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i m p a
c t
VOL. 3THE IMPACT OFSCHOOLS INTRANSFORMING
EDUCATION
76% of Americans think parents are themost important factor in determiningwhether students learn in school.
Reading for spiritual reflection
Our ancient rabbis wrote severalcreative explanations for whyAbraham and Sarah decided to begintheir first journey towards the Promised
Land. In one powerful midrash – story,the rabbis explain that Abraham lefthis father’s home because he wasdissatisfied with world he saw aroundhim.
The rabbis compared Abraham to manon a journey. The man saw a palacethat had been set on fire. The palacewas burning. Seeing no one around,the man exclaimed – “Where is theowner of the building? Who is going totake responsibility to put the fire out?”
After the man shouted his questions, theowner of the palace came to a windowand exclaimed, “I am the owner.” 2
The rabbis teach that the palace’sowner is like God and the flames arelike the tragedies in the world around
us. Abraham saw that the world is filledwith pain, sorrow, evil, violence and theflames of injustice. And his first stepstowards founding our faith began witha fundamental question: Where is Godas the world’s palace burns?
Commenting on this story , Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes that there areoften two answers given to thequestion.3 One response is to say thatthere is no God. There is no palace
[owner] There are only flames.” A
second view is to say that, “all thappens and transpires is becauGod willed it...Injustice is an illuThere is a palace [owner], but tare no flames.”4
The first answer says that if evil
God does not exist. God cannopresent in a world filled withsuffering. The second answer sathat if God exists, evil does not Our suffering may serve a Divinpurpose that we don’t understanAbraham’s radicalism – and thefoundation of Judaism – comes refusing to accept either answerGod exists AND the world is on continu
by Rabbi Asher Knight
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questionsfor discussion.
Use the space below eachquestion to record your thoughts and the thoughts of others in your Action Group.
what do you think ismore effective in
promoting changein schools:mandates or incentives?
what do you thinkmakes a teacher a
good teacher?
why might schoolsbe resistant to
change and evenresistant to parentinvolvement?
Post responses on your Action Group’s page atDallasFACET.org.
“It is difficult, often impossible,to raise healthy children in adisintegrated community.Without local institutions thatdraw families and youngpeople together aroundcommon interests andactivities …even the most
heroic child-rearing is likely tofail. Conversely, by gatheringand organizing members of the community aroundactivities of common interest —particularly the healthydevelopment of children —even the most devastatingconditions can be reversed.”
The Harlem Children’s ZoneBusiness Plan 2001-2009
Sacks writes, “Judaism begins not inwonder that the world is but in protestthat the world is not as it ought to be.It is in that cry, that sacred discontentthat Abraham’s journey begins.” Heconcludes, “When things are as theyought to be, then we have reachedour destination. But that is not now. Itwas not now for Abraham, nor is it yet
for us.”2
The world as it is today is not theworld as it ought to be. We know thata society that is unwilling to hear andrespond to the pains of our friendsand family is a society that isprofoundly sick. We know that our education system is broken for somany. And we know that the brokensystem is hurting children, parents,
teachers, our community, and theprospects for our future.
We must therefore respond to thevoice of our conscience. Our biblicalancestors didn’t know where theywere going when they left their home.And that reality – feeling uncertain
about the future, is certainly familiar tous. But Abraham and Sarah were notalone. God was present for them ontheir journey. They also had their households with them. They had eachother. They helped each other feelsafe enough to risk being uncertain.They faced the call of the unknown,not in isolation, but in relationship.
And so do we. This is the work of DFCC – and what we can do together.
This is perhaps the first and mostimportant principle of our tradition.
Judaism is built upon the model of loving and supportive relationships. Inloving relationships we listen andrespond to the needs of our friendsand family. We look beyond ourselves,open ourselves to hearing the stories,
the experiences, and the needs of thepeople around us. When our lovedones are hurting, we let them knowthat they are not alone. We advocatefor or against the things that affectthem. We stand with them, we supportthem, and we walk on their journey –as much as possible - with them.
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ume THREE
The Impact
of Schools inTransforming
Education Part 1: Incentives,
Mandates & Leadership
We have already discussed twopieces of legislation about the
transformation of failing schools.
No Child Left Behind is a mandate
—meaning all schools are required
to make certain changes in order
to receive funding. Race to the Top
is an incentive program—meaning
schools are not required to
change, but if they do make
changes to improve they willreceive more funding.
