Three more schools added to the intervene list

[duvaldude08]

Ed White, Forrest and A.Phillip Randolph have been added. This is too sad. We gotta do something.

[Garden guy]

What we gotta do is make a concrete pack with parents to stop the asskissing of children and make them due their damn homework. These teachers and schools are doing the same thing they've always done..they teach information...the students are controlling the parents and we've got some weak ass parents out there that are scared to death to be a parent. The children are nothing but mirrors of their environment...somethings gotta give. Personally id love to see all tests removed accept the test the teacher wants....let them do what they have studied very hard to do.

[cityimrov]

What we gotta do is make a concrete pack with parents to stop the asskissing of children and make them due their damn homework. These teachers and schools are doing the same thing they've always done..they teach information...

It's more complicated and complex than that.  In a way, these kids have it the worse.  Due to problems at home, they will be entering adulthood thinking schools actually are suppose to teach them how to be a professional when it really teaches them more on how to be an obsolete factory worker thus showing them how terrible adulthood can be.

the students are controlling the parents and we've got some weak ass parents out there that are scared to death to be a parent. The children are nothing but mirrors of their environment...somethings gotta give. Personally id love to see all tests removed accept the test the teacher wants....let them do what they have studied very hard to do.

As for testing, it needs to changed as well.  Anyone here can walk to that area and figure out within a second things aren't doing to well. 

We aren't going to solve this problem through privatization or the dozens of hands off options available.  The only way to really solve this problem is to take knowledgeable well to do adults and send them into the poorest and crime ridden districts and have them teach/motivate/speak/live in this area to show the locals on how to be successful.  No, don't build a mega-mansion in the neighborhood but live in the same conditions that the people there live in!   No, not their money but themselves!  Be their confident, be their leader, be their advisor!  Only then will we have a chance otherwise we're just shuffling and moving money and people around.  How else would those people learn?  TV?  Radio?  I wouldn't bet on those.

Any volunteers? 

[duvaldude08]

I never understood how a test determines how well a school is performing. For example, If I was an A-b student, but I got held back a grade because I didnt the FCAT, I would be very upset and discouraged. I can only imagine that some of those children feel like crap. I understand what the state is trying to do, but I dont think the children who are actually trying and doing well should be treated like dummies.

[Jaxson]

The state is deliberately ignoring five problems that are adversely affecting our schools ---
1. While the state is demanding that our students have rigorous education, the state continues to cut back on funding that affords our students the best resources.  Many schools do not have media specialists (librarians) because of they cannot fully fund the position.  Teachers are still expected to assign work that requires intensive research but the students have no access to their school library.  When teachers assign research for homework, many students cannot do the work because they do not have Internet access at home.
2. Speaking of computers, the state is mandating more computer-based testing (e.g. FAIR reading test) but schools do not have enough computers or hardware to properly administer these tests.  For example, the FAIR test requires headphones to properly take the test.  Students are being forced to share headphones or to guess though the audio parts of the FAIR test because the state wants to mandate more testing but refuses to invest in the most basic of supplies and materials.
3. When it comes to supplies, our state leaders are not the only ones who are holding out.  Teachers increasingly have to purchase pencils and paper for students who are going to class unprepared.  So, not only are we expecting our educators to teach classes, we are now expecting educators to supply basics to the students.  Otherwise, the students will sit there and do nothing - of, course, it will all be the teachers' fault.  Why is it that we can afford the nicest clothes and cell phones for students but cannot send them to school with a pencil and paper?
4. While students do not have the basics, they will fight to the death to defend their 'right' to use cell phones and mp3 players in class.  Although electronic items are listed as contraband in the Code of Conduct, parents and students will pick a fight with a school because their child should be able to send text messages during class.  I do not understand this because schools have a policy for students to be able to contact their parents through the main office.  I do not understand how parents need to send texts to their children during instructional time.  I do not understand how parents would rather willfully disrupt the classroom with their child's texting and calling on the cell phone than explain to their kids that there are appropriate and inappropriate times to use their cell phones and other electronics.  I also do not understand how parents are enabling their children to be so disrespectful of the rules.
5. Regarding discipline, parents want the school to be tough on wrongdoers but change their mind when their own children are in trouble.  Too many parents go on the warpath when their own children break the rules.  They expect the school to go easy on their precious angels even if their offspring are bullies.  Instead of strict punishment, though, schools are opting to make as few waves as possible with these parents.  Furthermore, these schools are playing numbers games to make their school grade look good.  Yes, school grades are determined in part by the number of code of conduct violations.  Schools are not encouraged to discipline their students because of the school grade calculation, schools are encouraged to cook the numbers and sweep things under the rug.
6. The current educational climate creates an adversarial atmosphere in the classroom between teachers and students.  Political pressure to create perfect students is forcing teachers to forgo the kind of positive working relationships that they had with students.  Instead, every day is about pre-testing, testing and post-testing.  When the results are not perfect, we crucify the teachers with poor evaluations and punish the students with more testing and remediation. 
And there are more for me to list, but I don't want to spend my entire day at the computer...

