Comments - Dear Parents - A Must Read by Donald Sternberg - School Leadership 2.02024-03-19T05:27:30Zhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=1990010%3ABlogPost%3A120983&xn_auth=noUnfortunately the very things…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-10-03:1990010:Comment:1231702012-10-03T05:41:46.141Zdaniel agoliahttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/danielagolia
<p>Unfortunately the very things that children love about school are being gutted due to standardized tests having a higher priority. Creative writing, trips to environmental centers, art, physical ed, school plays, music. And what of the stress our children experience.? Do you think this may lead to cheating? The loss of one's livlihood, lost opportunities to get into great schools, loss of the joy of learning for learning's sake--due to high stakes testing.And how are these tests fair to…</p>
<p>Unfortunately the very things that children love about school are being gutted due to standardized tests having a higher priority. Creative writing, trips to environmental centers, art, physical ed, school plays, music. And what of the stress our children experience.? Do you think this may lead to cheating? The loss of one's livlihood, lost opportunities to get into great schools, loss of the joy of learning for learning's sake--due to high stakes testing.And how are these tests fair to those in poverty, or new arrivals, or those in special ed. And how are they fair to the teachers who work with those in poverty, the homeless, the hungry? Another writer suggested that we just get rid of the teachers and bring in Kaplan to teach test taking skills. I fear that is next. Instead we should be looking to the countries in Scandinavia who are at the top of the lists in most categories of achievment. They nurture their infants, they're big on pre-natal care, and they give their youth the gift of time to mature before being asked to learn how to read. They know that a child's work is his play. They encourage parents to stay home with their pre-school youngsters to develop self-confidence and a sense of security and offer economic incentives to do so.. I write this is a parent and a teacher/counselor in the NYC public school system for 35 years. I enjoyed them but probably would have left this current system as is denies children their birthright of a joyful learning experiences. Someday the tide will turn but how many children will have been turned off to school by then? Finally, it should be the Principal's job to evaluate his teachers--but who is evaluating the Principals? Politics should not enter into Principal's appointments--but that is another story. Sincerely, Dan Agolia</p> We need to tell it like it is…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-10-01:1990010:Comment:1228012012-10-01T17:04:35.680ZDr. Lynnda M. Nadienhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/DrLynndaMNadien
<p>We need to tell it like it is and we all need to advocate for our profession. Our children do not need to be the scapegoat in this 'climb' up the political ladder.</p>
<p>What happened to liberty and justice for all?</p>
<p>NYS needs to rethink or in plain language just 'think'?</p>
<p>Our kids deserve so much more!!!!</p>
<p>We need to tell it like it is and we all need to advocate for our profession. Our children do not need to be the scapegoat in this 'climb' up the political ladder.</p>
<p>What happened to liberty and justice for all?</p>
<p>NYS needs to rethink or in plain language just 'think'?</p>
<p>Our kids deserve so much more!!!!</p> Beautiful - just beautiful. T…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-28:1990010:Comment:1223862012-09-28T17:00:12.571ZStephen R. Schultzhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/StephenRSchultz
<p>Beautiful - just beautiful. This is why good teachers - I would like to include myself in that category - leave this system and go private. Well done Dr. Sternberg! Truth is always refreshing to hear!</p>
<p>Beautiful - just beautiful. This is why good teachers - I would like to include myself in that category - leave this system and go private. Well done Dr. Sternberg! Truth is always refreshing to hear!</p> Perfectly put and well stated…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-28:1990010:Comment:1223012012-09-28T16:43:25.529ZDr. Carlos Perezhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/CarlosPerez
<p>Perfectly put and well stated!!!</p>
<p>Perfectly put and well stated!!!</p> Congratulations! What a rema…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-28:1990010:Comment:1221642012-09-28T00:02:30.910ZJoseph C. Dragonehttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/JosephCDragone
<p>Congratulations! What a remarkable letter!</p>
<p>Congratulations! What a remarkable letter!</p> This needs to be sent out by…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-27:1990010:Comment:1220742012-09-27T02:02:49.655ZCarmen Campos Ed.D.https://schoolleadership20.com/profile/CarmenCampos
This needs to be sent out by all principals to parents. Kudos to Dr. Sternberg!
