The Full, Unadulterated Email Chain Between The Delaware DOE And A Red Clay Teacher

Last Friday, I posted an article about a Red Clay teacher asking the Delaware Dept. of  Education for the student growth goals for their 2016-2017 evaluations.  The teacher who sent this to me sent it as screen shots.  Someone named “Penny” commented on the article last night suggesting that either myself or the teacher may have left out parts of the email chain in an attempt to make the Delaware DOE look bad.  This is what “Penny” wrote:

When you post emails as a way to inform your readers of what is occurring at DOE or via the general communication exchange from a teacher to personnel at DOE, it would be far more honest and a clearer picture if they were posted in entirety as opposed to cutting them down to exclude portions of one or an entire sections of the exchange. When portions of the email exchange are not included in your article, it is not fair to judge the response of the representative that you are shaming without either knowing or sharing all that was communicated. I am hoping that it was Mr. Fackenthall that failed to share the full exchange in its entirety rather than your deliberate omission of portions in order to taint a member of the DOE in order to make the response altered from what it stated. Taking it piecemeal and not in its fluid exchange changes the tone, content, and intent of the conversation by both parties. I hope there was no malice on your intent but rather you were misinformed and the full email exchange was not shared with you.

As I replied to the commenter this morning, the screen shots sent to me were very small, and I had to do some cutting and pasting of the emails to give the full picture for the original article.  As a result, the Red Clay teacher sent me the full email chain and I don’t see any changes to the content of the email whatsoever.  I hoped anyone reading the article would be able to follow the time-stamps on the emails.  But for clarity, here is the entire email chain:

 

From: Schneider Laura <Laura.Schneider@doe.k12.de.us>
Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 6:47 AM
To: “S. Fackenthall” <steven.fackenthall@redclay.k12.de.us>
Cc: Neubauer Jon <jon.neubauer@DOE.K12.DE.US>, Brake Kelley <Kelley.Brake@doe.k12.de.us>
Subject: Re: 2016-2017 growth goals

Thank you for sharing.

Laura Schneider
Director, Educator Effectiveness

Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Branch
Delaware Department of Education
401 Federal Street
Dover, DE 19901-3639

---

From: Fackenthall Steven
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 6:11:48 AM
To: Schneider Laura
Cc: Neubauer Jon; Brake Kelley
Subject: RE: 2016-2017 growth goals

Thank you.  I still don’t understand WHY our educators can’t know what the student targets are PRIOR to the meeting.  This information apparently is already known since you take the scores from last year to create the target. 

I’m hopeful that these targets are REASONABLE.  I think we fail to address the diverse populations and learning needs within our buildings.

From: Schneider Laura
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 10:02 AM
To: Fackenthall Steven <steven.fackenthall@redclay.k12.de.us>
Cc: Neubauer Jon <jon.neubauer@DOE.K12.DE.US>; Brake Kelley <Kelley.Brake@doe.k12.de.us>
Subject: RE: 2016-2017 growth goals

Steven,

Jon sent you the rating targets, found in the DPAS-II Guide.  That is all you need.

Here is some additional info:

Group 1 Educators include any educator who instructs reading and/or mathematics for at least ten (10) students in grades four (4) through eight (8). The Student Improvement Component of DPAS-II for Group 1 Educators shall be comprised of one Measure A and one Measure B or C, weighted equally (50% for each).

· Measure A: Measure A will utilize student scores from the state assessment in ELA and Math. Growth targets are based on the state’s student growth model and are established by the Department of Education.

· Measure B or C: The second growth target is locally determined using a state-approved Measure B content assessment or Measure C growth goal.

The Delaware student growth model for Measure A measures student academic growth based on the state assessments in ELA and mathematics. The model uses a statistical growth model technique to identify the impact of an educator’s performance on student achievement, controlling for variables such as prior student knowledge and other student characteristics.  Measure A rating targets (found in the DPAS-II Guide for Teachers) needed for goal setting are as follows:

PLEASE NOTE:  Although individual student targets are not needed for the goal setting process, they will be made available to the field in October. 

