ok, help me with this. You are going to come up with a plan to address the issue….but some of these schools have failed for 4 years in a row!!!

What the heck was the old plan and why do they always have a plan that will soon be implemented?

We don’t need another education PLAN …….we need to EDUCATE!

Valdosta falls short of AYP

By JOHNNA PINHOLSTER

August 06, 2008 09:39 pm

VALDOSTA — Five of the nine schools within the Valdosta City School System failed to make AYP this year.

Valdosta High, Valdosta Middle, Newbern Middle, Southeast Elementary and J.L. Lomax Elementary schools all failed to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress standards that were released in late August.

Superintendent Dr. Bill Cason said he is not happy with the system’s results.

“We can do much better and we should do much better,” Cason said. “We are going to increase our focus on all the things that determine how we make AYP.”

While some of the failing scores can be accredited to the special population of students, that is not the only reason the system did not meet AYP, Cason said.

Attendance, graduation rates and math scores were also key factors and the sub-par scores.

Students with disabilities scored 31.7 percent overall while the economic disadvantaged sections for the CRCT math section of the AYP standards scored 55 percent. Both were below the 59.5 percent meets or exceeds rate.

For the math section of the Georgia High School Graduation Test the score for all students was 63.6 percent well below the 74.9 percent meets or exceeds bar.

“Five schools that did not make AYP this year is unacceptable,” Cason said. “We will be taking a stronger look at a lot of areas across the board academically.”

The process for improving the scores began earlier this summer, but the process will not be something that changes overnight, he said.
A balance score card will be implemented at all the schools that will help gauge the strengths and weakness in all academic areas.

“With this we will be able to identify individual needs of each student and provide concentrated help where it is needed most,” Cason said. “I firmly believe you have to accept the fact that you do have a problem and then find a way to fix it.”

The system will make improvement plans for all schools with input from both administrators and teachers but heavy focus will be on those that failed, Gayle Golden Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning said.

This was the first year J.L. Lomax has been placed in the needs improvement category, while Valdosta Middle School and Valdosta High School are in their second year of missing AYP.

Newbern Middle and Southeast Elementary are in their fourth year of missing AYP, Golden said.

Scores for all schools in Georgia can be found at http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2008/search.asp.

Wow, talk about dumb ideas…….

Ga. education officials looking at cutting $171M

Associated Press
Published on: 08/11/08

The Georgia Department of Education is trying to hammer out how to slash up to $171 million from the state’s K-12 budget.

The state school board is expected to take up the issue during its monthly meeting Wednesday and Thursday. Gov. Sonny Perdue announced the cuts Aug. 1 as part of a statewide strategy to deal with an expected $1.6 billion shortfall this fiscal year.

Other state departments are being cut 6 percent. The state also is withholding $428 million in homeowner tax cuts planned for this year to make ends meet.

State officials have said tax revenues are down nearly 1 percent for the fiscal year, which began July 1. That’s after a year of lagging revenues that forced Perdue to use $600 million in

From the Jacksonville Paper

Effective school boards don’t just happen, experts say

By Walter C. Jones,
The Times-Union

ATLANTA – The fact that a fifth of all local school boards have run into serious enough problems that their accreditation was endangered in the last 10 years demonstrates how dysfunctional governing boards can be.

And the problems could apply to any governing body, from a city council, airport commission or coliseum authority, to even legislative bodies.

A task force – appointed by the State Board of Education with the encouragement of business groups – has until September to come up with recommendations for improving the operation of local boards of education. Another group in Augusta is tackling a similar problem in trying to determine how to create an effective panel to oversee management of its Coliseum Authority.

Their findings could apply to other instances.

Until 1992 when the constitution changed, grand juries named the members of local school boards, and voters picked the local superintendent. Now, board members are elected, and they hire the superintendent.

That change was significant, according to attorney Phil Hartley, whose Gainesville firm represents 120 of the 181 Georgia school districts. For one thing, school boards only used to concern themselves with finances. Now, candidates run with the intention of making substantive changes in how schools operate.

Concerns with operational details, though, lead to one pitfall many boards stumble into, namely meddling, warns Mark Elgart, president of AdvancED, the parent organization of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

SACS grants accreditation after sending teams of educators to evaluate each local district. Meddling is one of their most frequent complaints.

