Failing Max Gilpin: Berman Responds

I need to do some catching up on the Max Gilpin story from late last week. C-J's Toni Konz has been plugging away with some solid reporting on on this troublesome case.

Superintendent Shelly Berman added some light to the murky events surrounding the death of Max Gilpin. He provides some missing particulars that go some distance toward disputing claims that the district was unmoved by the tragic events at PRP.


First...

More PRP staff may be added to lawsuit

The parents of a 15-year-old Pleasure Ridge Park football player who collapsed at a practice and later died are trying to add the high school's principal, athletic director and an assistant coach to their lawsuit against six other coaches.

Through their attorneys, Glenna Michele Crockett and Jeffrey Dean Gilpin filed an amended complaint yesterday in Jefferson Circuit Court, asking Judge Mitch Perry to add principal David Johnson, athletic director Craig Webb and assistant coach Josh Ligthle as defendants in their lawsuit against head coach Jason Stinson and five other assistant coaches.

Crockett and Gilpin contend that Johnson, Webb and Ligthle were just as negligent in the death of their son, Max Gilpin, as the coaches they previously named in the lawsuit...

In an interview with C-J, JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman confessed some concern over PRP Principal David Johnson's deletion of several emails which provided eye-witnesses to the football practice in question. But he also said,

the district has found nothing so far in its investigation that would warrant taking any action now against Johnson or any of the coaches. But he said the investigation is continuing and it was too soon to say whether anyone would be disciplined in Max's death.

In an hour-long interview with Toni Konz, Berman defended JCPS officials saying they began investigating immediately.

I really want to believe this, mostly because I can't imagine that JCPS would NOT have conducted an intense investigation.

But it remains troublesome to ponder how the district could have been investigating while the principal had no sense of it whatsoever. Indeed, Berman seems to consider Johnson's chat with head coach Stinson the centerpiece of the investigation. He describes it as a three-hour conversation. But Johnson testified that his only conversation with head football coach Jason Stinson about the practice was a brief conversation where he "entrusted that [Stinson] told me the truth."

Berman: JCPS began Gilpin investigation quickly

Superintendent Sheldon Berman said Pleasure Ridge Park and Jefferson County public school officials began investigating the Max Gilpin case less than two days after the 15-year-old football player collapsed at practice from heat stroke last August.

“We have been on top of this from the very beginning... We took this very seriously.”

Berman also said that witness accounts accusing PRP’s head coach, Jason Stinson, and his assistants of denying players water and running them excessively on a day when the heat index reached 94 were contradicted by interviews that a district investigator conducted with students and coaches who were at the field that day...

Berman complained about media reports,

that “have given the impression that we have not been thorough in our investigation,” which he said “could not be further from the truth.”

“We see this as a very serious investigation, and we are not treating this lightly,” Berman said. “We want to ensure that well into the future we do everything possible to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

That's the right answer.

It does not help that PRP Johnson can't seem to get his story straight. I'm wondering how JCPS could conduct a thorough investigation, and the principal not be aware of it. Johnson's own statement shows that he was unaware of any investigation going on when he said that "he expected an investigation would occur."

Johnson should have been able to tell C-J, 'Yes, there's an on-going investigation being headed up by so-n-so....and I can't comment until the facts are in.' But he did nothing to inspire confidence, and even undermined his superintendent's effort to help him out.

...Todd Thompson, the lawyer for Max’s mother, Michele Crockett, said depositions from PRP and district officials show their initial investigation was slipshod, and they shouldn’t have declared just two days after the practice that there were no policy violations.

“What they should have done, on Friday, rather than tell the public that everything was done to protocol, they should have said they didn’t know what happened,” Thompson said.

A Jefferson County grand jury found enough information to indict Stinson on a criminal charge of reckless homicide in Max's death. Stinson has pleaded not guilty.

The Timeline

Toni lists the following from the coach's account:

• During the Aug. 20, practice, senior Antonio Calloway was overcome by the heat and collapsed.
• 15 minutes later, Max collapsed between 6:10 and 6:15 p.m.
• An EMS report shows the ambulance was called at 6:18 p.m. and arrived at 6:27, then went to Kosair Children's Hospital.
• Webb, PRP's athletic director, who was at the practice, didn't notify Johnson until around noon Thursday, Aug. 21.
• Johnson chastised Webb for failing to notify him sooner, then began an initial assessment of what took place, Berman said.
• Johnson notified Joe Burks, the assistant superintendent of high schools, who told Berman about the incident that afternoon.
• Berman said Burks instructed Jerry Wyman, the district's director of athletics, to go to PRP and "assess the situation to see if the (Kentucky High School Athletic Association) rules and procedures were followed."
• Wyman went to the school to collect documentation on heat-index readings taken at the practice site and the medical paperwork that allowed Max to participate in sports.
• Berman said Johnson had a three-hour discussion with Stinson at the hospital on the morning of Friday, Aug. 22, where the two went over details of the practice, including water breaks.
• "(Johnson) tells Stinson to write down the order of things that happened at practice," Berman said. "Stinson writes it down, and that gets faxed to us from the hospital." Berman said Johnson also talked with Webb.
• At that point, Berman said, Max was still alive and officials were hopeful he would recover.
• And by Friday's end, the district's initial assessment was that "nothing suspicious had happened." "Keep in mind, we had not heard any complaints, at least none that we knew about," Berman said.
• At 6:28 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, Max was pronounced dead.
• Aug. 25 - Berman said, Burks briefed his administrative cabinet about Max and the “situation at PRP.” "That puts us in a very different situation," Berman said. "We decided we needed to do a full investigation of this..."
• Aug 25 - Berman dispatches Burks to PRP and he met with Stinson, Webb and Brian Shumate, the district's high school liaison.
• Aug 25 -Berman decides to delay a full investigation until after Max's funeral. The investigation is headed by Stan Mullen, the district's director of security. Johnson was told the investigation would now be handled by the district.
• Aug 27 - C-J published witness accounts of practice accusing coaches of denying players water and running them until someone quits.
• Aug 27 (morning) - Mullen calls Louisville Metro Police and is told they have not planned to do a death investigation.
• Aug 27 - (afternoon) Police inform JCPS they will be investigating. JCPS discloses the police investigation.
• The police allow JCPS officials to shadow police investigators in a joint investigation and began interviewing players Friday, Aug. 29.
• Sept. 4 - police discontinue JCPS involvement in joint investigation.
• Sept. 11 - There is some negotiation that goes back and forth, and eventually JCPS receives permission to interview witnesses after LMPD has done their interviews.
• Sept. 12 to 24, JCPS interviewed 91 football players.
• On Sept. 24-25, JCPS interviewed other coaches, Webb and other witnesses.
• Oct 9 - JCPS sends an open records request to police for a copy of their complete investigative file. That request was denied on Oct. 22.
• Oct. 17 - JCPS interview with Stinson canceled by his defense attorney.
• Nov. 5 - JCPS interviews scheduled with Max's parents, were canceled by their attorneys."

