Although most of the speakers at Tuesday's NAACP press conference represented religious groups, the secular speakers bashed the Wake County school board majority too for eliminating the diversity policy.
Yevonne Brannon, chairwoman of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, argued that the school board majority hasn't been focused on improving student achievement. Before changing student assignment, she said the board needs to "fix what's broken before you create new problems."
"Before the new board majority changes how our schools are run, how are students are assigned, before they decide where to create more high poverty schools, we challenge them to fix our schools now," Brannon said. "Fix our high poverty schools now. We have plenty. Make sure that every child who needs help at the highest and lowest achievement level gets the attention they need."
Brannon said they're not going to wait two years for the board to drew up the new zones before they fix the achievement problems.
Members of the board majority and their supporters have argued that backers of the diversity policy weren't as tough on the old board for dealing with the district's academic challenges.
Brannon went on to urge people to join them at the July 20 mass demonstration in Raleigh. She said marching at the event will send a message to the board.
"We can't let them go down this path and destroy the futures of our children and our school system that we've spent so much time and money investing in," Brannon said.
"Don't let this school board majority rewrite our history," Brannon later added. "Don't let them resegregate our schools."
After Brannon, three students from a group calling itself NC Heat spoke at the press conference. The group announced plans to hold a meeting next Thursday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, 1801 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh.
Robert Wright, one of the three students from NC HEAT, said he had a message to give to the school board on behalf of the "youth voices of Wake County."
"We are not going down without a fight," Wright said. "We will not go back to the era of Jim Crow laws. Our voices will be heard."
Comments
Mr. Hui?
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 20:17 — AngelaWwhat can you tell us about NCSU Center for Urban Affairs and the connectiand
and any connections to DPI?
I'm sorry. I took Friday off
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 16:15 — KeungHui (author)I'm sorry. I took Friday off and didn't see the message until today. I hadn't heard about that group until I saw your comment. I don't know anything about them.
not a problem, thanks!
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 16:31 — AngelaWnot a problem, thanks!
should have also added any connection to GSIW as well....
You mean connections like
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 19:22 — woodstockYou mean connections like the director is Yevonne Brannon.
why yes, that would be the
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 20:07 — AngelaWwhy yes, that would be the one.
Any parent can override any placement
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 12:49 — reasonablevoiceAny parent can override any teacher's placement of their child. I've done it both ways - bumped one child up to Algebra 1 in one semester vs Alg 1 part 1/ 2 - a year long class, and bumped down another child to year long algebra part 1/2 vs a semester class. Its not hard, you fill out a form in the guidance office. You don't even have to talk to the teacher that did the placement, but I wanted to understand their perspective, and them to hear mine.
The tide is turning
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 23:06 — jeffrey1Perhaps the tide is turning. Now that diversity busing has been overturned, it seems like there is a lot more attention being paid to student performance. There seems to be a lot more comments on this blog about student achievement, and now we have Brannon joining the bandwagon as well.
I think that's great. It tells me that the elimination of diversity busing was indeed the right thing to do. Diversity busing is and always has been a barrier to focusing on student achievement. By removing this barrier, we can start to focus on the the STUDENT, instead of the school.
Now I do agree with Rick Martinez that community busing by itself is not going to do a whole lot to improve achievement. But it does take a very significant and necessary first step of preparing us to focus on student achievement, without the distraction caused by busing.
So I think it's an unexpected bonus that Brannon is touting that we refocus on student achievement. If we can get Barber, et al to jump on, we could be really onto something. Keep it up Ms. Brannon!
I Would Like to Think That Is The Case....
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 04:43 — JanisTangoI would like to think that is the case in regards to Ms. Brannon, but I believe in her mind she was happy with student achievement with the previous 'diversity' assignment policy. She's wants them to stop the new assignment policy based on the comments above, so to me this is just another plow to keep a failed policy in place. I too believe if we can supply some stability and start focusing on students individually and not the concept of 'healthy' schools we can start making some headway in the achievement battle.
I'm holding on to my opinion
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 13:01 — reasonablevoiceI'm holding on to my opinion until I see what Brannon and GSIW say about the gentleman the Chamber and WEP are bringing to town - Alves. He is not status quo, but he isn't neighborhood schools via only proximity either. If GSIW and Brannon are willing to give him a chance, that tells me they are not holding on to the past. I wonder if the cut and dry neighborhood schools people are willing to give him a chance. Could he be Wake County's middle ground? Time will tell.
Yes Time Will Tell
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 17:14 — JanisTangoI would love to see some middle ground reached in this debate.
