Let's Talk About Teaching Excellence!

http://amazingteachers.org/index.html


Mass. hunting for star teachers
Recruits would go to toughest schools
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By James Vaznis
Globe Staff / May 10, 2010
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State education officials plan to announce today an aggressive campaign to recruit hundreds of successful teachers to work in underperforming schools in Boston and eight other troubled school districts, in hopes those teachers can spark a turnaround.

The recruitment effort is believed to be the first-ever partnership between the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and local school districts to find teachers for specific schools. Past state recruitment drives, such as awarding signing bonuses to a select few new teachers, have been typically open to all the state’s schools.

“We want to put the best and most talented teachers in front of children who need them the most,’’ said Mitchell Chester, state commissioner of elementary and secondary education.
State officials do not yet know how many positions will be available at the 35 schools identified as underperforming, with chronically low test scores. But officials anticipate that a significant number of current teachers will be dismissed or leave on their own, creating openings.

At least two school districts will be using a federal turnaround strategy at some of their underperforming schools that calls for dismissing at least half the staff.

The recruiting campaign will kick off with the start-up of a website, amazingteachers.org, where interested teachers can learn more about teaching opportunities at the 35 schools in need. Information will also be available on Facebook and Twitter.

Chester said he is on a mission to erase the notion that working in an underperforming school carries a negative stigma about teacher performance; instead, it should be seen as an opportunity to improve student achievement, he said.

Even though the state is assisting districts with recruitment, districts will make all hiring decisions.

While many of the state’s urban districts struggle to recruit and retain qualified teachers, attracting top-notch candidates to the underperforming schools, where the complexity of urban education is more magnified, could prove even more difficult.

For instance, 1 in 4 students at the underperforming schools are still learning to speak English — well above the statewide average — and the state has been experiencing a persistent shortage of qualified teachers for these students, state officials said.

A host of other issues might make underperforming schools unappealing to some teachers, from the possibility they would have to work an extended day to having fewer job protections because of recent changes to state law.

But other teachers are attracted to the immense challenge of reversing years of poor results at an underperforming school, while school districts are developing incentives to attract teachers to these schools, promising such things as additional pay or opportunities for leadership roles in overhauling curriculum, state officials say.


The website will also include video testimonials of teachers at underperforming schools speaking of the rewards of working there. A private foundation in Boston provided funding for the site.

 State and local officials are hoping to attract teachers from Massachusetts and elsewhere and are even trying to encourage talented teachers who work at high-performing schools in the nine targeted school districts to transfer to one of their district’s underperforming schools.

Brian Denitzio recently decided to give up his position as a sixth-grade English teacher at Rogers Middle School, a highly regarded school in Hyde Park, to work this fall at Orchard Gardens K-8 School, an underperforming school in Roxbury where MCAS scores are often at or near the bottom in the state.
   
Denitzio will be accompanying his principal at the Rogers, Andrew Bott, who will soon take the reins at Orchard Gardens. The school opened in 2003 in one of the city’s first new school buildings in years; it has been plagued with a high turnover of teachers and principals, and chronically low test scores.

“There should be more schools like the Rogers in Boston,’’ said Denitzio. “We shouldn’t be the exception.’’

Boston is ahead of the other eight districts in developing recruitment strategies for the underperforming schools, state officials said. The city plans to bring in teams of teachers to three of its underperforming schools, where they will constitute at least a quarter of the teaching staff and receive additional pay for working an extended school day or year.

So far, the district — working in partnership with Teach Plus, a three-year-old nonprofit in Boston dedicated to supporting urban teachers — has received more than 150 applications. The majority of the applications have come from teachers currently assigned to other Boston schools who are looking for a new challenge.


The three targeted schools — Orchard Gardens, Trotter Elementary in Dorchester, and Blackstone Elementary in the South End — were among seven underperforming schools at which Boston administrators required teachers, classroom aides, and other educators to reapply for their jobs last month.


Administrators from the seven schools ultimately rejected 125 letters of intent from employees who wished to return in the fall, forcing them to go elsewhere. At the same time, 166 requests to stay on were accepted. Dozens of teachers didn’t reapply.

