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Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
You just made an argument about other schools in the district not improving this school year as compared to CPM and I show you other like schools that have improved more over the same time period and you don't think those schools improved more? Let me take your reasoning to the next level, which school in SUHSD is currently a better school, CPM or Granger? They both currently have a 802 API. If you choose either over the other, you are countering one your own arguments that you have made here tonight. If you say they are equal you are also countering an argument that you have made. Sorry but it is checkmate. Good night.— September 6, 2013 11:17 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
Maybe I was not clear enough for you, the smallest rise at CPM in the last 10 years. Over the last 10 years here are the point gains for CPM starting with the gains from 2004 to 2005 and ending with the most recent scores in 2013 - +25, +17, +7, +30, +39, +8, +16, +46, +6. This last school year Castle Park Middle increased their score by the smallest amount over the last decade. That is why I wrote it. A system that does less for a school then all of the reforms that came before, explain to me all of the fuss?— September 6, 2013 10:39 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
Stevie – Thanks for asking, you open up the enormity of the problem. Castle Park Middle had the highest rise in scores in the entire district at only 6. Most schools have crashed. What do you think Stevie, a result in district leadership? Be care answering that one. Granger, the namesake of the Granger Turnaround Model fell 30 points. Aren’t they still using the model? If yes, what happened? If not, why not? Just to put things in perspective for you, all schools have a similar schools ranking, a list of schools that are demographically similar so that there can be a more apples to apples comparison. In San Diego County there are three other schools that are on the list with Castle Park Middle. How do you think CPM ranks against them in growth for this last school year? Don’t worry about looking it up, I can tell you. CPM comes in third place out of four similar schools. Cesar Chavez in Oceanside went up 19 points, Del Dios in Escondido went up 8 points and Hidden Valley in Escondido went down 13. Are Cesar Chavez and Del Dios using the Granger Turnaround Model? They seem to be doing better. Wouldn’t be a good idea to see what they are doing? It seems to be working better.— September 6, 2013 10:25 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
I was just doing a little researching on the California Department of Education website, this is what I found. Castle Park Middle’s API over the last 10 years has risen from 608 in 2004 to 802 in 2013, a rise of 194 points. That would be a yearly average increase of 19.4 points. The largest increase was for the 2011-2012 school year with an increase of 46 points, the first year Principal Bleisch took over. What I have been told and read is that during that year the Granger Turnaround Model was slowing piloted throughout the school year but was not fully functioning, teachers were allowed to make many decisions for themselves and it looks like it worked well. During last school year with the Granger Turnaround Model fully functioning at CPM, the school’s API rose 6 points; this is the smallest rise of any school year in the last 10 years. Am I missing something? What on earth is all of the fuss about the Granger Turnaround Model? With all of the extra money and people working there the school is scoring below its 10 year average, these are the years the fictional narrative would tell us that the school was in desperate need of help. Can someone please explain this to me?— September 6, 2013 7:47 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
Just so it is clear to readers who do not know the school (CPM), almost all of the classrooms that are currently used by students were rebuilt a decade ago. The ends of the buildings were kept in place while everything else (outside and interior walls, roofing, floors, electrical, windows and air conditioning) was new. The ends are kept so that it is technically a remodel so monies can be saved on the permit process, very common in the building trade, but for all practical purposes, they are brand new buildings. I realize the old, worn out school narrative sounds good to people pitching all of this fiction about the school for their own self-promotion, but the problem is that it just does not fit into reality.— September 6, 2013 6:54 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
What is funnier is that all three commented on each others posts, and then gave each other a thumbs-up and also gave themselves a thumbs-up? Who would give themselves a thumbs-up?— September 5, 2013 8:37 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
When my kids were in school, I can’t recall them ever receiving a free t-shirt from a school. I remember paying for some things, but never for free. Is this really common practice in all schools? Or is it only common practice in schools that Principal Bleisch has worked in? If it is common practice, how much money are we talking about per year per school?— September 5, 2013 8:19 p.m.
Chula Vista school hurries to get ready for Arne Duncan
I frequent public schools in many different districts in San Diego County and I have never seen a school that looks like Castle Park Middle. Could you please list schools that you feel resemble CPM? Also, if I may ask, what profession are you in that did not recently go through the recession I went through? Who would feel that this is a legitimate expense? Do you spend your own money this way? If you do, have you ever filed for bankruptcy?— September 5, 2013 8:12 p.m.
Sweetwater underwriters reel in the big one — a grand jury indictment
anniej - I do not, perhaps in the future. Ms. Luzzaro - I have already contacted you. So many new names here now with lots of people saying the same things. Where there is smoke, I guess there really is fire.— September 2, 2013 11:55 a.m.
Sweetwater underwriters reel in the big one — a grand jury indictment
DoingTheRightThing and anniej – The more facts one sees the more everything makes sense. The reason Duncan is coming to Castle Park Middle is because the school is part of the huge Promise Neighborhood grant ($30 million) South Bay Community Service received from the Federal government. In the year the application for the grant was submitted, Castle Park Middle had the highest percentage of free or reduced lunch students in its history. I am sure it is a coincidence that for that one year there was an overflow of poorer students at the school during the principals first year at Castle Park Middle, just in time to receive huge amounts of federal dollars. Then the principal uses district and/or federal money for a personal assistant (science teacher) to publicize his personal educational consultant aspirations and to ghost write his book that includes an educational model that is the intellectual property right of the district. Why is Brand not asking for the district’s money back? Or does he personally get a cut also. I wonder if Duncan will ask for some of the Federal monies back himself. Misappropriation of funds, whether district of Federal, should result in an investigation and if evidence is found, a prosecution. Brand knows all of this. The question is why he is doing nothing about it. Does he benefit from all the money himself? Or is he just giving the Castle Park Middle principal just enough rope so that he can start an investigation at just the right time to deflect larger district problems (wag the dog).— September 1, 2013 12:52 p.m.