Measure selection and goal target identification is based on professional conversation between the administrator and educator during conferencing. If agreement cannot be reached, administrators have final approval. Whenever possible, goal setting should include all students the educator instructs.

Please visit the Student Improvement Component policy document from the DOE website.

http://www.doe.k12.de.us/cms/lib09/DE01922744/Centricity/Domain/375/2016-17%20Component%20V%20Policy%20-%20FINAL.pdf

In addition, please take time to utilize our Goal Setting Resource Suite.

http://www.doe.k12.de.us/Page/2403

Laura Schneider

Director, Educator Effectiveness

Delaware Department of Education

Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Branch

401 Federal Street

Dover, DE 19901-3639

302-735-4262

laura.schneider@doe.k12.de.us

From: Fackenthall Steven
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 10:01 AM
To: Schneider Laura <Laura.Schneider@doe.k12.de.us>
Cc: Neubauer Jon <jon.neubauer@DOE.K12.DE.US>; Brake Kelley <Kelley.Brake@doe.k12.de.us>
Subject: Re: 2016-2017 growth goals

Once again, how can educators create appropriate goals for their students without knowing what the targets are?

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 20, 2016, at 9:45 AM, Schneider Laura <Laura.Schneider@doe.k12.de.us> wrote:

Not sure if Jon got back to you yet, but the individual student targets will be made available to the field sometime in October.

Laura Schneider

Director, Educator Effectiveness

Delaware Department of Education

Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Branch

401 Federal Street

Dover, DE 19901-3639

302-735-4262

laura.schneider@doe.k12.de.us

From: Fackenthall Steven
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 7:58 AM
To: Neubauer Jon <jon.neubauer@DOE.K12.DE.US>
Cc: Schneider Laura <Laura.Schneider@doe.k12.de.us>; Brake Kelley <Kelley.Brake@doe.k12.de.us>
Subject: Re: 2016-2017 growth goals

Thank you, Jon. Will the targets be made public?

While the student targets aren’t needed, educators would probably want to know what they are ahead of time as to best decide their goals.

Thank you.

Steven Fackenthall

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 20, 2016, at 7:02 AM, Neubauer Jon <jon.neubauer@DOE.K12.DE.US> wrote:

Steven-

Thank you for reaching out.

The individual student targets will be made available in early October.  However, you don’t need those for the goal setting process.

The rating targets have been established and can be found in the DPAS-II Guide (http://www.doe.k12.de.us/domain/375).  Below is a snapshot from the guid.

<image003.jpg>

Please let me know if you need additional clarification.

Jon

From: Fackenthall Steven
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 11:36 AM
To: Neubauer Jon <jon.neubauer@DOE.K12.DE.US>
Subject: 2016-2017 growth goals

Good morning Jon,

Can you refer me to the growth goals for SBAC ELA/Math this year?  

Thank you for your help.

Steven Fackenthall

Two Charter Schools, Two Private Religious Schools, & A Military Base Public School Win Delaware’s Blue Ribbon Schools

Newark Charter School and Sussex Academy, along with Dover Air Force Base Middle School, were the only public schools to win the designation of 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools.  Two private schools, religiously based, Christ The Teacher Catholic School and St. John the Beloved School also won.  So what made these schools get the prize this year?  I can’t answer for the religious schools, but for the public schools it was based on test scores for the Smarter Balanced Assessment and closing the “achievement gaps”, based on the very same test.  Yes, let’s continue the love for Newark Charter School which seems to win every award in the state anymore based on their Smarter Balanced performance.  They even got a Title I Distinguished school this year.  Not that they had enough Title I kids in the school, but because they lived in the same district with a ton of Title I students.  When will this love affair with this school end?  Enough already!  I guess all that BRINCmanship hasn’t paid off for all those school districts who joined that consortium!  Interesting that the two charters have less student sub-groups than the districts they live in!

