What's our mission?

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OK, NOW BEAR WITH ME HERE. This morning’s LA Times has a story about Tustin Unified School District. According to the story, the ACLU has charged that “Too few Latino and African American students are enrolled in gifted programs” at the TUSD. They’re threatening a lawsuit:

"The district is not doing enough to identify talented students from different racial and ethnic groups and different income levels," said Hector Villagra, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Orange County office. "We've looked at other districts in Orange County, and a number of them are also doing a poor job, but Tustin is really off the charts." (ACLU targets Tustin Unified's gifted program)

It seems to me that Villagra's point concerns the "mission" of a public school district. What are we to make of a district that emphasizes assisting the especially prepared while neglecting the especially unprepared or disadvantaged? And is TUSD doing that?

MEANWHILE...

Back in January, the OC Register got excited about IVC’s expanded partnership with Tustin Unified, as we then reported ("Offhand" question). According to the Reg,

Tustin high school students will be able to graduate with a high school diploma and a college associate's degree at the same time after the district and Irvine Valley College agreed Monday on a program that will start in the fall.

The program will put college professors in high school classrooms to teach college courses, giving students a chance to earn college credit throughout high school without paying college tuition.

…The early college program will launch in the fall at Beckman High School, and will be brought to Tustin High and Foothill High schools soon after. (See.)

The Reg goes on to explain that “The district is targeting students in high school honors and college preparation courses.”

Uh-oh. There's that pattern again.

FACULTY OUT OF THE LOOP

I week or so earlier, during an IVC Academic Senate (faculty) meeting, senators expressed surprise and consternation when they learned about the Tustin/IVC program. Few were aware of it, and yet, evidently, it was already a “done deal.” Senators generally felt that they’d not been kept in the loop. (They often feel that way, these days. Consider how ATEP has developed--until now without significant faculty input, despite the faculty's authority over program & curriculum development, etc.)

But other issues arose during that meeting. I recall senators expressing reservations about participating in a program that singles out the “best and the brightest” among students. Targeting those students isn’t the community college system’s mission, they said. (For a statement of the California community college system's mission, see Mission.)

Since then, administrators have been making the rounds explaining and defending the program to faculty. In the course of that effort, faculty learned that early college programs are increasingly popular. It appears that we’re faced with another one of those “this may suck, but it’s inevitable, and so we’d better get on board” situations.

On the other hand, the Tustin/IVC program is unusual. For one thing, its courses will be held at the High Schools, not at the college.

Well, that’s no biggie, I suppose.

But then there’s this: early college programs typically target "underrepresented" students. That makes them especially attractive. (It also makes them eligible for huge chunks of "Bill & Melinda" cash.)

But, as I say, the Tustin/IVC program is not that kind. It's special. It focuses on "honors" and "college prep" students--students who are already assisted by the school district in other ways.

And now there’s this ACLU business.

See also the Reg's ACLU critical of gifted program.

(Note: by law, all CA community college courses are essentially open to all. This means that non-TUSD students--e.g., my Aunt Fanny--can enroll in the Tustin/IVC courses. In reality, however, most students will be from the High School.)

Milder climate—ceptin’ for Wayne’s World

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HEY, things aren't so bad around here. Raghu's miles away, Owen's been chased outta town, and the IVC Big (and little) Cheeses mostly mean well.

Ceptin' for Wayne. I have no idea what he means, but it ain't well.

While we’re on the subject of WAYNE WARD: you should read the ACCJC’s "Progress Visit Report" of 11/30/06, which was recently made available on the IVC website.

It paints a reasonably good picture of the college. Yep, things are looking up, moralewise. But there's a big exception. Consider this passage found under the heading “Findings and Evidence”:

Members of the college community describe the climate at IVC as more relaxed with greatly diminished fear and hostility on the campus. They describe faculty and administrators, and student leaders and the college president working together effecively; and report more trusting relationships. Among classified staff it is important to note, however, that while they view things as going in the right direction and are very pleased with the increased involvement they have in college and district governance leadership and committtees and councils, the[y] reported that how well things are going depends upon who their supervisors are. They described one unit of the college in which in their view a hostile work environment still exists. This information was shared with the college president, so he could invistigate their concerns. (9)

MEANWHILE, THE WORLD LOOKS PURTY

Took some snaps on my way home this afternoon. It's lookin' pretty moody up by the twin peaks:

These are taken from in and around Rancho Santa Margarita:


This is Live Oak Canyon Rd. very near my place:

Be For Me, Like Rain: Rebel Girl's Poetry Corner (Rebel Girl)

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TOMORROW is Valentine's Day - get ready. Here comes the love.

Few do it better than Robert Creeley, in my humble opinion. Here's the poem that helped Rebel Girl land (or at least confuse) Red Emma way back when in 1984. Those were the days.

The Rain
- Robert Creeley

All night the sound had
come back again,
and again falls
this quiet, persistent rain.

