Depending on who you ask, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board's attempt to "reroute" a percentage of School Performance Scores from successful to less-than-successful parish schools is either a reasonable response to an outmoded accountability system or a cynical ploy aimed at fudging the numbers to stave off funding cuts.
Whoever's interpretation is most accurate, it's possible the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education could nix the move. State schools Superintendent Paul Pastorek hopes that's the case, since he's very much opposed to the rerouting plan.
The EBR school board voted 9-1 on Sept. 18 to allow so-called rerouting, which involves taking a percentage of scores from magnet schools and applying them to "home schools," or the schools where those magnet students would have gone had they not attended a magnet school.
Charlotte Placide, EBR schools superintendent, sees rerouting as bringing balance to a system that—on the other end of the spectrum—is unfair to struggling schools because it saddles them with the scores of students who have been reassigned to alternative schools.
The system's alternative schools are basically the last stop before a student is booted out of the system all together. Alternative students tend to be low achievers. Many are "overage." Discipline problems aren't unusual.
Placide says nobody is trying to hide anything with the rerouting plan, since LEAP and Graduate Exit Exam scores and other student achievement data will still be reported each May, well before School Performance Scores come out Aug. 1.
Some skeptics charge that the rerouting is just a way for EBR schools to preclude the state from taking over any more parish schools and thus prevent loss of the accompanying funding.
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The state department of education earlier this year took over four EBR schools listed as persistently academically unacceptable and placed them into the Recovery School district. Eleven more EBR schools are eligible for takeover in the 2009-10 school year because of failure to raise their accountability status. Three elementary schools in danger of takeover, Howell, Merrydale and Polk, were removed from Recovery School District eligibility this year. EBR school officials says this is proof improvement initiatives are having an effect.
At any rate, Placide argues rerouting is not about the money.
"It's not to keep from losing funds," she says. "I don't know where they got that. Everybody thinks this is a funding issue. Obviously if you lose schools the funding goes with the schools, as it should."
Rerouting helps struggling schools in "the fact that it gives them more time," Placide says.
An extra percentage point rerouted from a magnet or gifted school to a foundering school could make all the difference between being taken over and not, she says.
Liz Frischhertz, the school system's chief accountability officer, says takeover creates disruption and lost time for students and teachers. The school system, meanwhile, is making "tremendous improvements," she says. Rerouting does not affect promotion rates or development of curriculum, Frischhertz says.
"We educate students and students are our priority," she says. "Everything we do is about student achievement. The accountability system is very complicated."
Placide says the state should conduct a deep review of its accountability system and make changes, such as finding other ways to measure student improvement.
"I think "I do believe that scores have to be a part of that," she says. "Testing is a measurement, but I don't think it should be the only measurement."
Pastorek, the state schools superintendent, is not OK with rerouting and doesn't buy the justifications.
"I think it's kind of sad that a group of people who are responsible for educating children resort to cooking the books to try to get themselves out of fulfilling their responsibility," he says. "I find the whole thing a terrible joke. I'm frankly disappointed."
Pastorek says the school system has the option of either routing alternative students' scores to the students' home schools, or keeping those scores at the alternative schools. But they have to be counted somewhere in order not to leave low-achieving students' performance off the books.
Rerouting a percentage of scores from high-achieving schools is a totally different situation, Pastorek says. He likens it to changing the rules of the game after the game is over, and says it casts doubt on EBR schools' ability to govern effectively—including selection of a new superintendent to replace Placide, who retires in June.
"Selection of the next superintendent is going to be very important," Pastorek says. "It does not inspire confidence in their ability to pick a new superintendent."
He says he's "asking for some advice" and should know soon whether BESE has any say over the school system's actions on the matter. Frischhertz says her understanding is that the proposal does not have to go through BESE, but does have to be submitted to the department of education.
"(The rerouting proposal) reiterates the rationale for taking the four schools we took," Pastorek says. "The focus is not on the schools. It's on the scores. It really is unconscionable. This is what gives school boards in Louisiana a bad name."
Comments
Posted by jsanderssr on September 23, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The "rerouting" scheme is a pathetic attempt to portray a school system as something it is not-an effective educational entity. Using the scores of the LA School for Math, Arts, and Science and the Ben Franklin School as those for all schools in the EBR system would paint a much rosier picture but would be totally without validity. Just like this rerouting scheme.
Posted by pbrunett001 on September 23, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
First, let me say that I don't have children in the school system. They are both grown and were students in the magnet programs.
I think Charlotte Placid and the board's decision to rerout the scores is totally wrong. The scores for a school should come from only those attending that school. If a school is not educating a student who is in a magnet school, the school can not use that student's scores to increase their school's scotes.
They need to give discipline back to the schools and staff. That's the biggest complaint I've heard from teachers I know. They can't teach because of discipline problems and students who don't want to be there.
Schools can not keep teachers-not so much because of money, although it helps, but, because they burn out.
Posted by TQMSystems on September 23, 2008 at 8:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with Superintendent Paul Pastorek and think this has to be a joke. Who in their right mind would agree that this represents what the school system is doing? Does the School Board count the scores of these "better" students twice then and in effect doubling the value they add to the system?
This just validates that our school system will not get better if the main focus is cooking the books. Look what happened to all the companies (Enron, etc.) that were cooking the books.
Get the focus on the real issue and that is upgrading the education the students should be getting and are not.