If he utters the words "F&R'
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 14:54 — woodstockIf he utters the words "F&R' or "diversity," he needs to be escorted from the room. If, however, he mentions the value of looking at the individual child and the resources needed to ensure each child's success, then give him all the time he needs.
In real life
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 17:42 — Solon77mentions the value of looking at the individual child and the resources needed to ensure each child's success,
In real life where do you find this level of individual attention ?
Individual
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 23:16 — klanders65I think what we mean by looking at children as individuals is to use something like EVAAS and see which children are predicted to succeed, then place them into the most advanced courses in which they are likely to be successful. This is easy to do. Right now, we see them as members of subgroups that are "at risk" instead of using their individual academic data.
This is not individual attention, but rather using individual data to align needs.
And all those remedial intervention programs currently serve students in "at risk" subgroups instead of students whose individual academic data shows that they need help.
And...
Sat, 07/10/2010 - 09:05 — Bob_SconceI don't know if EVAAS is designed to show this, but it's important to recognize that if a kid is likely to succeed in, say, an advanced math course, it's possible that he's likely to fail in a remedial math course.
There are many ways to fail.
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 18:10 — klanders65There are many ways to fail. One of the biggest reasons given for why kids drop out is that school was boring and none of the classes were meaningful or challenging. That is one way that placing really bright kids into remedial courses causes "failure." Another way might be that only students in advanced math and science track go on to major in college in the hard sciences, like engineering, statistics, chemistry, etc. We kind of fail our nation when we track tens of thousands of NC's brightest students out of access to those courses.
I am really surprised more people don't care about this.
Defense Mechanism
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 19:35 — Solon77There are many ways to fail. One of the biggest reasons given for why kids drop out is that school was boring and none of the classes were meaningful or challenging.
It is also what kids who are struggling say and use as a defense mechanism.
Possibly...
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 07:49 — Bob_SconceThat's why we need better ways of understanding what kids are capable of.
I got into a lot of trouble in 5th grade because I only did about 1/5 of the math problems assigned -- I'd get a worksheet, solve only the hardest problem and then turn it in. Then, I'd have to stay after school to do the other problems. At the end of 5th grade, I despised math.
Luckily, my 6th grade math teacher was wonderful and brought me back around -- I ended up majoring in it.
Why are they struggling?
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 07:47 — garnergradKids need the defense mechanism when they suddenly find themselves struggling after the years of boredom because classes weren't meaningful or challenging.
People seem pleased to see bright kids get their "just rewards" when they hit the wall after years of doing little or no work with little or no fallout. Kids go for years getting by without doing any meaningful or challenging work because it's all so easy -- until it isn't. They get 3's and 4's without even paying attention in class. Then they find that while they weren't paying attention everything changed. The work got harder, but these kids have no foundational skills, no coping skills, and no study habits and they don't know what in the world happened! Then they get told, "see, you're not so smart".
Math is a great example. Kids don't practice long multiplication or long division-they mastered it, right? Why practice? Turns out it takes lots of practice to do math well when you can't do it all in your head. If you have never gotten the practice and then it gets hard, of course you'll spin your wheels and get defensive. Don't blame kids for lacking the maturity to have that figured out-they're kids. Teachers and parents are supposed to help them through this. Blaming kids for lacking motivation doesn't help.
There are many ways to fail.
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 18:10 — klanders65There are many ways to fail. One of the biggest reasons given for why kids drop out is that school was boring and none of the classes were meaningful or challenging. That is one way that placing really bright kids into remedial courses causes "failure." Another way might be that only students in advanced math and science track go on to major in college in the hard sciences, like engineering, statistics, chemistry, etc. We kind of fail our nation when we track tens of thousands of NC's brightest students out of access to those courses.
I am really surprised more people don't care about this.
OK
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 23:37 — Solon77OK - please connect the dots to how this is then parlayed into an assignment plan. I am a little slow, it has been a long week.
Its complicated
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 18:20 — klanders65It is more like paint by numbers than connect the dots.
The old assignment plan was based on the premise that low income students can't learn as well as non-low income students. So, they got spread around so no one school was overly burdened by them. And, so as not to "punish" any school or teacher who had to have these students, the Effectiveness Index adjusted outcomes according to lower expectations for results for teachers and schools based on number of low income students in the class, and percent in the school.
It was a given. These kids can't learn, you are not expected to teach them, and you will not be judged a bad teacher if you had too many of these kids and that is why kids in your classes (or school) don't learn anything.
