SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Quality Review; Part 1

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Quality Review; Part 1

Time to share the quality review with the world. This will be done in several parts over the next few days with comments added in red. Please share any interpretations or comments that you have. Just in case anyone cares, Best Friend Forever Yolanda Torres prepared the report. Yes, BFF Yolanda Torres reviewed her bestest friend in the whole wide world's school. The objectivity is mind blowing!

Information about the school
Public School XXX is an elementary school with 525
students from pre-kindergarten through grade 5. The school population comprises 35%
Black, 63% Hispanic, 0.6% White, and 0.2% Asian students. The student body includes
17% English language learners and 20% special education students. Boys account for
57% of the students enrolled and girls account for 43%. The average attendance rate
for the school year 2007 - 2008 was 92.1%. The school is in receipt of Title 1 funding
with 98% eligibility.


Part 1 The School Context

Overall Evaluation

This school is underdeveloped with proficient features.
Well, duh, what do you know?
Students like their teachers, value their support and feel cared for in the environment of
Public School XXX. This is true. The respect and admiration back and forth between teachers and students in this school is awesome. The newly appointed principal is an experienced educator so experienced Dear Principal John Deacon was forced out of the superintendency of District 8 last year. One would think it is impossible to screw up such a cushy position. That is until BFF Yolanda Torres came by who values the empowerment of teachers. Yeah, right, sure. This line was the biggest crock of Sh** in this report until... She has put in place an open-door policy so teachers can voice their opinions and concerns to the administration.....this line. The only open door policy is the front door which we have been told is open for us to leave, and Dear Principal John Deacon's flunkies and sycophants to enter. Although this is away to bridge the lines of communication there is no communication at all! Dear Principal John Deacon acts like a crime boss having its capos do the talking and decision making. between the administration and teachers, there is currently a sense of uneasiness amongst teachers on its effect. There is no uneasiness. It is called distrustfullness. BFF Yolanda Torres do you get it yet? No one, students, parents, teachers, the cockroaches trusts Dear Principal John Deacon!
The school uses a variety of data to maintain records of all student progress. Student
assessment binders with their work in different subjects are evident in classrooms. It is
unclear how the work in these binders aligns with student goals, teacher planning and
data analysis to help students progress. This comes from a lack of leadership. A school needs great leaders as well. We have great teachers, but most of the leaders are lacking big time!
Teachers provide the administration with monthly data on student progress in English
language arts and math and together they hold one-on-one meetings to discuss the
information the data provides. Teachers have an idea of the needs of the students but
do not address these individual needs in the planning and delivery of differentiated
lessons. Trust me BFF Yolanda Torres it happens. Core subject teachers do not yet receive the data in order to address students’ individual needs for interconnectedness. That is because cluster teachers are non-persons according to Dear Principal John Deacon.
The school’s self-evaluation indicates that the expectation is for 90% of teachers to be
involved in the inquiry process. In addition to the inquiry core team, each grade has its
own inquiry team with a target population to focus on. Unfortunately, the inquiry core
team lacks direction and a “granular” focus of the learning targets and specific strategies
to be experimented with the target population. This team lacks voice and a clear
understanding of what is necessary within the inquiry process. Think. Who was leading the inquiry team? Yes, Numb Nuts. The same Numb Nuts that was told to shut up in the meeting when you came to do the QR! Numb Nuts has zero curriculum, education skills. Have you realized this yet? Consequently, they make insufficient use of data analysis and accountability tools to inform their decision making practice on student academic performance.Again, this falls back in the lap of Numb Nuts, and subsequently, Dear Principal John Deacon.
Staff, students, and parents acknowledge that communication is important.True. Very true.
Nonetheless, the communication amongst these constituents lacks clarity and
congruency.But ultimately, the school is a reflection of it Fuhrer, oops, Dear Principal John Deacon. It does not believe in communication. Or openness. Or accountability. The lack of clarity around school-wide academic expectations and established short-term checkpoints has created different levels of understanding on the development of student individualized learning plans. As a result, students are unable to articulate in-depth their individual learning goals and how to reach them.But ultimately, the school is a reflection of its Fuhrer, oops, Dear Principal John Deacon. It does not believe in communication. Or openness. Or accountability. Yeah, a repeat, but true.


Tomorrow, Part 2.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

u guys need some photos