Attorney Todd Thompson disputes the coach's timeline, saying,

"I find it unconvincing that the principal did not even speak to the assistant coaches. And, if he did in fact have a three-hour conversation with Stinson, he did not tell us that under oath"..."I also find it troubling that the principal did not take any notes during this interview, or if he did take notes, he didn't keep them."

Me too, right up until the moment the investigation started being handled by district personnel, after which, it makes much more sense. But any way you cut it - Johnson's obtuse testimony failed his district, his superintendent, and the school he loves by his dismissive mishandling of such a tragic event. He failed Max Gilpin.

C-J opines,

...this week Superintendent Sheldon Berman responded to Courier-Journal news coverage and editorial criticism by saying JCPS had been on top of the investigation "from the very beginning" and that "I wouldn't change a thing" about how the district has handled the inquiry.

We suggest the superintendent revisit the recent, sworn deposition of PRP principal David Johnson, which contradicts Mr. Berman's rosier description and is replete with, among other disturbing testimony, don't-recalls, don't-remembers and admissions of deleted e-mails from critical sources.

Meanwhile,

House Bill 383, sponsored by Shively Democratic Rep. Joni Jenkins, deserves passage.

It would impose a statewide standard of requiring ice pools at every athletic activity when the outside temperature is 94 degrees or more. The bill also would require that coaches be trained on automated external defibrillators, which treat cardiac arrest, and that the devices be present at practices and games.

Experts say studies of hundreds of heat stroke victims show all survive if they are immediately treated with cold water, lowering the body's temperature to 104 degrees in about 20 minutes. Gilpin's temperature reached 107 degrees.

Pass the bill.

Jack Foster's Idea: "a cadre of specialists"

This from Jack Foster in the Courier-Journal:

...Rather than continue to search for a cheaper and less time-consuming state testing system that is not helpful to students, parents or teachers, I believe it is time to find a way to improve the reliability and validity of classroom assessments so they can be used for accountability purposes and eliminate the need for a separate testing system for state accountability purposes. How might this be done?

I propose that classroom assessment responsibilities be given to a cadre of specialists who would administer state-designed assessment instruments at regular intervals throughout the year in every classroom in the commonwealth. The content of these tests would be tightly integrated with classroom instruction and be directly aligned with state core content standards for each subject and grade level.

Teachers would continue to assess student progress on a daily basis, but report card grades would be based on the results of these tests, thus motivating students to do their best on them.

Finally, "grading" of student classroom learning would be uniform and comparable among all classes, schools and districts across the commonwealth. Data generated by these tests could be aggregated and analyzed for school, district and state accountability purposes and to improve the assessment instruments, while eliminating the need for a separate, once-a-year state test.

This approach has many potential benefits. It could relieve teachers of the time-consuming task of creating, administering and scoring their own classroom assessments for which they have insufficient time and expertise; provide greater consistency across the state in what is tested and how it is tested in each subject at each grade level; provide almost immediate feedback to students and teachers to improve learning and instruction; bring a high level of rigor and validity to classroom assessments; reinforce a focus on teaching core content; and the tests would matter to students.

Money currently spent on CATS could be used to develop the classroom assessment instruments and money currently spent on teaching assessment skills to teachers could be used to support a cadre of assessment specialists throughout the state. Much of the testing could be done electronically.

The transition from a CATS-like accountability system to one envisioned here must be carefully planned and should be developed in parallel with a revision of the core content standards that has been proposed.

Doing it right is more important than doing it quickly...

CJ Smacks ...Everyone over Assessment Reform

This from C-J:

...Here are some facts:

It does not take a good teacher excessive time to prepare for CATS tests, as critics like to claim.

It would be wrong to drastically narrow the testing, since that inevitably would narrow the teaching that precedes it.

It would be astonishingly stupid to remove writing portfolios from the accountability system, because that certainly would end serious classroom work on this profoundly important capstone skill, which is essential not just for admission to college these days but also to success in the information age workforce.

It would be equally absurd to remove open-response test questions, since they get at the very deep learning and critical thinking that education reform was supposed to foster.

It's deceitful to condemn the legitimate coaching of student writers as "suspect" and to mistake the product of student rewrites as "inauthentic."

It would be educational malfesance to replace CATS with a jury-rigged combination of some off-the-shelf nationally normed test and a few extra questions that make passing efforts to address Kentucky curriculum -- especially since those nationally normed tests are designed to categorize a substantial percentage of those who take them as failures.