Mickey Christensen
Posted by Julie_Baron_Sheffield on September 24, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I understand the outrage, but I SUPPORT this change. Of course, the primary focus should be on educating each and every child to his/her maximum potential and the re-routing of test scores should not be a substitute for that. But, once you realize that EBRPSS already manipultes the school performance scores, this method of manipulation is actually an improvement. I have 2 children in the GIFTED program (not magnet, big difference, but that's a topic for another day) in EBR public schools. BTW, this change would only affect MAGNET school scores, not gifted (contrary to what has been incorrectly reported). Where is the outrage that gifted students test scores are already being USED to prop up school performance scores? Yep, the School Board and Supt. have stated on numerous occasions that they will not create a dedicted gifted school (like a Ben Franklin) in EBR because it would pull the gifted students' scores out of the mostly inner-city schools where the gifted programs are located. Also, re-routing test scores is better than re-routing the high-scoring students back to their home schools (i.e., dismantling the magnet schools) in an effort to improve the home school scores. This has been proposed in other districts and I don't put it past our School Board. In fact, some (not all) teachers&principals of high-achieving students attending home schools have been known to try to prevent that student transferring to a magnet school or gifted program in order to keep that high test score in their school's average. With this change, the home school would benefit from the student attending a magnet and possibly even improving their test scores. This would encourage the teachers&principals to serve each student's best interests, instead of the focusing only on their own school's performance score. Once again, once you realize how the system is ALREADY manipulating scores, this change is an improvement.
Posted by InGodweTrust on September 25, 2008 at 5:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you State Superintendent Paul Pastorek for putting the children first. I support you in your efforts to help make the schools in Louisiana better. For not allowing them to continue on a the path they have been on for many years. It is about time someone does what needs to be done. The children and society as a whole will be better off for it.
Test scores should not be rerouted for any reason. If a school fails to meet the standards then it is the schools fault. Who make up an individual school? The children,parents,teachers and principals. The children should make a conscious decision to attend school, pay attention in class, respect the teachers, etc. The parents should make sure their children attend school, do their homework, etc. The teachers should teach, send all disruptive students to the principal if they refuse to abide by the rules of the class room, etc. Principal's should take control of their school (like my son's principal has done). If they cannot then they should look for a new line of work.
If rerouting of scores is allowed to happen in East Baton Rouge Parish and continue across the state society will have yet another generation of "you cannot do that to me, you owe me, etc." How? By teaching stealing, cheating, etc.to get something they did not earn is acceptable. I realize this is not something people want to hear, may not be understood by some and probably will not be a very well received statement either. Well, the truth hurts. In a society where wrong is right and right is wrong is a growing trend it is to be expected.
Posted by mislilli on September 25, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My daughter has been in the magnet program since kindergarten and is now in 9th grade. I am very disheartened by the school board's decision to send scores to home schools. It's like sweeping a dirt floor. Are you really doing any good for the root of the problem? I am not happy and I will take my unhappiness with me to the polls on the next school board election day.
Posted by Julie_Baron_Sheffield on September 25, 2008 at 12:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wish there were this much outrage about EBRPSS forcing the Gifted Program to remain in inner city schools to artifically prop up their test scores. That's being going on for years. Why is the public not outraged about that? Because it's a dirty little secret that does not make it into the newspaper.
Posted by BatonRougeForward on September 25, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is absolutely pathetic. Rerouting test scores to mask the terrible job our school board has done for the last 25 years? The simple fact of the matter is our education system needs a sweeping overhaul and we need to look no further than the individuals trying to get this rerouting plan approved. The school board has done nothing of any substance to improve the quality of education and they should all be handed their two week notice for their failure. The taxpayers continue to give the EBR Parish school board money in order to do nothing. This is an act of desperation by those that aren't willing to make the necessary sweeping changes for our parish.
Posted by kgs on September 25, 2008 at 10:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been following this closely and have a couple of questions that I guess need to be answered by someone with knowledge.
Why are scores from Discipline Centers and other remedial sites in the school system sent back to a student’s home schools, especially when those students are not even at their home school? There are actually students who never set foot on a school campus, but because they lived in the attendance zone at one time, the zero he gets for not taking the test is sent to that school. Why can't the scores stay at a site where this student is actually taught? If they do this with magnet schools, why can't they do this with other school sites?
Why is it acceptable for the State Department of Education to allow other school districts do this exact same thing, but not EBR? In an article that was published in the Times-Picayune on Sept. 4, 2007, a State Department of Education staffer is quoted as saying that routing scores back to attendance-district schools ‘is not unusual.’
"This is one place where the accountability policy provides some local flexibility, which we feel is important," said Scott Norton director of standards, assessments and accountability for the state Department of Education. "Some magnet schools route the scores, and some don't. Neither method is considered right or wrong, and whether one or the other gives a false impression would be a matter of opinion."
If this is what a high ranking official said in a news article less than a year ago, why is it so bad for EBR to do what Jefferson Parish is doing?
This to me sounds like what Mr. Pastorek accuses EBR of doing, changing rules in the middle of a game.
So I guess my question is, why can other School Districts do exactly what EBR is planning to do? Where was the outrage from the State Superintendent directed at these Districts?
It is really sad education and politics mix. We can see that result here in EBR where Advance Baton Rouge has allowed noting but fights to occur on their campus. Instead of solving the problems at those schools, the main players at Advance Baton Rouge are still playing….playing with our students. I hear 2-3 students and teachers approach the EBR school system every other day wanting to return to the EBR School System.
I truly believe that some charters can really make a positive impact on students who need that more than even, but I don’t think Advance Baton Rouge is the institution that can deliver that. They already failed in the over-age school that they created last year. They walked away from it at the end of the year. Exactly what has ABR advanced?
Posted by pmccarron on September 26, 2008 at 12:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
More Charter School Takeovers. Voucher System Tomorrow.
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