The coaches will reportedly return to classroom teaching.
The positions were added during the C. J. Huff- Angie Besendorfer years, purportedly to assist teachers and help them with their classroom performance. Instead, they were often used as a spy network for Huff and Besendorfer.
The positions enabled some teachers with little classroom experience to put themselves on the fast track to administrative jobs for which they were not qualified- a case in point being the promotion of Sarah Stevens to curriculum director. Stevens was reassigned recently and has submitted her resignation, effective at the end of the current school year.
The promotion of unqualified people, including Stevens, was cited in the recent state audit.
The district also was investigated in 2013 for using Title I funds to put these coaches into place, while eliminating reading teachers.
For the past couple of years, the coaches have hopscotched around the country attending various seminars at the taxpayers' expense. Some of those had already been approved for this year before Interim Superintendent Norm Ridder took the reins of the school district.
Two of those junkets were examined in the October 26 Turner Report:
It has been a busy month for the teaching/learning coaches in the Joplin R-8 School District.
Today marked the first day of their three-day junket to Denver for the 2015 Teaching Learning Conference. The district paid for eight to attend at a cost of $4,400, a price that will go up once they return and submit their vouchers for travel, lodging, and food expenses.
Fortunately for the coaches, earlier this month they were able to prepare for the conference by attending a three-day institute for instructional coaches in Lawrence, Kansas, under the tutelage of Jim Knight, who delivered the keynote speech today in Denver.
During the morning session on the first day of the institute, the Joplin coaches learned "What Coaches Do," something which should come in handy for them after floundering for the past few years as upper administration alternately used them to push the latest initiatives and to spy on teachers.
The afternoon session was also on "What Coaches Do," either because they were not certain if the coaches understood during the morning or because the coaches had even more to do than could be handled in a morning session.
The second day's morning session dealt with "What Coaches Do," in case the coaches failed to understand what they do after one day of training. The afternoon session included another heaping helping of "What Coaches Do."
On the final day, the focus changed to "Mutually Humanizing Relationships."
The cost for the three-day institute was $3,300 for six R-8 teaching'learning coaches. That figure will increase when expense vouchers are filed.
How much of the $,3,300 was for "What Coaches Do" and how much paid for "Mutually Humanizing Relationships" was not revealed.
28 comments:
Oh Lord, please do not allow a couple of them to return to the classroom. My child had one of them as a teacher and she was the worst teacher my child had still to this date.
This will save the district a TON of money and GET READING TEACHERS BACK (hopefully)! The TLC's are on 10 month contracts and are paid more then most. So, if you have 15 TLC's, that is probably 1 1/2 -2 more teaching positions on the extra contract time alone.
I look forward to seeing these people on the next list of dismissals:
Doshier
Tina Smith
Hart
Weaver
Johnson-head of maintenance
Again, these people have raised the level of fear, anxiety, and overall dissatisfaction of almost every employee of the district.
The TLC's did absolutely NOTHING to help kids. However, they did help chase away 100's of great teachers, mostly veteran teachers of 7+ years, and they struck fear and distrust in the buildings.
Looking forward to seeing Joplin Schools skyrocket back to the top with these people gone.
Hart?
Warren
Barlass
I have known two really good TLCs. Two. Most were not happy in the classroom and just grabbed the job as an easier way to make a living. Most are not as qualified to teach as the teachers they are supposed to help. It seems to me that the millions that were poured into TLCs could have been put into teacher wages so that better teachers would have stayed, or come, to Joplin. Now you have a very inexperienced teaching force and the lowest pay scale in the area next to a few country schools. Like all of the programs that came about under the Huff administration, this was not thought out. If you have ever spent time around Besendorfer--God bless your soul--you know that this idea was the topic of her dissertation, proving once again that a doctorate in education is not worth much.
It would be interesting to know how many millions of dollars were spent on salaries and trips for the last eight years for TLCs. And then how many have risen up to administration jobs and what they were paid, and how many are still in administrative positions. They should all be closely reviewed if they are in administration jobs. I bet their teachers would have some interesting and alarming stories to tell from the years prior to Ridder. Taxpayers might find this very useful information with an election on the horizon. I would like to know, as well as who amongst the candidates support these job positions as well as any of the other excess jobs.
For as long as there have been TLCS Joplin's academic rate has steadily fallen. Coincidence? No. But it wasn't just the TLCs. They can't take all the heat. They are just one of many stupid decisions brought to the district by an inept horde of administration officials from Huff to Bess to Cravens, Doshier, Hart, Stevens, et al. Even if they are gone, if the programs and initiatives stay we will get nowhere. So far nothing has been changed in that direction and teachers are at risk for losing their jobs for ignorant and unfounded initiatives, like NWEA scores and learning intentions. If there are any administrators capable of reading left in R8, maybe they should research their beloved John Hattie a little more. He's another myth who has been debunked. If admin can't do it, then we parents can take the evidence to the Board and make our voices heard. I'm tired of new teachers and new ideas. I want to know what my children are learning, I want materials I can help them use for reinforcement (aka textbooks), I want some consistency in expectations from one building to another. Taxpayers and their children deserve a whole lot more than what this group has wrought. We've lost another year this year. Will next year be a wash, too?
