NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND APPEARS TO BE
LEAVING STUDENTS IN THE DUST
H-22 UPDATE
ON FLORIDA’S WAIVER TO THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) REQUIREMENTS AND ITS
IMPACT ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Chair Perla Tabares Hantman explained her Good Cause item: Last
year the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) initiated rulemaking related
to Florida's Accountability system in order to secure a waiver from the U.S.
Department of Education (USDOE) from certain requirements under No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) legislation. Some of these changes included modification to the
manner English Language Learners (ELL) would be incorporated into the school
grade calculations.
There were strong objections to this methodology across the
state resulting in the State Board of Education (SBOE) directing that a Task
Force be created to review the issue and take input from all stakeholders.
Superintendent Carvalho was appointed to serve as a member of this group, which
ultimately issued a number of recommendations. Though very few of these
recommendations were accepted, the FLDOE transmitted a final waiver application
to the USDOE.
To date the school district has not received notification as
to whether the state has been granted a permanent waiver from NCLB. The Superintendent
is advocating for accountability methodology which measures the academic
progress of students and the effectiveness of schools, but one is fair,
reasonable, and does not unnecessarily penalize students who have not had time
to acquire academic linguistic proficiency.
Chair Perla Tabares Hantman stated she had two concerns;
accountability being fair, reasonable and equitable and the state has not
announced if Florida's waiver has been approved nor have they shared what the
final requirements will be for students.
Vice Chair Dr. Lawrence S. Feldman and Dr. Martin S. Karp
stated his concerns as to when more information will be provided and to when
the concerns will be addressed by the FLDOE.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho spoke to this item.
"There has been no confirmation or denial of the waiver as of yet." However,
he considers this delay a positive thing.
The Superintendent acknowledges that Miami-Dade County has a
disproportionate number of ELL students as opposed to other school districts
and under the new calculations we would not, therefore the data may show MDCPS ELL
students are performing better than other ELL students in other counties. The Superintendent referenced a Miami Herald
news article, "Judge rules against Florida policy linking tuition to
parents' immigration status" in an effort to point out, "Sometimes
Government passes rules and laws that are not legal and it is not until someone
questions it that it comes to the light . . . and it is our responsiblity that
we make sure our students count and are counted."
Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla asks the question.
"Are we pursuing a federal or state remedy to this and is there a legal
remedy?"
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho responded to Board Member Renier
Diaz de la Portilla. " We accepted and participated in the Task Force with
the idea that our recommendations would be heard, but a vast majority of the recommendations
were ignored. Our first approach was to lobby the state for a quick fix and
that state blamed the federal government. We were all surprised when Mr. José
Rico published a letter in the Herald where he basically complimented the State
of Florida for its role on accountability under the erroneous assumption that
Florida had availed itself of all of the opportunities under the waiver to
provide for multiple assessment for children who are still in the process of
learning English. [Rico's letter brought
to the forefront that]Florida did not do that so that shifted the spotlight
from the federal government back to the state.
That gave us an opportunity to call Washington, D.C. and say 'we thank
you so much for your position but you are quite incorrect in your assumption
that the state did everything that you thought the state could have done for
these kids.' So now we have shifted our attention from the federal government
back to Tallahassee again and we are engaging congressional leaders, the USDOE
and the associations that represent the interest of these students. When we
first started this conversation I mentioned that litigation could not be
excluded from the conversation. After all, litigation is the last resort after
we feel that we have exhausted all rational and reasonable conversation. We are getting to that point. We may bring to
the board a recommendation for legal recourse."
Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla asks an additional
question. "What will be the time table for a remedy for this problem as in
the impact to our school district if we do not resolve it?
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho responded to Board Member
Renier Diaz de la Portilla. "One of the challenges this past year was a
significant delay to the accountability results. We remember there were some false starts and
unfortunately some of the accountability results that were released had to be
changed and changed again. We always
embraced the position that the department was overzealous in advancing the
implementation of policy beyond a time line that was acceptable to any of us. There
were 18 different changes over a one year period of time, some changes being
announced to teachers and principals well into ¾ of the school year. The timeline is one that certainly needs to
be resolved prior to the administration of the FCAT. Parents and community
members need to be advised well in advance that the game and the rules have
changed yet again. "
Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla spoke to this issue.
