Re: *New Century Scools*, *SOS*...Same Ol', Same Ol' Horsesh*t!

[aburke5054@aol.com]

 I find it incongruous that someone who is arguing against an adverse tenure decision would publicly announce such outlandish conclusions about a study that he admits he hasn't read carefully.? This must be a new litigation strategy.  

Art


-----Original Message-----
From: Rick  Parkany <rparkany@adelphia.net>
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Cc: treepark@adelphia.net; rparkany@adelphia.net; mskermont@uticaschools.org; Uticata@choiceonemail.com; randrews@satterandrews.com; ginuzza21@aol.com
Sent: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:40 pm
Subject: [arn-l] *New Century Scools*, *SOS*...Same Ol', Same Ol' Horsesh*t!










[Jim correctly observed when he wrote us, saying:]

This is not research--this is propaganda by "New Visions" followers.  Jim
The evaluation of the New Century High Schools (NCHS)
http://www.newvisions.org/psa/index.asp

Absolutly, Jim: Propaganda!

Now, I will read the pdf file report someday when I get the time. But, I scanned 
it just for one glaring item that stands out in my mind and direct experience 
w/this *Project*: *Participant Drop Out Rate*, exit inteviews and other 
rationales for leaving the program, and a comparison study w/other small schools 
or small schools initiatives.

When I talk about Participant drop out rate, I am talking about the fact that 
the *unit of analysis* is the *school bulding/district* and not the _youth_ who 
make up the student inputs into them.

Now, my direct experience is with the Utica (NY, not Carthage, Tunisia) City 
School District, where my girls presently attend. Here last decade, they got a 
Bill Gates multi-million dollar curriculum grant under the aegis of this 
*Project* to convert the one-building high school into a *small school* 
initiative. They did this by constructing a multi-million dollar bonded building 
improvement plan that turned the one high school into four *academies* under one 
roof, with ostensively, four administrations and curriculae, four principals, 
four independent specialzed staff, and shared common facilities (gym, music, 
etc.).

Horsesh*t!

They constructed one *monster school*. This is what we called such euphemisms a 
decade and a half ago in curriculum studies when they tried such crap...anyone 
with more than a few years memory/experience knows what I am talking about! The 
four principals were nothing but assistant principals under one slave driving, 
old boy, dead wood, figure head who sat around, and in his own words in a 
complaint to the board heard on public TV, *sharpened pencils all day*, and 
actually complained to them in public that he didn't know what his job 
description was.

Yes, I said, Utica, NY, those cognisenti of you out there, familiar with this 
ex-Mafia East Coast headquarters of halcyon days gone by when crime was actually 
known as such and protection rackets could be called by their name, not, 
euphemed as politics-as-usual.

Now! my girl, a senior there today, was enrolled in the *Liberal Arts Academy* 
because guidance just shoved kids into any old academy, depending upon 
administrative scheduling needs and not at all student career choices, never had 
any two classes in any one academy, regardless of moniker, and hated the whole 
d*mn experience.

The school is presently a failing school under NCLB rubric, as will be most in a 
few years or so in these USofAmeriKKKa, and, back TO MY POINT:  the district was 
shoved out of this *Project* for misapplying funds, etc., etc.

News??!!

My Point??? As I said...on this one parameter, *Participant Drop Out Rate* and 
comparisons, there is absolutely no mention, let alone, study indicators or any 
other sort of comparitive analysis.

So, if on just a drive-by reading on my part of this garbage report (summative, 
remind you! not formative...this is the fourth in a longitudinal study), the 
study fails, I doubt very much that if upon closer scrutiny, it will hold much 
water, either.

But, this is the state-of-the-art in Evaluation Studies: lip and hand job 
service to administrators and funding sources to polish images and careers, and 
perhaps, the overall goal of sanctifying the patron saint of plageurism and 
intellectual property theft: Hiz Honor, Bill Gates, AKA philanthropist and 
wannabe Noble Peace Prize candidate, following quick on the heels of that other 
nimcompoop and *nattering nabob of negativity* (after the words of Pat Buchannon 
speaking through the lips of Spiro Agnew about my generation), Al Gore!