Bring back the ten days on the calendar, bring back books, discipline, personal responsibility, seasoned teachers, and old fashioned skills like handwriting, multiplication, reading and writing. Maybe then they'll be ready to worry about careers, but that isn't my priority for my children in elementary, middle, or high school. They can worry about that in college.
I agree with 8:46!!!
I like what 8:46 said--many teachers in the classroom feel the same way.
If you want the change 8:46 suggests, which I agree with completely, you need to re elect Martucci to the school board. She has advocated for those changes and will continue to do so in a 3 year seat. She is against common core and wants to reduce the district's over reliance on technology, and make sure there are consequences for student misbehavior. Also, vote Sloan for the 1 year seat and Mosier for the 2 year seat.
I wonder if now that all of these dollars are to be saved, will the district come out and say that they never should have pushed for the latest tax increase (school bond) a couple of years ago? I doubt it!
2:12
We still haven't been told how much FEMA is not paying for the disastrous new schools and the "extras" the old Board gave to Huff. I wonder if they will pay for repairing sink holes? I'm a little bitter that parents weren't told about the sinkhole in the JHS parking lot. I had to see it in the news and now I know that it was there for a week before that. Not exactly comforting to know my children could sink into one of those.
Another lost year in academics, another bunch of teachers going, and a whole lot of money wasted. Come on, Ridder. Send the rest of Huff's people packing. I'm pretty sure any of them could be fired for moral reasons, such as harassment and misappropriation of funds.
It sounds like people don't understand just how much learning coaches do. I can't speak for all of them but the TLC's at the high school are working on serving teachers and admin in the building nonstop.
What does the name of the sessions during the conference they attended have to do with our TLC's? Pretty sure they didn't name it...
Do you realize how many new teachers we have at the high school? A large component of what the high school TLC's did was help out our newer inexperienced teachers in the classroom. They find resources, discuss classroom management, give informal evaluations and observations, etc.
There were a lot of stupid moves in the past years that led experienced teachers to leave but so long as we have new inexperienced teachers heavily populating our staff, we need the TLC's...at least at the high school with our tested areas and the ACT.
Ritter has been moving in the right direction but this one was a wrong move.
5:12 - Exactly. Why even bring that up? Also, I'm pretty sure that the TLC's who went to the first conference were not the same ones that went to the second.
You'd think some of you would rather not have new or inexperienced teachers at all and yet we all know we need them considering the experienced ones left. Regardless of the reason, they're gone. We need to give the ones we have support or our kids are doomed.
And it's interesting that we want experienced teachers back and yet some people don't want our TLC's back in the classroom...that would up the number of experienced teachers in the classroom. It's one or the other people. Support our teachers.
The CLCs at JHS and the TLCs in the other schools don't have the same jobs. The CLCs help with the technology which is all most of the teachers have. That seems important. TLCs are questionable as an expense. They aren't all bad or all good. But if anyone is going to get raises some extras have to be cut. There is no data to support keeping TLCs.
6:33 - Point taken. We need the CLC's at the high school. Again, I don't know how the TLC's are used in other schools.
12:45: you're crazy, that goofy bimbo martucci needs to go. And apparently both of you need to do research....you do realize don't you that common core in Missouri was eliminated last year?...lol! She is still probably thinking she was elected prom queen rather than a school board member...lol. In fact she is probably still fighting the good fight against common core....even though the state legislature ended that fight last year! This school board is a gift that keeps on giving...lol..:)
8:17PM, do your research! The state says it eliminated Common Core, but it didn't. The name changed to Missouri Learning Standards, but each code and it's wording stayed the same. If you don't believe me, copy a MLS and paste it in a google search and Common Core will come up.
Also slinging personal insults at Martucci, calling her a bimbo is uncalled for. She was elected by the people and I feel that she has asked the questions that need to be asked. You might not agree, but just leave it at that. The personal attack is a cheap shot.
8:17 PM
MARTUCCI ROCKS!!!! This is the second time you have come on The Turner Turner Report and have called her a bimbo. Your lack of vocabulary is surpassed only by your lack of substance. It always amuses me how people, like you, with nothing substantive to say always resort to name calling. You even go the extra mile by adding your silly "lol" tags, as if those somehow aid you in making a point. If the readers want a list of Martucci and the current board's accomplishments, see Turner's article of January 24, 2016 "Reader: Martucci needs to go, nothing has changed in Joplin schools." There, Turner lists many of the improvements that have come during the one year Martucci has been on the board. Those improvements never would have come under Huff and his robo-board. Common Core is still alive, at least for the short term. If Common Core has been abandoned, as you say, then why last summer did Sara Stevens ask the board to give her $70,000 to hire a Common Core consultant to help her do her job? Martucci and the other sensible members on the board rejected that. More improvements will come when we re-elect Martucci and other like minded candidates to the three vacant seats coming up. She has my vote.
