Education - Dallas ISD school board delays decision on principals until May Dallas Morning News - 4-10-13
Dallas ISD school board’s decision to non-renew principals delayed to May
Update at 2:25 p.m. on April 10
Board president Lew Blackburn sends along this explanation for postponing the decision:
“Waiting another month will give the administration more time to check their data and processes, to be sure the evaluation system has been applied fairly to all principals. The new evaluation system for principals has two parts: 60% based on management performance, and 40% based on student achievement. The board will need complete and accurate information from the administration. Superintendent Miles will bring his recommendations for all contract non-renewals to the board in May. This will also give principals more time to make decisions about their future. And, because this is a very important decision to non-renew a principal’s contract, the full board will hear any grievances brought by principals.”
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"I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the DISD board’s decision to punt on whether to force out principals at some poorly performing schools until a closed session May. After the furor within the board and in some communities, the board probably wants to delay a public clash as long as possible and prevent publicly turning principals on the bubble into lame duck administrators. I’m not sure the delay is good for the district or those principals."
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The Dallas ISD Board did not make this decision. It was made by Board President Lew Blackburn as authorized by Board policy BE (LOCAL).
Board Policy BE (LOCAL) - REMOVAL OF ITEMS FROM THE AGENDA
Items may be removed from the agenda once published upon the recommendation of the Board President or the Superintendent of Schools.
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Basing 40% of a Principal's or teacher's evaluation on student test scores is absurd. We are turning our children into objects to be exploited for 30 pieces of silver.
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Macarena Hernandez, "Test Pressure is Getting to Our Schools: It's Inspiring Cheaters and Stifling Real Learning," Editorial, Dallas Morning News, July 28, 2006
"When I was teaching sophomore English in 1998, one of my students, a stocky 16-year-old football player, came up to me one day after class to say he wanted to transfer out. His last English teacher, he said, spent much more time preparing her class for the state's standardized assessment test, mostly by having students bubble in sample tests. He had decided my class, where we analyzed poetry and wrote essays constantly, wasn't going to help him pass the test. "If I fail, Miss, it's going to be all your fault."
--From Collateral Damage - How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America's Schools - Harvard Education Press
"In our zeal to raise test scores, we have corrupted the very concept of education."
"...there is mounting evidence that our our poor and minority students are actually being hurt by high-stakes testing."
