes low performing schools are fine schools with just too many students whose lives are unacceptable.
I would like for the announcements to say, “Travis High students performed unacceptably this year in the areas used to rate their campus.” This would help remind people that the campus ratings rely upon student actions that aren’t totally under their school’s control – that the ratings are more a measure of the quality of the students than a measure of the quality of the school.
School districts, for the most part, are big bureaucratic behemoths where change evolves very slowly over decades. Little changes year to year in the classrooms. Yet the accountability ratings continuously fluctuate. That’s another reason that they are unreliable. If the ratings were trustworthy, how could a school continue doing everything the same and be exemplary one year but recognized the next, failing one year but acceptable the next.
Further, you absolutely can’t compare one year’s rating to another to judge whether a school got better or worse over time. One reason is that TEA each year breaks out the fudge-o-meter to figure out how to make the tests harder without failing an unacceptable number of schools. For example, they might lower the number of questions that a student must get correct or they might change the rules so that more students’ scores can be exempted.
Most recently TEA’s chosen fudge factor was the Texas Projection Measure. After factoring in TPM, the number of schools rated exemplary in Bexar County more than doubled. So, on paper the San Antonio area schools showed an incredible improvement in one year. In reality, they changed very little.
Here’s the Express-News explanation of TPM: “The TPM gives schools credit for students who fail their Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills if the student appears to be on target to pass in the future. It uses a student's current year test scores in several subjects as well as a previous year campus average score to project the student's future test performance.”
The newspaper also made this statement: “Educators are hailing the new tool as a way to give credit for progress over time.”
That’s absolutely untrue, as TPM is much too simplistic to measure “progress over time.” All it does is compare two numbers to assume whether a student will score higher in the future. If the low score’s not far from passing, and the school has done well in general, the school’s rewarded because supposedly the student will pass the next time around. Really, it’s just another example of how “close” can count in things other than just horse shoe pitching and hand grenade tossing.
Instead of predicting future progress, TEA should be examining the student’s actual progress over time. If a student comes into a school two grade levels behind and finishes the year only one grade level behind, then the school should get credit for that in spite of maybe low TAKS scores. Some teacher groups have pushed for this type of system, but too many politicians prefer the current unfair black and white system that says you’re “passing” or “failing” – there’s nothing in between and progress means nothing.
I hope that teachers keep striving for a process that produces ratings close to reality, because we shouldn’t keep punishing acceptable schools for simply having unacceptable students and we shouldn’t keep rewarding average schools simply for their dumb luck of having exemplary students. Again, I’m sure some people know this is happening. Please help spread the word so that EVERYONE knows it is happening.
If I were to choose to begin a crusade, though, it would concern the state accountability ratings for Texas schools. These ratings – released just last week for 2009 – give little indication of a school’s actual quality. Our state leaders know this, and it really pisses me off that they don’t push for a more accurate system of evaluation.
Teachers, school personnel and parents of students see first-hand the failings of the accountability ratings. My crusade would be to make sure EVERYONE knows about this fiasco, so that the ratings would be treated with the skepticism given to tabloid gossip instead of accepted like the word of God.
A couple of Eagle Pass ISD examples will make my point. Shortly after it opened as an 11th-12th grade campus, C.C. Winn in one year moved its rating up simply by insisting that students be retained at EPHS unless they had met all of the requirements for promotion to Winn. Winn, overall as a school didn’t change one iota, and its rating improved. What changed? The student body (slightly).
More recently, Liberty Elementary dropped from being exemplary, second best in the state (according to Texas Monthly) blah, blah, blah, to not even being the best or even second best elementary in Eagle Pass. Very little changed there over that time as far as the teaching, curriculum, administration, etc… to sink their high standing. What changed? The students.
At least 90 percent of a school’s rating depends on the quality of the students coming in, the neighborhoods they come from, and their income levels. It’s not fair that after all the TAKS scores get analyzed, the reports all say “Travis High received an unacceptable rating.” This gets into people’s heads as “Travis High is an unacceptable school” when sometimes low performing schools are fine schools with just too many students whose lives are unacceptable.
I would like for the announcements to say, “Travis High students performed unacceptably this year in the areas used to rate their campus.” This would help remind people that the campus ratings rely upon student actions that aren’t totally under their school’s control – that the ratings are more a measure of the quality of the students than a measure of the quality of the school.
School districts, for the most part, are big bureaucratic behemoths where change evolves very slowly over decades. Little changes year to year in the classrooms. Yet the accountability ratings continuously fluctuate. That’s another reason that they are unreliable. If the ratings were trustworthy, how could a school continue doing everything the same and be exemplary one year but recognized the next, failing one year but acceptable the next.
