Board of Mythomania's Staffing Shell Game - Alive & Well?!?

Just happened to read the new ETEA President's Message here and it caught my attention. He's talking about welcoming 88 new staff members to their association. Now, maybe it's me but last I remembered the $212.3 million School Budget for 2012-13 had increases for only 10 positions - 8 teachers, 1 guidance counselor and 1 assistant principal. Hmm.. 10 - 88 - probably worthy of some explanation.

You remember this piece of staffing by the Board over the years discussed and shown in a previous post:

That's adding 391 unbudgeted heads since I've been keeping track (through 2011-12) and failing to disclose it in the budgets we were asked to vote on.

So, if we only had 10 new heads in the budget for the 2012-13 school year (going from 1,926 to 1,936 total staff- page 36)- don't you think someone should be telling us how the ETEA added 88 new staff members to their association this year??

Geez, can somebody over there on Mythomania Lane start paying attention to the changes in staffing and reporting it out to the residents? Not for nothing but such changes from the 2012-13 budget should have a reconciliation and explanation before we get to the 2013-14 budget and find out we added some more unbudgeted heads in 2012-13 to add to the existing 391 unbudgeted heads.

Board of Mythomania's NJASK Results - Gr. 3-5

Well, according to the agenda for tonight's Board of Mythomania's Caucus meeting, they will be presenting the NJ ASK Standardized Test Results for Grades 3 - 5. Now, this is something you probably want to pay attention to - whether you have kids in the school system or not.

Like I said before, the 2012 Results for 'Partially Proficient' alone are a tad bit of a concern but when you factor in the change in test scores over 2011 - it's rises to the level of a tad bit troubling.

Here's the summary again of the comparison with 2011:

Over half the 2012 test scores were Worse than 2011 scores for Grades 3 - 5.

Here's the breakdown by School:

Here's the actual Results by School and Grade:

Anyhoo, like I said before, this is Edison and we need to do a better job for the Kids - and we all have a vested interest in making sure.

A Big Kudos

to the Edison Board of Education and Super Dr. Richard O'Malley for opening the schools after the storm for everyone dealing with no power and a host of other storm related issues.

Thanks to all!

NJ ASK 2012 Results - not Kid friendly!

Well, according to the NJ ASK 2012 score sheets, we had 10 Elementary Schools (Gr 3-5) and 4 Middle Schools (Gr 6-8) take these tests - each grade with a language arts and math test and 1 grade in each Elementary (Gr 4) and Middle school (Gr 8) taking a science test.

Now, when you compare these results with 2011 results - you find some troubling information. For the school district, 56% of the test score results were worse than last year and when you look at the breakdown - 61% and 54% of the test score results were worse than last year for the Middle Schools and Elementary Schools, respectively.

Here are the test score results:

 Just the %'s of those scoring Partially Proficient in the 2012 Results alone is a concern unto itself - but when you throw in the change from 2011, it does raise the concern to a level of a tad bit troubling.

Anyhoo, this is Edison and we need to do better than this for the Kids.

NJ ASK Results compared to 2011 - by School

Well, here's the 2012 NJ ASK Results for Downtown Edison compared to 2011 by School. Now, Lindeneau and James Madison Inter were not included in the 2011 file I received, so there's no comparison for those two schools. When I get them, I'll share them with you.

Here's a summary of the results or go here:

Once again, if you're like me and don't want to stare at columns and rows of numbers to find what you'd like to see - there's an interactive Excel file that can sort all this data easily for you. Here's an example of a couple of things:

Here's all of Grade 4:

Here's a listing of the top 15 scoring at Partially Proficient:

Finally, here's the 2011 Results:

Anyhoo, anyone who wants the NJ ASK Results sheets for 2011 or the Excel file that I put together from those sheets - just drop me a note.

Say it ain't so - Super Dr. O'Me..Me..Me?!?

Really, you just gotta scratch your head and wonder what's going on over there on Mythomania Lane. I was a tad bit concerned when I saw a Letter to the Editor in the HNT today from Super Dr. Richard "Build the Trust" O'Malley - about "Breakfast after the Bell." Now, that was troubling on two fronts.

First, with a $212 million bucket of money to Spend this year, a local access TV channel, a complete and interactive website along with mobile access and a captive parent audience to boot - why does he need to be writing Letters to the Editor with these fluff pieces about himself?

Second, and more importantly, do we really need Senor O'Malley to pat himself on the back and tell us what a great job he's doing by providing nourishment to the kids in the district - after the bell?

Clearly, it's important and who's gonna argue with the fact that kids perform better when nourished? Did he really need to spend time researching this most basic truth? And, if it's so important to him, the staff and the kids, why didn't he just do it and avoid looking for credit for it? Does he think that the residents of this town wouldn't approve it even if there was no federal funding? Is this one of his 'I' - 'Me' great accomplishments these days that he wants to score up with the recently released NJ ASK Results for 2012? Geez, what a guy!

Not for nothing but here's a thought. Rather than focusing on fluff pieces like this - how about focusing on the inequity in the recent NJ ASK Results where the test scores in some Schools with Grades 3-7 are showing almost half the kids are Less than Proficient! Now, clearly Dr. O'Malley hasn't been around long enough to fairly lay blame or credit for these scores but these seem like thingies a tad bit more important than what he's writing about now.

But hey, at least we can be comforted in the knowledge that Super Dr. Richard "Build the Trust" O'Malley can always write a Letter to the Editor when he wants to tell us what a great job he's doing.

Anyhoo, what do I know - I still can't figure out who's in charge over there on Mythomania Lane.

NJ ASK 2012 Results by Escuela!

Well, recently received the Spring 2012 & 2011 NJ ASK Results by School  from my friends over there on Mythomania Lane. Took a look at the 2012 Results and plucked out the total student scores by School.
Here's are the 2012 NJ ASK Results by Elementary School:

 Here are the Middle Schools:

 Now, if you're like me and don't like looking at columns and rows of numbers to find what you'd like to see - there's a file with all the above numbers that you can sort to find the info you'd like to see. For example, have a key concern in those students who may be struggling and where they are in the district? Here's a list of the top 15 locations and subject of those scoring Partially Proficient:

You can also sort the file and see the scores on any particular test by grade for all the schools:

Finally, at least for me, it's easier to quickly pull up info that's important to see - so, there's one of these thingies for Language Arts & Math in the file:

Anyhoo, anyone who wants this Excel file is welcome to it. You're also welcome to the file received from the EBoE with all the NJ ASK Scores Sheets by School (from which I plucked the total student scores). Just drop me a note.