Tag Archives: test scores

School Choice in Philadelphia: Myth to Reality

It bothers me when folks complain about a problem without offering a solution, or at least a direction for a solution. Back in August, I was guilty. I wrote “School Choice in Philadelphia is a Myth” Well, how could we turn the myth into reality?

To make amends, I have a two-pronged approach that doesn’t call for making every school a charter. The two prongs

Rate schools
Give transfer/charter opportunities to parents living in catchments with poorly rated schools

How should we go about rating schools? I propose a weighted three-tiered rating system. All of these evaluation criteria would be completely transparent–with results viewable by families, school and public officials. A school rating would be composed of the following:

Tier 1: Test Scores (20%): if you have spent any time reading this blog, you know that I think that reliance on test scores is a bad idea. Reliance on test scores alone gives schools incentive to cheat. And apparently some do. Plus, the tests themselves explain income levels better than they explain whether a school is well run or has good teachers. On the other hand, the School District of Philadelphia already has an answer to this problem–a comparison of test scores with schools in peer neighborhoods called the School Performance Index. This does not eliminate the problem of cheating or economic bias, but the relatively low weighting compared to the other criteria should balance that.

Tier 2: Independent Evaluation (40%): I propose creating an Educational Quality Assessment team. This commission would be an independent group of experienced educators formed or hired by the city/state to evaluate schools. The educators would conduct random audits of schools. Their team would visit classrooms, interview principals and teachers, review curriculur materials, and whatever else they deemed necessary to determine the quality of a school and its teachers and administrators.

Tier 3: Parent Satisfaction (40%): Let parents take tests too! On an annual/bi-annual basis, parents would rate their school. Is the school responsive to parent concerns? Have their kids developed adequately in the past year? How does the school perform in areas of academics, discipline, extracurricular programs, special needs programs, etc.?

Which brings me to the second prong of my approach. Today parents can enter two sets of lotteries which, like the traditional lottery, offer slim prospects of ‘winning’ a seat. The chances of gaining a seat at a charter school are about 10-15% per school, depending on the school. The Voluntary Transfer Program (VTP) is the same–In fact, VTP is a pipe dream for many parents. Though I have heard that it happens, I have personally never met a parent who got awarded a seat this way. Many school officials that I have spoken with have stated that in most years they accept ZERO transfers.

I propose, simply, that families’ VTP and charter school applications be weighted by the previously calculated rating of their catchment school. Families at the worst schools should get a much greater set of alternatives than families who come from neighborhoods serviced by strong schools. Families who already have good school options would be strongly encouraged to stay at their neighborhood school, increasing neighborhood cohesiveness. The VTP and charter school systems do not have the capacity to create a mass migration from the poorly performing schools–maybe the small migration can be used to alleviate overcrowding and actually help the poorly performing schools improve?

What do you think of this idea? Feasibility aside, am I a complete lunatic? Would this idea work?

Teacher Explains Why She Helped Kids Cheat on PSSAs

1 Reply

The Notebook just published a riveting interview with a teacher who freely admits that she helped students cheat on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests (PSSAs). It is a fascinating read, and her myriad reasons were not entirely expected. Administrative pressure? That I expected. A socioeconomically biased test? Not so much. I guess I should have known better. .

Don’t read it if the idea of sympathizing with a cheater makes you uncomfortable. Fine. You don’t have to. But if you do nothing else, take one bit of advice that I have been trumpeting over and over. Don’t pay much attention to test scores when picking schools for your child. Don’t do it. Forget about the cheating issue. Please.

Schools Cheating on Tests?

1 Reply

My online chat a couple of weeks ago (transcript here) was dominated by people asking questions about schools and test scores. I’ve said over and over again that parents should avoid putting too much weight on a schools standardized test scores. Go back and read those posts for details, but to summarize, I believe that schools shouldn’t teach to the test and that test scores have been demonstrated to be a better measure of income level than school quality.

Now there is yet another reason to ignore test scores when making your school choice. In many cases they might be fabricated. Back in May, the Inquirer questioned whether a school was cheating. The school district rejected those claims. Then a 2009 report surfaced suggesting that dozens of public and charter schools cheated on the PSSAs, the state standardized test. And now it looks like the state is launching an investigation and maybe even setting up a whistle blower hotline. If you want to hear more on this scandal, check out coverage from The Notebook.