Most teachers not returning to their schools will probably find placement at one of the district’s 128 other schools, officials have said.

Carol R. Johnson, Boston school superintendent, said the state’s effort could assist the city in attracting even more quality teachers.

“There’s nothing more exciting and rewarding for a teacher than seeing great results and their work pay off,’’ Johnson said. “They want to see students do well in class, on assessments, and in life. We want to take advantage of those teachers who really want to see those results.’’


Well folks, looks like we're in  serious need of Teaching Excellence. After visiting the website (listed above - just click) and noting that the "troubled" schools are the very same one's identified by the MA DESE earlier this school year  (March 10) as being "Level 4" schools (defined below), we were reminded that Fall River comes in at the #3 worst set of troubled schools in the state, after Boston and Springfield, with 3 schools on the list which are briefly described on the website. Those schools, of course, being John J. Doran Elementary School, Matthew J. Kuss Middle School and  Henry Lord Middle School.

I absolutely have no trouble with the City making a casting call for great teachers to come down here to the ends of the known universe and make a difference in the lives of our young people, particularly our ever increasing minority student population. These kids ARE the future of Fall River and they need all of our best efforts to achieve success  for themselves and for this City. We have a moral obligation to see they become free, independent , educated and productive citizens so we can prevent a permenent underclass of minorities dependent on government for housing, medical and food stamp support for the entirety of their lives. A few dollars invested in this effort, if they produce results, is but a small price to pay to help entire generations live the awesome beauty of the American dream.

Those sentiments being expressed, I wonder how the current crop of school teachers in Fall River are feeling about this. It seems like all the blame for these "failing" schools is being placed squarely on the teacher's backs. I doubt that's fair, given what we now know about the way the School Committee and Superintendent have been pouring funds into administration and education managerial positions.

 Classroom student sizes continue to grow, it seems, with each year's round of budgets as the managers assigned to oversee everything from teaching plans to how these teachers manage recess , but not help out in over populated classrooms, grows even faster than class size. Somethings got to give, because they have not yet produced results with all these new managers, usually from outside of Fall River, while the City starts to seriously discuss a residency requirement for all City employees. One has to wonder whether all of these education management Hessians will receive waivers from this residency requirement.

These teaching excellence positions are also open to current Fall River teachers. I sincerely hope many apply for the jobs and are successful. But with the teachers union still negotiating a contract I cannot help but think this new effort to recruit teachers from the outside might somehow slow down this labor negotiation process even further. We all must remember that reaching a contract agreement is a mandatory requirement set by the DESE in it's review and acceptance of the City's school improvement plan.

So we are left with many questions that the website for the effort does not answer. I also have to wonder how long this information was made available to the School Superintendent and School Committee before the DESE announced the program. Was this known soon enough to be included for FY11 School Budget plans? Will these be new positions or will current teachers be replaced by these new individuals? These are critical questions that need to be asked and answered. We'll just have to wait and see how this all is presented and plays out over the next couple of months.

THERE ARE NOW ONLY 50 SHOPPING DAYS LEFT BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL MUST APPROVE THE FY11 OPERATING BUDGET.

(  What are Massachusetts “Level 4” Turnaround Schools?
Some of Massachusetts’ most persistently under-achieving schools are now eligible for additional federal aid and state support to bring about dramatic improvements in student achievement.
Recognizing that outstanding classroom instruction is the key to the success of these schools, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is working with nine school districts to recruit and hire excellent teachers to help lead school transformations.


The children in the 35 lowest-performing schools in the state urgently need schools and teachers that provide them with an excellent education to help them reach their full potential. Among the 17,000 students served in these Turnaround Schools:


■Most are racial and ethnic minorities;


■Nearly 9 out of 10 are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch based on family income;


■21 percent are students with disabilities;


■26 percent are English Language Learners.


The State released an initial list of 35 "Level 4" schools in March 2010. (Read the press release.) The identification of and quick intervention in Level 4 schools are made possible through the Commonwealth's new Education Reform Law, which was filed by Governor Deval Patrick and signed into law in January 2010. Under this law, the identified schools will develop redesign plans in collaboration with the Superintendent, School Committee, teachers' union, administrators, teachers, community representatives and parents. )