Do AYP transfers create solutions for kids or new problems for schools?
The state releases its list of schools today that made adequate yearly progress and those that didn’t, setting off a chain of transfers of students out of Needs Improvement schools to higher performing schools that met AYP, as mandated under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
But many parents wonder about the wisdom and the timing of AYP status.
Here is a copy of a note that one parent sent to the state Department of Education about the late timing of this process:
I am very concerned about the timing of the release of even preliminary ESEA (AYP) results.
Please help me understand why it takes until late July for April test results to be made available. I understand that principals and districts must certify results, but these tasks should be of the highest priority. Georgia DOE deadlines should be tight and enforced.
School starts three weeks from today and parents still do not know how AYP status will impact their child. I am a DeKalb county resident (sigh!) and the uproar of AYP transfers affects every single high school student. You can’t imagine the distraction, the massive rescheduling required for receiving schools, and the waste of energy each year.
I understand that DCSS bears most of the responsibility for this issue, but the Georgia DOE holds all of the cards since it controls the data and the release of the data to parents. Please tell me what the Georgia DOE will do differently next year to release AYP data at a reasonable, not last-minute, date.
Here is a note to me from a DeKalb parent about whether these transfers even improve student outcomes:
Have you ever addressed in your coverage of the DeKalb County School System whether the mandated AYP transfer program for students actually improves student performance?
I ask because at the county presentation Dr. Beasley confirmed that the county has never tracked academic progress, graduation rates or rate of return for the millions of dollars invested in implementing the AYP transfer option out of Needs Improvement schools under NCLB. All of that money invested in a program to which we have no clear understanding if it even works for these students who leave their home schools.
Better solutions for fixing schools must exist rather than creating chaos in other succeeding schools. Mark your calendar for certainly, if we must receive all of these transfer students, we will not have settled schedules, classrooms, teaching and support staff until after Labor Day when counts are determined for teaching points; one month of education compromised due to lack of foresight.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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105 comments Add your comment
Digger
July 22nd, 2011
12:52 pm
I’m sure there is no better feeling for a teacher than seeing 4 or 5 new students at the door, grabbing their crotches and looking around for what they can steal.
hardworkingteacher
July 23rd, 2011
5:45 pm
Those schools receiving transfers from failing schools are overcrowded beyond belief! What moron decided that?! So although you are an effective school that meet AYP, instead of way to go and a pat on the back, you are now told to bend over and grab your ankles!
Joyce
July 23rd, 2011
8:20 pm
Well here we are again talking about failing schools and AYP. What has the State Department done to correct this issue. I remember when every teacher, especially beginning teachers had to go through 3 evaluations a year and then the Final evaluation (end of the year) and veteran teachers had to have 3 and do the same thing. If every concept had been followed, where teachers would get the help they needed to make them successful things would not be likte this today. NO THIS WAS NOT DONE. THE MOLDING OF YOUNG TEACHERS INTO GREAT TEACHERS. You see the administrators, who sometimes, and not all administrators, thought they were God and some still do, The schools are in a mess because teachers are afraid to take back there classrooms. They are afraid of being fired. I remember in the early 70’s teacher organizations such as GAE were very strong advocates for teachers. I do not believe this is true to day. You see PAGE was and organization which was formed by school administrator, and I don’t think they will go the 100 yards either from what I have been told by colleagues from other counties. There is a new organization (1990’s probably) which represents teachers only, which makes it an even playing field and it is called MACE, I believe. Well, am getting off track. How can we make our schools successful again in Georgia. It is very simple. Hire teachers who have a love for teaching who can instill into students the meaning of do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That’s right old values. When the family values started to go to the waste side the whole state and especially education start to deteriate. Many parents do not value education which is sad. Where are the role models for children who instill in them an aspiration to success and become successful.
Throw away all this testing and AYP- I call it the #1 fund raisers for the companies who produce the test and the testing compnay who grades each test. DO ANY OF YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT COST THE STATE OF GEORGIA AND YOUR SYSTEM FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. Well. inorder to have one question on these standardized test, it cost $5,000. (five thousand dollars per question) This is what I have been told by a testing expert from Georgia. Why not have better science labs, etc. for the children to learn. The testing situation has really gotten out of hand. I had rather a child be taught in school on subject matter than for a teacher to spend endless hours teaching a child how to take a test. I believe in education we are doing more harm to children in these testing situation. READ SOME OF THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT SPECIALISTS FROM THE 1960′’s 70’s 80’s. You will see what education should be about for our children to develop into model educated citizens. Even if a child does not have a family who values education, one instrumental teacher in his/her life could change the child’s life forever. You see teaching is not all that bad, if you take control of your classroom through respect for each other. And, hire teachers who really love teaching. All the on-line degrees need to stop, Teachers need to learn from the grassroots up not in groups who take classes one weekend out of each month and at the end of the year they have a Specialist Degree or Doctorate of Education.(Only 12 weekends of Classroom Instruction) The is awful. Where were the local private colleges and State Universities when all this was going on. Where were the Board of Regents. Well someone woke up the sleeping gaints and things have changed thank God. You may think I am awful for attacking on-line course or the weekend classes from these school (diploma mills), But, getting a degree from a Private Institution or State University System is training you to be a teacher.
God Bless the teachers who still adovcate for better schools. You see we have had an influx of administrators, who in my opinion do not know beans about operating a school or school system. They got a quick degree and the Good of Buddy System went into play. They have not had the training they need to be an administrator. Their just there to make a quick buck, and believe me they make BIG QUICK BUCKS.. Why not say… if you want to be an administrator, you will make what’s on the state pay scale for teachers with only a $5,000. supplement. See how many of them would hit the door running.
APS Parent #2
July 24th, 2011
12:14 am
@Joyce. You are right. There is a big difference between testing and learning. They are not interchangeable. With testing, you can regurgitate blocks of information. With learning, you may not know all of the blocks of information, but you will always know how to ask the questions to find the information you need to answer any question.
I’ll take learning any day over testing.
Local School Leader
July 25th, 2011
11:39 am
The question of more efficacy via the transfer process is appropriate and challenging. The most infamous of conversations evolve around the impact of a malnourished home life that fails to reinforce or support teaching and learning in the home. Until we address this question, we will continue to fail children. Schools should not be the victim of communities…Some think the opposite… I am certain that what one brings from home weighs heavily on their performance in school.