Christina Board Member David Resler Withdraws From School Board Race, My Endorsement For The Other Board Election In Christina

In shocking news, long-term Christina Board of Education member David Resler has withdrawn from the upcoming Board election.  Resler served on the Christina School District Board of Education for two terms, from 2006-2011 and his current term, which ends June 30th of this year.  This automatically gives the board seat to the other District B candidate, Meg Mason.

Resler served on the board during some very tumultuous times for the district.  Through the Joey Wise debacle, the onset of Common Core, Race To the Top, priority schools, referenda, other Superintendents and more!  I wish Mr. Resler, who I met a few times, the best of luck!

The only other board set in the election, for District F, will have current Board member Elizabeth Paige facing Desiree Brady.  If I lived in the Christina district, Paige would get my vote without hesitation.  And yes, this is an official endorsement for Elizabeth Paige for the Christina Board of Education.  I attended quite a few board meetings during the whole priority school saga and Paige’s votes, along with others, stopped the district from succumbing to the insane whims of the Delaware Department of Education.  As well, she wrote both the Board’s resolution and policy honoring a parent’s right to opt their child out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  That takes courage and gusto in my opinion, of which Paige has plenty!

 

Delaware Youth In Government Interviews Governor Markell

Today, the Delaware Youth in Government, sponsored by the Delaware YMCA, took over Legislative Hall!  One of the representatives, Natalie Walton, interviewed Delaware Governor Jack Markell.

This is kind of funny to watch.  When asked about what the most important thing a Governor needs to do, Markell’s answer is very interesting.  Especially given his education agendas the past seven plus years.  He did give good advice for anyone that wants to get into public office.

And State Reps Kim Williams and Valerie Longhurst got to address the Delaware Youth in Government as well!

@kimwilliamsde and @RepLonghurst talking in the chamber to Reps from @ymcade's 48th @DelawareYIG #deyig pic.twitter.com/b33j3W7vEz

— DE House Democratic Caucus (@DEHouseDems) April 8, 2016

Breaking News: Angeline Rivello Is The New Chief Of The TLEU At The DOE

Once a genie gets out of a bottle, it doesn’t take long for the rest of the news to follow suit. As I just announced, Chris Ruszkowski, the Chief of the Teacher/Leader Effectiveness Unit at the Delaware Department of Education, is leaving in a couple weeks.  I surmised if the TLEU would be rolled into another group, but as soon as I hit publish, several sources confirmed the title will be replaced by Angeline Rivello.  Some may recognize the name, but she is also Angeline Willen Rivello.

Rivello previously held the role of Director of Teacher & Administrator Quality Development, a subgroup of the TLEU. Prior to the Delaware DOE, Rivello was the manager of Human Resources in the Red Clay Consolidated School District from 2010-2012. So Delaware teachers, don’t get too excited yet. I would assume Ruszkowski’s departure is a good thing, but I truly don’t know much about Rivello aside from some FOIAs I published last year. Her LinkedIn profile shows she was a principal in New Jersey, Florida and New Hampshire from 2002-2001 prior to her Red Clay role.

Breaking News: Chris Ruszkowski Leaving Delaware DOE

In news that will surely cause tears and heartache, Christopher Ruszkowski is leaving the Delaware Department of Education. He gave his two week notice yesterday. Ruszkowski came to the DOE shortly after Race To The Top kicked off and quickly catapulted to the top of the Teacher/Leader Effectiveness Unit. Ruszkowski had a huge impact on many teachers in the state. As the main driver behind the DPAS-II Component V for teacher evaluations, many teachers felt getting evaluated on the Smarter Balanced Assessment scores of students was a horrible idea.

I’m not sure what this means for the rest of the TLEU, but as an area that should have gotten the chop after Race To The Top ended, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it integrated into some other area the way the Accountability area was after Penny Schwinn left in January of this year. The DOE won’t be the same without Ruszkowski. It should be better!

Ruszkowski’s departure follows other big exits like Penny Schwinn, Ryan Reyna, Shana Young, and who could forget, Mark Murphy!

Without further ado, I give you one more time, the Surfer Boy himself, the DOE hipster, none other than Christopher Ruszkowski:

Good luck in your future endeavors Chris! I hope they take you far, far away from the First State! Bon Voyage!

A Test Pep Rally at a New York Elementary School

Diane Ravitch's blog

This video was posted on YouTube. It shows a pep rally to prepare children for 4, 6, even 8 hours of testing. The school is in an urban district, not Néw York City.

I wonder if the teachers know that the test was designed to “fail” the majority of children? Every year these Common Core tests have been administered, 65-70% of the children “failed.”

They didn’t fail because they are dumb or their teachers are ineffective, but because the test makers aligned the passing mark with NAEP “proficient,” which is out of reach for most children. The NAEP scores of American students have been reported state-by-state by “achievement levels” since 1992. No state but Massachusetts has had as much as 50% of students reach NAEP proficient. In other states, 30-40% of students have registered scores that reach NAEP proficient. This reflects 25 years of NAEP testing.

The children pouring…

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