Throwing open the entire state curriculum to a revision of standards would, in the current environment, certainly produce a dumbing down of what Kentucky expects its kids to learn...

... there are deep, important differences separating what educators, politicians and competing advocates believe should be done.

To run a political bulldozer over CATS in the few days remaining to this General Assembly session would be a travesty.

Incredibly, almost nobody is standing up to object. All the interested parties cower at the roadside, frightened of retribution from Mr. Williams, Mr. Kelly and the regressive caucus that keeps them in control of events at the Capitol.

Conservative enemies of public education sit in the cramped turrets of their think tanks and cheer.

Perhaps the most pathetic claim is Mr. Moberly's -- that his House bill will successfully set and enforce "world-class benchmarks" and "preserve the principles of reform," serving not only to place Kentucky students' achievement in a national context but also to supply prescriptive information for individual students and to test the acquisition of state-established curriculum. ...No testing system can claim to do all three...

Perhaps the greatest disappointment is a lack of leadership from Gov. Steve Beshear, who has contented himself with a muted call for a thorough review ... whining, "The Republicans won't let me do anything." ...

Lawmakers may be close on testing

This from Ronnie Ellis in the Glasgow Daily Times:

Work on accountability compromise

The state’s public schools accountability testing system, CATS, may have run out of lives as key lawmakers appear close to a compromise on its replacement.

The Republican controlled Senate has passed Senate Bill 1, which would replace the time consuming, controversial testing system with a simpler, less expensive multiple choice test. But they’ve done that in past sessions only to see it go nowhere in the Democratic controlled House. But the landscape has changed in the House with the selection of Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, as Speaker, and he’s been more willing to discuss changes to the testing system.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, said there’s “been a sea change in attitudes about the need to make adjustments in the test.”

Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, concedes it’s time to adjust the test, but he doesn’t want to rely solely on a multiple choice test – especially what is known as a norm-referenced test. Such tests compare student performance to that of students from across the country – as opposed to criterion or standards based tests, which measure how much a student knows against established standards of knowledge.

Sharron Oxendine, president of the Kentucky Education Association, said many teachers prefer a multiple choice, “norm-reference” test, but KEA wants to retain a standards based component to any new test.

She said norm reference tests are fine for comparison purposes but they don’t help with assessment because they don’t measure what students specifically know. And such tests, she pointed out, are designed so that half of all students score at the 50th percentile or below. So schools can never place most of their students at the proficiency level on such tests...

Both the right and the left have taken shots at former Commissioner Jon Draud for either too much or not enough of something or other. OK, there was the car thing. But his Task Force on Assessment that was said, by some, to have produced no good, seems to have produced some good. No matter how one views the testing situation, perhaps we should ask ourselves; Until recently, when is the last time we heard cooperation like this out of Frankfort?

Kelly said universities are “reaching out and starting a dialogue with school districts,” helping them prepare their students for college level work.

Nearly everyone said discussions between Senate leaders, including Kelly and Sen. Ken Winters, R-Murray, who sponsored SB 1, and House members over their differences are going well.

Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, chairs the House Education Committee. He said Thursday, “We’re real close to an agreement. I’m very optimistic.”

Included in discussions about how to re-craft the state’s testing system have been school board members, superintendents and Oxendine and KEA. Rollins said for the most part, all the parties “are pretty much on the same page.”

A modest Proposal on Writing Portfolios: Keep Them. Make Them Pass/Fail

So far the suggestions regarding what to do with writing portfolios in the CATS assessment have been polarized. In or out.

Proponents fear (and teachers know) that removing writing portfolios from the assessment will take the instructional focus off this important discipline.

Opponents argue that subjective nature of writing lowers the reliability of the assessment to unacceptable levels.

In my opinion, both are correct.

So what to do?

We can't get rid of the instruction our students need to compete globally, but an increasing number of teachers want to do just that. We can't rely on portfolio scoring because it doesn't discriminate very well between what constitutes good writing and what constitutes very good writing.

But portfolio scoring does discriminate between good writing and bad writing.

So let's change how the portfolios are scored. Let's make the Proficient and Distinguished portfolios = PASS. The Novice and Apprentice portfolios = FAIL.

Then, KDE should recalculate how that factors into the overall accountability system.

Why not?

A Lesson on Writing Portfolios for Legislators

The following is the text of a letter sent on Tuesday to state Sen. Dan Kelly, one of the chief opponents of the writing portfolio component of the CATS testing program. The writer is Ricki Rosenberg, a former Cassidy teacher who now teaches at Picadome Elementary School in Lexington...in the Courier-Journal:

Nice job, Ricki.

...I am well aware that many teachers in Kentucky would like to see portfolios disappear. Teaching writing is hard work and teaching fourth-grade writing is even harder. But does that mean we should get rid of it? Of course not! It just means we have to train fourth-grade teachers better. We need to find fourth-grade teachers who are passionate about writing instruction and who believe in its value. Having trained writing coaches in elementary schools will give the entire staff more confidence and ability to teach writing, which will then create a quality schoolwide writing program.

Over the past 15 years, several changes have been made to the Writing Portfolio. First, we used to require six pieces from fourth-grade students; now we require three. If the students come to fourth grade with a background in writing, and writing is taught with enthusiasm each day, then completing Writing Portfolios will not be too strenuous for both students and teachers. This is a realistic, manageable and appropriate assessment.

As time goes on, I believe that our writing instruction has improved and our expectations have increased. ...If a subject is not assessed, it will not be taught as thoroughly and with the same rigor.

With less commitment to writing, students will also have less chance for introspection, analysis and synthesis, all skills to promote higher-order thinking. ... Doing a 90-minute on-demand prompt does not allow for true introspection, analysis and peer review.

