More voting history coming …

From my personal point of view, reform candidates are needed.   So far, three  incumbents have decided to run for three seats.

Filing for the November 3 election closes on August 7 at the County Office in Norwalk.

In the next week or so, I plan to review voting records of school board members on:

• strengthening the policy for sending home graded tests for review (messy process, many amendments failed in 2007, was that good for kids?)
• the by-law on nepotism, 3-2 vote, who voted and how?
• the proposed sale of district property adjacent to Palm Crest Elementary (failed 3:2, needed 4:1 or better to pass, was that the right decision, I’ll provide an overview)

I hope these blogs help you formulate questions to ask candidates.

Teacher evaluation data, who knows?

In my letter to the editor, July 16, 2009, I mentioned the following:

After voting No over several years, the current Board has agreed (March 24, 2009) to request and review data on teacher and staff evaluation.  The Board expects to receive this data for the first time in 2010.  Although I am pleased, it is long overdue, and at this pace, reform will take many years.

The community depends on the School Board to be the check and balance on the system.

Background:
There are currently three levels of teacher evaluation:  Satisfactory, Needs Improvement and Unsatisfactory (somewhat like a grading system with A, C or F).  Of course, an evaluation also includes comments, goal setting and more.

Does your school board member know how many Needs Improvement and Unsatisfactory evaluations were given?  If not, why not?

I’m a board member and I don’t know the answer.
Until a few months ago, I had not been able to persuade my fellow board members to make this a priority.  The votes were 1:4, Wilcox in favor.  Then in March 24, 2009, with almost no discussion, all five board members voted to set a goal to receive this data.  I think we will receive the data for the first time in 2010.

Is it possible that all or almost all of 200 teachers received satisfactory evaluations over the last few years?

I don’t know, but if this turns out to be true, in my opinion, the evaluation system is not working.

OK, so five board members voted yes to receive the evaluation information.  As a board member, I’m relieved.  Finally!

The nagging cynic in me wonders …
are these board members truly serious about data collection and systematic reform, or did they vote Yes because they knew an election was coming?

Before you vote for an incumbent, learn their views, and find out what took so long.

Scott Tracy, Board member for 7 years.
Susan Boyd, Board member for 3 years.
Joel Peterson, Board member for 3 years.

Jeanne Broberg has served several prior terms on the Board, and is not up for election this time.  The prior boards she served with did not leave a system in place for routine review of evaluation data.

Before you vote for a challenger, find out what they think about board review of data and authentic evaluation.

For elected officials, talk is easy.  It’s the votes that count.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys, when?

This goal has been defeated 1:4, with only Wilcox approving, for several years and counting.

Implement and refine an annual system for administrators to gather anonymous student and parent feedback, by teacher and course, on classroom instruction, homework assignments, assessment* preparation and graded assessment review.

*assessment:  normally refers to a test, quiz, essay, report.  May include anything rated or graded such as a project, group presentation, performance.

The current, approved goal does not include the bold items:  annual, by teacher and course, anonymous.

Before you vote in the November election, ask the incumbents why they have voted against this goal several times.

Talk is easy.  If we want to reform the school district, board members need to cast the votes to collect the data.

Right now, according to the teachers’ contract, teachers are encouraged to survey their students to gather information to improve teaching and learning (not a direct quote).

Very few teachers do conduct surveys of this type and if they do, the administrators have no right to see the results.

Critics have said:
“Parents and students have no idea how to evaluate teachers.”

Surveys are not intended to replace evaluation by an administrator.

However, they could help inform the administrator and the teacher.

For example, what if a large number of surveys noted that the tests given by one teacher did not match the current curriculum and textbook?  That should be a wake-up call for both the teacher and administrator.

Some have suggested that the District would have to negotiate with the teachers’ union for the right to collect customer satisfaction surveys.   The first rule of negotiations:   Districts do not negotiate for anything that is not required by code, regulations, and case law.  For example, the District must negotiate salaries, benefits, and the school year calendar.  The District has the right to collect survey data.

The School District needs to be data-driven and informed in designing improvement strategies.  By the way, multiple choice questions are easy to tally, but to be helpful; the survey needs to include a space for open-ended comments.

The great news is, the District has many outstanding teachers and educators, and they deserve to receive the accolades that would come from regular surveys.

The teachers who receive less than stellar results; they can work to improve. We do not need to protect them, and I resent the implication that intelligent, high-functioning employees can not handle survey results.

My general impression is the colleges are ahead of us on this.  We would not need to start from scratch.

I’m pleased with the outgoing communication such as the new District web site, Superintendent’s columns, Board President’s columns, and various newsletters, but this is not enough.

Effective communication needs to be deliberate
and needs to flow in both directions.

Every year counts for every child!

Letter to the editor,  July 16, 2009
From Cindy Wilcox

I am a member of the La Cañada School Board, speaking for myself only.

A community member was organizing to run for school board in the upcoming November election.  His attractive resume included valuable experience with charter schools from which we could learn.  He had a press release prepared and two campaign co-chairs had agreed to serve.

On Thursday, July 9, current School Board Member Jeanne Broberg called one of the campaign co-chairs and let her know that, if we had to hold an election in November, it would cost the District over $70,000.  Mrs. Broberg informed the co-chair that all three incumbents had decided that week to run (Peterson, Tracy, Boyd).  A fourth candidate would trigger an election.

A campaign is time-consuming and likely several issues were considered.  This qualified candidate has decided not to run, and in my opinion, that is a loss to the community.  I don’t know of any other candidates.  Filing closes Friday, August 7.

The current Board has voted No several times to require the Administration to collect customer satisfaction data from students and parents, annually, by teacher, by class or course, in a systematic way.  Speaking for myself, this data collection and review is long over-due, especially at the High School.

After voting No over several years, the current Board has agreed (March 24, 2009) to request and review data on teacher and staff evaluation.  The Board expects to receive this data for the first time in 2010.  Although I am pleased, it is long overdue, and at this pace, reform will take many years.

The current Board has closely monitored financial processes and data.  We have not given the same attention to systematic process on quality instruction.

If we hold an election, please get to know the candidates’ views.  If no election is held, please talk with current School Board members about accountability systems and reform.  We have a wonderful school system, but in my opinion, we can do better.

I remain dedicated to kids and public education,
Cindy Wilcox