Of course, these evaluators are teachers and principals from other districts who wouldn’t want intensive input from their own boards. But it’s not just their bias. As Elgart says, can you imagine a member of The Home Depot’s board dropping by a store and instructing a clerk to stack the 2-by-4s in another aisle from where the manager specified?

That’s the kind of interference he says his evaluators discovered in board after board. Elgart attributes part of it to the change to elected board members.

“Since that time, I don’t think that is coincidence,” he said.

He points to two trends that have emerged. First, the post has become viewed as a political stepping stone for some with higher ambitions. Second, many members of boards in big districts that provide pay and benefits see the position as employment.

When confronted about his contributions to a dysfunctional board, “one board member told me, ‘find me another job, and I’ll move on,’ ” Elgart recounted. Besides, what kind of worker can you attract for the amount that board members take home, he asks.

Elgart is equally critical of board members who have no connection to the organization they serve, but who may only be looking to cut spending to hold taxes down or push some other narrow agenda.

The first challenge is getting good people to run, he said, adding he doesn’t favor returning to appointed board members. Presumably, voters will be able to select the best candidate if solid, volunteer-oriented people put their names on the ballot.

Current law specifies few qualifications beyond the requirement for 12 hours of training upon election and six hours of continuing training annually. However, board members who don’t get their training face no consequences.

Now, the education task force intends to concoct a better recipe for a good board.

Elgart has a few suggestions, such as no low-turnout special elections, no partisan labels and no meddling.

Professionalism, vision and ethics would be desirable but harder to attain, Hartley said.

“Some of that is very difficult to mandate in statue,” he said.

However, he would demand boards do strategic planning, calling it one thing he’s found in common among the best school boards he’s worked with. Such a plan would have specific objectives that voters could judge board members by when re-election time rolls around.

It’s not just government boards that break down. Federal regulators and Congress enacted new strictures for corporate boards following the collapse of Enron, and the business people on the task force are likely to borrow some ideas.

Phil Jacobs, who retired as AT&T’s top executive in Georgia, has served on 20 corporate and volunteer boards, including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. He’s co-chairing the task force along with John Rice, vice chairman of GE, and Gary Price, managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, two men who are on pace to serve on the same number of boards as Jacobs did by the time they retire.

Their results are due in three months, in time to be crafted into legislation by the two lawmakers on the task force, the chairmen of the House and Senate education committees, but too late for this year’s elections.

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Local parents here are hearing bad numbers and that a lot of students are going to be in summer school this year.

Statewide 40% of eight graders are being held back because of math? Only 20- 30% of students passed social studies?

Our schools are not failing, they have failed.

Students miss mark on key test
Failure rates for CRCT prompt state response

By Laura Diamond
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/20/08

Georgia public school leaders were so shocked by dismal scores on state math and social studies tests, the state superintendent released a statement Monday to prepare parents and others for the results.

According to the unofficial results, only 20 to 30 percent of Georgia’s sixth- and seventh-graders passed the state social studies exam. In math, about 40 percent of eighth-graders could be held back because they failed the test.

The state will release official scores from the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests next month.

Parents whose children failed the math test will be notified by local schools. The state requires eighth-graders to pass the reading and math exams to move to high school.

Students who failed math exams —- as well as those who might have failed reading —- can retake the exam this summer. Schools will provide optional free classes to get them ready. Students who failed the social studies exam don’t face any consequences under Georgia law.

State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said test scores in both subjects dropped because students took harder tests to match the state’s tougher and more rigorous curriculum.

“When you raise standards and expectations, it is not unusual to see a temporary dip in the percent of students who are meeting those expectations,” Cox wrote in a statement released Monday afternoon. “We have seen this in other grades and other areas of the curriculum.”

Cox was puzzled by the drastic drop in social studies, calling it “cause for concern.” Last year, about 83 percent of the sixth-graders passed the social studies test, as did about 86 percent of the seventh-graders, according to state figures.

She wondered whether the new social studies standards were clear and if some of the detailed test questions caught students off guard. Cox will ask a group of teachers and curriculum specialists to determine what may have happened.

“We have to do better with this,” Cox said.

Changes could be made to the test and to the material teachers teach, said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the state education department.

Parent Stephanie Kratofil said her daughter described the seventh-grade exams as some of the hardest tests she’s ever taken. The straight-A student told her mother the social studies exam included material never taught in class.

“There’s got to be something wrong with that test,” Kratofil said. “This is showing some horrible numbers for the state. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

While a failed math test carries more consequences than the social studies test, state education leaders had predicted only about 60 percent of students would pass the tougher exam, Tofig said. About 81 percent of eighth-graders passed the math CRCT last year.