What am I to myself
that must be remembered,
insisted upon
so often? Is it

that never the ease,
even the hardness,
of rain falling
will have for me

something other than this,
something not so insistent—
am I to be locked in this
final uneasiness.

Love, if you love me,
lie next to me.
Be for me, like rain,
the getting out

of the tiredness, the fatuousness, the semi-
lust of intentional indifference.
Be wet
with a decent happiness.

Piling on the U of P

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Didn’t Wayne Ward get his BA from the U of P? Yeah, I think he even took its advanced “5 minute” seminar on Employee Relations.

Got a C!

As you know, the University of Phoenix is an EPOC (i.e., an evil pile o’ crap).

This morning’s Inside Higher Ed mentions an “article on Sunday in The New York Times reviewing problems at the University of Phoenix.” The scathing article has evidently inspired the praise of many academics. According to IHE, the U of P issued a response yesterday, “calling the piece ‘ridden with factual errors and misrepresentations.’”

Yeah, sure.

Check out the NYT article. It reports that the U of P’s “reputation is fraying as prominent educators, students and some of its own former administrators say the relentless pressure for higher profits, at a university that gets more federal student financial aid than any other, has eroded academic quality.”

Didn’t I see a 60 Minutes episode about this a couple of years ago?

According to the NYT,

[M]any students say they have had infuriating experiences at the university [of P] before dropping out, contributing to the poor graduation rate. In recent interviews, current and former students in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington who studied at University of Phoenix campuses in those states or online complained of instructional shortcuts, unqualified professors and recruiting abuses. Many of their comments echoed experiences reported by thousands of other students on consumer Web sites.

More harrumphitude

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OH, MY. The OC Register has been thinking again. Its latest commentary concerning California community colleges is sure to piss off lots of us: Community colleges get 2nd failing grade. Some excerpts:

…Unsurprisingly, a new study concludes that by increasing access to the two-year public schools, the 109-campus California Community College system's good intentions also resulted in the unintended consequence that three-fourths of students seeking degrees and certificates fail to obtain them.

…The policies adopted to increase access are blamed, in part, for the failure of students to earn two-year associate of arts degrees and certificates and bachelor's degrees after transferring to four-year colleges, according to the study, "Rules of the Game: How state policy creates barriers to degree completion and impedes student success in the California community colleges."

…The "troubling trend ... could have profound repercussions for the future of the state," according to the study by the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, at Cal State University Sacramento. One consequence, the study asserts, is that growing demand for information-age workers will be unmet.

…The study recommends removing "policy barriers to completion," by funding community colleges based on students' completion of courses, not merely enrollment, beefing up remedial instruction with part-time instructors and setting "clear standards" for incoming students "about what it takes to be college-ready."….

For the State Chancellor’s response to "Rules of the Game," go to: Reaction.

What is the meaning of "right to first consideration"?

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Gensler's notorious Avenger of Blood

I FINALLY HAD A CHANCE to read the entirety of the Appellete Court's recent (1/30/07) DECISION to uphold the OC Superior Court's rejection of instructor HOWARD GENSLER's writ. Gensler, acting as his own attorney, sought to have the courts override a decision by his dean (Pat Flanigan) not to grant him six summer courses (2006). The Superior court rejected Gensler's claim. A few days ago, the appellate court upheld that decision unanimously.

For those interested in the rights of full-time and part-time faculty with regard to course assignments, the court's decision makes for interesting reading. Here's the crucial paragraph:

At bottom, Gensler confuses the right of full-time faculty to first consideration in selecting courses with a right of first refusal, which does not exist. And he also overlooks the Dean’s right to decide the appropriate workload for faculty members. The evidence shows Gensler’s course requests were fairly considered before any courses were given to part-time faculty, and the Dean’s decision to give him only three classes was reasonable, so no basis is shown for issuing a writ of mandate.

See also: The Howard Hilton

ATEP classrooms under construction

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PARK RANGER BOB keeps telling me about the new classrooms at ATEP, and since I was sorta in the neighborhood today, I drove over to Redhill & Valencia to check 'em out.


I was pretty impressed. The buildings aren't your usual square, cheapy boxes. At least from the outside, they look kind of industrial and technical--like they've got something to do with Technology. ("ATEP" refers to the Advanced Technology and Education Park.)


They also look like they've got something to do with the color yellow. Dunno what that's about, but yellow's a good color, I guess.


As you can see, some of the rooms are plenty roomy inside. They look pretty sharp, near as I can tell.



Below is a Cyber Cafe kind of place--you know, where people can fire up their laptops, sip coffee, and shake like a leaf for hours.

The room below has a view of the intersection of Valencia and Redhill. No doubt students will see some wrecks. Check out the high ceilings.

At least for now, TREES:

I couldn't resist the urge to drive over to the hangers and take a few snaps. Love them hangers!