This needs to be sent out by all principals to parents. Kudos to Dr. Sternberg! Dear Mr. Sternberg,
As a pare…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-26:1990010:Comment:1215212012-09-26T20:03:22.163ZStacey Younghttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/StaceyYoung
Dear Mr. Sternberg,<br />
As a parent who has been trying to spread the word about the horrors of APPR, THANK YOU!!!!! Your school district - administrators, parents and community should be so proud of you for taking a stand. I am hoping that more and more of these letters will be written in hopes to educate parents that APPR is NOT what they think it is. All we hear in the news is it will "evaluate the teachers" - When teachers get bad scores this means they are bad teachers and they will be fixed…
Dear Mr. Sternberg,<br />
As a parent who has been trying to spread the word about the horrors of APPR, THANK YOU!!!!! Your school district - administrators, parents and community should be so proud of you for taking a stand. I am hoping that more and more of these letters will be written in hopes to educate parents that APPR is NOT what they think it is. All we hear in the news is it will "evaluate the teachers" - When teachers get bad scores this means they are bad teachers and they will be fixed or fired. What the public doesn't know is the truth!!!! The media NEVER talks about how this affects the children. We already have so many mandates that take the teachers out of the class. It makes it harder and harder to do their job. Now it's almost a guarantee that teachers - especially in poor areas will have to teach to the tests. Why don't we just get rid of teachers and hire "Princeton Review" to show the kids how to take the tests. How did education become a numbers game? Blaming teachers for what is an economic problem is wrong. How did getting an education degree and for most of Long Island a masters degree turn into what could be one course on how to teach to the tests? If we want our children to succeed, think out of the box, be scientists, inventors we need to support teachers to be able to do hands on projects, motivate students, inspire the LOVE if learning. APPR DESTROYS this and will fail our children. APPR DEMORALIZES our teachers.<br />
So thank you again for writing this letter!! I hope their are more parents out there that will write or go to the Education Hearing on October 11 on Long Island and help try to get rid of APPR. Don,
Bravo! More principals…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-26:1990010:Comment:1219252012-09-26T19:02:31.747ZDr. Peter Osroffhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/DrPeterOsroff
<p>Don,</p>
<p></p>
<p>Bravo! More principals need to start sharing that <em>Race to the Top</em> is really a race to nowhere for our children. Moreover, <em>APPR</em> is no more an evaluation system than aromatherapy is neurology -- it is pseudoscience, make-believe evaluation. One day the public will see that that they were conned into a phony reform movement; unfortunately, how many of our kids will have been hurt by then. Moreover, how many teachers are now becoming disheartened. Sadly,in…</p>
<p>Don,</p>
<p></p>
<p>Bravo! More principals need to start sharing that <em>Race to the Top</em> is really a race to nowhere for our children. Moreover, <em>APPR</em> is no more an evaluation system than aromatherapy is neurology -- it is pseudoscience, make-believe evaluation. One day the public will see that that they were conned into a phony reform movement; unfortunately, how many of our kids will have been hurt by then. Moreover, how many teachers are now becoming disheartened. Sadly,in real practice, the due process and safeguards of APPR now makes it even harder to terminate incompetent teachers than before. It is just so sad for the children and the educational professionals who really do care about kids. This new system only over-tests children, institutes a State growth scoring system that no one in schools really understands, benefits the lowest achieving schools since they have the greatest growth potential, and penalizes the highest achieving schools since they cannot maintain sustained growth. Still, the silence is deafening...we all need to share what is really going on to parents. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Thank you for taking a stand.</p>
<p>Peter </p>
<p></p> It is extraordinary that an a…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-26:1990010:Comment:1213992012-09-26T14:56:49.553ZJoan Taber Altierihttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/JoanTaberAltieri
<p>It is extraordinary that an administrator spoke the truth and did so on the side of education. In the past few years, the once-negligible divide between Administration and Faculty seems to have transmogrified into a sort of upstairs-downstairs world in which administrators schmooze in the great room while teachers chop celery in the kitchen. We no longer work together with the aim of educating our students, that is, in the real sense of educating the whole child; instead, it seems as though…</p>
<p>It is extraordinary that an administrator spoke the truth and did so on the side of education. In the past few years, the once-negligible divide between Administration and Faculty seems to have transmogrified into a sort of upstairs-downstairs world in which administrators schmooze in the great room while teachers chop celery in the kitchen. We no longer work together with the aim of educating our students, that is, in the real sense of educating the whole child; instead, it seems as though Administrators have been working hand-in-hand with textbook companies and their test-prep offshoots to bring the latest educational trends into our schools. Each teacher is expected to sound like every other teacher—same lexicon, gestures, lesson plans, homework assignments, etc. As one teacher noted, before her retirement last year, “Pretty soon they’ll be installing a teleprompter in every classroom,” a sort of educational karaoke.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It is heartening to know that some principals agree that recent changes in educational direction do not serve to educate our students. Yes, by the time students graduate, they will know how to take a test; but they will not be prepared to ask or answer questions involving critical thinking unless their parents educate them at home; they will not be able to write creatively, unless their parents encourage creativity in the home. And teachers? New teachers will be well trained in business models of education. They will know how to teach for the test; they will know how to benchmark and classify; they will know how to take attendance nine or ten times a day, how to write an objectives outline, and how to collect artifacts to show that they are meeting those objectives.</p>
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<p>I applaud Dr. Sternberg’s courage in speaking out in such a public way. Seasoned teachers will agree with him and, if they’re tenured, they’ll say so out loud. His fellow principals might agree with him, but most won’t say so out loud. Administrators in charge of curriculum, superintendents, and those who write and publish exams will not want his message to get around. It might encourage too many people to start considering the nature of public education and how it will or will not prepare students to function in the world as well-rounded, thoughtful, and educated adults.</p>
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<p> </p> Dr.Stenberg should be congrat…tag:schoolleadership20.com,2012-09-26:1990010:Comment:1213082012-09-26T13:57:52.710ZVivienne Mazzolahttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/VivienneMazzola
Dr.Stenberg should be congratulated for his eloquent and explicit depiction of what is coming down the rocky road for students,parents and educators. I applaud him for enlightening the parents through a start of a new school year letter. I know that many parents have many misconceptions about our new education world. I only hope this goes viral with many conversations that parents have in the district spreading to other districts and therefore making some impact.
Dr.Stenberg should be congratulated for his eloquent and explicit depiction of what is coming down the rocky road for students,parents and educators. I applaud him for enlightening the parents through a start of a new school year letter. I know that many parents have many misconceptions about our new education world. I only hope this goes viral with many conversations that parents have in the district spreading to other districts and therefore making some impact.