Teacher recommendations were used to place kids into advanced courses. Lots of advanced courses were offered as bribes to attract people into magnet schools. The neighborhood kids were not recommended for these courses. They were thought not to need them because they are at risk, and not good learners, and besides-- seats in those courses are the bribes to get the other kids to come there.
If we start using EVAAS, what we see immediately is that many (thousands) of the low income kids are brilliant and successful until we deny them access to the advanced courses and make them take remedial courses. This is what WFRMS looked at. They saw they were "overlooking" low income and minority kids who were predicted at very high levels to be successful. They moved them into advanced courses and all of them were successful.
How does this relate to assignment? It just takes away the premise that we need a way to spread these kids around because they can't learn and are a burden. It makes the premise shaky. Our current magnet and diversity system is based on the premise that low income kids can't learn very well.
What would make sense if we took that premise away?
Sampling
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 20:34 — Solon77I understand where you are coming from but it is a sampling and does not address on a broader scale (nationally) why ED, Blacks, and Hispanics under perform Whites, Asians, and Indians and why high poverty schools perform poorly.
Solving the education gap is not as simple as taking a population of students with high predictable success and putting them in advanced classes. What happens to the high % of students that project to be behind - how are these students helped ?
If you haven't already
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 01:47 — TrailerParkGirlIf you haven't already read it and are really interested in this topic, I highly recommend reading the book "Whatever It Takes" about the Harlem Children's Zone. Plus, that is the basis for some of the direction education is moving at the national level.
It covers the history, structure and programs; underlying theories; how/why achievement gaps develop and exist; where, why and how they faltered at points; the corrections made; differences and similarities with KIPP; and also related third-party research. It will also help you understand the term "promise zone" that is being increasingly used around the nation. (IMO Chapter 8, "The Conveyor Belt" is the filet mignon chapter.)
As a teaser - "... - gaps exist by race, class, and maternal education - and they open up very early. At age one there is not a great difference between the cognitive abilities of the child of a college graduate and the child of a high-school dropout, but by age two there is a sizable gap and by age three it is even wider."
Think about how and what children learn between 12 and 36 months of age and between 36 months and starting K at age five.
Not all high poverty schools perform poorly, so really the area of interest should be what is different about those schools that do not perform poorly. If a high poverty school is performing well, it means the ED students are performing well whereas here we have "well performing" schools where the ED students within them are still performing poorly. The key is to figure out what factors are driving those different situations.
...
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 10:05 — red_balloonThe key is to figure out what factors are driving those different situations.
And convincing people that at least some of those factors are relevant to WCPSS and scalable.
Its complicated
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 19:56 — klanders65taking out a double post
Ok
Sat, 07/10/2010 - 10:13 — loriacThe previous board relied on the assignment plan to spread.the at risk children around the county in order to have good SCHOOL scores. The new board has the task of both undoing this mess (my opinion - spot nodes assigned to different schools than their neighbors, having to drive past 5 schools to get to yours, lots of examples). AND moving the focus to improving education for each child. They have a big job ahead of them. One of the big reasons this board was voted in was to undo the mess. I'm happy with their progress, but there's still a long way to go.
I still find it interesting how many people are coming out of the woodwork over Wake county's assignment plan. Why aren't there prayer vigils in Durham or Orange County where there is no forced busing? The ITB politics are too thick here - wish someone would unwind that.
Also
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 18:06 — Dove314The phrase "to give each child the resources they need" is puzzling. Can WCPSS truly afford to provide each child with all the resources they need? Each child will have a differing combination of needs, some more expensive or time-intensive or overall resource-intensive than others. Prioritizing which needs for which children a system can afford to fund is an issue that has bedeviled school districts for many years, regardless of who was in power and how students are assigned.
My neighbors, who are sick
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 16:58 — jenmanMy neighbors, who are sick of listening to me talk about WCPSS (yet who always come to me when they have questions. . .lol), tease that whenever I say F'nR it sounds like I'm cursing. I think many here would agree. :-)
Good thing they aren't
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 18:03 — CaryCurmudgeonGood thing they aren't classified as "Free & Assisted."
Took me a while, but I just
Sat, 07/10/2010 - 13:30 — jenmanTook me a while, but I just now got this. Very funny.
Largely political
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 17:14 — Dove314Isn't that largely a political aspect of this whole issue? Members of one party tend to have issues with government handouts while members of the other party don't. Opinions expressed here regarding FnR seem to track pretty much in line (there are always exceptions) with the political views of the person posting.