As adults, we often write something and let it sit for a day or two before revising it and also share it with a peer to receive feedback. This cannot happen for a child during the on-demand portion of the test, thus making it less like a real-world experience.

Some educators believe that if we remove the Writing Portfolio and increase the weight of the on-demand portion of our assessment, teachers will still teach writing rigorously. However, on-demand only addresses the writing of articles and persuasive letters. I am certain we will eventually see an end to personal narratives, memoirs, short stories and poetry. This would be a real tragedy for our students.

In addition, on-demand is a contrived prompt that is not authentic to students' real lives. ...Student choice is essential for motivating children to have a true, authentic reason for writing.

... I hope you consider my request to keep the Writing Portfolio so that Kentucky children will continue to think at higher levels and proceed forward instead of remaining at status quo.

PRP Principal David Johnson's Investigation into Max Gilpin's Death

More on Johnson's Pitiful Deposition in the Max Gilpin case

This from WAVE TV:

WAVE's embed code doesn't seem to work, so here's the direct link.

It's just more bad news.

...The following is part of Johnson's deposition:

Attorney: "The fact that two children went to the hospital on August 20th, one that died at the hospital, you have no documents whatsoever maintained in your office or anywhere relating to that event?"

Johnson: "Not personal documents, no."

Attorney: "If you received an e-mail from anyone who was in attendance at the soccer game or football practice, would it be your practice to retain it and forward it to the school board?"

Johnson: "If it's just an opinionated e-mail, I would delete them."

The attorneys asked what Johnson found out from Stinson. Johnson said two days after Gilpin collapsed, he talked to Stinson briefly at the hospital about the practice and he believed Stinson to be truthful.

Attorney: "Did Stinson tell you what his role was in assisting Max?"

Johnson: "No."

Attorney: "To this day you don't know what Mr. Stinson did to assist Max?"

Johnson: "No."

Attorney: "Have you ever asked him?"

Johnson: "No."

In an attempt to possibly prove the school was interested in protecting itself, attorneys for the Gilpin family did enter into evidence several e-mails circulating among Johnson and other school officials looking into what kind of performance enhancing drugs Gilpin may have been taking. Johnson was also asked about a letter from the commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association asking for the school's final investigation of Gilpin's collapse. Johnson said he did not know if anything was ever turned over to the KHSAA.

Are you getting Stimulated?

Q & A on the stimulus and its potential impact of public education from Ed Week's Politics K-12: Snippets...

1. How much will my state/district/school be getting from the stimulus? The House Education and Labor Committee has posted estimates by state and district here. Education department estimates here.

2. What are the specifics on the innovation fund? Here's a very large PDF of the stimulus bill.

3. How can districts, states, etc. access funds from the "race to the top" pot? Governors will apply, ...and must show progress in four areas: maintaining state funding for education at 2006 levels, achieving equity in teacher distribution, improving data collection and use, and improving standards and assessment. ...Duncan seems particularly interested in improving standards.

4. Are states supposed to restore spending to FY08 levels or FY06 levels? To qualify for state stabilization funds, states must be able to use their own state money to fund schools up to the level they were doing so in 2006. Then, they must use their federal stabilization money to backfill any cuts they made...

Police: No charges to be filed over YouTube video

These from H-L:

Doug Trantham of Danville is upset about a homemade video posted on YouTube that depicts several boys making sexually explicit comments about two girls, including Trantham's 14-year-old daughter, Marcie.

The 3½ -minute video was posted over the weekend. It was taken off YouTube on Tuesday morning. In the video, which was viewed by the Herald-Leader before it as pulled from the Web site, one young man raps about the girls' genitals while two boys make gestures, some of which are lewd.

Two other young men appear briefly in the video, which appears to have been recorded in the bedroom of a private home.

"It's character assassination," Trantham said. "It's sexually explicit, as if these boys are trying to put it out to the entire world that these are two girls ... that you can get your hands on. It's derogatory, exceptionally derogatory, and vulgar."

However...

Danville Police Chief Jay Newell said Wednesday that no charges will be filed in the case of a YouTube video depicting several boys making sexually explicit comments about two middle school girls.

"From our officers' review of the YouTube video, there are no threats or any illegal activity that we can see," Newell said. "It's some kids that have said some rude things and put it on YouTube. but there's no law against being rude." ...

Newell said: "If we charged every middle schooler that said something about another middle schooler or that called them a bad name, if you think the justice system is bogged down now ...."

For the boys to be charged with harassment, Newell said, "we would have to have a continuing course of conduct that served to harass, alarm or annoy the victim." ...

Lose Cool - Lose Job

"Never lose your cool."

That was the advice I got from Fayette County Area Assistant Superintendent Dick Jones, in 1986, when I first became the Principal of Meadowthorpe Elementary School in Lexington. In those pre-KERA days, Jones said he could protect his principals from most of the pitfalls of the job, but there were a few things he couldn't protect us from. Bad discipline in the school; missing money, and anything inappropriate involving a student.

After many years as a public school administrator, Jones understood the way kids can get under your skin, bait you, and even challenge your manhood. But principals are expected to rise above such things. The job is hard. His advice was sound.

Nicholas principal suspended;

mother wants criminal charges

The Nicholas County High School principal who was placed on leave last week after an incident with a student has been suspended.

Nicholas County school spokesman Hank Bond declined to answer any questions in relation to Joseph Orazen after the school released a statement Wednesday afternoon that said the district will make no other comment or answer any questions "until due process has been served."

"Mr. Joe Orazen is suspended, and he has a right to request a hearing from the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education," the statement said.

The student, Dusty Green, 15, has been suspended for 10 days, said his mother, Michelle Green of Carlisle.