Cox described the decline as a “temporary dip” because of the higher expectations placed on all students. This year every eighth-grader took algebra, while before only a small number took the class in middle school, she said.

The math scores are used to determine whether schools meet the testing goals required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Schools that fail face increasingly severe sanctions, up to a possible takeover by the state.

Cox previously said she expected more middle schools to miss testing goals this year because of math scores. A report showing specifically how many middle schools missed the mark will be released in July.

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The orignal story from the VDT concerning the “Hot List” in March 2008.

Hot List’ draws heat

By Rabyn Ratliff

VALDOSTA- Parents of Valdosta High School students may or may not have heard about a list that was floating around the school, but the Hot List, as it was titled, is creating quite a bit of heat in the local community.
Earlier this week, one of the lists, which contained the names of 100 high school students, found its way to The Times office. In what appeared to be a copy of an E-mail, an opening paragraph, which was confirmed to have been written by VHS Principal Brett Stanton, gave insight into the purpose of the Hot List It is written as follows:
Please be advised of the following Hot List of students at VHS that have been identified as behavior problems and/or non-performers in the classroom. These non-performers have been identified due to a lack of participation and personal accountability in the classroom setting.
It continued: My goal is to work with the other administrators, Dr. Cason and Mr. Dunn to get more of these students into a different environment (i.e. PLC, Alternative School, night school, GED or the Real World) since they have shown an inability to be
successful at VHS.
The arrival of the list at The Times office was of course followed by calls from community parents and other individuals, who had somehow gotten a copy as well, although it was originally intended to be an in-house memo.
Initially, a returned call from Principal Stanton Wednesday evening around 7 p.m., ended with the understanding that an interview regarding the matter would follow on Thursday, providing him time to think over questions that were asked. That interview never happened, however, and a call on Thursday from Valdosta Public Relations Director Jennifer Steedley gave little insight as to why.
I regret to tell you this, but Principal Stanton has decided that at this time, he has no comment, Steedley said by phone.
A follow up call to the school was likewise unsuccessful, as his secretary said, He is unavailable.
It was confirmed however, that Principal Stanton did write the letter, after speaking with newly elected Superintendent Dr. Bill Cason.
The list was developed at the high school by Mr. Stanton in seeking to ID problem children inside the classroom, Cason said. I think his intentions were good to begin with and still are. However, there was some wording in the letter that offended some parents. It upset a number of people because of the way it was worded.
Having been contacted by a number of parents and community individuals, Dr. Cason referred to a particular phrase in the opening portion of the E-mail that has created the greatest concern.
The most offensive phrase was, put the children out into the real world, which made it appear that it was an attempt to get children placed on the street, Cason said. I don’t think that was Mr. Stantons intention, but the wording left it open to that type of interpretation.
Without a response from Mr. Stanton, it is difficult to know what his intentions were in the wording, but after seeing the list, one local grandparent was bitter.
Now what is the real world out there for our kids standing on the streets, said Yvonne Morgan, 61, whose 16-year-old granddaughters name is on the list. Next thing you know, they’re in jail. This list is like a discouragement. Its like saying, Were setting you aside, to say that you’re not going to do anything with your life.
According to Dr. Cason, neither he or the school board were made aware of the list before it was compiled by a number of VHS faculty and administrators more than a month ago. But after being notified that the list was in circulation, the entire Hot List process was immediately halted by the superintendent.
The first day it came out, I had Mr. Stanton pull it, but it was on the street by that time because it was sent to all faculty, said Dr. Cason. He (Principal Stanton) acted on his own and typically principals do. It’s not unusual, but I would have much rather he sought some advice from myself before sending it out. I would have advised him against it because this has created a big issue, and its been an issue for a month.
In reading a later paragraph of the Hot List letter, the names appearing on the list were only part of a First Wave of students to go through the undefined process of being integrated into a different environment. The complete list, according to what was written in the letter, included approximately 420 students.
The original list was not 400, the original was less than 200, but somehow it grew, said Dr. Cason
What has been even more disturbing to some of those who have seen a more specific list, is that the names of special needs students were also submitted.
What really got me is that on my list, there are 12 or more students with Special Ed marked beside their names, and to put them on a list to be put out in the real world…, Morgan said.
Again, having no comment from Principal Stanton as to the intentions and follow-up process to the Hot List, The Times contacted the Georgia Professionals Standards Committee with questions regarding the ethics of the issue.
Gary Walker, Head of the Ethics Division for the Georgia Professionals Standards Commission, stated that he has not spoken to any administrators or faculty of the Valdosta City School System and was unaware of the Hot List. He did, however, respond by referencing the possible intentions behind the list, as based upon his knowledge of programs in the state which are being used to address low-performing students.
There are some programs which focus on low performing students existing throughout the state that are doing well, and these models are being used nationally for motivating students, Walker said. They ID students and allow them to work with industry right on the job or develop academic skills to help them become successful. I believe there is one in Cobb County and Warner Robbins or Macon.
Walker says that such programs provide students with options for success, outside of the traditional high school setting.
The way that the curriculum has been changed with increased requirements in algebra/trig/calculus- a lot of kids simply are not where they (even) want to go (to school), Walker said. If someone can put a good program together for children who are not performing well in the traditional program, then you create a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. These programs are not to kick out students, but to help them find a place of success.
It is still unsure if this is the type of Real World immersion Principal Stanton was referring to, but Dr. Cason said that the next step for students on the list would have been an assessment by counselors and administrators.
Many of those students, once identified, would have been sent through the normal process of counseling and review by an administrator, as is used when determining if a student should be sent to the PLC or alternative school, said Dr. Cason.
Now that news of the Hot List has seeped into the community and generated a great deal of concern from parents in regards to the intentions of the VHS administration, Dr. Cason is making efforts to speak with community members on behalf of a silent staff.
I think it caused some personal concern because students names appeared in the list and the wording created the concern, Dr. Cason said. Ive spoken with several community leaders and Ive apologized to every member that Ive talked to in the community. And they understand that its just an unfortunate thing where an administrator used poor judgment.
In addition to speaking with community members individually, Dr. Cason has also spoken with members of the Antioch Baptist Church to offer an apology for the list and its circulation. In retrospect, Dr. Cason also shared how believes a school system should address the issue of low-performing/poor behavioral students.
I think there are better ways to address such issues, said Dr. Cason. Its poor practice to send around a memo to place kids on a list of that nature. At some point, you have teachers naming students just because the previous one did, and it just snowballs and it becomes bigger than life. You deal with students who misbehave or perform poorly by addressing those students individually.
A group of parents spoke at the Valdosta City School Board meeting during its last work session regarding the Hot List, but Morgan says the board gave no response to the issue in open session. Now, having spoken with a number of parents about the list, Morgan believes that the school system should address the community collectively.
We want a town hall meeting so that all the parents can be addressed, and we want for Mr. Stanton to be gone, Morgan said. When he said The Real World, that let me know right then what kind of person he is that he doesn’t care. And I will be at the next BOE meeting, if I have to be there by myself, because someone has to stand up for these kids.
The next VBOE meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 10, 2008, at 7 p.m. The agenda for that meeting does not currently have any line items addressing the Hot List, although an executive session is scheduled.