7:36....awwwww someone got their feelings hurt. Sorry for that but the truth hurts. People like you amaze me when your sole focus is trying to discredit a post and when you have nothing to base your statements on, you simply try to get the reader to believe that there is nothing substantive in my post. Again, you need to go do your research because the current state of things is this: the Missouri learning standards are being revised and written as we speak and are getting ready to be submitted to the state for approval. If you would have done a little bit of research you may have a little bit more comprehension in this area. As for Martucci, maybe she can proceed and her mission to get to district lines redrawn so that her kids can attend the elementary she wants them to attend. Maybe then her over-privileged kids can stay away from all the drug dealers that we have in Joplin, or at least that's her idea of what our students are. So again, really that's all you had, that was your best play? Very weak.
10:42
So now you finally wake up! What happened to your colorful and intelligent bimbo rhetoric? Funny how you simply adopt my critique of your post and how it utterly lacked any substance, and now try to use it on me. Uh ... you need to be a little original Regarding Martucci, you have now exposed your true identity as being either Huff or one of his pouting cronies. Only Huff would reach back to 2013 to say Martucci is just about district lines. I thought that died with Huff when he tried that stunt on Facebook. Epic fail! Answer me this, please, since you claim to have so much comprehension, has Martucci ever once brought up district lines as a board member? No. Has she advocated for all schools and all kids in the district? Yes. Again, read the Turner article form January 24, 2016. Now, to show how low you are willing to go, you attack her kids! Do you even know any of her children? Obviously not. Otherwise you wold know they are not over privileged. They are respectful, polite, and listen to authority. All of their teachers love them. Do you need more, CJ? I have plenty more.
2:15:
Ok, I'm your Huckleberry Jen...thus can be our little secret;). Apparently you have no understanding or appreciation for neither sarcasm or irony. Get a sense of humor, you might live longer...(it's true asshat, I researched it!) Okay, so this is what you really wanted, trust me you will lose. Your post showed that. The most entertaining part of all of this Jen is that I seem to have really have gotten under your skin. Yes,I will "reach back" as you put it alllllll the way back to 2013....my god that was so long ago! Ok, not really; it is actually recent and relevant to the conversation. You see Jen, this is how people who really know think about you. We know what you are and how you privately talk about others. What a sham. Again, you weren't elected prom queen. This is for big girls and you are not cut out! Don't worry though, you can still be relevant, work part time at the country club, attend social club, etc. There was no attack on your kids, but nice try. It was a comment that is directed at your parenting skills. As for the main topic that you couldn't address or refused to......common core does not exist. Again, do some homework, your ignorance is no excuse for a poorly written, uneducated lost. Should I post links for you? Would you like for me to explain it to you as if you are in the 4th grade? Use smaller words?....lol. The new standards are being written and decided upon now. Maybe there will be similarities, who knows but the fact is you didn't know that; haven't kept up with what is happening in Jefferson City but decided to run yourmouth and now you simply look foolish. It's a shame really, but hey so goes this school board. Now, do YOU need more because I have a lot of material.....seriously I am just getting warmed up...;). And.....boom.
The fun part about 8:12 PM is that he really thinks he just gave a mic-drop performance.
Yes, post links. Stop "warming up" and give substance. Do it the first time so that you look intelligent to begin with. Let facts speak for themselves so that the discussion may be substantial. Your comments regarding the other poster's intelligence/writing ability are so ironic in the context of your own posts it's hard to believe you aren't just trolling. Set an example.
9:09....troll much? Pretty sure 8:12 owned you. Your post is so garbled and incoherent I just have to say "huh"? Move along troll......move along.
When will these idiots CJ Huff, Mikey Landis and the gutless Randy Steele go away? You are gone. Irrelevant. Leave decent people alone. Look inside your own circle of who you are going to hurl insults at. The laughing stock of this town you have fleeced. Slowly going away. You just can't take a hint. Debbie Fort, Jeff Koch and Jennifer Martucci were elected by overwhelming numbers. Troll? Look in the mirror you phonies. Change is here. It's happening. Gutless attacks on a woman and her family are what you accused her of CJ. What an absolute POS. Move on sir. We don't want you in OUR town.
The comments are getting uglier and uglier. The disdain felt for CJ Huff and those connected with him is just as raw as it was this time a year ago. He and Landis, Sharp, and Steele still impose themselves where they are not wanted. It isn't out of concern, or they would have turned the district's failing status around while they were there. They must smell tax dollars somewhere they can latch onto. Pathetic wretches. Even CJ's Facebook page looks like he never left, only he has dropped the hateful posts in hopes of getting a job somewhere. Perhaps he should try fast food. With any luck, the minimum wage will be raised to the "living" level and he can supplement his meager retirement income. Or he might try Panera since he spends so much time having meetings in there, anyway. He'll feel right at home.
I hear CJ Huff and Mike Landis have been contacting various school board candidates, asking to meet with them to discuss the future of Joplin Schools. Seriously??? I guess once a bully always a bully.
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