Michelle Green said she is outraged and wants criminal charges filed against Orazen. She said she has not yet hired a lawyer.

"I'm mad," she said. "I'm anxious for the criminal proceedings to go forward." ...

Our Greatest National Shame

This from Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times:

So maybe I was wrong. I used to consider health care our greatest national shame, considering that we spend twice as much on medical care as many European nations, yet American children are twice as likely to die before the age of 5 as Czech children — and American women are 11 times as likely to die in childbirth as Irish women.

Yet I’m coming to think that our No. 1 priority actually must be education. That makes the new fiscal stimulus package a landmark, for it takes a few wobbly steps toward reform and allocates more than $100 billion toward education.

That’s a hefty sum — by comparison, the Education Department’s entire discretionary budget for the year was $59 billion — and it will save America’s schools from the catastrophe that they were facing. A University of Washington study had calculated that the recession would lead to cuts of 574,000 school jobs without a stimulus.

“We dodged a bullet the size of a freight train,” notes Amy Wilkins of the Education Trust, an advocacy group in Washington.

So for those who oppose education spending in the stimulus, a question: Do you really believe that slashing half a million teaching jobs would be fine for the economy, for our children and for our future?

Education Secretary Arne Duncan describes the stimulus as a “staggering opportunity,” the kind that comes once in a lifetime. He argues: “We have to educate our way to a better economy, that’s the only way long term to get there.”...

Breach of Duty

Yesterday, KSN&C called for Superintendent Shelly Berman to step in and take action in the case of PRP Principal David Johnson and his resistance to investigating the circumstances surrounding the death footballer Max Gilpin in August. Today C-J jumped on board and I'm glad they did.

This from the Courier-Journal:

Pleasure Ridge Park principal David Johnson should be removed immediately from his post until a thorough investigation of his stewardship of the school -- including the death of football player Max Gilpin -- is initiated and completed. He should be returned to that position only if such an inquiry demonstrates he is qualified to lead the school.

In light of Mr. Johnson's sworn deposition in a civil case brought by Gilpin's parents against six PRP coaches, we have grave doubts about his suitability to be a principal.

Mr. Johnson's own testimony reveals an alarming laxness in the standards he brought to bear on his staff in compiling information that was essential in understanding why Gilpin collapsed during football practice last August and died, three days later, after being taken off life support.

The principal did not keep records. The principal did not take notes. The principal did not do formal interviews of those present when Gilpin collapsed or those who complained about the coaches' behavior. He was dismissive of e-mail and notes he received from people in the community, and he deleted e-mail protests. The principal did refer repeatedly to the "chain of command," none of which seemed to have anything to do with him.

The casual nature of Mr. Johnson's alleged inquiry into what might have led to a teen-ager's death -- as well as the principal's outrageous statement to a PRP resident that he hired head Coach Jason Stinson for his "strong Christian beliefs" (how is that pertinent in a public school?) -- should offend the community that pays his salary and entrusts its children to his authority and care. It also creates justified wonder about what else may be happening at PRP that he -- and we -- don't know about. We should not have to wonder.

Whatever happened to the idea that the public owns the schools - and that as school administrators, it is our job to provide a safe, open and responsive environment for the benefit of our students?

Instead the PRP case tells the story of a principal who sees his job as defending the school against all comers - right or wrong. Some may find such blind loyalty admirable. Too bad PRP students don't enjoy such protections.

Moreover, the symptoms appear to be endemic within the administration. Having perhaps attended the same PR school as UofL President James Ramsey, JCPS public information officer Lauren Roberts went into damage control. She wrote to Johnson,

"… I'm getting multiple media calls this a.m. about the kid collapsing the other night. rumor mill is going crazy. we've squelched that it was anything sinister … they all understand that all rules were followed and this kid was not being abused. Can you advise as to his condition?"

Squenched? "This kid?"

But was there anything sinister? How can the district be sure if the man supposedly "investigating" is "very protective of everything about PRP?"

Johnson was aware of an e-mail sent by a parent who was at an adjacent practice field on Aug. 20 and witnesses what happened. In the e-mail, Brian Bale said that the PRP players were not offered water breaks and that an unnamed coach said that the team would stop running as soon as a player quit the team.

"I heard him (a coach) verbally blister the kids when they asked for water,"
Bale wrote, comparing the practice to military training. "The whole thing was
appalling and made quite a few of us on the sidelines pretty angry."

Somebody should have looked into that. But instead, Johnson didn't want to hear bad news and deleted emails - somehow knowing they were "hate mail" - without the benefit of reading them.

Responsibility for this tragedy goes all the way to the top, including to Mr. Johnson, to the district's athletics director and to Superintendent Sheldon Berman.

It is time for Mr. Berman to step up, make public every fact that can be unearthed, take responsibility for how this has been handled and tell the community how he will change that.

The buck stops with him.

Quick Hits

YouTube video sparks investigation: Doug Trantham of Danville is upset about a homemade video posted on YouTube that depicts several boys making sexually explicit comments about two girls, including Trantham's 14-year-old daughter, Marcie. (H-L)


School board member sues district: Board member Susan Dunn Fangman of Cold Spring and her husband Gregory Allen Fangman, filed suit Jan. 30 on behalf of their 16-year-old son against two Campbell County High School freshman basketball team coaches alleging that during practice, the coaches instructed the freshman basketball team to participate "in a full contact drill which included activities which were inherently dangerous and subjected the participants of the freshman basketball team to serious physical injury." (NKy.com)


Union County Rejects State Help to Improve: Vowing to move his district to a top 50 ranking in one year, the superintendent of the Union County school district has made the unusual decision to turn down an offer of team assistance from the Kentucky Department of Education. (Gleaner)