Have I goten my vocie back, Folks?

BTW ~ an update on my present stuation in NCLB land, ff:

      Best to ya from this nattering observer from the sands of Kuwait City 
where I am presently working on a school project and certification initiative 
while I arbitrate a slander case from 9,00 miles away against UCSD that my union 
is stewarding in my absence. Yes, a slander case presently being initiated by my 
union that these UCSD idiots that somehow hold down supervisory jobs actually 
tried to pass for a performance review.

Well, even under NCLB rubric, I did an admirable job: DOUBLED in one year and 
was forbidden to take part in ANY scoring, either year because of my integrity) 
the passing rate in my 7th grade cohort from year1 to year2 (2005/06 to 2006/07 
the highest in upstate NY for ANY tested cohort under NCLB!!! I proudly 
announce), surpassed all departmental goals for performance, had a clean 
personnel file, etc., etc (you know the drill!).

This *performance review* written to the board about my tenure in the building 
never once in two pages mentioned one item concerning my classroom work, but 
just the fact that I *called for security too often*, disrupted the agendas of 
staff meetings (by insisting upon actually following written procedures and 
discipline policy), filed and saved incident reports that never saw the light of 
day (while independently filing a whole printer box full of them w/the State, 
myself, that were s**tcanned by building staff), and alientated the entrenched 
network of yes-men and sychophants to an principal who, himself, was denied 
tenure and kicked upstairs to downtown offices!

Yes, a split vote on my tenure (3-4 against w/the board president voting for me 
to stay), the same majority of political hacks that, in the same meeting, 
created a position for the principal whose cronies put him in a dead-wood 
position in district offices w/a $10,000 raise for not getting HIS tenure in the 
same building and year as I was denied mine by him!!!...this all put me as 
persona-non-grata in the teaching profession, stateside, whilst I arbitrate this 
political assassination that passes for tenure review, and I DO STILL remain, 
here in exile in the desert of Kuwait, torn apart from my loving family and 
friends...

Your Own,

Rick Parkany     ;} rap.

BUT:   I'll Be Back, Miss Skermont, a poor excuse for a district superintendent, 
you!    but SUCH a sychophant! and to whom I cc'd a copy of this reply to the 
Assessment Reform Network list and of which I will summarize in an editorial to 
the Utica Observer Dispatch, soon...Yes, indeed, I'll Be Back!


[Juim correctly observed when he wrote us, saying:]
This is not research--this is propaganda by "New Visions" followers.  Jim


-----Original Message-----
From: arn-l-owner@interversity.org on behalf of Kenneth Bernstein
Sent: Fri 10/19/2007 12:45 PM
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Subject: [arn-l] a study of a Gates funded initiative
 
of course, study is also Gates funded.

Thought it worth passing on to this list.  Below my name is contents of a 
message posted on small-schools list

Ken Bernstein aka teacherken

------

The new evaluation study of the Gates-funded New Century High Schools is 
available on the New Visions website note: in original this was hyperlinked.  
Here's the url: http://www.newvisions.org/psa/index.asp]. The study is also 
Gates-funded of course. For those who have the time and inclination to read 
throw the study, I would be interested in your observations, questions and 
comments. The's study's main finding is that this cohort of new small schools 
had higher graduation rates than large traditional high schools in NY. But there 
are so many other issues embedded in the document, I thought it would be good 
for us to have some discussion.

Kenneth J. Bernstein

-- 
"Dein Wachstum sei feste und lache vor Lust! 
Deines Herzens Trefflichkeit 
Hat dir selbst das Feld bereit',
Auf dem du bluehen musst." JS Bach: Bauern Kantata

Richard A. Parkany: Prometheus Educational Services
http://www.borg.com/~rparkany/
Upper Hudson & Mohawk Valleys;
New York State, USA




 


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