Charter School Teachers

The percent of teachers licenced in their teaching assignment in Massachusetts is 94.4%. In the North Adams School District, the number is 85.8%. At our local Charter School, the percent of teachers licenced in their teaching assignment is 31.4%.

The percent of teachers "highly qualified" in Massachusetts is 93.8%. In the North Adams School District, the number is 89.8%. At our local Charter School, the percent of "highly qualified" teachers is 50.0%.

Does this seem okay to you?

(Source: Massachusetts Department of Education)

The Middle School Model vs The K-8 Model

What do you think about the Middle School model? Is the K-8 model better? With all the changes they're going through at this age, are kids better off moving on to a middle school or staying in a K-8? What do you think?

Your Views on the Extended School Day

The Extended School Day proposal is still out there and will likely be back for consideration in the North Adams School District soon. Where do you stand on extending the school day? Elementary School, Middle School, High School? If you're in favor of it, what would like to see added or changed to what we're doing now for the kids? Longer time devoted to core studies? More physical education? More time for recess and lunch? A change in the way we teach - quality instruction time - more applied learning, less lecturing at a blackboard - small group instruction? Do we include kindergarten in an extended day? And what about the teachers? More professional development, more planning time? Do you think 6 hours a day, 180 days a year is enough time (the current mandate)? Be part of the conversation.

5th Year in A Row for Drury Aca Deca!

The Drury High School Academic Decathlon "A" team advanced to the State Competition by getting top scores in the Regional Competition at Pittsfield High School this past weekend. The regional competition (a national event)includes schools in the Central & South Berkshires and all of Western Massachusetts. During the daylong event, each team tries to score the most points on a series of 10 categories: art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science and speech.

The two highest scoring teams qualify for the state competition, and this is the 5th straight year that Drury has achieved this. My son & daughter both took part in two previous Academic Decathlon wins. It's a big deal for Drury and North Adams to come out on top at an event that measures academic performance against that of other school districts.

Congratulations to the Drury students who once again showed that a quality school education is available to all who put in the effort in the North Adams School District.

Attorney Raises Questions

In a letter to the Editor of the Transcript, Attorney Richard Taskin questioned the legality of the police lockdown done at Drury High School. My guess would be that he has been hired to represent one of the students that were allegedly in possession of drugs or alcohol.

Would he prefer that drug possession and alcohol possession in the schools be ignored? I am sure there were stresses and anxiety that were felt by students and teachers during the lockdown. Seems to me to be a small price to pay for a drug-free, alcohol-free school environment. To my understanding the lockdown was done by the book. Much preparation went into it, and a very thorough, detailed plan was put in place.

I applaud the pro-active stance that the administration of the North Adams School District took in the undertaking of this lockdown. I would support it being done again – if and when it is deemed necessary by the school district administration.

An Endorsement for Governor Based on Education Views

Deval Patrick wants to extend the school day, reduce class sizes, and raise teacher pay. He promises free, full-time kindergarton for all 5-year olds and an expansion of early education programs for 3 and 4 year olds. He proposes a new funding formula for charter schools so that regular public schools are not disadvantaged.

Lt. Governor Kerry Healy proposes raising the mandatory school attendance age from 16 to 18 to address dropout rates. She wants students to be tested at the beginning and end of every school year to better measure performance. She would lift the cap on charter schools.

I endorse Deval Patrick for Governor. His views on the extended school day, early childhood education and charter schools are the same as mine.

I do support Lt Governor Healey's view on raising the mandatory school age from 16 to 18, but I strongly disagree with her views on adding additional layers of assessments on an already over-tested student. Her strong support of charter schools is something I can't come close to agreeing with.

First in the State

The Berkshire Wireless Initiative is alive and well in the North Adams School District. With distribution of more laptops to the 6th and 7th graders by the end of December, Conte Middle School will be the first school in the state to have a computer in the hands of every student. This, along with the very important increased professional development for the teachers to better integrate the use of laptops into the classroom, and with a top-notch director of technology in Matthew Mervis to expertly guide the full implementation of this initiative, spells great hopes for the current and future education of the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students in North Adams. And if the initiative proves its worth in the middle school, as I believe it will, the school committee and the district administration will likely pursue expanding the usage of laptops in other grades.

The major advantage to laptops, in my mind, is that it increases the level of interest in the student's learning. Anything that can get the kids to want to learn is a good thing. Apple has done a great job of linking the laptop curriculum to the state frameworks. The potential is unlimited, but it has to be supported by strong professsional development for its implementation.