Elementary teacher allegedly threatens principal, must be followed by security: A fourth grade teacher at a Louisville elementary school has been followed by a security guard for the last three weeks. Jefferson County Public Schools says the teacher allegedly made a threat against the principal of Wilt Elementary. But parents want to know why the teachers is still at Wilt with the same principal. (WHAS11)


Former Dixie principal gets five years in prison: The former principal of Dixie Elementary was sentenced to five years in prison today for his role in stealing more than $69,000 from the school. (C-J)


Draud's car sells on Ebay: It appears the controversy surrounding Jon Draud's car has finally come to an end.As I reported last week, the state was attempting to sell the car of the former education commissioner on eBay -- after no one met the reserve price the first time.The second auction ended Friday with a final bid of $24,100. So if the final bidder follows through and actually purchases the car, it appears the state will take a loss of about $6,500 on the car. (Toni Konz)


Poll: Most Minn. principals expect schools to fail under NCLB by 2014: Some 97% of about 700 Minnesota principals surveyed by think tank Minnesota 2020 say they do not think every school will reach federal NCLB standards by 2014. "This isn't just the opinion of a couple academics, it's not the opinion of a few folks who are line leadership who may have an ax to grind. These are the folks who actually have to make it work, and they're saying it doesn't," said former state lawmaker Matt Entenza, who formed the group that polled school leaders. (Minnesota Public Radio)


Group files lawsuit to prevent takeover of schools by La: Teachers and parents are suing the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, state Superintendent Paul Pastorek and the Louisiana Attorney General's Office in an effort to stop the planned state takeover of eight struggling Baton Rouge public schools. (The Advocate)


Learning with Blogs and Wikis: In a 2002 report for the Albert Shanker Institute, Richard Elmore, professor of educational leadership at Harvard, argues that school structures make learning for adults unlikely at best and nothing short of impossible at worst. In a recent article, the author examines Elmore's stance that schools are hostile to learning and how changing times and tools have changed the school landscape. (ASCD Educational Leadership)


School librarians teach 21st-century skills: Like many modern school librarians, Stephanie Rosalia, does far more than just shelve books, but some in the profession fail to get recognition for their expanded skills. Some media specialists today teach children about the reliability of Internet information, how to design PowerPoint presentations and edit digital videos. (The New York Times)

Student clickers benefit teachers, too: An Illinois teacher says student clickers -- a type of instant-response system -- are changing the way he teaches. Students use wireless devices to answer questions with a yes or no or multiple-choice answer, allowing Daniel Hile to know instantly which students are struggling and which topics he should cover more thoroughly. (The News-Gazette)

Stimulus Bill Promotes Stable, Adequate Funding: The $789 billion federal stimulus bill, which was passed by Congress last weekend, allocates roughly $100 billion for educational purposes. This figure is almost double the U.S. Department of Education’s $59.2 billion discretionary budget---and gives promise to education advocates that the Obama administration will live up to its commitment to reform and improve education in the United States. (National ACCESS Network) For specific details on the amount of funding for which each state is eligible under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, see the recent report of The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

CATS changes require careful approach: Once again, the Kentucky Senate is in a hurry to pull the rug from under the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, or CATS, Kentucky's method of determining how well schools are performing. On a vote of 36-0 earlier this week, the Senate approved Senate Bill 1, which would eliminate CATS and replace it with a testing system that relies heavily on a national test available off the shelf. (Messenger-Inquirer)

Success of Finland's schools intrigues educators: Educators in Texas are looking to Finland for ideas on how to close achievement gaps among students and improve math and science performance. School reformers in Texas are considering mirroring some steps Finland has taken, including the establishment of one curriculum for all schools, setting high standards for all students while providing help for those who need it and allowing well-trained teachers the freedom to teach. (The Dallas Morning News)

Study: Music participation can help boost student achievement: Students who take music lessons -- especially during high school -- or who attend concerts with their parents score better in math and reading than their nonmusical peers, according to a study from Ohio State University researchers. However, unequal access to music lessons may hurt blacks, Hispanics and low-income students, researchers said. (ScienceDaily)

Why aren't more minority children enrolled in advanced classes?: As more Florida middle-school students enroll in high-school classes in the hopes of getting ahead, some educators worry that black and Hispanic children are being left behind, creating de facto segregation. Most of the Florida middle-school students taking advanced classes are white, even at some schools where the total student population is overwhelmingly minority, a newspaper analysis found. (Orlando Sentinel)

NCLB 2.0?

Don't Forget the National Standards.

Recently, Arne Duncan told folks at the American Council on Education Annual Meeting to get their minds right when it comes to National Standards.

I am hopeful because of the incredible progress in school districts, colleges and universities all across the country—developing new learning models—new educational approaches—and bringing new energy and ideas to the field of education...

...I am very excited about a $15 billion "Race to the Top" fund approved by the House. The Senate version is somewhat smaller but it is still significant.

The President is deeply committed to this program because it will enable us to spur reform on a national scale—driving school systems to adopt college and career-ready, internationally benchmarked standards...

...And the question is... What can we do together—not only to make college more accessible—but to boost our overall success rate?

We have to start by recognizing that our system of education is not aligned. Every state has different high school standards.

If we accomplish one thing in the coming years—it should be to eliminate the extreme variation in standards across America.

I know that talking about standards can make people nervous—but the notion that we have 50 different goal posts is absolutely ridiculous.

A high school diploma needs to mean something—no matter where it's from.

We need standards that are college-ready and career-ready, and benchmarked against challenging international standards.

Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers president, is pushing for national education standards as well, saying common, rigorous standards are the key to student success. The countries that rank higher in education than the U.S. have national standards and a unified approach to assessments, professional development and curriculum.

