UPDATE Week of March 10, 2008 REAL INNOVATION IS TAKING PLACE at RAMONA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

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UPDATE Week of March 10, 2008 REAL INNOVATION IS TAKING PLACE AT RAMONA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Ramona Elementary School was highlighted in a front-page story in the Sunday, March 9, 2008, edition of the Los Angeles Times. Ramona instituted the innovative Singapore Mathematics Program to address the needs of its K-5 student population. Math scores had been lagging, as in other schools, so Robin Ramos, Math Coach, with the support of the faculty and the leadership of Susan Arcaris, Principal, searched for a program that had a proven record of high achievement. They discovered in their research that students in Singapore schools were among the highest achieving math students in the world. With this analysis, they instituted the same mathematics program at Ramona three years ago. Since then, the math scores have skyrocketed to the point where the school, a Title I high-achieving school, has produced test results significantly above the District and State averages. Seven out of every ten students are either proficient in, or advanced in mathematics.

AALA congratulates Principal Arcaris, Math Coach Ramos, as well as the teachers, staff, parents, and students at Ramona for the innovative way that they addressed a very real educational problem.

We find it interesting that it did not take a new division to accomplish this success. In fact, there is innovation going on daily in the Los Angeles Unified School District where school administrators and teachers are solving problems related to teaching and learning. Our schools are problem-solving institutions unlike the “Top-Down” Innovation Division.

AALA hopes that Superintendent David L. Brewer and the members of the Board of Education would heed this lesson and fully support grass roots innovation occurring at school sites. It is more than just irony that an Innovation Division was established with a very limited scope. The implication is that a school can only be innovative if anointed by the “Division.” This is a fallacy that must be debunked.

Ramona Elementary School stands as a shining testament to the fact that teachers led by a respected principal can and will solve learning problems for their students if they feel empowered to do so. Superintendent Brewer should not be cloning the mathematics program, but rather he should be extolling the courage of the Ramona community to swim against the tide and try something new that they thoroughly researched. This is the real empowerment and lesson from this success. And, of course, if a school is looking for a new mathematics program, the Singapore Math Program may be a fit. Don't invent a new wheel, just find what works, and do it!

Our schools are the real initiators of innovation. AALA wonders if all the Mayor’s partnership administrators will be taking the next plane to Singapore. Or, maybe they will just visit Ramona Elementary in nearby Hollywood. A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s

WHO DO YOU TRUST?

Trust is a basic attribute in any personal relationship. When trust is not present, cynicism and suspicion become pervasive. The same is true in a management structure; if trust is not present, self-protection will replace motivation and productivity.

AALA believes that trust is lacking in the Los Angeles Unified School District. When principals are reticent to approach their immediate supervisors and local district superintendents with problems and concerns, that is a trust issue. When school administrators have unclear lines of communication, that is a trust issue. When principals and assistant principals are called to redundant “meetings,” that is a trust issue. When local district offices listen to complaints from parents and staff and serve as their advocate before knowing the facts from the perspective of the administrator, that is a trust issue.

A good management structure values its managerial team and has confidence in the team's ability to make decisions consistent with institutional policy. To use a metaphor, principals should be like the captains of naval vessels. They have guidelines, but they are authorized to use their judgment when making command decisions.

A truly well-run institution that values trust should have no more than three layers of line-staff authority. In LAUSD the line-staff authority should be Superintendent to Local District Superintendent to Principal. Any other extraneous staff positions should report through this chain of command. All other divisions, branches, departments, etc., merely serve as support staff.

Trust is a two-way street, and it must be earned. AALA hopes that an institution the size of LAUSD can develop trusting relationships so that the hard work of teaching and learning can be respected. The Superintendent and the Board of Education need to answer for themselves the fundamental question, who do you trust. AALA members will also be asking that question.

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." Malcolm X

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LOCAL MAGNET SCHOOL RECEIVES MERIT AWARD

Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies (Robert Weinberg, Principal) has been named a National Magnet School of Distinction by the national organization Magnet Schools of America. School representatives will be honored at the 26th Magnet Schools of America Conference hosted by the Hamilton County School District in Chattanooga, Tennessee. School representatives will receive a plaque during the awards ceremony. They are the only winner from California this year and the first winner from the Los Angeles Unified School District (Local District 1). The award is based on a commitment to high academic standards, curriculum innovation, successful desegregation/diversity efforts, and the consistent delivery of quality services to all school stakeholders.

Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies believes in a rigorous standards-based instruction curriculum that all students can learn, high expectations for all students, and all students should be prepared for whatever the 21st Century brings in the way of occupations, career paths, postsecondary education or life. Their students are exposed to a rigorous curriculum that ranges from 4th grade to 12th grade, with students from all areas of the school district. With 44% of the students eligible for the Federal Lunch Program and a diverse population of ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, and neighborhoods, SOCES has won the California Distinguished School Award in 2005, California Title I Academic Achievement Awards in 2006 and 2007, Silver Medal for the US News and World Report (Top 3% of high schools in the country), and the Newsweek.com top 500 Schools in America Award. Their API score of 845 is the highest of all Middle and High schools in the LA Unified School District. With an emphasis on Closing the Achievement Gap, their scores for all populations are some of the highest in the state.

Caroline Massengill, President of the Magnet Schools of America, will present the Magnet School of Distinction Award during the national conference, which runs from April 28-May 1, 2008, at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center. The awards presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30. Attendees will include more than 1000 school administrators and teachers from magnet schools and districts across the nation.

Magnet schools were initially developed during the 1970s as a strategy to eliminate the inequity of segregation in public schools across America. Specially designed curriculum with unique educational themes was placed in minority-dominated schools to attract majority students to improve the racial balance of the schools and to increase the quality of education.

NOTE: UPDATE will not be published the week of

March 17, 2008, due to the SPRING BREAK. (Check the new AALA website at www.aalausd.com for Positions Available)

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POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Minimum Qualifications: Candidates are responsible for making sure all the District requirements for administrative positions have been met. AALA is not responsible for errors in publication.

NOTE: Please do not contact AALA for information regarding administrative positions. Use the listed contact phone number, or contact LAUSD Human Resources Division at 213.241.6886 or via e-mail at http://certificated.lausd.k12.ca.us/admin_vacancies.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, ELEMENTARY

Sylmar School (2) MST 38, 13291 Phillipi Avenue, Sylmar, CA 91342 Sylmar is a YR 90/30 school. For information and application procedures contact Maxine Matlen, Director, School Services, at 818.755.5312. Filing deadline is Friday, March 21, 2008.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, SECONDARY

Central High School #11 (4) MST 40, 1200 West Colton, Los Angeles, CA 90026 Central #11 will open as a B Basis school. For information and application procedures contact Rosa Maria Hernandez, Director, High School Support Services, at 323.932.2221. Filing deadline is Wednesday, March 19, 2008.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, SECONDARY COUNSELING SERVICES (SCS)

Harbor Teacher Prep Academy (8) MST 37, 1111 Figueroa Place, Wilmington, CA 90744 Harbor is a B Basis school. For information and application procedures contact Susan Price, Director, School Support Services, at 310.354.3400. Filing deadline EXTENDED TO Monday, March 24, 2008.

SPECIALIST, STUDENT EXPULSION INTERVENTION UNIT (AB 922) (Temp. Adv., MST 38, A Basis)

Pupil Services, 333 S. Beaudry Ave., 29th Fl., Los Angeles, CA 90017 213.241.3844 For information and application procedures contact Hector Madrigal, Director. Filing deadline is 5:00 p.m., Friday, March 28, 2008

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED POSITION STILL AVAILABLE

Position Location Deadline Contact

Local District Superintendent, Human Resources Division 03/19/08 213.241.6131 Local District 2

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SCHOLARSHIP/COMMUNITY AWARD APPLICATIONS DUE MARCH 28

The due date for students in regular high schools, continuation high schools, and adult schools to submit their applications for the 2008 AALA Scholarships is rapidly approaching. All applications must be in the AALA office by Friday, March 28. Encourage eligible students to apply for these scholarship awards.

The due date for AALA members to submit nomination forms for the AALA Community Awards is also Friday, March 28. If you have not already nominated an individual or a group of individuals for one of these awards, please consider doing so now. You can mail or fax (213.484.0201) your nomination to the AALA office.

Should you have questions or need additional information about either of these awards, contact the office at 213.484.2226.

