Transfers by school and reasons in accountability

You can find the report here. Pretty interesting numbers, incidentally.
O'Connell pulls out Doherty: any reason for high rate of transfers at Doherty? Anything schools should look at for retaining students?
Perda: struck by large numbers of transfers to another Worcester Public Schools
rate of mobility of Worcester families moving within the city
onus on the district to ensure there are relatively seamless transfers from one district school to another
strain on the classroom teachers
O'Connell: proof that it does happen; much for moving, strain of economy
does administration have recommendations for seamless transfers?
Novick: numbers on kids going to jail; we should know
would like to be notified on students being long-term suspended for disciplinary infractions
Biancheria: "confirmed dropout plans unknown"
review of numbers on dropouts: going back to chapter 74 programs
"we need to begin a process and an action plan...this is a decision that they are making that is going to affect the rest of their lives"
"mobility and dropping out are two issues" that we need to focus on
Perda references the different levels; there may be different practices at different schools
Perda reviews efforts going on: credit buyback, Challenge and Reach Academies, tracking kids earlier who indicators of possibly dropping out.
Biancheria asking for grade level of dropping out and grade level of transfers
Notes high rate of transfers: asks for tracking single students (could one have gone from Doherty to Burncoat to South? Yes. Looking at that.)
Item is held at the subcommittee level

Mandated reports and data submissions

This is an item coming through from the Framingham School Committee
Perda: "as demands for school districts to account for use of state and federal dollars have grown; there's a need for this; you begin to wonder how is this going to be use, is this really necessary? or is this just a program officer saying 'we're data driven'"
opportunities connected with grants management
research department and questionnaires that they send out to administrations and schools, sometimes with overlapping information
"not much thought on the burden of schools staff"
"what do we really need to collect?"
"I think would be well served"
O'Connell: this will be on the agenda for the November meeting of delegates of Mass Association of School Committee
motion that we recommend that our delegate vote in favor of this at the November meeting

Chapter 74 in accountability

We've got a report here on Chapter 74 (Chapter 74 is the chapter of the Mass General Laws that covers state funding for vocational education) and non-Chapter 74 career and technical programs in WPS.
O'Connell "trades that in the past would have been in the very heart and soul of vocational education" numbers are lower in ninth grade
is it that they haven't yet decided? Or are these trades falling off?
Perda: would be interesting to look at more data on this; would be happy to share that with us
"maybe we need to educate our students" from O'Connell
Novick: numbers lower in traditional trades; are we fulfilling our responsibilities with Perkins and Chapter 74 funding in training a workforce?
can we/ do we give kids information they need in order to make good decisions about the jobs that are needed (as many are in these trades)?
do some of these non-chapter 74 programs need to be spun up to Chapter 74? Can we do that?
Biancheria: students not accepted at Tech concerned that they can't get career training in high school
asks for a breakdown by site
comment here on popularity of robotics teams; connection with engineering
Perda offers to have Mr. Brenner come in for the next meeting
"not specific to our technical school...have the interest of expanding our comprehensive high schools"
"in line with our employment statistics across our city...what is actually the job market, what's the field?"
item held at subcommittee level

Accountability subcommittee: charter schools

The agenda is here.
Four items on the agenda, starting with one regarding charter schools.
We only have data on students who attended WPS previously; new information starts here
Perda mentions enrollment of blacks as significantly higher in charters than in WPS. Free and reduced lunch 62.1 % at charters; 70% at WPS.
Significantly different numbers on special ed: 11.3 on all charters, 20.9% at WPS.
O'Connell: knowing this going forward, outreach efforts going forward
"judging by Abby Kelley, and Seven Hills, a more affluent black population that has gravitated towards Abby Kelley, with a more Hispanic population going to Seven Hills"
effort made by these schools to attract particular populations
O'Connell do we have any idea if there has been particular efforts on outreach from charter schools?
Perda: speculation at this point, could very well be correct, could be recruitment going on
"May present some opportunities for the district"
"the grass is always greener on the other side...may feel dissatisfied...maybe I'll give it a try somewhere else"
O'Connell: "academic daycare...impression is that the school focus is on discipline"
suggestion on survey to add facilities; this was a parental concern previously
O'Connell further asks for an outreach effort after the results of the survey are known
Novick: can we break down by recent African immigrants versus African-American students? Yes.
Numbers on Seven Hills come closest to reflecting WPS and thus reflect our struggles
special ed numbers are way out of wack
series of motions here asking for financial impact, asking degree to which Worcester charter schools are meeting the requirements in the Act Relative to the Achievement Gap, asking for WPS to be at the Board of Ed when any of Worcester's charter schools (present or possible)
Biancheria adds that we invite our legislative delegation whenever this comes before the Board of Ed

Mixed news on federal grants

An update went out yesterday from the fed on sequestration for FY13. You might remember that this is the deal that Congress made: if they couldn't agree on a budget reduction plan, an automatic across the board (mostly) cut would happen. No agreement was reached last November, so sequestration kicked in.
What the Department of Education let us know yesterday is that those cuts will not kick in for FY13 funds. They will kick in for the 2013-14 school year, or for FY14.

The rest of the story? UPDATED

UPDATE: At 11:45, I was informed that the T&G has now put the full text up online. Many thanks!

I get it.
I know that our local paper only has so much space, only has so many resources...really, I get it.

But seriously, if you're going to run a story from the New York Times on the declining enrollment in some larger districts, cutting the story off halfway through, thus conveniently leaving out what that does to the districts, is...let's call it sketchy.Particularly when we all suspect this is going to lead us into another round of "oh, those lovely charter schools; do let's have more!" on the editorial page (and presumably with never a mention of an conflict of interest in doing so).

The T&G version is here.
The Times version is here.
Among what you missed if you depended solely on our local version:

Jeff Warner, a spokesman for the Columbus City Schools, said that enrollment appears to be stabilizing, but it can be difficult to compete against suburban and charter schools because of the district’s higher proportion of students requiring special education services. 

In Cleveland, where enrollment fell by nearly a fifth between 2005 and 2010, the number of students requiring special education services has risen from 17 percent of the student body to 23 percent, up from just under 14 percent a decade ago, according to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. 

Such trends alarm those who worry about the increasing inequity in schools. “I see greater stratification and greater segregation,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. 

Educators are concerned that a vicious cycle will set in. Some of the largest public school systems in the country are in danger of becoming “the schools that nobody wants,” said Jeffrey Mirel, an education historian at the University of Michigan.

I'm really glad that Ms. Moton got help for her daughter's dyslexia at her charter school; many charters counsel those kids out.
Should you be interested in what those numbers look like for Worcester, you can find them as a multi-part, multi-page backup on our Accountability and Student Achievement agenda for this Thursday. The meeting is at 5:30 at the Administration Building, should you like to join us.

Wachusett budget adjustment

The Wachusett School Committee adjusted their budget last night, and they're also now in the market for a new business manager:

In a prepared statement, committee Chairman Duncan Leith said Mr. Brennan used faulty spreadsheets to guide district spending and failed to forecast growth in the health insurance budget, which led to more than a $2 million gap over the past few years. 

Ugh. A budget runs on projections.