Further, you absolutely can’t compare one year’s rating to another to judge whether a school got better or worse over time. One reason is that TEA each year breaks out the fudge-o-meter to figure out how to make the tests harder without failing an unacceptable number of schools. For example, they might lower the number of questions that a student must get correct or they might change the rules so that more students’ scores can be exempted.
Most recently TEA’s chosen fudge factor was the Texas Projection Measure. After factoring in TPM, the number of schools rated exemplary in Bexar County more than doubled. So, on paper the San Antonio area schools showed an incredible improvement in one year. In reality, they changed very little.
Here’s the Express-News explanation of TPM: “The TPM gives schools credit for students who fail their Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills if the student appears to be on target to pass in the future. It uses a student's current year test scores in several subjects as well as a previous year campus average score to project the student's future test performance.”
The newspaper also made this statement: “Educators are hailing the new tool as a way to give credit for progress over time.”
That’s absolutely untrue, as TPM is much too simplistic to measure “progress over time.” All it does is compare two numbers to assume whether a student will score higher in the future. If the low score’s not far from passing, and the school has done well in general, the school’s rewarded because supposedly the student will pass the next time around. Really, it’s just another example of how “close” can count in things other than just horse shoe pitching and hand grenade tossing.
Instead of predicting future progress, TEA should be examining the student’s actual progress over time. If a student comes into a school two grade levels behind and finishes the year only one grade level behind, then the school should get credit for that in spite of maybe low TAKS scores. Some teacher groups have pushed for this type of system, but too many politicians prefer the current unfair black and white system that says you’re “passing” or “failing” – there’s nothing in between and progress means nothing.
I hope that teachers keep striving for a process that produces ratings close to reality, because we shouldn’t keep punishing acceptable schools for simply having unacceptable students and we shouldn’t keep rewarding average schools simply for their dumb luck of having exemplary students. Again, I’m sure some people know this is happening. Please help spread the word so that EVERYONE knows it is happening.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
No news is bad news
This is hard to admit, but I miss the News-Guide. I’m not talking about the more recent post-Al Kinsall, post-Rex McBeath, post-Emma Perez Trevino News-Guide that’s pure press releases and ads. The current No-News Guide, as I call it, isn’t worth the effort it takes to carry it out of the store.
I miss the old watchdog News Guide that every dedicated Eagle Passan read faithfully and loved to hate. As none of the other media in town can be trusted to rake our public officials over the coals for misdeeds big and small, I think our city has lost a vital service that helped voters place the most qualified people in our public positions.
In thinking through this blog entry, though, I remembered a lot more things I don’t miss about the Guide than things I do miss. The things I don’t miss are easier to pinpoint and quicker to explain, so I’ll just go through them first.
I don’t miss:
*The 5,000-word play-by-play accounts of the varsity football games published a week after the fact. When mostly all I wanted to know was how the points were scored, it frustrated the hell out of me to have to wade through lengthy verbiage like this – Garza opened the game with a 5-yard-run up the middle. Ramirez then went around the right for 3 yards before Santos threw incomplete toward Trevino, forcing Hernandez to come in and punt for the Eagles.
*The 18th century-style design and graphics. While there’s something to be said for tradition, c’mon, most people believe in updates or makeovers now and then.
*The front page editorials that simple good reporting would have rendered unnecessary.
*The lame quotes from the old “Eagle Watcher” – the only person ever quoted in the whole damn publication.
*The ink-stained fingers you would get in the five minutes it took to browse through it.
*The illogical placement of articles, such as some that would start for example on page 6, be continued on page 4, and continue even more on page 3.
*The almost weekly letters from a certain high school teacher spouting philosophical drivel, who for a while looked like a wannabe professional columnist.
*Al’s tired 20-year use of the scud missile metaphor for a long basketball shot. I mean shouldn’t he have been able to find a replacement description from the 3 wars that passed after he originated that idea.
So, if the old News-Guide so totally sucked, why do I miss it?
I do miss:
*The stupid humor the staff members, sometimes directed toward each other, such as the time a headline read something like this: “Another wordy historical account disguised as a news story by Al Kinsall.”
*Spending 50 cents each Thursday and taking the gamble that it might not be worth it. Sometimes the risk paid off with some worthwhile or at least entertaining information. Sometimes I would have been better off just throwing the 50 cents in the trash.
*Intelligent letters from people in the know who helped reveal misdeeds that the Guide’s investigative reporter couldn’t uncover because such a reporter didn’t exist.
*Being aware of the constant shenanigans being pulled by the sheriff and the staff at the Maverick County Jail.
