Why The Atlanta Educators Cheating Case Bothers Me

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I have more than a passing interest in Education. As a parent I always want to ensure that I can provide the best education for my children in conjunction with anything I do at home. Professionally I consult for charter schools. I have a Masters in Educational Administration and Policy Studies, and I've worked in school districts in an administrative capacity, primarily as a consultant, so I'm familiar with the ins and outs of school administration. Lastly, I am acutely familiar with cheating in school districts, as at one point I had to speak out on this issue.

Briefly, this article summarizes the main points but it was an investigative reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution - Heather Vogell who first uncovered the irregularities in the testing data. Vogell noted, several schools statewide had changed in status between the spring 2008 administration of the test and the summer retest in 2008, going from not meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) rates, a calculation set by federal legislation that determines the fates of individual schools, to meeting the measure. A lot more schools had met AYP than was expected - it was a larger shift. Upon further investigation she found a handful of schools had increased their performance so much more than they had been expected to that it raised questions over whether educators had intervened in the testing process. She published her first story in December 2008, highlighting schools where the gains seemed astronomical. See full article here. Making AYP matters more if you are receiving Title 1 funds.

This case has a lot of underlying implications, the chief one being that children in high need school districts or schools with low SES (socio-economic status),  can not do well on standardized tests without assistance. If they do, the scores need to be examined closer. High need usually equates to low academic performance, but this is not always the case.

This case abdicates parents of all responsibility in their child's education and places the entire blame on the teachers, principals, administrators and the school district.  How is it possible that you did not know your child could not read until you are moved to another school district and they are held back? Besides the state tests, were they no other indicators that a child was not progressing as he/she should? Why is the state test ranked as the holy grail of all tests, when the reality is it isn't?

There's the underlying theme of race - any article that I've ever read on this case always mentions the race of the defendants and SES of the schools involved. From the LA Times when referring to the defendants, "all African Americans who worked in low-income neighborhoods." All of the educators were black, the prosecutor and his staff were primarily black, the affected schools and students were primarily black, the judge was white and the primary defense attorney was white.

This case was handled in the manner it was because of money - for the defendants and the schools. One of the prosecutor's points was that if cheating had not occurred more federal funds for remediation could have been funneled to the school district. I'm not sure exactly what this statement means because if a school makes AYP, it receives Title 1 Funding. He may have been referring to other monetary sources. Be that as it may, the real question is: do these funds change the student's performance or is a poor district just a cash cow? Per pupil spending in high need school districts rivals those in high SES school districts, yet their performance is better.

It's not just about the money but this was grounds for this case.  Significant money is spent every year on education in this country.

• The United States spent $553 billion on public elementary and secondary Education in 2006-2007,[4] which is 4.2 percent of gross domestic product.[5]
• In 2007, the federal government spent $71.7 billion on elementary and secondary Education programs. These funds were spent by 13 federal departments and multiple agencies. The Department of Education spent $39.2 billion on K-12 education. The largest programs in the Department of Education's elementary and secondary budget were "Education for the disadvantaged" ($14.8 billion) and "Special Education" ($11.5 billion).[9]

One of the warped messages from this case is: failure equals more money; let the children fail; let's maintain the status quo.

In Georgia - PPS (per pupil spending) for 2012 is ~9300. More recent data provides a better breakdown of what actually goes in PPS, and this article provides a breakdown on where the money goes and how it is spent.

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It's about the children. Supposedly because of the educators' role, these children are damaged for life.
It was always about the children but their lives aren't damaged because of the outcome of one annual state standardized test. Children don't learn in a vacuum - learning is a process, a life long one, with multiple assessments along the way to assess if you are processing the information. Even if they didn't learn the first time around, they are multiple opportunities available to them for learning and achieving. Again, why is a state test the only assessment that matters? When did a standardized state test become the arbiter for learning?