Incentive programs like RTTT are
very competitive. Competition can
be very useful in driving change.
But since incentive programs are
voluntary, not every school has to
participate. School leaders are the
people who must be willing to take
on this competition in order to
achieve more for their school. Even
in mandated programs like NCLB,
it is the school leaders who have to
lead the way for change in their
schools. This is why the leadership
of schools is very important.
Most definitions of leadership say
that “providing direction” and
“exercising influence” are
important parts of leadership.
Good leaders do not just orde
people around. Instead, they
with others to form group goa
and motivations. A good princ
must set the academic tone an
goals of high standards by wo
actively with teachers and fam
It is also the principal’s
responsibility to outline, organ
and communicate the school’s
philosophy regarding teachin
learning expectations.
The principal can no longer si
maintain order and avoid maj
crisis. He or she must also: • Recruit and hire quality teac
who are interested in doing
whatever it takes to help stu
learn;
• Provide regularly scheduled
professional development a
create opportunities for teac
to deepen their knowledge
subject matter;
• Set high standards and
expectations for teachers to
to teach and for students to
to achieve;
• Determine how best to eval
teacher performance;
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Create an atmosphere of
camaraderie and a spirit of
cooperation among staff around
their efforts to improve the school;
Review and study studentachievement to determine
whether learning is actually
occurring;
Work with community
organizations who desire to
support improved educational
opportunities for students; and
Create opportunities for parents
to be involved in the learning
process.
art 2: Teachers
eachers play a big part in a child’s
evelopment. The school years are
formative,” which means that the
nfluences a child has, the people ahild interacts with, and the things a
hild learns during these years will
ave an important effect on his or
er future.
eachers do not only teach
cademic subjects like math and
nglish, but also they set an
xample for children and contribute
o a child’s social development.
In public schools, teacher quality
has a greater effect on student
learning than low levels of parental
education, poverty, race or other
attributes believed to put children at
risk. Students assigned to the mosteffective teachers three years in a
row performed 50 percentile points
higher that did their peers who had
been assigned to the least effective
teachers. This means that teacher
quality can make a large difference
in a child’s life trajectory.
Texas schools use the TAKS test to
determine a student’s level of
academic performance. The STAAR
test (State of Texas Assessments of
Academic Readiness) will replace
the TAKS test starting in the
2011-2012 school year. STAAR is
more rigorous and will test a child’s
knowledge more in depth than
before. STAAR will also measure
academic growth and improvement.
The Classroom Effectiveness Index
(CEI) is a way to see if specific
teachers are effective. The CEI is
also based on test scores, but it
compares the students in a
teacher’s classroom to similar
students in the district to see how
much progress the students made
with that specific teacher.
What makes an excellent teache
Teachers who have higher levels
intelligence, subject knowledge,
teaching skills have students who
perform better. Also, teachers whave higher verbal ability are
associated with higher student
learning. This means that teache
who are better at communicatin
tend to have students who do be
on standard exams.
The “best and the brightest” sho
be encouraged to consider
teaching, so teacher salaries mube competitive and should be ba
on performance not necessarily
education and experience.
Teachers must be better prepare
with a thorough understanding o
the subject matter they are
expected to teach students.
Teach for America is a programbrings in accomplished and
qualified young college graduat
to teach in low income commun
Their goal is to close the
achievement gap. The program
been shown to make a differenc
many communities.
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There are many debates in the
country about reducing class size.
Reducing class size is an expensive
change because it requires hiring
more teachers, and some say that
spending money on training morequality teachers would be the best
nvestment. Others argue that
smaller class size is the key to
educational success.
Part 3: How Are the SchoolsDoing?
Nationally, most parents seem to
think the schools their children
attend are good schools.
According to the 2004 Gallup poll
most American parents (70%) think
schools in their community should
be graded an A or B. When asked
about the broader community
about 50% still said the schools
should be graded an A or B. But
when asked about the public school
system as a whole only 25% gave
the system high marks.
n DISD, graduation and
attendance rates have been below
the standard for three years in a
row, and DISD has had a dropout
rate more than two times higher
than the state of Texas.
Dallas ISD retained a higher
dropout rate (19%) and a higher
percentage of Academically
Unacceptable schools (7%) than
the five other major Texas school
districts (Houston ISD, Fort WorthISD, Austin ISD, Northside ISD,
and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD).
To look at the statistics and
numbers about how a specific
school is doing, “school
scorecards” are provided by DISD.