From the Delaware DOE press release:

Five Delaware schools are among 329 schools that U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. recognized today as 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools, based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in improving student academic achievement.

 

Christ the Teacher Catholic School in Newark, Dover Air Force Base Middle School in the Caesar Rodney School District, Newark Charter School in Newark, St. John the Beloved School in Wilmington, and Sussex Academy charter school in Georgetown are among the 279 public and 50 private schools that will be honored at an awards ceremony November 7 and 8 in Washington, D.C. The school leaders: Sr. LaVerne King (Christ the Teacher Catholic School), David W. Santore, Ed.D (Dover Air Force Base Middle School), Gregory R. Meece (Newark Charter School), Richard Hart (St. John the Beloved School), and Patricia S Oliphant, Ed.D. (Sussex Academy) will be invited to attend the national awards ceremony with a teacher representative from each of their schools.

 

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students achieve very high learning standards or are making notable improvements in closing the achievement gap. Since 1982, the award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The National Blue Ribbon Schools flag gracing a school’s building is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning. National Blue Ribbon Schools are an inspiration and a model for schools still striving for excellence. Now in its 34th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed this coveted award on fewer than 8,500 schools. 

 

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools in one of two performance categories. The first category is “Exemplary High Performing Schools,” in which schools are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. The second category is “Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools,” in which schools are among their state’s highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s subgroups and all students over the past five years. Student subgroup performance for each subgroup is at high levels.

 

The US Department of Education invites National Blue Ribbon School nominations from the top education official in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools. A total of 420 schools nationwide may be nominated each year.

 

A listing of all National Blue Ribbon Schools in Delaware:

Christ the Teacher Catholic School               Newark             2016

Dover Air Force Base Middle School            Dover               2016

Newark Charter School                                Newark             2016

St. John the Beloved School                       Wilmington        2016

Sussex Academy                                        Georgetown      2016

Cape Henlopen High School                        Lewes               2015

Lake Forest East Elementary School            Frederica          2015

W. B. Simpson Elementary School               Wyoming          2015

Academy of Dover                                      Dover               2014

John M. Clayton Elementary School             Frankford          2014

Lake Forest North Elementary School           Felton               2014

The Charter School of Wilmington                Wilmington        2013

Richard A. Shields Elementary School          Lewes               2013

Allen Frear Elementary School                     Dover               2013

Linden Hill Elementary School                      Wilmington        2012

Harry O. Eisenberg Elementary School         New Castle        2012

Star Hill Elementary School                          Dover               2012

West Park Place Elementary School             Newark             2011

Long Neck Elementary School                     Millsboro          2011

Nellie Hughes Stokes Elementary School     Dover               2011

Christ the Teacher Catholic School               Newark             2010

Newark Charter School                                Newark             2010

Robert S. Gallaher Elementary School          Newark             2010

Woodbridge Elementary School                   Greenwood       2010

Marbrook Elementary School                       Wilmington        2009

East Millsboro Elementary School                Millsboro          2008

Sussex Technical High School                     Georgetown      2008

Lancashire Elementary School                     Wilmington        2007

Etta J. Wilson Elementary School                Newark             2007

Joseph M. McVey Elementary School          Newark             2007

North Georgetown Elementary School          Georgetown      2006

Lake Forest East Elementary School            Frederica          2006

Fairview Elementary School                         Dover               2006

Long Neck Elementary School                     Millsboro          2005

Booker T. Washington Elementary School    Dover               2005

Lulu M. Ross Elementary School                  Milford              2004

Frankford Elementary School                       Frankford          2004

Phillip C. Showell Elementary School           Selbyville          2003

Corpus Christi Elementary School                Wilmington        2001

Lord Baltimore Elementary School               Ocean View       2001

Padua Academy                                          Wilmington        1996

Seaford Middle School                                Seaford            1996

Sussex Technical High School                     Georgetown      1996

St. Matthew School                                     Wilmington        1992

Corpus Christi School                                  Wilmington        1990

Dover High School                                      Dover               1987

Skyline Middle School                                 Wilmington        1985

Christiana High School                                Newark             1984

Caesar Rodney Senior High School              Camden            1984

Brandywine High School                              Wilmington        1983

Shue Middle School                                    Newark             1983

 