REMINDER

ADULT/ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY/EARLY EDUCATION/SUPERVISORY RETIREES LUNCHEON

The Center at Cathedral Plaza Viewing Foyer Wednesday, April 23, 2008 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

NEXT AALA REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING

The next AALA Representative Assembly meeting is scheduled for March 27, 2008, at the AALA offices, 3rd floor Conference Room. The meeting begins with department caucuses from 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. followed by the general meeting at 5:30 p.m. Dinner is served prior to the start of the general meeting; therefore, we request that attendees contact the AALA office at 213.484.2226 or email to [email protected] so that an appropriate amount of food can be ordered.

The agenda will include department concerns, President’s update, negotiations update, BTS update, nominations for Executive Board positions, a review of the proposed AALA budget for 2008-2009, and several Noticed Motions to consider.

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WE GET RESPONSES TO ARTICLES – Response to AALA UPDATE article, week of March 3, 2008 Faulty Reading Comprehension Methods Blamed for Stagnant Scores By Ron Klemp, Secondary Literacy Coordinator, Literacy Intervention, LAUSD

Excerpts: I read your latest AALA newsletter and was somewhat surprised to find a feature on reading. The piece offered an indictment of reading approaches based on E.D. Hirsch's ranting about the misguided efforts to teach reading comprehension. The article mentioned that the faulty approach to teaching comprehension as a separate and compartmentalized set of skills that can be applied to any discipline is at the heart of poor reading performance. I find this article a bit like saying that 1 should no longer pay attention to writers who just use their first two initials instead of their first names. The debate about the approaches to teaching reading extend beyond these authors. Let's consider a few things here. First of all, reading scores have been fairly flat nationally for the past thirty or forty years as noted by Jeff McQuilian in his monograph, The Literacy Crisis. In the distribution of reading scores nationally, the tail ends of the distribution tend to fall into either very rural areas, or urban areas, and segments of the population have traditionally done better than others according to Richard Venezky, a well-known reading researcher. This disparity signifies what we have come to call "The Achievement Gap." Hence, language, socioeconomic status, and other factors come into play here. Additionally, according to reading expert Judith Irvin, author of over twenty books on reading, standardized test scores are at a higher norm today than thirty years ago. Add in the demands of APl and AYP that offer new ways of defining success and we add to the picture in ways that are not always clear. But E.D. is right about a few things. Reading is not natural, no matter how much we romanticize it. Time is spent in the early years giving these "tyro" readers skills in decoding and in fluency so that when they hit the reading road they can spend most of their cognitive investment to uploading textual knowledge and world experience more easily. But that does not exclude students from accommodating new world knowledge every day of their lives in school and out. Let's try another analogy. A skier learns to ski on a "bunny"' slope and practices everything from knowing which end of the ski is the front, to walking in those awkward boots, to knowing how to work their bindings. They also learn and practice their turns, how to shift their weight, move their hips and knees, and eventually they plant their poles, pick up their speed, and their skiing "fluency" increases as does their "background" knowledge of skiing. Those that gain proficiency move on, while those that don't either give up or seek additional instruction. If they don't, then the poor skiing habits stay with them and they never quite match up to the level of expert. (Sound familiar?) So too is it with reading. The early years allow students to pick up sets of skills. Some students are able to go right to the intermediate hill, while others spend more time on the "bunny" hill. When students hit fourth grade, they hopefully assimilate a store of experiences that eight year olds have. In addition to reading, they hopefully know their manners, they know how to behave (social intelligence), and they have learned aspects of their environment, whether they are urban or rural, or suburban. And they are also learning about science, mathematics, history, culture, and all those subjects that create what we think of as the educated person. If they are in the "slump," they need to have further intervention to get "further up on the hill." Comprehension is a complicated process involving a constellation of skills, attitudes, background knowledge, strategies, and levels of motivation. I think that blaming "faulty" comprehension methods for low achievement oversimplifies a lot of the barriers to learning. In fact, like comprehension, those barriers are also complicated. You might want to read, When Older Students Can't Read by Lousia Moats, at http://www.cdl.org. So that sums up this reading person's viewpoint. By the way, what do the initials E.D. stand for? (Ed. Note: E. D. = Eric Donald) (For the full text of this response, contact [email protected])

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VOLUNTARY TERM LIFE INSURANCE

AALA members* are eligible for Mutual of Omaha voluntary term life insurance by completing a simple application. Member coverage to $100,000, spouse coverage to $50,000 and child coverage to $10,000 is available. For additional information contact Dave Hinton at 818.368.3984. For an application contact Lorraine Bush in the AALA office at 213.484.2226.