From the VDT April 14, 2008

Public shares concerns with Valdosta BOE

By Rabyn Ratliff

VALDOSTA A number of parents and community stakeholders attended the Valdosta Board of Educations regular meeting and public forum Monday, held at West Gordon Elementary School.
Following a brief board meeting, which included a unanimous vote to name the systems new Early College Program the Valdosta Early College Academy, the public was invited to share concerns and comments.
Of the topics brought up during Mondays forum, the issues of minority teacher recruitment, inadequate recording of the board meeting/work session minutes, and the selection of student programs within schools rendered most of the evening’s discussion.

Minority teacher recruitment
For several decades, the system has been working rectify the issues of a 1970 civil action order, which, in summary, found that the system needed more minority teachers, as well as a more diverse and balanced representation among faculty and administrators within schools. A number of citizens, including Willie Head, Ralph Council, and student George Foreman, shared their concerns regarding the issue.
In 1971, this system agreed with a consent decree from the courts to hire black teachers, and the system was given 90 days to get in order … that was in 1971, said Head.
In response, Superintendent Dr. Bill Cason shared some of the current initiatives in the area of teacher recruitment.
We have a new recruitment plan in place, and we’ve increased our efforts this year toward the recruitment of minority teachers. And, were going to additional colleges to find African-American teachers, Hispanic teachers, and others, Cason said. We are also reassigning staff to help balance out some of our schools, and the Department of Justice has given us a while to work on it. I believe that once this plan is fully in place, you will see the results right away, I think.
Having heard the vow of the school system to address the issue many times before, Council said I was here 10-12 years before 1971, and there was a recruitment plan then. We don’t need a recruitment plan, we need a hiring plan.