*The Editor’s rambling but entertaining responses to letters-to-the-editor. All other papers let the readers have the last word unless there’s a factual error that needs to be corrected in a letter-to-the-editor. So, these responses were totally unprofessional, but expected, since nothing else about the paper was ever very professional.
Every city needs at least one media outlet that’s willing to stick its neck out and criticize the people in charge when they behave corruptly or stupidly. Though it was far from perfect, for a long time the News-Guide did that job better than anyone else around here.
I wish the little rag had modernized and progressed through the years instead of becoming a dilapidated shell of its former self. The old News-Guide is gone. It probably isn’t ever coming back. And I miss it.
I miss the old watchdog News Guide that every dedicated Eagle Passan read faithfully and loved to hate. As none of the other media in town can be trusted to rake our public officials over the coals for misdeeds big and small, I think our city has lost a vital service that helped voters place the most qualified people in our public positions.
In thinking through this blog entry, though, I remembered a lot more things I don’t miss about the Guide than things I do miss. The things I don’t miss are easier to pinpoint and quicker to explain, so I’ll just go through them first.
I don’t miss:
*The 5,000-word play-by-play accounts of the varsity football games published a week after the fact. When mostly all I wanted to know was how the points were scored, it frustrated the hell out of me to have to wade through lengthy verbiage like this – Garza opened the game with a 5-yard-run up the middle. Ramirez then went around the right for 3 yards before Santos threw incomplete toward Trevino, forcing Hernandez to come in and punt for the Eagles.
*The 18th century-style design and graphics. While there’s something to be said for tradition, c’mon, most people believe in updates or makeovers now and then.
*The front page editorials that simple good reporting would have rendered unnecessary.
*The lame quotes from the old “Eagle Watcher” – the only person ever quoted in the whole damn publication.
*The ink-stained fingers you would get in the five minutes it took to browse through it.
*The illogical placement of articles, such as some that would start for example on page 6, be continued on page 4, and continue even more on page 3.
*The almost weekly letters from a certain high school teacher spouting philosophical drivel, who for a while looked like a wannabe professional columnist.
*Al’s tired 20-year use of the scud missile metaphor for a long basketball shot. I mean shouldn’t he have been able to find a replacement description from the 3 wars that passed after he originated that idea.
So, if the old News-Guide so totally sucked, why do I miss it?
I do miss:
*The stupid humor the staff members, sometimes directed toward each other, such as the time a headline read something like this: “Another wordy historical account disguised as a news story by Al Kinsall.”
*Spending 50 cents each Thursday and taking the gamble that it might not be worth it. Sometimes the risk paid off with some worthwhile or at least entertaining information. Sometimes I would have been better off just throwing the 50 cents in the trash.
*Intelligent letters from people in the know who helped reveal misdeeds that the Guide’s investigative reporter couldn’t uncover because such a reporter didn’t exist.
*Being aware of the constant shenanigans being pulled by the sheriff and the staff at the Maverick County Jail.
*The Editor’s rambling but entertaining responses to letters-to-the-editor. All other papers let the readers have the last word unless there’s a factual error that needs to be corrected in a letter-to-the-editor. So, these responses were totally unprofessional, but expected, since nothing else about the paper was ever very professional.
Every city needs at least one media outlet that’s willing to stick its neck out and criticize the people in charge when they behave corruptly or stupidly. Though it was far from perfect, for a long time the News-Guide did that job better than anyone else around here.
I wish the little rag had modernized and progressed through the years instead of becoming a dilapidated shell of its former self. The old News-Guide is gone. It probably isn’t ever coming back. And I miss it.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Face it: Only winners get trophy wives
All guys early in puberty actually expect some day to date the head cheerleader, the homecoming queen or another campus beauty with huge boobs and a wonderful ass. Most guys let go of this dream rather quickly and learn to set their sites more realistically. For some guys, this transformation takes longer. For 49-year-old George Sodini the realization never came to him that not every guy hooks up with a Playboy playmate.
Sodini, lamenting that the women looked like goddesses and apparently angry that none of these beauties would give him some, shot up a health club this week, killing three women and wounding 15 others before taking his own life.
After 19 years of failure with women, Sodini still held onto his unrealistic dreams of latching onto a hottie. On his absolutely pathetic blog, he wrote about wanting to date women 10 to 20 years younger, and he devoutly followed the author of the book “How to Date Young Women.”
Desperate as he was for some action, Sodini should have turned his attention the other direction – to women older than him. If he had kept up at all with the trends, he would have made himself cougar bait, or as they used to say, he could have been a boy toy for an older woman wanting a young stud.
