New Superintendent

Things I’m liking about him:

From the DaMN (my favorite way to spell Dallas morning news):

– What he expects from parents: “We want no excuses around three things” : 1) Get their kids to school on time, every day. 2) Have their kids read every day, even if it’s not in English and even if it’s a TV Guide, comic book or cereal box. At every age. 3) Get them to do their homework. Set up a quiet place at home for study, the kitchen table for example.

DISD Superintendent Mike Miles on finances, teacher pay, top worries

Yep, I’ll go with that.

– On whether he expects each teacher’s evaluation grade to be publicly available: “I try to do things that help the education institution, that helps kids. I’m not sure that the public always understands the numbers. … That’s a lot of information for the parent to absorb. If there’s not a good explanation, data is misused, the teachers get hurt for no reason. …”

On of the issues with my numbers, is that my sample size is so small.  I have about a 33% passing rate of students who take the AP exam without taking PreAP.  Sample size of 3.  I have a 100% passing rate of students who take the AP example with taking the PreAP.  Sample size of 30 over 20 years.  Not really useful numbers.

The thing I don’t like is the expectation of teacher turnover.  I am really proud of the fact that I’ve taught in the same room for 20 years.  However, I’ve changed my curriculum and adapted to my students, and I certainly haven’t taught the same subjects in that room.  I’ve taught:

• AP Computer Science A (three language changes)
• AP Computer Science AB (now dead)
• Pre AP Computer Science (three language changes)
• Computer Science I (two language changes)
• Computer Math (now dead)
• Algebra I
• Geometry
• Algebra II
• Lots of different type of remedial math
• Webmastering
• BCIS I
• BCIS II

Next year I’ll be teaching:

• AP Computer Science
• PreAP Computer Science
• Computer Science Fundamentals
• Game Programming
• Web Mastering