The long held assumption is that the federal government has no business meddling with education due to the Constitution's "reserve clause" - which reserves to the states issues not mentioned in the Constitution. Education is one such issue.

Others have more recently opined that federal intrusions into education are perhaps permissible in order to "promote the general welfare" of Americans.

So the feds should stay out - unless, of course, they bring lots of money to buy the state's affection. Then, we'll surrender the states rights to take the money and whatever comes with it.

Actually, NCLB would have been a much smarter bill if it had provided national standards, a national assessment, and accountability that took growth into consideration - but turned states loose to innovate and meet those standards the best way they knew how.

Hat Tip to Justin Bathon at EdJurist.

Arne Duncan Talks Charters on First TV Show

This from Politics K-12:

So President Obama caused a bit of a stir when he picked a charter school for his first visit to a public school.

Now, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will use his first "Education News" TV show appearance tonight from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. to address the topic: "Charter Schools: School Reform that Works." You can watch it at very odd hours on TV on channels like The Learning Channel, or on public broadcasting stations. It looks like it's also available via webcast. The show is a longstanding Education Department initiative to communicate education information to parents...

The Department of Ed press release proclaims:

Charter schools, in particular, are increasingly appealing to parents, and for good reason. As laboratories for new and challenging educational strategies, these schools prove that breaking tradition and establishing a high bar for performance can yield extraordinary results for students. Many charter schools boast strong test scores along with impressive attendance and graduation rates, which are the result of the freedoms that these schools offer. They allow administrators the freedom to innovate, teachers the ability to be creative, parents the opportunity to be involved, and students the right to learn—creating a partnership that leads to improved achievement. Charter schools often “raise the bar”, and in turn, stimulate the entire public school system to improve.

The President’s education plan proposes to double the funding for the federal Charter Schools Program with the goal of increasing the number of successful charter schools among states that are committed to improving academic accountability.

Today, over 4,500 charter schools serve over 1.3 million children in 40 states and D.C.

That's all well and good. We certainly ought to replicate successful programs to the extend that's possible. But that's likely to be a challenge charter schools can only satisfy in certain places - like public schools.

The biggest obstacle facing charter school establishment in small cities and rural locations is likely to be difficulty obtaining suitable facilities. And if that continues to be the barrier it now seems to be, charters will only perpetuate one of our historical problems - good schools in some places; bad schools in others. But it could, possibly, maybe, provide some new opportunities in inner city situations where available buildings are less scarce.

Susan Weston shared a pet formulation of hers with me recently, but I can't remember it. It had something to do with the number of waitresses in a town (or something); divided by four (or something); equaling the number of entrepreneurs available (or something) who might be willing and able to build a school. Perhaps she'll share her theory with us.

Duncan sees the stimulus bill as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put lasting reforms in place.

"It's also an opportunity to redefine the federal role in education, something we're thinking a whole lot about," Duncan said recently. "How can we move from being (about) compliance with bureaucracy to really the engine of innovation and
change?"

The bill includes a $5 billion fund for innovations, an amount that might not seem like much, considering the bill's $787 billion price tag. But it is massive compared with the $16 million in discretionary money Duncan's predecessors got each year for their own priorities.

PRP Principal's Bogus Faith-based "Investigation"

At Pleasure Ridge Park High School a bad story just got worse.

Principal David Johnson admitted last week that he never investigated the football practice where Max Gilpin collapsed from heat stroke - despite telling one community member that he had conducted a "thorough investigation."

Why Johnson changed his story is not clear. Worse, however, was his decision not to investigate the death of a student on his watch.

Calling it "hate mail," Johnson repeatedly refused to respond to input that questioned the school's handling of events.

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

The principal at Pleasure Ridge Park High School said he deleted e-mails complaining about coaches’ actions at the football practice where sophomore Max Gilpin collapsed, dismissing them as “hate mail,” according to his sworn deposition.

But principal David Johnson testified last week that he never investigated the Aug. 20 practice where Max collapsed from heat stroke, even though Johnson told one community member by e-mail on Aug. 25 that he had conducted a "thorough investigation." ...

Johnson testified that his only conversation with head football coach Jason Stinson about the practice was a brief conversation at the hospital Aug. 22, in which Stinson "went over the practice, (and) there were water breaks put in there. So I entrusted that he told me the truth."

That conversation, and his high opinion of Stinson’s character, convinced Johnson that the e-mails accusing coaches at the practice of denying players water and running them until someone quit the team, along with published media reports, “were inaccurate or taken out of context,” Johnson said.

"Mr. Stinson is an individual that I hold in the highest accord, and I trust that he would act accordingly and professionally and follow protocol," Johnson said in his four-hour deposition, which was taken Wednesday.

But just last week, in the lawsuit filed by Gilpin's parents, Stinson walked out of a deposition after asserting his right not to incriminate himself. He is charged with reckless homicide for causing Gilpin's death.

Johnson never directed anyone at PRP to investigate what happened on Aug. 20, but said he expected an investigation would occur. PRP Athletic Director Craig Webb and JCPS Athletic Director Jerry Wyman testified that they did not investigate because they were not qualified to handle such an inquiry.

Then there are the emails.

Beverly Imus, a PRP resident, sent Johnson an e-mail on Aug. 23 asking him to do a "complete investigation" of the practice and suggested that "this coach should be asked to step down."

Johnson replied to Imus on Aug. 25: "I will excuse your e-mail as ignorance of the situation that took place last Wednesday. I have the utmost confidence in all of our staff and have no qualms about supporting their decisions as coaches. Our head football coach was hired based not only on his knowledge of football, but also because of his strong Christian beliefs and integrity toward his job and the treatment of all who know him."

Charming.

At first, Johnson denied that he received any emails on the subject. But he changed his story later saying he had received some "hate mail" but deleted it without reading it.