There is a culture of cheating and high stakes testing. It is acknowledged that there is a culture of cheating in schools that has increased with the onset of State Standardized Testing. This case highlighted what many educators say is the mounting pressure to meet testing targets in the data-driven era of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. In Atlanta as in many other school districts, performance was tied to how well students scored on standardized tests. They were bonuses if goals were met and penalties if they were not.  In addition, this is not an environment the Superintendent created in Atlanta, but one that she too had to abide by. The Superintendent in the Atlanta case died and it's not clear if racketeering was ever proved. Under the racketeering law, because this all happened under her watch, if she were tried and found guilty, she could have been sentenced to 45 years in jail.

Conclusion
Cheating is wrong. When children cheat in school they are consequences but none so severe that they can not resume their lives for twenty years. When adults cheat on behalf of the children, there should also be consequences but none so severe that they can not resume their lives for twenty years. When race, class and academic achievement intersect, it's a firestorm that our justice system can not handle.
The sad reality is that this is a no win situation.

Additional resources:
Did Atlanta Educators Get Equal Justice Before the Law?
The Atlanta Trial: The Ultimate in Test and Punish
Does spending more on education improve academic achievement?

Catching Monkeys

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It is said that the way to catch a monkey is to take a coconut, cut a hole in it and place a pebble inside the coconut.  The monkey will see the coconut, place his hand in the coconut and grab the pebble. But then the monkey can not leave because he now has to figure out what's important - the pebble or the coconut. And so in his distraction he becomes easy bait to be caught. (I don't know how true this is, as I've never ventured to catch monkeys, but the premise makes for worthwhile discussion.)

Sometimes, we are like those monkeys. We hold on to things that we think are important and forget the bigger picture. We get sucked in by wanting things and then those things take a hold of us. Things like: placing a premium on getting a dream job; sending our children to the best schools; buying a car or a house; or a relationship.

When we finally get these things we hold on to them so tightly, and before we know it, we are not enjoying life. We're also in a position to be distracted and to be caught. At this point, we hear and interpret things differently. For example what used to be, "education is important and we will do our best to ensure our kids receive the best with what we have to offer." now becomes, "education is the most important thing and nothing matters but sending my child to an ivy league school."  What used to be, "this job is the next step in my career because I really enjoy what I do," now becomes, "I'm here and I don't care what I have to do or who I have to hurt to keep this job." Our thinking becomes warped the longer we hold on to the pebble. The coconut has more value than the pebble. The coconut can be used to sustain us and help others. The coconut wasn't meant to trap you but the bait inside the coconut was, and so many of us take the bait.

How about we open our hands and let the pebble go; just let it go because it's not as important as you think it is and if you really want a pebble you can get it outside of the coconut. When you put things in their proper perspective, a pebble is just a pebble.

Monkeys like humans are smart, but sometimes we do things that are to our own detriment. We focus on things we want that are so little and inconsequential instead of focusing on bigger things.  For me the bigger things are always about increasing my faith by trusting in the One who made all things. When tempted to take the bait, He gives me the wisdom, the insight and the foresight to let go of the pebble. In that moment of letting go I know that I won't be bait for anyone and I won't be a monkey that gets caught. You can still enjoy all that God has for you without it becoming the priority in your life.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

Have you taken the bait? What are you holding on to?

25 on 25 - What Keeps a Marriage Together?

Today is our 25th Anniversary.

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When I completed my Masters in Educational Administration, I was surprised to learn that reflection was such a huge part of the educational landscape. Many scholarly articles and research have been written on reflective practices in education. Reflection in education is - "the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning." If reflection is pivotal in Education, it seems a natural progression that reflection can be applied to other areas of life particularly marriage. As I reflected, the questions that kept coming up were, "What keeps a marriage together? What makes a marriage thrive? What makes us so special, when so many quit?"

From my vantage point the answer is shared values. That may not have been the answer you expected but shared values are foundational to everything else.
Values are things you believe in, that anchor you, that in today's lingo are "non-negotiable". Values keep you when you don't feel the love or when you're on different pages. Shared values force you as a unit to unite.