Actually, I was thinking of
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 18:00 — jenmanActually, I was thinking of people like TPG who don't buy into the at-risk model. Who don't like that F&R is used at all to determine a child's success or where they should go to school. I found an interesting quote today that fits in this conversation very well and conveys the meaning I had:
"When race was an explicit factor in assignment, Bridges, who is
black, said, teachers were less likely to judge a minority student’s potential
disadvantages: “It’s been accepted that we needed to mix up the
races,” he said. “Now, a teacher might think, ‘Why do we have to deal
with these poor kids?’ I think that’s significant.”34"
Bridges is Bob Bridges, WCPSS supt from 1985-89. This was from /www.tcf.org/Publications/Education/silberman.pdf
I agree--it will be
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 13:06 — jenmanI agree--it will be interesting. All of the people I've worked with in WSCA are in the middle--not advocates of strict proximity. Can't speak for any other groups or new board supporters, but this was a huge thing within WSCA. Lots of discussion, compromise and agreement on supporting something in the middle. Not Wake, not CMS, but something better. :-)
I'm interested to hear what this guy says. There's also the man from Duke who JT has spoken with.
I'm with you there - Jenman
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 13:39 — reasonablevoiceI'm with you there, Jenman. Something better!
I agree with jeffrey that
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 12:44 — jenmanI agree with jeffrey that getting these people to actually start focusing on or at least mentioning achievement is a great thing. Probably the best thing to come out of all of this. But I'm with you in that I'm very skeptical of Brannon and some others who are now talking about these issues. Where was their concern before? I'm not sure the concern is real now. Like you, I think that Brannon and some others would be happy to just go back to what we were doing before and be done with it.
Quail Ridge
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 20:38 — AngelaWQuail Ridge Books & Music hosts
renowned educator and author of Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire
Rafe Esquith discussing his latest book now in paper-back
LIGHTING THEIR FIRES: RAISING EXTRAORDINARY CHILDREN IN A MIXED-UP, MUDDLED-UP, SHOOK-UP WORLD
Saturday, July 31 at 7:00 pm
Esquith has devoted his life to helping firth graders succeed at his street-tough, graffiti-ridden elementary school in the Los Angeles ghetto. His students are indeed extraordinary, but as he explains,children aren't born that way; rather, they become extraordinary; as a result of parents and teachers who instill values
that guide them, not just in school, but for the rest of their lives.
Education is at crisis levels, with budgets being slashed, and staff cuts resulting in greater numbers of students in classrooms. Esquith has been dealing with these problems his entire career, but he has found ways to work around the system and get his kids excited about learning.
With Lighting Their Fires, he shows parents that if they arm their kids with a few simple tools (punctuality, selflessness, patience, for example), their children can become extraordinary students, and grow to be extraordinary people.
"Rafe Esquith is a genius and saint. The American education system would do well to imitate him" ~ New York Times
Esquith has taught at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles for the past twenty-four years. He is the only teacher to have been awarded the president's National Meal of the Arts. His many other honors and awards include the American Teacher Award, Parent magazine's As You Grow Award, Oprah Winfrey's Use Your Life Award, and People magazine's Heroes Among Us Award.
Very Cool!
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 16:42 — MichYankeeThanks for sharing this information!
I <3 you, wikiAngela!
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 13:01 — jenmanI <3 you, wikiAngela!
:)
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 13:25 — AngelaW:)
Sorry Yvonne, we tried it
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 18:34 — CaryCurmudgeonSorry Yvonne, we tried it "your" way and it didn't work. Here's what your "diversity" program gave us:
1. Student bodies which were not, in fact, diverse. WCPSS administrators were smart enough to know that Wake County did not have the stomach to follow the program and bus thousands of additional students.
2. Advanced courses which were not, in fact, diverse. The SAS and EdStar reports showed that WCPSS was clearly discriminatory in placement of minority students into advanced classes. Or, attend one of our "diverse" magnet schools and see how many ED students get enrolled in AP Chinese. Ask the Enloe kids how many ED students are going with them on their Japanese immersion trip.
3. Graduation classes which were not, in fact, diverse. Demographics of our graduating classes aren't close to those of our school population.
You and your fellow instigators are selling out the very people you claim to represent. Under the program you espouse, these kids get buried in the system and shuffled from school to school. Stated simply, you are in no position to make any demands of the school board, because the approach you offer failed. A majority of voting citizens acknowledged this failure when they went to the ballot box. Your "side" went 0 for 4 (not an easy task).