These scorecards use data that has
been collected by the Evaluationand Accountability Division of
DISD, who is responsible for
collecting the test scores and other
information about school
campuses, attendance, teachers,
and administrators.
The Evaluation and Accountability
Division takes this information and
creates reports on programs,schools, students, Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) and other divisions
of our public schools.
All of these resources and reports
are available online (see the
“further information” section at the
end of this booklet).
Schools are responsible for usin
this data to see where they need
improve their school.
How to read a scorecard
Refer to the insert and see the
sample scorecard from the West
Dallas high school, Pinkston.
On the first page, the student
enrollment and demographics
section will show you how many
students go to the school. It will
also show you the percentage o
students from minority groups an
the percentage of students with
limited English skills.
On the second page, the
percentages of students and the
green and red arrows between
them show improvement (GREEN
or declines (RED) as compared
the year before.
There are also percentages in th
darker gray boxes that are the
goals for the schools. There is
information on student test score
parent satisfaction, student
attendance, and more.
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For Elementary schools, there is
information about whether or not a
student is “on track” for middle
school—this means that the school
determines how many of the
students are ready to start middle
school after leaving the elementary
school. For middle schools, there is
information about high school
readiness. And for high schools,
there is also information about
college readiness and the SAT.
It is important for parents to know
how to access and understandthese scorecards. Knowing how
their child’s school is doing can let
them know what areas to work for
improvement in that school.
One essential way that parents can
become closely involved in
working on their school’s
improvement is in the Parent-
Teacher Association (PTA). The PTAis a formal organization that
supports the school and teachers
and organizes parental and family
involvement in school events.
There is a National PTA that every
member in a local PTA
automatically becomes a member
of when they join.
The National PTA has developed
standards to encourage parent
involvement in their children’s
education:
• Regular, two-way, meaningfulcommunication between home
and school,
• Promotion and support of
parenting skills,
• Active parent participation in
student learning,
• Parents as welcome volunteer
partners in schools,
• Parents as full partners in school
decisions that affect children and
families, and
• Outreach to the community for
resources to strengthen schools.
Part 4: How Are theStudents Doing?
Report Cards
Report cards in DISD are issued in
October, November, January,
February, April, and May. These
reports are great ways for parents
to monitor their child’s progress
report card usually includes gra
or test scores along with teache
comments about the child’s
performance. It is very importan
for the parents to review their
child’s report card with him or h
This way, they can talk about
subjects that the child needs to
improve on and decisions can b
made about changes in study
habits or routines necessary for
improvement.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
In DISD, conferences are held tw
times per year: once in the fall a
once in the spring. The conferen
provide a time for the parent to
meet with their child’s teacher a
go over the child’s progress,
accomplishments, needs, concer
and to make plans for the child’
education.
DISD emphasizes the importanc
of parent/teacher conferences
because parental involvement is
important in a student’s
educational life. Also, the allian
of a teacher and a parent
strengthens the education receiv
by the child.
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ven if a child has good grades, it
s important to make the most of
he parent/teacher conference
ecause there are other important
arts of a child’s education to
iscuss, like social, emotional, and
ehavioral development. A
arent/teacher conference can be
cheduled at any point during the
ear if there are any concerns.
Conferences can even occur over
he phone and through email.
Communication with a teacher
hould be open and comfortable.
o prepare for a conference with
he teacher, a parent should make
list of questions and other
oncerns he or she has about their
hild that the parent would like to
iscuss. And of course, being on
me is extremely important.
Testing
Testing is central to tracking
student progress in public schools.
In Texas, the TAKS test was given
in past years. Now, the STAAR testis replacing the TAKS test. This test
is a longer, more extensive, and
more difficult test to examine a
child’s knowledge and academic
skills.
Parents should review their child’s
test scores and ask about their
child’s test scores in their parent/
teacher conference.
How a child does on these
standardized tests determines
whether or not the child is ready
to move onto later grades.
Parental intervention in a child’s
education can make the difference
between later educational success
and dropping out.
How a child
on standard
tests determ
whether or no
child is read
move onto
gra
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Look more at the sample
school scorecard provided.
Identify areas that need
improvement in the school.
Discuss ways that you could
work to help make thesechanges.
Look up the scorecards of
other schools in DISD
(http://www.dallasisd.org/
scorecards/scorecards.cfm?
SchoolType=hs ) and
compare. Post your
discussion and reflections on
DallasFACET.org.
Get into pairs and act out a
parent/teacher conference.
