Wake PTA praising the weekly early dismissals

Did the teachers not do data analysis and intervention assessment before?

I'm skeptical because I don't see hundreds of other school districts doing this also.  If it was such a great idea, I would expect it to be widely adopted. 

Personally, I don't really care that much -- the impact is minimal to my family, and the only educational downside appears to be the loss of a negligable 10 minutes per week.  But, if this caused us more significant problems, I'd demand some hard evidence that this isn't just some lark that Del Burns, Ed.D., is embarking on to gain the approval of his buddies in the education ivory tower.

It would be a good idea to use data, and would benefit the kids more than teaching time, but I can't imagine they will use data wisely because they don't know how.

 Please demand to have them tell you how they are using it.

If they have some target scores for kids, demand to see how they are derived. I have seen that some kids' targets are to score far lower than they are now.

Why don't they use EVAAS?

If we are going to lose teaching hours then there needs to be an external review of any data processes or data analyses. Lets demand an external review of whatever data they are using. 

I can't resist posting this after decades of teaching math and hearing parents say they can't help their children in advanced math after about 4 grade, and even successful college grads who were not math/sci majors saying they didn't understand a lick of math and hated it.

 But, they want math taught the same way it was taught to them.

Trailblazers is taught the way it is taught in the top track. Nearly all parents were not in the top track. They hate math and learned nothing but want math taught that same way to their kids. 

 contact ASchauss@dpi.state.nc.us Alexis Schauss--she's who I dealt with last year on class sizes and know that WCPSS is already "on watch" for too many waivers requested--- A. Local boards of education must maintain a LEA- wide class size average no higher than the class size ratio of teachers to students of the following: Kindergarten 1 to 21 Grade 1 1 to 21 Grade 2 1 to 21 Grade 3 1 to 21 Grade span 4-9 1 to 26 Grade span 10-12 1 to 29 NOTE: Charter schools are exempt from class size and teacher daily load requirements. B. During the first two months of school, no class size maximum requirements exist as long as the LEA-wide class size average maximums for each grade or grade span are not exceeded. At the end of the second school month and for the remainder of the school year, the size of an individual class may exceed the LEA-wide ratio by three students so long as the LEA-wide average class size maximums not exceeded. Therefore, individual class size ratio maximums are: Kindergarten 1 to 24 Grade 1 1 to 24 Grade 2 1 to 24 Grade 3 1 to 24 Grade span 4-9 1 to 29 Grade span 10-12 1 to 32 When a class contains a combination of grades for more than one grade span, the maximum class size will be determined by the grade span classification which constitutes the majority in the class. Example: If the membership of the class is composed of 15 students classified as ninth graders and 16 students classified as tenth and/or eleventh graders, the maximum class size would be the maximum allowable for grades 10-12. When teachers are assigned students in a team-teaching setting, each teacher in the team is considered to be responsible for an equal number of students in the class, regardless of how frequently the teacher actually teaches. Page 33 of 67   C. Teachers in grades 7 through 12 must be assigned teaching responsibilities during the course of the school day for no more than 150 students from the fifteenth day of the school year through the end of the school year. A teacher's daily load is determined by summing the size of each individual academic class for which the teacher is assigned teaching responsibility. Only those teachers with a daily contact load of students exclusively in the seventh grade or above are subject to the daily student load maximum. D. If individual class size exceeds 24 in grades K, 1, 2, or 3, 29 students in grade span 4-9, or 32 students in grade span 10-12 at the end of the second school month and for the remainder of the school year, or if a teacher's daily load exceeds 150 students (grades 7-12) after the 15th school day, the local board has the responsibility to follow the steps set forth in G.S. 115C-301(g) and G.S.115C-47(10). E. Study halls and homerooms are not counted when calculating average LEA-wide class size average or teacher daily load. (All other classes are to be included in the calculation of LEA-wide class size averages.) F. Maximum size for physical education classes shall be 50 students as long as the effectiveness of the instructional program is not impaired. (Health classes and classes designated as Health and Physical Education are subject to normal maximums.) The maximum daily load for teachers with five classes of physical education would be 250 students. G. Two classes of up to 29 students each may be simultaneously scheduled for elementary physical education. The resulting physical education class may have no more than 58 students. When such a class is organized, a second participating adult must be assigned to help manage it. The second adult may be a teacher or a teacher assistant. H. The above class size and daily load limits do not apply to music performance ensembles (Vocal Music, Orchestra, Band, and Jazz Ensemble). I. Class size and daily load maximums apply to all teachers, including those which are state, federally, and locally funded. J. Teachers employed in vocational education, exceptional children, remediation, instructional support, etc., should be used to meet class size requirements when the school is determining its organization and teacher workload. Their classes are subject to all class size and teacher daily load maximums. Page 34 of 67   II. INITIAL REPORTING OF CLASS SIZE Under the provisions of G.S. 115C-301(f) and G.S. 115C-47(10): A. Class size and teacher daily load exceptions will be identified and reported via the School Activity Report (SAR). A school's SAR will be transmitted one week following the transmission of the school's Principal's Monthly Report for the second school month. B. All class size and teacher daily load overages not allowed by a waiver must be corrected by the LEA. Corrections may be made by reorganization of classes, by correcting inaccurate data at the school level, or by requesting a class size waiver under the ABCs program or exceptions waiver from the State Board of Education (see III. and IV. below). Corrected class size and teacher daily load data should be retransmitted. Class size and teacher daily load overages in schools without waivers will be called to the attention of the State Board of Education. C. The State Board will report all allotment adjustments and waivers permitted to the Office of State Budget and Management and the General Assembly by May 15 of each year. III. ALLOTMENT ADJUSTMENTS OR WAIVERS DUE TO EXCESS CLASS SIZE Under the provisions of G.S. 115C-301(g) and 115C-47(10): A. The Department of Public Instruction is authorized to review and respond to, on the State Board's behalf, an LEA's request for a waiver of class size requirements for individual classes or an LEA's request for a waiver of teacher daily load requirements. B. Local boards of education are responsible for assuring the class size and teacher daily load requirements set forth in G.S. 115C-301 are met. Any teacher who believes the requirements of G.S. 115C-301 have not been met shall make a report to the principal and superintendent. The superintendent shall immediately determine whether the requirements have in fact not been met. If the superintendent determines the requirements have not been met, he/she shall make a report to the next local board of education meeting. The local board of education shall take action to meet the requirements of the statute. If the local board cannot organizationally correct the exception and if any of the conditions set out below are met, it shall immediately apply to the State Board of Education for additional personnel or waiver from the standards set above. The Individual Class Size Waiver form can be located on the Financial and Business Services’ Web page www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/accounting/forms/ .  

If they don't use data or learn to use it, then the rich white students will dominate all advanced courses, since they get placed there because they are rich and white. They are not the high scoring students.

 I am not sure who the PTA represents. Would they want the use of data?