"This is an urgent issue we all know at the pace the federal government
moves at, so I am a little bit concerned.
I would love for this item to come back next month. I think we need to
get aggressive with this issue.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho responded to Board Member
Renier Diaz de la Portilla. "This will help tackle issue dealing with
Students with disabilities; there are elements in the accountability system
that are equally punitive to students with disabilities. I have visited schools
and I know that the schools are not dumping grounds for these students, and
with this new system schools will be “F” schools first year and second year and
the state will be threatening with consequences while they know that there is
no better setting for these students. We will tackle both issues because they
both value our full attention."
Board Member Ms. Raquel A. Regalado spoke on the issue.
" I am glad you, Mr. Superintendent added that last piece and I hope that
we will not wait on litigation expecting other school districts to join because
ELL does not effect other school districts and I would like for us to move
swiftly and take the lead on that. There
is a lot of concerns on the special needs front and what is being requested to
both groups is egregious at best."
As a high school
English teacher, I see on a daily basis the difficulties students’ face that
are natural born citizens in navigating the English language and passing
standardized test. Therefore, to request an expedited result for English
Language Learners and Students with Disabilities, I feel is the equivalent of
putting them in the ring with their hands tied behind their back. I am a firm believer that every child can
learn and be inspired, however, it must be done at a pace corresponding to his
or her level.
H-12 Large High Schools
School districts throughout the United States responded to
large student influxes by building increasingly larger schools. The larger schools
lead to larger classroom sizes and higher teacher to student ratios. A concerned parent spoke out at the meeting
and pointed out that larger schools are not beneficial to students and the
district acknowledges this through one of their programs, IPrep, which is run
by the superintendent and has small classroom sizes, with a small teacher to
student ratio.
School Board Member Dr. Marta Perez spoke to the issue.
"The research is substantial that high schools better serve our students
if they are small. The West Ed. Policy brief, Are Smaller Schools Better? states, "The poorer the school the
smaller the school should be." Nationally high schools tend to be larger
but the significance is larger in high school.
Out of the 51 schools [in the nation] larger than 2,500 students, Miami
Dade has 16. In addition, we have three of the largest high schools in the
nation: Ferguson, South Dade and G. Holmes Braddock. Students in affluent areas tend to attend
schools that are smaller. Furthermore,
administratively [in larger schools] the ratio is 1 administrator to 744
students. All this issue is saying is be mindful of the larger schools and
recognize the needs and problems in these lager schools."
Vice Chair Dr. Lawrence S. Feldman spoke on the issue, "The
superintendent should speak to the constituents regarding schools that are 40, 50,
60 years old regarding what he is going to do with those schools that have
children with special needs. Do all our
schools in poverty have the same access to technology? Your asking the superintendent to address the
needs of large high schools as a part of our strategic plan before he takes
care of our poor kids, our [dilapidated] buildings . . . to tell him to
accentuate one item is not fair to all the other students who are waiting for
their bond money to come through, but rather say to the superintendent 'as you
go through your bond referendum be mindful of what each community needs.'"
The motion died.
Teaching at a
"large school", I definitely feel the impact of having a large
quantity of students in my AP English course.
I recently found out having the words Advanced Placement before the word
English nullifies the phrase "small class size". There are currently 37 bright minds in my
course, but 37 nonetheless. It is
difficult to be one teacher assisting 25 students but in an ever fluctuating
class such as my AP course due to the school need to meet the size demands, causes
a problem and lessens the quality of education students receive. In my opinion,
School Board Member Dr. Marta Perez is correct, a large school may have an
impact on the quality of education a student may receive. Smaller schools allot for more technology to
be utilized, one on one attention and improve the overall class dynamic.