D.O.E. Commissioner Resigning in 2007

Department of Education Commissioner David Driscoll announced that he will be retiring on August 31, 2007. As the man who "shepherded" the MCAS through lawsuits, accusations of discrimination, and considerable criticism by many, he stated in his retirement announcement that "testing is beginning to take too much time out of the school day, and more work must be done to reduce the fear surrounding MCAS." He adds, "There's been too much focus on testing". This, at the same time that he successfully pushed forward a plan to raise the bar on passing the MCAS for the class of 2010. The passing grade remains at 220, but if you score below a 240, you will have to meet a whole regimen of additional assessments to qualify for high school graduation:

• score "proficient" (score of 220) or higher on the Grade 10 ELA and Math exams
  
• maintain at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average in grades 11 and 12
  
• pass an Algebra II test that will be identified by the Department of Education
  
• demonstrate proficiency in writing through an assessment that will be identified by the Department of Education
  
• either complete a high school curriculum designed to prepare students for college and career readiness -or earn a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency
  

If these regulations went into effect this year, over 40% of the 10th-grade students statewide would need to meet these additional requirements.

What am I missing here? How does this reduce the time concerns and the fear concerns surrounding MCAS that the Commissioner is concerned about?

Comment Moderation Has Been Turned Off

I've decided to turn off the blocking option on posted comments. However, the standards above still apply. Profanity, immaturity and personal attacks are not welcome here. Show some respect and join the conversation.

Drury Lock-Down

On Friday, October 27, Drury High School was "locked down" for a safety sweep of the school. At no time was there any threat made directly or indirectly to the school or any student or staff at Drury. Students were informed that it was another measure to survey the school in an effort to provide a safe, orderly learning environment for teaching and learning. It should serve as a message to the students that the North Adams School District has a zero tolerance policy regarding drugs and alcohol. As a member of the school committee and as a parent, I'm glad to see this happen and I appreciate the well-organized fashion in which the lock-down and sweep of the school was carried out. Students, staff and administration all handled the lock-down procedures very well. I think students can expect to see more of this in the future.

The Extended School Day

Contrary to some media reports, the North Adams School Committee and the administration of the North Adams School District continues their interest in the extended school day initiative. The North Adams Teachers Association has recently communicated the same interest. At some point, within the next few weeks or months, there is reason to believe that the collective bargaining negotiations on this between the teachers association and the school committee will go forward. This time around, we have the option to begin the extended school day initiative in the 2007-08 school year or the 2008-09 school year. The extended length of time requirement over the current schedule has been reduced from 30% more time (as required initially) to 25%. Our going forward with all this remains dependent on a collective bargaining agreement with NATA and on receiving the funding from the state for the initiative. There’s been much said about the extended school day in the media and elsewhere over the past few months. You may have views, ideas, concerns, or questions on the extended school day. Would appreciate you sharing them here.

A Clarification

Posts to this site are open to everyone, including anonymous ones. You do not need to identify yourself (although I’d prefer you would) – just select “Other” or “Anonymous” when posting. The only posts that will be blocked are ones that contain profanity, immature comments and/or personal attacks on any individuals. Just show some respect, that’s all I’m asking for. Posts of opposing views to mine will not be blocked. Being that I am moderating the comments, there may be a significant delay in seeing your posts on the site, as I am away frequently due to family doings, work and various committee meetings. My apologies in advance for that. I will be out-of-town Sunday, Oct 22 through Tuesday, Oct 24, so any postings during that time will not be seen on the site until Wednesday. But please don’t just sit “in the weeds” – your opinions on our kids’ education are just as important as anyone else’s. Join the conversation!

Tough Times!

Kids are going through tough times these days! We thought we had it hard when we were in school, but kids today are going through all sorts of stresses we never dreamed about when we were in their shoes. Incredible school safety concerns, No Child Left Behind mandates, MCAS, multiple assessment tests, non-supportive home/parent environments (for some), stressed out teachers and administrators trying to keep their focus on educating the “whole child” while trying to keep their schools from being labeled “underperforming”. Then after the kids get through the local school challenges, they get the opportunity for a college education that will likely leave them with huge loans after they graduate. These are all extreme challenges for the kids, and they deserve our support, encouragement and congratulations for succeeding in spite of it all. The teachers and the school administrators will tell you that one of the biggest challenges they face is the non-supportive and/or very low-income environments many of the kids are coming from. There’s only just so much the school system can do – there is nothing more important than the full support and encouragement from the parent(s). What do you think about this? And how can we get the parents more involved with their children’s education?

Welcome!

The intent of this is to be a forum for healthy, constructive discussion on any issues regarding the education of our kids in the North Adams School District. If this turns into unhealthy, unconstructive discussion, then this forum will be shortlived. Remember that it's all about the kids.