To my knowledge and what I was comfortable with in what I had done just by speaking to a coach in the hospital and Mr. Webb, I thought it was a thorough investigation into what happened at the practice."

The death of 15-year old PRP football player Max Gilpin is a tragedy no one wanted. That's not in question. But was sufficient care taken to assure, as far as possible, the safety of players in an already violent sport?

Witnesses accused the PRP coaches at the practice of denying players water and "running them until someone quit the team." But Johnson's so-called "investigation" left too much to be desired.
In October, Johnson's estranged wife took out an emergency protection order against him claiming Johnson hit his teenage son in the face.

It's time for Shelly Berman to step in and demonstrate that JCPS is there for the protection of kids - not adults.

More solid coverage from C-J:

School didn't probe player collapse
Gilpin's mother backs sports safety bill
PRP coach takes 5th in deposition
Supporters walk again for PRP coach
A coach's duty
Stinson known as hard-working player, coach
Doctors seek heat-stroke answers
Another vigil held for PRP coach
Hundreds attend second vigil for PRP football coach
PRP football player's father speaks out on loss
Indicted coach gets support
Charge may have 'huge' effect on coaches
PRP coach indicted in football player's death
Coaches' actions in heat death defended

Kentucky's Educational Need

Over at the Prichard Blog Susan Weston has an interesting post on Kentucky's educational challenges based on the Educational Needs Index.

Since 2005, the Census Bureau has provided researchers a variety of data at the sub-state level for areas called Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs).

The Educational Needs Index model uses educational, economic and population factors to evaluate the educational needs and demands of the 2,071 Public Use Microdata Areas across the nation. It combines thirteen variables that measure educational attainment levels, economic and employment strength, and population growth and diversity.

Educational Factor – Indicators assess the educational capacity of a region’s adult population. Indicators measure the percent of the population with a high school degree, associate’s degree, and bachelor’s degree, and a measure of the educational attainment gap between younger and older members of the workforce.

Economic Factor - Indicators in this category assess the degree of economic challenges facing counties. Indicators measure the percent of population in poverty, unemployment rates, the existing earnings capacity of residents, and dependence upon manufacturing and extraction jobs.

Population Factor – Indicators assess the present population growth issues facing the county and potential need for increased emphasis on human capital development to address changing demographics. Indicators measure recent and project population growth, population aged 19 and younger as a percent of the total population,
population aged 20-44, and the relative size of an area’s at-risk minority population (African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans).

The Educational Needs Index places an emphasis on the transition between K-12 policy concerns and postsecondary opportunities. The data assists policymakers at state, regional, and local levels as they work to reach informed decisions on issues of adult education and postsecondary education access and attainment.

Kentucky's Educational Factors State Map looks like this:

In green, three areas in central and eastern Jefferson and [suburban] Fayette counties are in the top quarter nationwide.

In yellow, five areas (central Lexington, south-central Jefferson and adjacent counties, and the areas that include Owensboro and Bowling Green) are in the second strongest quarter.

In orange, ten areas are in the next-to-bottom quarter: far western Kentucky, areas that include Elizabethtown and Ashland, much of the central Bluegrass, and our northern Kentucky counties are in the next weakest quarter.

In red, twelve areas rank in the bottom quarter nationally, including most of our Appalachian counties, some others reaching well to the west, and two portions of Jefferson County.

As Long as We're Being All Bipartisan and Everything...

It's time Kentucky got real tax reform

This from Tom Eblen at Bluegrass & Beyond:

The late Sen. Russell B. Long of Louisiana famously described the politics of tax reform this way: "Don't tax you, don't tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree."

Kentucky needs real tax reform, because what Long described is the way we have funded government for years.

We have known for more than a decade that Kentucky's tax system is broken, because each year comes with another big deficit. (Government spending has increased, too, but Kentucky's per-capita state and local spending is almost 20 percent less than the national average, according to the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center.)

Economists say annual deficits, even in good times, show that Kentucky needs a tax structure that reflects the modern economy — and one that is fair, equitable, efficient and sufficient to meet the state's needs.

Recent governors and legislatures have settled for a series of politically expedient quick fixes, usually hashed out behind closed doors and pushed quickly through the General Assembly. And they do it knowing that another crisis is just around the corner.

Think this year's $456 million shortfall was bad? State officials say it's nothing compared to what we're likely to see in the next two years...

...[What legislators] should do is quit looking for quick fixes and easy answers.

Otherwise, they’ll just have to keep dipping into reserve funds, hacking away at vital social services and putting off investments in education and infrastructure that are Kentucky’s only hope for a bright future.

We must get serious about real tax reform. We must create a modern tax system that is fair, equitable, efficient and sufficient. Because even if there is a fellow behind the tree, he’s a Kentuckian.

Kiddie Algebra

This from Ed Week (subscription), Photo by Larry Beckner:

...[T]eachers in a number of schools ... are attempting to nurture students’ algebraic-reasoning ability, as well as their basic number skills, in early elementary school, rather than waiting until middle or early high school. To accomplish that aim, [Melissa] Romano says, it’s not enough that she simply present pupils with a problem, collect their answers, correct their mistakes, and move on.

She takes relatively simple problems, then expands them, integrating algebraic thinking along the way. She changes the conditions and calls for class discussions. And she asks individual children to explain aloud: How do you know that? As that give and take unfolds in class, “they’re talking,” Ms. Romano said, and “it’s loud.”

That process was “a huge, huge change for me,” said the educator, who began using the algebraic reasoning and number-skill model in 2005. “The first two years were a big learning curve on my part.” When she was in elementary school herself, teachers gave her a math problem “and let me work on it,” she said. “And I didn’t understand half the math.” ...