Situation: Your child is
struggling with the material
and you don’t know how to
help.
post your good ideas on
DallasFACET.org
For further information see:
Data and reports from the Evaluation and Accountability division of
DISD: http://www.dallasisd.org/eval/index.htm
Teach for America: www.teachforamerica.org
DISD parents, a lot of important information and questions answered:
http://www.dallasisd.org/parents/
1. Go to www.DallasFACET.org & create a New Account2. Take action on current Action Alerts3. Join an Action Group & take part in the online conversation on your groups blog4. Invite friends to join.
Ste s to Take Action”Our lives begin to end
the day we become silentabout things that matter.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr
SPECIAL THANKS for the research and development of materials toAnn Drumm, Melva Franklin, Maria Rojas Fernandez, Leslie Johnson,
Shree Moffett, and Cameron Vickrey.
Work product of Dallas Faith Communities Coalition. Permission required for reproduction.
DFCC2011
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Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 65%
Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 1%
L.G. PINKSTON HIGH SCHOOL
SCORECARD 2009-2010
Overview
Lew Blackburn, District 5Board of Trustees
2009-2010 Principal
Superintendent'sLearning Community
9-12Grade Levels
SchoolLocation
2200 Dennison St | Dallas, TX 75212 | (972) 502-2700 | Fax (972) 502-2701 | http://www.dallasisd.org/scorecards
Student participants in Academic Success Programoffered more than $6 million in scholarships; $275,000awarded in athletic scholarships; Tennis team, 2008varsity district champions; boys golf, 2009 varsitychampions; 2009 UIL One Act Play District II–4A Zoneadvancing play; grand prize winner, 2009 Dallas AreaRapid Transit art contest; Art of Architecture CitationAward; Inventive Thinking Award; Collaboration Awardand Productivity Award; La Voz del Anciano PublicService Recognition Award; Outstanding Coach, TexasAssociation of Coaches; Rotary Club of Dallas
Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award semifinalist
Pinkston uses Saturday school, Supplemental EducationServices, individual tutoring before and after school, andcredit recovery as avenues for students to receiveadditional support.
LULAC, NAACP, Parkland Hospital Outreach Program,Friendship-West Baptist Church, La Voz del Anciano,Mercy Street, Everlast Productions, L.G. Pinkston HighSchool Alumni Association, Dallas Park and RecreationCenter, Dallas Housing Authority, Museum of Nature
and Science, Hobby Lobby, Big Lots, Odom’s, YoungLife, Jostens, Anthem, Smart Circle, VestigeInternational, the Parent Bridge Staff, the Anthem Staff,El Centro West, University of North Texas Go Center Staff, KKDA 104.5, and KBFB 97.9
AVID, Chocolate Club with La Voz del Anciano (TheVoices of the Elderly) service-learning project, athletics,Army JROTC, cheerleaders, drill team, band, journalism/yearbook, National Honor Society, AZTECAClub
Feeder schools
Student, School andFaculty awards
After-school / Before-school programs
External partnerships
Extracurricular activities
Norma Villegas
Enrollment
L.G. Pinkston High School began the 2009-2010 school year with a central theme, "Creating pathways for the futurethrough rigor, relevance and relationships." The school
introduced many programs designed to enhance studentlearning and improve student achievement such as FlexTime: 100 points for all, Academic Boot Camp, and PrincetonReview.
During the year, the school's faculty participated inProfessional Learning Community Sessions to review currentresearch in specific content areas and worked together intheir common planning sessions to assess studentperformance and suggest appropriate interventions.
L.G. Pinkston High School is becoming a community schoolwhere students learn through a rigorous and relevantcurriculum that leads to college and workplace success andbuilds relationships that will last a lifetime.
Elementary Schools
Middle SchoolsThomas A. Edison, Raúl Quintanilla Sr.
N/A
High Schools
Accountability RatingAcademically Acceptable
Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 1,136
Student Enrollment / Demographics
MetricsScorecard Metric Value 19%Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 79%Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 13%
Limited English Proficient students
Students eligible for free/reduced lunch
Special education students
Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 33%African American
Metrics
Scorecard Metric Value 1%Other
Hispanic
White
Gabe P. Allen Charter, Arcadia Park, C.F. Carr,Lorenzo DeZavala, Stevens Park, George W. Carver,Amelia Earhart, Eladio R. Martinez, Sequoyah, SidneyLanier Expressive Arts Vanguard
SLN: 012
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