Thursday, November 12, 2009

Alliance President and CEO Patrick D'Amelio Steps Down

After taking a brief hiatus from posting Alliance blog entries, I would like to bring your attention to some significant changes in Alliance leadership. Patrick D’Amelio, President and CEO of the Alliance for Education announced his resignation on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, taking effect on December 4, 2009. Patrick will be assuming the role of President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound.

Alliance Board Chair, George Griffin assured the community that the Alliance is in a healthier position as a result of the Patrick’s great leadership which include making great strides in expanding community engagement, increasing college access, and improving teacher quality throughout the Seattle Public School System.

The Alliance Board has convened a search committee for a new President and CEO. And the hope is to find a new President and CEO by early February.

To read the press release on Patrick’s resignation, please visit http://www.alliance4ed.org/PatrickDAmelioResignationNov32009.pdf.

Although we at the Alliance are saddened by Patrick’s departure, the blog posts will continue because the Alliance’s mission -- to ensure every child in Seattle Public Schools achieve academic success – never ends.

We urge the entire community to continue blogging and using this site as a vehicle for public discourse on education issues. As Patrick mentioned in the first blog, “topics such as teacher quality, the achievement gap, student assignment, community schools, education reform, and equitable access to college” will continue to be a rich source of discussion. It is important that we get healthy participation from the entire community.

So, please, keep on blogging!!

Mark Yango, Director of Communications, AFE

16 comments:

  1. Do you people really believe your own spin, and expect us to swallow it too?

    I love the words: "George Griffin assured the community that the Alliance is making ... great strides in expanding community engagement, increasing college access and improving teacher quality throughout the Seattle Public School System."

    Because its not obvious by itself - where are the stats, and dont you mean teacher bashing/union busting efforts? - you need George to assure us of this?

    Please people - get off the privatization, corporatization reformist platform and help us really do our best by our kids...

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  2. Mr Yango,
    You write that "the Alliance is in a healthier position...making great strides in...improving teacher quality throughout the Seattle Public School System."

    Could you tell us what the Alliance has done, specifically, to "make great strides in...improving teacher quality" and, specifically, what about teachers was NOT "qualtity" and needed changing?

    Thank you

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  3. For all of the talk about wanting to teach people critical reasoning skills, folks in authority in the education establishment aren't all that pleased when people use those critical reasoning skills.

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  4. Charlie, the critical thinking skills
    are listed right over there ------->

    Invitation
    Possibility
    Ownership
    Dissent
    Commitment
    Gifts

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  5. I don't know what the Alliance for Education CEO position pays, but if it is more than I'm making now and it comes with decent benefits I'll be happy to interview for the job.

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  6. In 2007, Patrick P. D’Amelio was making $147,950
    The previous president, Robin Pasquarrella, was making $52,172

    Source: Charity Navigator
    http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3231

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  7. Hello Mr. Seattle Citizen:

    Just wanted to take the time to respond to your question regarding what the Alliance has done, specifically, to "make great strides in...improving teacher quality"

    The Alliance has continuously provided support for teachers in literacy, math, and science classes through coaching and classroom support.

    For example, over the past four years one of our grants has provided science instruction materials and coaching support for students.

    The Alliance believes that there is an abundance of outstanding teachers throughout the District and we applaud them. However, the Alliance also believes that more can be done to ensure all children in SPS succeed.

    Thanks for the question!!
    Mark

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  8. Mark, how do you measure these great strides made by the coaching and instructional materials? How do you know they work, so as to make a claim of "great strides"?
    I know I'm cynical, but I also know, from reading the literature about the Alliance, that it is, for the most part, an organ of the business community. I mean, look at your board....how many? eighty? business people.

    Now I know some might have the best interests of students in mind, but some might just, well, want to crearte better workers. Is this what it's all about?

    I'm sure the Alliance has "made great strides" in supporting the arts, alternative education, history, civics, etc...I'm wondering if you could tell us how the business community is supporting these things?

    I'm glad that the business community supports public schools, but I fear that it might be directed towards the interests of the business community. What about the other "merits" of education, such as art, music, PE, etc? What about the well-rounded citizen that we want in our community?

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  9. Mark Yango wrote:
    "The Alliance has continuously provided support for teachers in literacy, math, and science classes through coaching and classroom support.

    For example, over the past four years one of our grants has provided science instruction materials and coaching support for students.
    "

    Mr. Yango, what evidence can you provide that support for teachers has resulted in improved teacher quality. What was the teacher quality assessment results before the effort and what was the teacher quality assessment results after the effort? While we're at it, how did you measure teacher quality so you know that you improved it? It would be wonderful if you could share this measure of teacher quality with the District as they - among many others - are searching for one.

    In addtion, how did you do your attribution analysis so you know that the great strides in teacher quality was due to the Alliance's efforts? Again, the ability to do this sort of attribution analysis is a matter of a great concern to a broad range of interests in the education community.

    I am astonished and delighted to learn that the Alliance for Education right here in Seattle has found a reliable and meaningful measure of teacher quality and has determined a method for attribution analysis to assess the efficacy of their professional development efforts. It's nothing short of amazing that the two most vexing problems in this puzzle have both been solved by the Alliance for Education.

