Feb. 28, 2012

4:14 pm

by Leo Casey

58 Comments

Filed under: Education

Within hours of the publication of the Teacher Data Reports (TDRs) last Friday, the UFT began to hear stories of teachers and their families being hounded by news reporters from the New York Post.

On Friday evening, New York Post reporters appeared at the door of the father of Pascale Mauclair, a sixth grade teacher at P.S. 11, the Kathryn Phelan School, which is located in the Woodside section of Queens. They told Mauclair’s father that his daughter was one of the worst teachers in New York City, based solely on the TDR reports, and that they were looking to interview her. They then made their way to Mauclair’s home, where she told them that she did not want to comment on the matter. The Post reporters rang Mauclair’s bell and knocked on her window all Saturday morning. She finally called the police, who told the reporters that since they were inside her private housing development, they were on private property and had to leave. The reporters rang the bell again, leading to a second visit from the police and a final warning to leave. Later, Mauclair’s neighbors told her that that the Post reporters had been asking them questions about her.

Other reporters were outside P.S. 11, closed for the mid-winter break, looking for parents of students to interview.

On Saturday, the New York Post published an article with the headline “They’re doing zero, zilch, zippo for students.”[1] It singled out Mauclair by name, claiming that her TDR reports put her “at the bottom of the heap” of New York City public school teachers. The article revealed her annual salary and asserted that “DOE brass were confident she was ranked where she was supposed to be,” although no officials were quoted — this was the Post’s inference, and nothing more.

On Sunday, the Post published another story, now proclaiming Mauclair to be the “city’s worst teacher.” Next to this description, it printed a photograph of her taken from a yearbook. The Post quoted a single parent to whom it had provided this description as saying that he wanted to have his child removed from her class. Another parent whose child was no longer in the school was quoted saying Mauclair should be fired and her salary given to the school.

And then there is the true story of Pascale Mauclair and her school.

By every conceivable measure, Mauclair’s P.S. 11 is an excellent school. It is in strong demand in the community, and as a consequence, is overcrowded, well above 100% capacity. It has an experienced and accomplished staff, with a minimal turnover rate, and a strong educator and leader as its principal. The school has a strong culture of collaboration: staff and administration work together well, with a focus on the education of their students.

Last year, the school earned an ‘A’ on School Progress Report, placing it in the 94 percentile of all NYC public elementary schools.[2] Over the last three years, the school has earned consistently high grades of ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘A’ on the reports. P.S. 11’s last Quality Review has the school as “proficient,” and its last School Survey has school staff, parents and students all giving the school very high marks.

And in P.S. 11, Pascale Mauclair is known by her colleagues and her supervisors as an excellent teacher. Talk to the respected principal of P.S. 11, Anna Efkarpides, and she is completely unequivocal in her support for Mauclair, whom she sees as a very strong teacher. “I would put my own children in her class,” she says.

What the publication of the TDRs and what the Post have done to Mauclair is “absolutely unacceptable,” an emphatic Efkarpides told me. She has taken the full measure of her teacher’s work, from classroom observations to examinations of portfolios of student work, and the misrepresentation of her teaching performance found in the TDRs and the tabloids is “just not who she is.” “The truth is the truth,” Efkarpides insists.

When Mauclair returned to school this morning, her colleagues met her with a standing ovation.

As in many other cases, the story of Pascale Mauclair and P.S. 11 begins with a tale of the flawed methodology and invalid measurements of the Teacher Data Reports.

P.S. 11 is located at the epicenter of a number of different immigrant communities in northern Queens, and over a quarter of its students are English Language Learners. Mauclair is an ESL teacher, and over the last five years she has had small, self-contained classes of recently arrived immigrants who do not speak English. Her students arrive at different times of the school year, depending upon that date of their family’s migration; consequently, it is not unusual for her students to take the 6th grade exams when they have only been in her class for a matter of a few months. Two factors which produce particularly contorted TDR results – teaching the highest academic need students and having a small sample of students that take the standardized state exams – define her teaching situation.

If a journalist with integrity had examined the TDR data, a number of red flags which suggested something was seriously amiss with the scores for Mauclair and P.S. 11 would have presented themselves.

First, there was an extraordinary anomaly on the Teacher Data Reports (TDR) for P.S. 11. Of the seven 6th grade P.S. 11 teachers with TDR reports, three ended up with scores at the zero percentile. It is simply beyond all credulity that a school which is doing so well academically could have three of the poorest performing teachers in all of New York City’s 1400 schools teaching such a substantial portion of its graduating class.

P.S. 11 is one of a number of exceptional elementary schools with a 6th grade. The great preponderance of elementary schools conclude at grade 5, with students matriculating to a middle school for grade 6. In the elementary school configuration, a single classroom teacher teaches the core academic subjects, especially English Language Arts and Mathematics. In the middle school configuration, instruction is divided into subject classes, taught by specialists licensed to teach the different subjects. Most ELA and Math 6th grade teachers are thus responsible for only their subject, which they teach to five different classes each day. An elementary school teacher with a TDR report would max out with a sample of 32 students taking an exam, while a middle school teacher with a TDR report would max out with a sample of 160 students. A 6th grade teacher teaching in an elementary school setting would thus find themselves in a stilted comparison with 6th grade middle school teachers that had a far larger sampling of students and were responsible for only one subject. This was the situation for the three 6th grade teachers from P.S. 11 who were placed at the zero percentile.