[JeffreyS]

+1  Jaxson

I never understood how a test determines how well a school is performing. For example, If I was an A-b student, but I got held back a grade because I didnt the FCAT, I would be very upset and discouraged. I can only imagine that some of those children feel like crap. I understand what the state is trying to do, but I dont think the children who are actually trying and doing well should be treated like dummies.

Have you ever heard of an A-B student failing the Fcat.  Standards are not the problem.

It is funny we make this suggestion and that about how we can do better but in reality all we are trying is the Tea Party plan of stealing money from our children's education. 

[duvaldude08]

Great news for one of our intervine school. I also graduated from Andrew Jackson so this is great news for me.

Plan to 'make Andrew Jackson the best high school in nation'

Submitted by Teresa Stepzinski on April 3, 2012 - 11:45am EduJax Duval County school district officials joined with Mayor Alvin Brown, the University of Florida and community leaders this morning to unveil a strategic plan intended to transform Andrew Jackson High School from the lowest in student achievement in Florida to one of the best in the nation.

The key objectives in the plan are to improve student performance, attract more experienced teachers, generate research about what works in large, urban high schools and increase the number of students choosing to return to Andrew Jackson.

The plan identifies existing and new partnerships designed to improve the overall marketability of the school.

The school’s current partners include Educational Directions L.L.C., Teach for America, Communities In Schools, United Way and the Bridge of Northeast Florida.

The newest partnerships include City Year and the University of Florida Lastinger Center. The latest collaborations will take effect during the 2012-13 school year.

“When you have partnerships of this magnitude coupled with great school leaders who believe in their students, backed by organizations with proven success; you can’t help but expect Andrew Jackson to become one of the most successful schools in the district or perhaps even the state,” Duval schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals said.

“We want to see Andrew Jackson become a preferred choice for students and teachers alike,” he said.

Representatives from the organizations spoke in detail about their roles to take students and teachers to the next level. One of the most exciting components of the plan is the placement of mentors in the school by City Year.

"It has been our mission to bring City Year to Jacksonville," said Kim Ward of the Michael and Kim Ward Foundation. “City Year's presence in our highest-need schools will help the students achieve their greatest potential."

For the eighth consecutive year, City Year has received a four-star rating that is reserved for the nonprofits that have met the highest standard of sound fiscal management, accountability and transparency.

UF will expand its partnership with the district by making Andrew Jackson a Florida Flagship School.

It will provide an extensive support system for Andrew Jackson by offering professional development and additional advanced degrees, free to Andrew Jackson teachers and by conducting on site research.

UF will also identify area Gator Nation volunteers to help sustain an extensive mentoring network of support and job internship sites to enhance the medical and business academies.

“The University of Florida prides itself on building and equipping leaders,” said Don Pemberton, director of the Lastinger Center for Learning. “The partnership will allow UF and its alumni to give back in ways that will have a lasting impact on teachers and students.”

Multiple opportunities exist for extended learning at the school totaling an additional 8,100 minutes of instruction, after school tutoring, Saturday school and an extensive summer program offered by the Superintendent’s Academies. Most of the funding for these programs come from federal School Improvement Grant funds.

The Superintendent’s Academy will provide summer opportunities for grade 9-12 students as well as an extensive Bridge Program that will effectively support the transition from eighth to ninth grade.