The stakes are high in the test score game, which is a big motive for cheating. I am pretty sure that some cheating is going on, I’m just not sure how widespread it is. I’ll let politicians and school administrators sort that out. My recommendation now, as it always has been, is to file away test score information in your mind, but when you evaluate schools, do your own research. Make sure that you don’t limit yourself to looking at just the hot and trendy schools. It is amazing how much you are able to tell by visiting a school, talking to parents, talking to teachers and school officials. At the very least, when evaluating test scores, PLEASE–compare schools with similar demographic makeups to one another. There are even tools to help you do that kind of evaluation.

Tips for Parents Moving to Philadelphia

Leave a reply

Are you a parent with children, new to the Philadelphia area? One of the first concerns for any parent when they move is where your children will attend school. The School District of Philadelphia makes it easy for parents to register their children for school for the first time, but parents should do some pre-planning. If you are not familiar with the area, it may be a good thing to sign a short term lease with Philadelphia apartments rather than buying a house that may not be in the school district you are looking for. Researching what your neighborhood schools are, planning for transportation to school, and making sure your child has the proper supplies before school starts are all necessary to make sure that the child’s transition to a new school goes smoothly.

Whether a family is moving across town, or across the country, the School District of Philadelphia includes important information for parents and children. The website includes a map (or you can find one here), so you can determine whether your home or apartment is actually located in the Philadelphia school district, or surrounding districts. The website also has what are called school profiles, which give detailed information (such as demographics, location, violence reports, and test scores) for each school. Using this basic information, you can determine which neighborhood schools serve their area, and the quality of that neighborhood school. You should also be sure to check out the Philly School Search Start Here page for a lot of good information on getting started in the school choice process for public, private, or charter schools.

School registration occurs at the neighborhood school. If you are unsure of which neighborhood school serves your home or apartment, you can call the District’s Ombudsman Call Center at (215) 400-4000. Registration is generally done during regular school hours — from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the elementary schools, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the high schools. The high schools generally have extended hours for registration (from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.) a few days before the regular school year starts. For exact dates, you can consult the District’s website or call the Ombudsman’s office. If your child is a high school student, they should accompany you to registration, so they can select classes they would like to take.

There are some basic documents that you will need when registering your child for school. You will need a document as proof of your identity. This can include a driver’s license or state issued ID, valid federal, state or municipal employment photo ID, or passport. You also need a document which proves that you are a resident of the district. Several documents are acceptable, including: a current utility bill, a current voter’s registration card, a signed and notarized apartment lease or notarized residency affidavit signed by the renter and the landlord, or a deed. A document proving your child’s age must be shown (which can include a birth certificate, passport, immigration documents, or baptismal certificate), as well as immunization records and your child’s report card (if you child has attended school before). If you child has one, their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) should also be brought to registration.

Parents can request to have their child attend a school other than the neighborhood school, either for cause or without cause. If you simply prefer that your child attends a non-neighborhood school, you must plan ahead. Applications for voluntary transfers are available between September and the first Friday of November for the NEXT school year. Although children can attend any district school, each school’s primary responsibility is to the children in their neighborhood school area. If there is no space available at a neighborhood school, voluntary transfer applications may not be approved.

Students who are in grades 1 through 6 and live more than 1.5 miles from a neighborhood school, or students in grades 1 through 8 whose route is considered dangerous by the Philadelphia Department of Transportation may qualify for free transportation to school. For elementary school children, this is generally done by a school bus which picks the child up at their house or apartment. For students in grades 7 through 12 who live 1.5 or more from school, they may qualify for a pass to use public transportation for free during school hours. If your child is a special education student, you should contact your child’s school to see if they qualify for free transportation.

This post was written and provided by Martha Keagan who is a full time mother, freelance writer / blogger and also a part time real estate agent. Keagan recently helped two separate struggling families move into apartments in Philadelphia for half the rent payment they were paying for the home rental.

Can Young Families Trust City Schools? [CHAT TRANSCRIPT]

2 Replies

In case you missed the chat earlier today, you can read the transcript on Philly.com. I really enjoyed the experience, though I often found myself wishing that I had paid more attention in my high school typing class. There was a lot of good conversation that included me, Christine Carlson (a Greenfield Parent), and Inquirer reporters Miriam Hill and Kristen Graham. We talked about the school search process including how to get started, how to interpret test scores, and what single factor makes a school successful (in my opinion, parental involvement).