Alison May
alison.may@doe.k12.de.us
(302) 735-4006

 

The Aspen Institute: The Futurists Who Turned Education Into A Corporate Game

Where are decisions made that affect every single person in America, as well as the rest of the world?  The Aspen Institute seems like a good place to look.

I first came across the Aspen Institute when I was researching the Rodel Foundation of Delaware two years ago.  It seemed like an odd outfit.  Since then I have written about them many times.

I urge readers to see which power brokers are in this élite club from their states.  Many influential current and former Delawareans are in this group based out of Aspen, Colorado.  People like Jack Markell, Mark Murphy, Paul Herdman, Lillian Lowery, Bryon Short, William Budinger, Lincoln Willis, Tom Kovach, Chris Coons, Collin O’Mara, Portia Yarborough, and Leo Strine.

The Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship is a who’s who of corporate education reformers.  The Rodel Fellows (yes, that Rodel), covers public leaders.  The Henry Crown Fellows is for “community-minded leadership”.  They have many other fellowships in this billionaire, political power players, and ed reform conclave.

The Aspen Institute is all in on the cradle to grave workforce of tomorrow.  They created the Ascend Network to which focuses on early childhood education, economic supports,  health, postsecondary/adult education, social capital, and the workforce.  With  funding from many philanthropic foundations, this is just another example of how the Aspen Institute is reshaping society.

One of their more recent articles focuses on the “Gig Economy”, which coincides with the Blockchain Initiative.  This has some very frightening ideas they think the next President and Congress should take up next year.

For conspiracy theorists, they often wonder if there are secret groups out there that decide what happens in the future.  This group isn’t so secret and thanks to the internet, we can see exactly who they are, what they have done, and what is in the planning stages.  We can also see who funds them:

All these foundations, creating the future.  The Aspen Institute, an invitation only select club where futurists go to play.  A tangled web of money and power, hitting every aspect of children and their future.  There are other groups like this out there, but this seems to be the one the biggest names in corporate education reform like to go and play.  I am very certain there are good things that come out of a group like this, especially those dealing with poverty and health.  But the price is decisions going on behind closed doors with big money backing all of it.  The rich always think they know what is best for those below them.  But history tells us otherwise.

Breaking News: The Delaware Academy of Yachting Charter School

Yes, you heard it right.  The Delaware Academy of Yachting Charter School.  This is a hot topic today at the State Board of Education Retreat down at Dewey Beach.  Perhaps you never heard of this school before.  But it exists.  At least on paper (or pdf if you want to be technical).  Did a charter school change their name?  Is this a new charter school?  I would have to assume this school is down in Sussex County if it is a yachting school.  The Delaware DOE loves to abbreviate everything, so they call this the DAY School.

It looks like Happy Days are here again!  The last time I did an article like this was a few weeks ago.  I wrote Governor Markell submitted a video application to become Hillary Clinton’s (if elected President) U.S. Secretary of Education.  It was a joke.  It was the Governor’s weekly address.  Many folks didn’t read the whole article.  Let’s see if that happens again.

But the document talking about the DAY School does exist, as seen here.  Sometimes you just have to lighten the mood a bit.  The State Board is discussing the charter renewal process for this year’s charter renewals.  To give an example for the presentation, the Charter School Office created this imaginary charter school.  But someone will think this is the real deal.  Don’t.  It’s fake.  And no, I don’t consider this a waste of taxpayer money.

Delaware Competency-Based Education, Part 3: Union? We Don’t Need Your Stinkin’ Union!