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  10. We see in today's Times that their editorial board endorses charter schools and merit pay. I wonder if the Alliance can tell us what they know of Seattle's own alternative schools, and if the Alliance can tell us how the Alliance supports these wonderful "choice" schools.

    Many parents, here and nationally, like the idea of "choice." Many of the supporters of the Alliance like the idea of "choice." Since our current alternative schools (not the reentry schools, but true alternatives, as supported by Board Policy C56.00 (2006) do, it seems, a good job educating youth, are supported by their communities, and offer innovative and apparently effective educations, I ask that the Alliance put their support behind these schools, support increasing choice to support more of these schools (such as the STEM, IB, International and other "option" schools) rather than supporting the reconfiguration of public systems into "quasi-public" schools (charters)

    Until local choices are supported, there is no reason to support charters or other drastic modifications to the public system. Charters are a step away from public accountability (through the Board the central admin); let's grow what we have, adapt policy, hold them accountable, etc, BEFORE we divest the public system of its schools, famring them out to "quasi-public" ("quasi-accountable") charter operators.

    Until public alternatives are more completely supported and expanded, there is no reason to privatize any other schools.

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  11. I grew up in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle in the 1970's. My parents deeply valued education and were concerned that my Sister and I would not receive an adequate education from SPS. My parents didn't make much money, my father was a social worker and my mother was a speech pathologist but they scrapped together what they could to send my sister and I to private school from 1 - 12th grade. I am now a parent living in Queen Anne and am not scared of SPS like my parents were a generation ago. I am deeply committed to my children attending public schools and being a force for change in the system. I want to leave the SPS in a place that is better than it was when I became a parent. I know that public education in Seattle has been a long painful journey for this city but I believe the next decade will be the beginning of a dramatic improvement in our SPS. There are a couple of key factors that will begin to foster these improvements

    1) Families are continuing to live in the city which means the district will continue to grow over the next decade
    2) Community partners are making SPS a priority - the amount of coordinated support that is going into our schools is truly amazing from countless organizations such as City Year, YMCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Alliance 4 Education, etc.
    3) We have great Leadership, from the District to the Community Partners we have leaders that are energized about driving improvements

    I am committed to this cause and prefer to focus on how we can build our future together.

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  12. That's a positive focus, Ian.

    My suggestions for building a better future:

    1) Lose the focus on standardized tests and place responsibility and accountability in the hands of building principals. The focus on standardized tests (WASL) is a) diminishing the value of education; b) racially segregating (WASL scores grouped for so-called "acheivement gap"); c) puts locus of attention solely on schools ("why are schools 'failing'?") instead of on whole community ("why are individual children failing? why is the community failing? ARE children "failing" generally, or are just some, and why?") d) is increasinly used to judge the merits of curricula, pedagogy, instruction...when there are so many other factors that go into these things.

    2) Build the support that Ian mentions into a solid, surrounding network that supports ALL students in the community, so they are ready for school

    3) identifies those students who are failing, those that are in trouble, those that CAUSE trouble, and address their needs. They are hurting themselves and sometimes disrupting the education of others

    4) diversify offerings ("choice"; "option"; "alternative") not through charters, which dilute public responsibility and accountability, but through existing or modified district policy. Parents and students want choices for their students, to meet learning styles, interests, etc. Provide these choices

    5) hold EVERYBODY accountable: parents, admin, teachers, students...

    6) recognize economic realities: some students might want to become welders; there are too few jobs to continue to produce "STEM" scholars; recognize the various ways people live in the community and prepare students to live a vareity of ways

    7) increase focus on civics, ethics, history - students need to understand their world so as to operate successfully in it and contribute positively to it.

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  13. What is the Alliance doing to help the new Cleveland STEM program with their community engagement?

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  14. Then primary Pataskala of any child is there house and his mother and then rest of other things. The Education means in it is an art and science whose learn any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. The education in general sense is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another.

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  15. Then primary Pataskala of any child is there house and his mother and then rest of other things. The Education means in it is an art and science whose learn any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. The education in general sense is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another.

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  16. Interesting posts and thanks for the comments. I'm going to respond to a couple comments and then start a new thread. I would like to further clarify what the priorities of our organization are, and that will be in multiple posts over the next couple weeks.

    In the meantime:

    Seattle Citizen, we went through a restructuring process in 2007 after Patrick came on board that changed the structure, size and make-up of our board. There's information about that one our web, in our update, and I would invite you to call if you have any specific questions (206-205-0333).

    And in regard to your seven points about what we can do to support the system, I will respond to some of those in the new thread.

    And Charlie, about your question about the community engagement effort around STEM...

    Both Solynn and I have been out to meet with parent and community organizations at a variety of schools, including Cleveland, but not to talk specifically about the STEM program.

    The Alliance's community engagement effort is separate and distinct from that of Seattle Public Schools'. Although or mission is to support all students in the schools, we are an independent voice from that of the district.

    This year our community engagement effort is focused on two things: strengthening partnerships with other organizations and community members that are already doing great work in engaging communities, and focusing on the student. Solynn is working with a variety of partners to put the student voice at the center of our work. There will be more information about that soon, but again, feel free to connect with us if you have questions.

    So now I'm going to start a new thread that will be the first of several talking about the priority initiatives at the Alliance.

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