By the way, I have my own book about how to date younger women. Here’s an outline of the four best bets: A) become a multimillionaire B) be a governor, the president, or a congressman C) be a rock star, movie star or professional athlete D) start your own religion in which you claim to be the messiah and it’s every female’s duty to have sex with you – aka David Koresh and Warren Jeffs.
Even old farts who can accomplish A, B or C have harems of girls as young as jail bait. Option D, while effective, requires some rather rare psychological traits and often leads toward legal troubles. Since all those options are out of reach for most men or are guaranteed to end in disaster, I have some more advice aimed toward Average Joe: take what you can get.
In high school, Sodini was probably the dork who haplessly hit on the cheerleaders while ignoring the overtures of the debate team geek sitting behind him in advanced physics. I think he never figured out that he could have done ok chasing attainable girls and that every girl or woman (whatever her age) has the potential to be pretty.
Even if Sodini had eventually found a pinup queen, you know what would have happened next. He would have been an insecure, over jealous creep who monitored all of her phone calls and never let her out of his sight. He would have been so afraid of losing her that he would be unbearably controlling and his smothering attention would eventually force her to leave.
Then he would have shot her so no one else could have her. Then he would have shot himself, holding onto the insane illusion that that action would teach the world some kind of lesson about how badly everyone treated him.
I suspect Sodini made a huge mistake throughout his life: he kept looking for girlfriends without first making sure that he had a few guy friends. Guy friends could have looked at him objectively, aimed him toward females suitable for him and pointed out some possibilities that he hadn’t noticed. Friends would have let it be known to him the absurdity of that 10-to20-years-younger goal. Friends would have let him know that his life had worth even without a supermodel (or even any woman) by his side.
Sodini was no different from other murderous gunmen. He was a loner overwhelmed with an ongoing frustration with nobody there to help him deal with it. I don’t know why he never learned the social skills necessary to make it through life. I do know more than ever that we need to act upon the usually available warning signs before these loners who don’t have anything to live for kill more innocent people who do.
Sodini, lamenting that the women looked like goddesses and apparently angry that none of these beauties would give him some, shot up a health club this week, killing three women and wounding 15 others before taking his own life.
After 19 years of failure with women, Sodini still held onto his unrealistic dreams of latching onto a hottie. On his absolutely pathetic blog, he wrote about wanting to date women 10 to 20 years younger, and he devoutly followed the author of the book “How to Date Young Women.”
Desperate as he was for some action, Sodini should have turned his attention the other direction – to women older than him. If he had kept up at all with the trends, he would have made himself cougar bait, or as they used to say, he could have been a boy toy for an older woman wanting a young stud.
By the way, I have my own book about how to date younger women. Here’s an outline of the four best bets: A) become a multimillionaire B) be a governor, the president, or a congressman C) be a rock star, movie star or professional athlete D) start your own religion in which you claim to be the messiah and it’s every female’s duty to have sex with you – aka David Koresh and Warren Jeffs.
Even old farts who can accomplish A, B or C have harems of girls as young as jail bait. Option D, while effective, requires some rather rare psychological traits and often leads toward legal troubles. Since all those options are out of reach for most men or are guaranteed to end in disaster, I have some more advice aimed toward Average Joe: take what you can get.
In high school, Sodini was probably the dork who haplessly hit on the cheerleaders while ignoring the overtures of the debate team geek sitting behind him in advanced physics. I think he never figured out that he could have done ok chasing attainable girls and that every girl or woman (whatever her age) has the potential to be pretty.
Even if Sodini had eventually found a pinup queen, you know what would have happened next. He would have been an insecure, over jealous creep who monitored all of her phone calls and never let her out of his sight. He would have been so afraid of losing her that he would be unbearably controlling and his smothering attention would eventually force her to leave.
Then he would have shot her so no one else could have her. Then he would have shot himself, holding onto the insane illusion that that action would teach the world some kind of lesson about how badly everyone treated him.
I suspect Sodini made a huge mistake throughout his life: he kept looking for girlfriends without first making sure that he had a few guy friends. Guy friends could have looked at him objectively, aimed him toward females suitable for him and pointed out some possibilities that he hadn’t noticed. Friends would have let it be known to him the absurdity of that 10-to20-years-younger goal. Friends would have let him know that his life had worth even without a supermodel (or even any woman) by his side.
Sodini was no different from other murderous gunmen. He was a loner overwhelmed with an ongoing frustration with nobody there to help him deal with it. I don’t know why he never learned the social skills necessary to make it through life. I do know more than ever that we need to act upon the usually available warning signs before these loners who don’t have anything to live for kill more innocent people who do.
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