FW: Questions about TAG students and the PPS High School redesign
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I am not going to forward to this group everything that is coming from this TAG/Access group, but wanted to follow up with this response. If anyone wants more, feel free to contact Judy and I'm sure that she will put you on the list.
Exec. cmte. of PTA meets next week and if there is a lot of interest in an Irvington PTA response to all of this, that would be an opportunity to do so. So far, we haven't heard a lot of interest.
Our first response!
From: Ruth Adkins [mailto:rad...@pps.k12.or.us]
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 1:14 PM
To: ju...@judyb.com
Cc: John Wilhelmi; Lynda Rose; Sarah Singer
Subject: Re: Questions about TAG students and the PPS High School redesign
Hi Judy, thanks very much to you and your group for these thoughtful
questions. I am cc'ing Lynda Rose, the Board office manager, who is helping
us track correspondence (I assume you sent this note to all 7 board
members), as well as John Wilhelmi and Sarah Singer, staff co-leads of the
design effort. I don't think they will have all the answers at this point,
but I know that they, along with us on the board, really appreciate this
detailed and specific level of questions to help guide the process.
As you may know, your questions are similar to those that have been asked by
more than one board member, and express challenges and concerns that staff
are well aware of, as we wrestle with the many complexities of trying to
design and deliver a better high school system for *all* students. The goal
of this process is to raise the bar for all students, and to provide
equitable access (whether to advanced courses, college-level dual credit
courses, credit by proficiency, improved counselor-to-student ratio, more
career exploration and hands-on learning, online course options, etc.) in
every comprehensive school - the idea being to better engage and challenge
students at all levels as well as to close the achievement gap. It won't be
easy to get there, but I am convinced that we need to make these changes in
order to ensure equitable access and higher quality high school experiences
for students across the city.
Thanks again for this thoughtful and helpful input.
Best,
Ruth
Ruth Adkins
Portland Public Schools
Board of Education
503-351-9278
E-mail messages to and from this account may be made public under Oregon
law.
>>> "Judy Berck" 12/07/09 11:13 AM >>>
Ruth Adkins
Portland Public Schools Board
December 7, 2009
Dear Ruth,
I am writing on behalf of TAG Parents Concerned About the PPS High School
Redesign, a group of several dozen concerned TAG parents both within the
ACCESS Academy community and from the PPS district at large. We have had
several recent meetings ? both in person and via various online media -
concerning how the Portland High School redesign process will affect all
district TAG students. I am writing to urge you to consider the following
questions prior to any board approval of the PPS staff plan for high school
redesign. Please help ensure that these questions are addressed and
appropriately resolved by PPS staff while there is still the time to resolve
them.
Under the district?s proposed redistricting plan, while many schools that
have few advanced classes will now offer more, some schools that currently
offer many advanced classes will lose classes. One example is that Grant HS
will go from about 25 advanced classes to between 10 ? 16 advanced classes,
the plan?s district standard. The same is true for Lincoln and other
schools. At the same time, there will be a district-wide ?no transfer?
policy for the new comprehensive high schools. This plan raises several
fundamental and urgent questions for TAG students that require serious
thought and resolution while the redesign plan is still in its infancy:
- What will happen to upper level students that early on
complete all the advanced courses that a high school has to offer but cannot
transfer out under the new policy? For example, what if an 11th grader has
already completed Calculus AB and BC, English 7-8, or AP European History?
- Similarly, what will happen to TAG students whose high school
does not offer the advanced courses they need, but they cannot transfer out?
Such as a student who has completed three years of French, but whose HS
offers only AP Spanish? Or who attends a high school only offering AP
Biology - but not AP Chemistry or AP Physics - how will a student planning
on majoring in the sciences get access to these advanced classes?
- What will happen to TAG students in ninth and tenth grade
who need advanced classes starting as freshmen but are assigned to
comprehensive schools that only offer IB classes in 11 and 12th grade?
- Currently, when a HS does not offer TAG students the courses
they need, TAG students sometimes receive study halls or early dismissal, or
are made to repeat material they already have learned. Can we expect these
practices to continue, at an even greater rate since there will be fewer
advanced classes?
- Many TAG students will have already completed high school
level courses in math, sciences, English, history and foreign language by
the time they finish the 8th grade, particularly coming from the ACCESS
Academy. For example, most entering 9th graders from ACCESS will enter high
school with 8 credits and will have already completed Algegra 1-2, Geometry,
Algebra 3-4, English 1-2, Modern World History, Spanish 1-2, Spanish 3-4 and
Fundamentals of Physics and Chemistry by the 8th grade. Will all high
schools recognize credit for prior coursework in the same way?
- Will incoming 9th graders be able to receive credit by exam
for prior work, or to place out of classes such as 9th grade English if they
have already taken this course at the middle school level? What access will
9th grade students have to advanced course work under the new system? Will
they be expected to retake courses they have already completed in 6th, 7th
and 8th grade or will they be allowed to take advanced courses at their
appropriate level as freshmen? What advanced classes will such students be
allowed to take under the new system?
- In mixed level classes, will there be differentiated
instruction for TAG students so that they are learning at their appropriate
rate and level? Is professional development planned for teachers so they
can do this effectively?
- Currently all PPS HS students have equal access to classes at
local colleges and universities such as PCC, PSU and Reed, so they can fill
in gaps in their high school course offerings. Will this continue, and
equally important, will there be counselors to create and facilitate such
relationships? If not, will all students lose this opportunity or only
students at certain comprehensive High Schools?
- Peer grouping is essential for TAG students, especially in
the critical adolescent years, and is the most important point mentioned by
the high school TAG students we have spoken with. What support will there be
for TAG students, so that they don?t suffer the serious effects, such as
depression, and/or harassment, that come from isolation? What work is being
done to provide HS administrators with the knowledge that will enable them
to understand the unique needs of these students? The ACCESS program at
Grant successfully provides peer support at that school ? will it continue?
What will happen at the other high schools?
In other words, what is the current thinking for how the plan will fulfill
its directive to provide appropriate instruction to all students if there
are fewer advanced classes and no transfer policy? If all high schools only
have 10-16 advanced classes available, how will there be enough advanced
courses available to allow TAG students to stay in high school for 4 years?
Please give these questions urgent consideration, before the redesign plan
continues in a way that precludes resolution.
Sincerely,
Judy Berck
on behalf of :
TAG Parents Concerned About the PPS High School Redesign