Artist's Rendition of us on our Honeymoon

Shared values over the years:

• Shared faith - for us our faith,our Christian beliefs determine how we live. It is intertwined in everything we do. In our marriage we have seen the truth of the scripture "Iron sharpens Iron", as we have both benefited from the sharpening affect of iron. We both take our faith seriously and we both want to grow. Sometimes we challenge each other but more often than not, life also challenges us. We have hung in there and are better for it.
• Mutual respect and trust - I trust my husband without reservation and he does the same for me. Now I know this is uncommon, but what's the alternative? I don't have a reason to not trust my husband, and if there is ever a doubt we can talk it out.
• Support - My husband has said he wants the best for me, he wants to see me happy, (BTW, I don't always remember this when I'm annoyed with him) but he is unwavering in his support. It bothers him when he can't do something to make me happy, but since I know his heart and his intent, that is often enough for me. I'm in California as a show of support for my husband, and he's hugely appreciative of the efforts made on his behalf.
• Children - we both wanted children but differed on the number. We both valued raising Godly children but our methods were different. Over the years we just kept working it out: sometimes both of us have no clue what we're doing; sometimes its clear one person has great insight in a particular area so the other just steps back and sometimes it is absolutely reassuring when both of us are saying the same thing and passing on Godly wisdom to our children.  It's at times like these we know we have shared values.

These may be the most important, but there are others - such as friendship, honesty, perseverance, and  generosity, just to name a few.

So, we're here. It's important to remember and reflect. It's important to celebrate. We feel blessed to have made it this far and we hope to have many more years together.

Read all of this series:
Part one - Believe The Best
Part two - The Gift of Marriage
Part three - Unload Your Baggage
Part four - Romance is NOT Dead

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Don't Know, Don't Show or Don't Care.......

This statement cemented in my mind why Boyz in the Hood became one of my favorite movies. It was said by Doughboy after his brother was shot in a drive by shooting. The movie takes place in Crenshaw, CA. (Unfortunately this movie spawned a genre of movie that was difficult for me to watch...I couldn't do it).

The truthfulness as it related to the character's situation and the depth of that statement sums up what it means to be marginalized. The official definition is to relegate to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group. There are many groups that are marginalized within our society which leads to a lot of the the isms we hate: racism, feminism, sexism, classism, etc.

The movie did not portray my reality but I know enough people who have lived what the movie portrayed and if it’s someone’s experience then it’s valid.

When I did my MS in Education there was a class where we researched the demographics of poverty in our educational system. The case studies were, to put it mildly, discouraging and one of the great thinkers in the field wondered if it was a conspiracy – that a group of people could be so broken by poverty who happen to be primarily Black or Hispanic, who within the educational system (at that point in time) were ignored.

Recently I met a principal at a charter school in Los Angeles. She lives in AZ, but commutes to LA for her job. One of my co-workers asked her why and she said “Racism.” In her experience, because she was female and Black, even though she had all the credentials she could not advance in her field, until she took this current position.

There’s a strain of poverty that when it intersects with race can leave one hopeless and angry as portrayed in the movie. Racism alone can do that to you, but to combine it with poverty or gender can sometimes make one hopeless or do things you normally wouldn't do.

This is why the Bible offers great hope; there’s more to life than this life. Some of us may have material wealth and some of us are scraping to make it from day to day; some of us may have perfect children and some we wonder “Did this child come from me?” Some of us are healthy and some of us are so sick we don’t know if the next breath is our last. Some of us skate through life, and others it seems as if there is always a trial because of our skin color. Life is complicated.

Hope from the Bible
Psalms 9:18 – But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

Psalms 25:5 – Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalms 42:5,11 43:5 – Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalms 62:5 – Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

Psalms 130:7 – … put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

I can only get through whatever unfolds in this life because I believe in God. It has been said within every human there is a God shaped void. Let God fill the void and don't become weighed down by racism or any other ism.

Have you ever felt marginalized? How did you deal with it? At what cost racism, or any other ism?

PS - I'm not oversimplifying racism, I know it exists in many forms. I don't believe in the post racial idea - until we get to heaven we'll always be dealing with our differences, race included.