California Educator

Send us your comments Letters to the editor regarding stories appearing in California Educator may be sent via mail, fax or e-mail. address: California Educator Magazine CTA Communications 1705 Murchison Drive Burlingame, CA 94010-4583 fax: (650) 552-5002 e-mail: editor@cta.org Dave Crosland, hiredmeat@gmail.com Create a cartoon concept We invite members to send in cartoon concepts for future issues of the Educator. All we ask is that your ideas deal with current events in education and captions are no longer than one sentence long. Please use the information above to send your cartoon ideas through mail, fax or e-mail. UPDATE ETADPU JUDGE UPHOLDS CERES UNIFIED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION GRADING VICTORY In the March 2009 issue of California Educator we reported that a Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year that administrators violated the law by changing the final grades of 89 students attending Central Valley High School in Ceres ("Court backs teachers' right to determine final grades," page 35). The grade changes were made months after teachers had submitted the grades and without the teachers' consent, based on students' standardized test scores. The judge ruled at that time that the Education Code plainly states that teachers have the right to determine a student's final grade. In March, the district filed a motion to set aside the judgment and request a new hearing where witnesses could 6 California Educator | 4-7 June.09.indd 6 JUNE appear and testify. On May 7, a Superior Court judge denied this motion, and ruled that the original decision would stand unaltered. The district was ordered to return the grades to what they were as filed by the teachers SCHOOL BEHIND BARS before the results of the CSTs were final; to abandon T the board policy that requires teachers to submit to the "grade factor" scheme; and to refrain from developing such a policy in the future. Administrators at Central Valley California Teachers Association March 2009 Volume 13 Issue 6 CTA-SPONSORED BILL TO ELIMINATE 2ND-GRADE TESTING > Page 33 READ ACROSS AMERICA READING IS COOL! "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." > Page 24 African proverb VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS > Page 18 TEACHING INCARCERATED STUDENTS every >but also to throughout their Page 8teacher they will have C T A A V E R T S A T T A C K O N P R O P O S I T I O N 9 8 — P A G E school years." In Kerman Unified School District, Class Size Reduction was already eliminated in 3 0 third grade some five years ago due to budget cuts resulting from district mismanagement under a previous superintendent, and now the district is talking about further eliminating it in grades K-2 due to the current financial High School recently changed the grades back. "Perhaps this case will cause other districts to think twice before they attempt to inter fere with the teacher 's ability to give a true assessment of his/her students' progress," said Ceres Unified Teachers Association (CUTA) member Susan Engstrom, who fought the grade change with fellow CUTA member Marilyn Wood. " This could have set a dangerous precedent, and nipping it in the bud was the right thing to do." crisis. Kerman Unified Teachers Association President Marie Motta says the district is supposed to be making a decision soon. But the previous blow to CSR in third grade already took its toll. "It's very demoralizing for teachers, because we still have to meet state standards, we still are expected to show student progress, and we're having to do it with a third more students in the class," Motta says. El Segundo Teachers Association President Daphne Moote is alarmed by what her school board is seriously considering. She says El Segundo has notified 44 teachers they may not have jobs next year. Elimination of classes like foreign language will especially put people with single subject credentials at risk. "The board is looking at the elimination of CSR for our primary grades," Moote says, "and they're laying off people from every grade level." For a policy statement on CTA's fight for smaller classes, and a summary of studies showing how they help student achievement, visit the CTA website at this link: w w w. c t a . o r g / i s s u e s / ot h e r / class+size+reduction.htm. Court backs teachers' rights to determine final grades he Education Code plainly states that teachers have the right to determine a student's final grade. And that right was upheld recently when a Superior Court Judge ruled that administrators violated the law by changing the final grades of 89 stude nt s atte ndi ng C e n t r a l Va l l e y Hi g h S ch o ol i n Ceres last year. The grade changes were made months after teachers had submitted the grades and without the teachers' consent. Judge William A. Mayhew ruled in favor of the Ceres Unified Teachers Association (CUTA) and ordered the Ceres Unified School District to rescind its policy of changing final grades based on a standardized test scores or AP test results. The district was ordered to halt any further changes to students' grades and to restore the final grades issued by teachers at Central Valley High School during the 2007-08 school year. Changing grades based on test scores was adopted by the district as an "incentive" for students to try harder on tests. Grades were made higher — often increasing by as much as one letter — and never lowered. In some cases this meant the difference between passing a course with a D and failing with an F. In some instances it allowed athletes to continue playing sports, since the district only allows one F for those who play team sports. Teachers learned that the new grading policy would be initiated when they were informed by their principal that he was sending a proposal to be approved by the superintendent. Teachers were then asked whether they wanted the policy to apply to one semester's grade or to both. They were sent a consent form asking whether they would prefer to have clerical staff make changes to grades or change grades themselves. There was no option on the form to decline. English teacher Susan Engstrom and social studies teacher Marilyn Wood refused to vote on whether the policy should be for one or two semesters — and also refused to sign the form — on the basis that the policy was illegal, based on Education Code section 49066, which states: "When grades are given for any course of instruction taught in a school district, the grade given to each pupil shall be the grade determined by the teacher of the course and the determination of the pupil's grade by the teacher, in the absence of clerical or mechanical mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency, shall be final." The two CUTA members were ordered to meet with administrators and accused of insubordination and unprofessional conduct. Letters of reprimand were placed in their personnel files. But they refused to back down. "The legal aspects were pretty black and white," explains Eng- strom. "And the law was created to prevent situations like this." But she objected for ethical reasons, too. She was afraid her students, many of whom are "at risk," would not work as hard. "I think it sent the wrong message to kids," says Engstrom, who has been teaching for more than 20 years and is National Board certified. "The American work ethic is that we work toward a goal. This policy told students they could do nothing in class, and that if they passed the test they would pass the class. It reinforced the Lotto mentality: You can get a good grade on the test; you've hit the Lotto and you don't have to do anything for the rest of the year. This policy didn't take adolescent development into account." "I had a lot of sleepless nights," admits Wood. "It's not e asy to go against what your superiors tell you to do. It goes against my nature. But I knew we were doing the right thing." 2009 6/4/09 1:55:43 PM

• Cover