*Agency fee payers are not eligible for any member services except due process representation. If you do not have a green plastic membership card, call the AALA office at 213-484-2226 and request a membership application. There is no extra cost for membership; only the completion of an application.

IN MEMORIAM

JEWELL BOUTTE – Former Principal of Crenshaw High School, former Assistant Principal at Mann Middle School, Burroughs Middle School, and North Hollywood High School. She passed away on Monday, March 10, 2008. Services will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2008, at Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship, 2085 Hobart Blvd., Los Angeles, at 11:00 a.m. Condolences may be sent to Mr. and Mrs. David Lewis, 1696 Riverwalk Drive, Fremont, CA 94536.

DR. ROBERT "BOB" MAULLER – Former District Administrator (Instructional Media). He passed away on March 4, 2008. Donations may be made to Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, P. O. 789, Bloomington, IN 97402.

ACADEMIC DECATHLON STATE COMPETITION RESULTS

The seven (7) LAUSD schools competing in the California Academic Decathlon State Competition this past weekend in Sacramento are to be commended for their fine performances. The schools are as follows; Palisades Charter High School, coached by Chris Lee and Minh Ha Ngo, 2nd Place; El Camino Real High School, coached by Lissa Gregorio and John Dalsass, 3rd Place; North Hollywood High School, coached by Jim Hatem, 5th Place; Granada Hills Charter High School, coached by Sharon Menotiades and Kelly Byars, 6th Place; Taft High School, coached by Arthur Berchin, 8th Place; Marshall High School, coached by Larry Welch, 9th; and Garfield High School, coached by John Bennett and Lucy Romero, 17th Place. The following principals are to be commended for the strong performances of their teams: Marcia Haskin (Interim), Palisades Charter; Dave Fehte, El Camino Real; Randall Delling, North Hollywood; Brian Bauer, Executive Director, Granada Hills Charter; Sharon Thomas, Taft; Daniel Harrison, Marshall; and Omar Del Cueto, Garfield.

We are proud of the teams' accomplishments!

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AUDIT REQUESTS – The District's Response

Many principals have received requests to provide payroll time records for a few of their employees. These requests are being made as part of the District's annual financial audit process. The audit is required by State Education Code and Federal regulations, and it must be submitted to the Los Angeles County Office of Education, California Department of Education, State Controller's Office, and various other Federal and State offices, by specific deadline dates. The District can suffer severe consequences for not completing it by the deadlines, including loss of or delay in receiving revenues. An extension to the statutory deadline has already been granted by the State, but the District needs to complete the audit and publish its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report by the end of April. In order to meet this target date, your support is needed in providing the information by March 14, 2008, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

IS JOEL KLEIN THE BILLY BEANE OF SCHOOL REFORM?

In the late 1990s, Oakland A’s general manger Billy Beane revolutionized professional baseball by ignoring what his players looked like and focusing, objectively, on how they performed. Now, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is trying to do a similar thing for public education, writes Kevin Carey in the New York Daily News. By crunching numbers without prejudice, Beane discovered that certain statistics that really matter on the field (like on-base percentage) were being vastly undervalued in the player job market. While scouts and other executives made decisions based on personal bias and flawed perceptions, Beane kept a team with a huge payroll disadvantage (compared to teams in New York, Boston and Los Angeles) competitive. Meanwhile Klein’s new initiative appears to be based on a comparable insight: teachers who by all appearances are alike (same age, experience, level of education and demeanor) can be hugely different in how well they help students learn. Klein plans to start using "value-added" data (which compare annual test score gains in a teacher’s classroom to statistically predicted gains given backgrounds, academic history and a range of other factors) to figure out the differences among teachers. Initially, there are no plans to attach huge rewards or penalties to the results. To be sure, it is much easier to measure home runs than the growth in appreciation of fine literature, and standardized tests have margins of error that need to be considered. It also is fair to caution that value-added statistics should never be the sole way teachers are judged. Yet, at the same time, such statistics should be part of high stakes decision- making processes, used in combination with other factors such as peer and principal evaluations for things like tenure or pay. In the last few years, organizations like the Boston Red Sox have rebuilt their teams based on the ideas Beane pioneered. New Yorkers need not be reminded of how those ideas worked out. http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/02/06/2008-0206_what_public_schools_can_learn_from_recen- 3.html 8