Now, if you have some suggestions about what WCPSS should do to improve academic performance, then I'd hope you are sharing those in a productive way -- show up and share your ideas at the ED task force. The board majority has shown themselves to be resolute, so don't expect them to respond to your press conference threats. Or, is it really about you and defining yourself as some kind of community leader?
So Brannon wants them to
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 18:13 — aquaman4life68So Brannon wants them to "fix" the problem with the academics. Well, she needs to realize there's NO FIXING to the problem. She will have to go into the individual homes to fix the problem. Where was her voice prior to all these changes. It amazes me how many folks are up in arms about the problems with the academics now and didn't say a word in the years past. It all had to do with doing away with the school assignment method. Brannon needs to just step aside and let the changes happen, it's too late for people like her to start fussing and arguing about the academic problems. The academic problems isn't just a Wake Co. problem, it isn't just a NC problem, it's a problem with our society in the USA!!
aquaman4life68 I read
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 22:17 — HJ2ss2aquaman4life68
I read through all the posts on this topic. How come you're the only one who really seems to "get it"? School performance is just a symptom of the real problem.
The reason that I "get it"
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 02:07 — aquaman4life68The reason that I "get it" is because I was raised to see things the way they should be seen. I look at things with my own 2 eyes and nothing else. However, having many, many educators on both sides of the family, I have heard over the years the good, the bad and the ugly with the school systems. This is something I have seen spiraling downwards for some time now. Everyone wants the schools to FIX the problem. The schools are not there to fix the ills of society. Society doesn't have the gutts or the will to fix the real problems. Everything today is all about "ME" and the decay of self-respect and personal responsibility. Until everyone decides to fix/solve their own problems, their children's academic problems will continue no matter where they go to school. As long as they go back to the same house each night, and live in that same environment, day in and day out, NOTHING will change. I just want everyone to get off the school systems back!! Teachers, schools, etc, have no more control over what a child learns than they have control of how you and I keep our houses clean. It's up to the individual. THAT'S IT!! :-)
And all this talk about data and testing, blah blah blah...isn't going to help either. You can print out the most beautiful graphs, and statistics, and spreadsheets that stretch across the state...IT WILL NOT HELP. That isn't the problem.
You sound frustrated....or
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 07:20 — HJ2ss2You sound frustrated....or I'm just reading my own frustration in what you wrote. I agree with everything you said. Don't know how many times I've said, "No matter what is done at school, the students return to the same environment every night."
Thanks for sharing your very accurate perception of the problem.
I think its a mixture of
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 18:33 — aquaman4life68I think its a mixture of both! :)
I am tired and yes I would say a little frustrated at the way things are being twisted and turned around with this whole issue. I wish I could find one political figure to get up on TV and tell each and every parent to tune in and watch. I would want him/her to say to all parents, YOU are the one that is responsible for raising your children and to provide them a home that is safe, caring and loving. YOU the parent have the responsibility to see that your child behaves in and outside of the home, especially at school. YOU the parent have the responsibility to work with your child daily with their homework and read to/or along with your child each and every day. Then I want them to conclude by saying...to all of the parents out there that are sucking the system dry, having children every 9 months just so the schools, and government supports them, you should be ashamed of yourself and you are a disgrace to mankind. I think everyone should take on this segment of our society and publicly shame them. Do it like they did cigarettes...years and years of ads, on tv, and radio and magazines to let the public know of the harmful effects, etc. This did pay off with much more of the public do not smoke as they did 25+years ago. It's time to throw the "political correct" talk out the window and just start laying down the law and telling the public this is how it is.
So...get off the schools and the teachers back and stop putting blame on them. Put the blame where it belongs, right into the hands of the low life system sucking parents we have in our society.
You would be even more
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 23:48 — HJ2ss2You would be even more disgusted if you knew what really goes on in the school system.....but that's another story.
My impression is that they are clueless as to how to approach the issue. Everyone has their own agenda with no real knowledge; hence the twists and turns.
As long as the likes of
Fri, 07/09/2010 - 20:04 — red_balloonAs long as the likes of Brannon, Barber, etc. are around, don't expect the mollycoddling to cease. We are supposed to accept that nothing can be done proactively to mitigate this mess.
It's time to throw the "political correct" talk out the window and just start laying down the law and telling the public this is how it is.
...
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 16:20 — SideburnsKeung,
What's NC Heat?
It's a new student group
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 16:44 — KeungHui (author)It's a new student group supporting the diversity policy. They've got a Facebook page. I'm having a problem finding the link though.
102 @ RDU yesterday?
Thu, 07/08/2010 - 16:34 — AngelaW102 @ RDU yesterday?