A-1 Extended School Day
According to statue, the school day was extended in 10
schools. Superintendent Alaberto Carvalho addressed the extended school day,
which has drummed up much discussion amongst teachers and parents. "The students are receiving
transportation through the district, an additional hour of instruction that is
weaved into the school day, snacks throughout the day, and elementary students
are receiving additional assistance in math and reading. The remediation piece of
this statue is through customized curriculum tailored to the individual needs
of the students. This statue is bringing back the electives . . . Dr. Holloway
reminds me 'that students need an incentive to show up to school.' So arts,
band, and music programs are kept and expanded in some cases at these
schools. I also want to thank the United
Teachers of Dade who negotiated this matter."
Hopefully this is true
because across the district the elective course offerings are diminishing and
being replaced with intensive courses for remediation. I acquiesce in regards to Dr. Holloway's
statement, 'that students need an incentive to show up to school.' I would love
to replace the word incentive, which has to me, a negative connotation. In
using this word I feel we are treating our students like they are animals that
need to be trained. We should replace
the word incentive with the word passion. Students need “passion” to attend
school. The arts and technical course
offerings offered to some students who find the core curriculum to be tedious
at best a reminder that reading, writing, math, science, etc. . . are at the
corner stone of the things they are passionate about. For example if you love drama class, then the
drama teacher has an opportunity to show a student how English is tied to drama
through diction, tone and inflection. If
you read any great work of literature the author is a master of these
rhetorical devices and create a dramatic piece in the readers mind. Therefore,
it is my strong hope the extended day is not another moment for remediation but
a true teachable moment expanding the spectrum of education.
Reduction of Suspension or Soft on Student Behavior?
Superintendent Carvalho mentioned three or four months ago
the school board addressed safety in schools through reducing violent acts as
well as the need for a reduction of the number of indoor and outdoor suspension
days. At the September 5th school
board meeting, Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Chief Academic Officer of the Education Transformation
Office (ETO) provided data on suspension rates.
"Four years ago, 49,000 students received indoor suspension, last year
the number decreased to 41,000. There were 37,000 outdoor suspension four years
ago and the number has not decreased to date. Dr. Vitti mentioned [in the last four years] there
was a "substantial decrease at Educational Transformation Schools due to
Saturday School detention options and Positive Behavior Support (PBS), which
offers incentives for positive behavior."
Therefore, Superintendent Carvalho asked Valtena Brown, Chief Operating
Officer, to lead a task force that would bring about solutions to decrease indoor
and outdoor suspension days district wide.
As a result of the task force there were some
recommendations:
1.
Outdoor suspension for level 1 or 2 violations
will be forbidden except upon review of the region.
2.
Students that have been habitually suspended
and/or have 10 or more suspensions will not be suspended further without region
office approval.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho addressed the issue by
stating, “I do not want anyone to mistake this action as us going soft on
student behavior or me wanting principals to overlook student behavior, we are
not doing that. We are finding different ways to discipline students without
depriving them of the education they deserve.
Especially in schools where they need it more."
Valtena Brown added to the topic by mentioning the use of
community partners as an avenue or resource where students can go. In addition, each school is required to
submit an alternative to suspension plan and in that plan they must make sure
they reach out to community members to identify service that are unique to
their population so parents see them as a viable option. Also, training is
being provided to administrators so they can provide alternative disciplinary
actions to students.
Artie Leichner, First Vice President of UTD, spoke on this
issue. "The problem with SCSI is
that it became a dumping ground. What do
you do when you give students detention slips or request them to attend
Saturday School and the child does not attend? What do you do then? Also, not soliciting teachers and bringing
them into the issue is a wasted opportunity."
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho further addressed the issue
by stating, " . . .parents need to play a significant role in this process
for it to be a success."
I concur; the process
for indoor and outdoor suspensions is ridiculous and futile to the success of
students. Students return from 3-day
indoor suspensions or 10-day outdoor suspensions in need of make-up work they
do not understand, with the same behavioral problem and no better for the
process. However, I also share Artie Leichner's concerns that the Task Force's
recommendations have a great deal of gaps in them, that may end up being
gapping holes if they are not filled soon.
As a teacher discipline issues is the nemesis to learning, and there
needs to be clear strategies in place that will work every time with every
student. Discipline cannot start in the schools if there is not support at
home.