Inadequate recording of board meeting/work session minutes
While conducting research on the local school system, Dr. Mark George of Valdosta State University’s Sociology Department, shared his findings with the board in regards to certain information, specifically decisions passed by vote, being omitted from the recorded minutes.
I’ve looked over the last two years of minutes, and it seems that decisions being made are not being documented in the minutes, said George. In the minutes, there is no mention of a vote on the 100-point system (a discipline initiative at VHS) and the IB (International Baccalaureate) program.
Additionally, George challenged the board to look into their own records, while looking to develop a strategic plan for building the system.
I think any organization, business or school, would want to know where they’ve been so they can determine where they’re going, said George. You can’t have a strategic plan and vision if you don’t have all the data. According to Cason, all discussion within board meetings is not documented, only the main points make it into the minutes, based on the agenda items, such as actions and policies, but not general discussion, said Cason.
J.C. Cunningham, a system-wide mentor, also addressed the issue. None of the minutes ever said that the 100-point system or the IB program were adopted, and if you don’t think these are pertinent points, I don’t know what is, he said.

Selection of student programs
The issue of record-keeping during board meetings led into discussions of the IB program, a program which is currently in the final planning and preparation stages at VHS. Some parents and community members shared their opposition to investing into the program, which is geared at higher-performing students.
Why are you willing to spend $8,000 to implement the IB program when we currently can’t make AYP with the programs we have, and when a large majority of our freshman are failing, said parent Willie McCutchin, whose children have completed VHS AP/Honors courses.
In response, Cason said, we spend many dollars addressing remediation, but we can’t forget about those within the high spectrum. We must challenge them as well.
Cason said the system is working to evaluate the effectiveness of current remediation programs.
Cason shared words with those attending, as he comes into a new potion locally, but one he has long been familiar with.
We may differ on programs and the administration of those programs, but I want each of you to know that I have your children at heart and where they are, and where they are going, said Cason.

From the VDT:

Valdosta BOE enters partnership with VSU

By Rabyn Ratliff

VALDOSTA – The Valdosta Board of Education is expecting to establish an Early College Program for middle school students after entering into a partnership with Valdosta State University during the January work session held Monday.
The board has been considering establishment of the program since learning of the EC initiative in September, which is designed to redirect low-performing students toward higher academic achievement and on to post-secondary education through on-campus learning at university/college institutions.
The ECP was first introduced in Georgia in 2006 with start-up funding provided through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Robert Woodruff Foundation. Six EC schools now exist around the state and serve nearly 600 students. The program boasts a 90 percent high school attendance rate among its students, an 89 percent high school graduation rate, and 90 percent of ECP students earn college credit while enrolled in the program.
Because of that success, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents announced intentions to sponsor the establishment of a fourth cohort of Early College Programs in Georgia, slated to open in 2008. After considering the project and reviewing the finical feasibility of supporting the program and obligations of the school system, the board voted unanimously to enter into a memorandum of understanding with VSU to began the process for establishing a local program. The ECP will be housed at the S.L. Mason facility.
”The facilities committee met and we went over what the program is all about and I answered any questions that they had, and we came out with a recommendation to move forward with entering into the memorandum of understanding”, said Dr. Bill Cason, finance director and superintendent-elect. At this point, we must form a committee and they will help us come up with all the details concerning personnel, but I can assure you that it will be in our budget because FTE funds will follow students as though they’re on the regular campus.
As the school initially opens to about 40 sixth-grade students, Cason anticipates needing only two classroom teachers, a principal and some additional staff, with some salary compensation being provided through a $100,000 start-up grant being offered through the Board of Regents.
Now that the board has approved the memorandum of understanding, it only needs to be signed by President (Ronald) Zaccari and Dr. Louis Levy, and then we will have the funds, said Dr. Brian Gerber, associate dean of the College of Education.
Members of the systems nursing staff came before the board Monday to share a presentation about their daily duties, and also to ask that the board consider increasing school nurse salaries to those comparable in the region.

The board is preparing for its annual board retreat Friday, Feb. 1, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The retreat will be held at the Georgia Department of Labor.