« Michele Zack’s new book: “Sierra Madre” @ Vroman’s Dec. 2 | Main | Remembering the Red Cars at the Community Center next Mon. »

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

It’s very simple mathematics, according to Bruce Wasson, Altadena’s predominantly low-income student academic efficiencies are usually 30-50 percentile points below their comparable peers — and after elementary school, it gets even worse.  Closing that gap means finding outstanding educators to do it, and ‘If we don’t change the hiring model, everything stays the same,” Wasson says.

The outstanding superintendents and teachers — the ones with a real track record, the ones who can actually make change — need to bring a different skill set than we’ve had in the past. Wasson, who is one of the chief petitioners for the petition to create an Altadena Unified School District, says that they’re not trying to split from Pasadena Unified — their purpose is to use best practices to close the achievement gap, and concentrate on Altadena schools where the gap is prominent.

We encourage you to read their comprehensive website that tells about AFQE’s goals and hopes and reasoning behind creating a separate school district.  It also offers a wealth of resources, from print to video, on creating high-performing schools, and offers opportunities to sign or circulate the petition.

It’s very simple mathematics, according to Bruce Wasson, Altadena’s predominantly low-income student academic efficiencies are usually 30-50 percentile points below their comparable peers — and after elementary school, it gets even worse.  Closing that gap means finding outstanding educators to do it, and ‘If we don’t change the hiring model, everything stays the same,” Wasson says.

The outstanding superintendents and teachers — the ones with a real track record, the ones who can actually make change — need to bring a different skill set than we’ve had in the past. Wasson, who is one of the chief petitioners for the petition to create an Altadena Unified School District, says that they’re not trying to split from Pasadena Unified — their purpose is to use best practices to close the achievement gap, and concentrate on Altadena schools where the gap is prominent.

We encourage you to read their comprehensive website that tells about AFQE’s goals and hopes and reasoning behind creating a separate school district.  It also offers a wealth of resources, from print to video, on creating high-performing schools, and offers opportunities to sign or circulate the petition.