How did the Competency-Based Learning Guiding Coalition get around the Delaware State Education Association?

The Rodel Foundation, Delaware DOE, and the Competency-Based Learning Guiding Coalition had a meeting coming up on November 20th, 2014.  In the meantime, things were heating up with the priority schools, especially a looming showdown between the Christina School District and the Delaware DOE.  Many people felt no matter what Christina or Red Clay did, the DOE was going to take the six schools and convert them to charter schools.  The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium was getting ready to release the cut scores on the upcoming high-stakes test based on the field tests administered earlier that Spring.  The Delaware DOE was starting their town halls for their “school report card”.  They had released surveys to the public with ridiculous things like stop lights for grades (this eventually became the Delaware School Success Framework).  The IEP Task Force was in full swing and they were actively working on their final draft.  Unbeknownst to most, former Rodel employee Matthew Korobkin began his job in the Secretary of Education’s office at the DOE to begin work on the Special Education Strategic Plan.  This blogger had started doing some serious digging into Rodel after what I found out at the end of October of 2014.  The General Election came and went.  Matt Denn won the Delaware Attorney General slot in a landslide.  Two new state reps would have a dramatic effect on education in the General Assembly in the next year.

On November 19th, 2014, I released my mammoth Rodel article.  Knowing this little group was meeting in back-door meetings would have been good to know when I was writing that article.  It would have filled in some holes.  From what I heard from a few people, this article really rattled Rodel CEO Paul Herdman.  I know he was upset with me for daring to allege that Rodel would ever make money from hedge funds and somehow profit off Delaware education.  But in any event, the CBL Guiding Coalition was about to meet…

I tried the link referenced in the email to an Ed Week article, but the link no longer exists.  I have no doubt it reference some personalized learning school and how great it was.  When you look at the above email, note the word barriers.  If competency-based learning is supposed to be so great, why would there be any barriers?  At this point, it is probably a good idea to let folks know who was on both the Core and Advisory groups for this.

In terms of involvement, I don’t know if every single person participated in this CBL Guiding Coalition that was now divided into two groups. I do know, for example, that Yvonne Johnson with the Delaware PTA did not go to any meetings of this group whatsoever.  There were six district Superintendents and one charter Head of School on the coalition.  Quite a few of the teachers were also on the Rodel Teacher Council.  Note the presence of university and college members.  There was a specific reason for that which will come in later parts.  Now, on most education committees and task forces, or any type of education group, there is always representation from the Delaware State Education Association.  But not on this coalition!  To me, the key figures in this group were Michael Watson, Susan Haberstroh, Wayne Hartschuh and Donna Johnson.  They were (and still are) important people at the DOE who were in a position to let the ideas of this group come into being.

In terms of the barriers, the coalition was very visible with what the policy and system barriers could be:

In answer to why DSEA wasn’t represented on this committee, I think the words “collective barg”, which would be “collective bargaining” gives a clear answer to that question.  Unless this is all about some secret archaeology plan, I can only assume “dig learning” is “digital learning”.

Policies on seat time?  What does that mean?  In a competency-based world, a student doesn’t move on until they master the assignment or concept.  They must be proficient.  So what measures that proficiency?  The teacher?  Or a stealth assessment embedded into the ed tech the student is working on?  I love how the DOE and ed reformers turn simple words like “jigsaw” into something else.  I know what they mean, but why do they do that?

By the time their January 2015 meeting came around, the holidays came and went.  All eyes were on the Christina School District as they valiantly fought the DOE on the three priority schools in their district.  Red Clay signed their Memorandum of Understanding with the DOE.  A financial crisis occurred during Family Foundation’s charter renewal.  The community rallied for Gateway Lab School.  Parents were talking more and more about opt out.  And the General Assembly was back in session…

To Be Continued in Part 4: Playing with regulations, priorities change, and the DOE and the Governor freak out…

Prologue

Part 1

Part 2