April is Delaware Field Test Month
Reading/Mathematics-
Grades 2-10 April 5, 2010 to May 28, 2010
Social Studies –
Grades 4 and 7 April 5, 2010 to May 28, 2010
Science –
Grade 5 April 5, 2010 to May 28, 2010
Science –
Grade 8 May 20, 2010 to June 11, 2010
End of Course
(Algebra I, Integrated Math I, English II, Biology May 10, 2010 to June 11, 2010
Notes: The field tests will be delivered as randomized items, not adaptive
Nothin' new, just some details that haven't trickled down to the people who oughtta have 'em.
And now, the Collective DOE Gasp... Did I hear water rush in? Or is that a runny toilet? Better get that fixed, man.
22 February 2010
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7 comments:
Yawn.
I wish I could care about this.
Heck, I wish I could understand this.
But over the last 20 years, I've yet to come across a newspaper article, politician's speech or blog that can explain to me just what the hell the deal is with Wilmington schools.
I know there was desegregation, busing, neighborhood schools, some sort of mess with Red Clay, a city split up, yada yada.
But as a south-of-the-canaler, I really have no point of reference about the mess that Wilmington has become. Maybe if someone could explain it in plain, simple English for me ... hint, hint.
I'll get to work on it.
I have been following the situation for a long long time. I could put a time line on it by saying Bruce Springsteen was playing at the Stone Balloon when
I first started caring about schools in Wilmington. The long and short of it: In the late 70's we had forced busing. A.I duPont High was the first school and the rest followed. The city was split into portions and each section of the city was assigned to a district. It was very carefully divided.
If you look at little neighborhoods around the zoo and St. Elizabeth's you will see that someone had a marker and knew where the pockets of white middle class students lived in the city and they were NOT assigned to Christina. There is one little street near the Washington Street Ale house that was spared. They were assigned to another district because they folks that lived in those streets were middle class. It is fishy.
Anyway -that went on for about 30 years. At the time, Catholic Schools grew and had long waiting lists because typical folks living off 202 north did not want their precious babies bussed to the city. Every child had to be bussed at some time. Suburban kids had to spend three years at least in a city school.
Around 1998 give or take a few years, the neighborhood schools act was passed and forced busing ended. Each district had to come up with a plan keep kids close to home. Because most of the kids in the city are black, most of the city schools became all black.
Schools like Brandywine Springs, off Duncan Road, flourished because all the suburban kids in Hockessin and Pike Creek could stay there for 8 years and they did not have to contend with the black kids from the city. Folks in the suburbs are just happy as clams with their lilly white schools and the catholic schools are scrambling for students. Parents were not willing to pay for Catholic Schools when the suburban schools were now safe.
Folks like Jea Street are all up in arms because they see all these segregated schools in the city. Some are with Christina and some are Charters. He thinks busing is better for the city kids. He quotes Brown vs Board of Education and claims separate is not equal. He sees all the poor kids in the city charters and they do not get the same funding as public schools. He feels they are being neglected.
It is all about money. To attract businesses to the state we had to end busing because folks who are going to move their businesses here do not want to have their kids have to deal with bussing.
They like the options to send their kids to a school like North Star or Lancashire.
The folks in the city do not have a strong political voice. They have people speaking loud for them, but they are not the ones bringing business into the state so the state can ignore them.
Right now, parents in the city have to navigate the choice program or find a charter. The coalition to save the children is the only group representing their rights. They are mad because Moyer was closed. It was all black and served that part of the city with a nice new building. DOE shut it down because they had not met their performance agreements although they were commendable.
Jea Street and the Coalition feel that DOE is not being fair. This was a community school and they were supported by the black community. Moyer is in a part of the city that needed some renovation and the school makes the neighborhood safer.
They felt like they were on the right path so they feel the Department is making their life difficult.
Jeez. This is more information about DCAS and the field testing plan than any teacher has been told. This spring looks real good for instruction. Maybe I can squeeze a few lessons in on alternating Tuesdays. Holy cow!
Anony has a faulty memory--no matter how much he "cared.". First they consolidated ten suburban districts and the Wilmington School District into one HUGE district called NCC School District. This mass mess was split into four "Area" districts: I, II, III, and IV. Finally, someone came to their senses and re organized it into its current set-up with Christina, Red Clay, Brandywine and Colonial. Each had a portion of the city with a few (or more) city schools. Colonial later weaseled out of thweir city schools. They are the only current district with no city school.
Christina got the toughest row to hoe with the assignement of East Side schools and having all kids have to come into the city for K-5. That only recently changed.
The real shame of it is that there has been no city high school for a long, long time.
Moyer is a high school serving city schools. I looked at their numbers and saw a strong improvement track for most students. Grade 7 was flat and grade 9 was anything but improvement but the other levels were sharply ascending.
Given that this school is 100% African American and that the
kids are coming in after attending elementary elsewhere, the comparison to other public schools' performance may not be the best predictor of Moyer's adequacy.
The 2009 school year brought in 200 new students to Moyer. Often Moyer takes students who are failing elsewhere. Students other schools have given up on and don't want anymore. Should Moyer reject those students like other Charters (CoW for instance) just to keep their stats?
If new student test scores were taken out of the Moyer stats, would there be a marked difference in the Moyer performance rating?
Should the Moyer performance rating be assessed for kids who have had a chance to immerse in the experience for at least a year?
I understand that the school's 'culture' has a marked effect on the children's deportment over time. By their senior year, these kids are mostly achieving at a high level. Can that be said of the public schools with minority kids?
At Moyer, the seniors are all handed applications for colleges and they have a record of the kids either entering colleges, the military or directly into job training.
Do not be taken in by Moyer. They needed to go down.
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