Second, there was the glaring anomaly that while Mauclair teaches both English Language Arts and Mathematics to her class, there is only one TDR – Math – for her last school year. The numbers of students from her class who took the ELA test were so few that they fell below the minimum number – 20 – the DoE has set for 6th grade ELA TDRs. A much smaller threshold for 6th grade Math – 10 students – left her just above the DoE’s cut-off point with 11 students, a very small sample which is easily distorted. Moreover, if you examine the total universe of students for Mauclair in Math over five years, it is 63 – an average of 12 students a year.

In explaining its school progress reports, the NYC DoE says:

The minimum number of values used for all reported calculations at the school level is 15. Elements for which there are fewer than 15 valid observations at a school are not included because of confidentiality considerations and the unreliability of measurements based on small numbers.

If the minimum number of values (in plain English, every value is a student score on a standardized exam) for an entire school is 15, how can one possibly justify a minimum number for a teacher at 10?

Who is responsible for this cruel damage done to the reputation of an excellent educator who has taken on the challenging work of teaching the highest need students?

Certainly, the Post gets its share of the blame. It engaged in the calculated effort to destroy the good name of a teacher whose sole crime was her vocation to make a difference in the lives of children. It set out to brutally strip her of her personal dignity, and paraded in public an egregiously false ‘naked’ portrait of her life’s work.

But the Post and the rest of the New York newspaper corps which participated in this sordid episode of publishing the TDRs had willing partners in the highest offices of this city, and they need to be called out by name.

There is Joel Klein, who as Chancellor gave his personal word and the institutional word of the NYC DoE to Pascale Mauclair and every other NYC public school teacher that the TDRs would not be used for evaluative purposes and would not be published, but would only be available to their supervisors and themselves, as a tool to inform instruction. It was the same Chancellor Klein who, once he saw political advantage to be gained from publishing the TDRs, broke his word and actively solicited the news media to file FOIL requests. And he did so with the full knowledge of just how profoundly inaccurate and invalid the TDR data was, with average margins of error in the 35% range for Math and 53% range for ELA.

And there is Michael Bloomberg, who as Mayor betrayed the explicit pledge to NYC public school teachers that the NYC DoE and the City would oppose any FOIL request to obtain and publish the TDRs, but ordered DoE and City lawyers to not oppose the FOIL requests in court.

New York City public school teachers bear witness to what you have done to Pascale Mauclair and to us.

[1] We will not link to the Post articles. If not self-evident, our reasons will become clearer in the remainder of this post.

[2] According to the NYC DoE, ‘A’ grades begin at the 75th percentile, so an ‘A’ at the 94th percentile is a very high ‘A.’

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58 Comments:

1 kathleen

· Feb 28, 2012 at 6:38 pm

My husband said he would have punched the reporters had they approached him with such blatant ignorance and lies. Hang in there, Pascale!

2 Dani Cross

· Feb 28, 2012 at 7:32 pm

This is certainly one of many reasons why standardized testing, statistical ratings, etc. are poor tools for evaluating quality teaching. There are many woefully incompetent “teachers” in our public, private, parochial and charter schools that are actually damaging our kids by this incompetence. These are the individuals that need to be exposed; NOT such specialists as Ms. Mauclair. Instructional “facilitators” who hold students in high esteem; who value them and their unique lives, AND who possess a great command of whatever subjects, disciplines and/or skills they teach, may never produce proficient scores of their students if what is being assessed is the good fortune, privilege, and unencumbered cognitive, emotional, socio-economic and physical status of one’s student collective. And then there’s the media…(some who were clearly provided with a an inadequate “education” themselves.)

3 Marcella

· Feb 28, 2012 at 8:08 pm

Well said!! Despicable actions taken by the Post! Maybe they should have spent a day in Pascale’s classroom. An exceptional teacher who makes a difference everyday!

4 Remainders: Retelling the story of the city’s “worst teacher” | GothamSchools

· Feb 28, 2012 at 8:09 pm

[…] The teacher pilloried as the “worst in the city” got a standing ovation from her colleagues. (Edwize) […]

5 Today’s Best Posts On What’s Happening In NYC | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

· Feb 28, 2012 at 8:44 pm

[…] The True Story of Pascale Mauclair demonstrates the damage this kind of fiasco can cause. […]

6 Rob G

· Feb 28, 2012 at 8:48 pm

Sue the bastards.

7 Geof Sorkin

· Feb 28, 2012 at 8:49 pm

Bravo for posting this!

When I read the article attacking Pascale Mauclair I was disgusted. It’s amazing that a newspaper can publish such fraudulent rubbish! What ever happened to integrity in journalism?

Stay strong Pascale, your students and their families know the true story.

8 Carol Burris

· Feb 28, 2012 at 9:00 pm

When we allow evaluation by numbers that can be FOIAed, then we are to blame as well as well. And the new New York system can be FOIAed. As long as that is allowed, this will continue. Think about that.

9 Anne

· Feb 28, 2012 at 9:01 pm

Pascale – keep up the good (hard, difficult, rewarding, thankless, joyful…) work!

10 Yvonne Siu-Runyan

· Feb 28, 2012 at 9:56 pm

How about we grade the politicians. They are bought and sold anyway. Give them an F- for not doing their jobs. Let’s riff them and take away the health care and retirement benefits they voted in for themselves, and at the same time sue them for not upholding the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Only in this country are teachers blamed for the ills of society. The news media is just a circus anyway…sensationalism at it’s worse.

11 Gina

· Feb 28, 2012 at 10:13 pm

GET A LAWYER

12 Roger Curtis

· Feb 28, 2012 at 10:29 pm

“There are lies. Damned lies. And statistics” This character assassination is beyond contemptible. Could it be that the Post’s people plan to invest in Charter schools and are looking for an edge? For shame..

13 The Best Posts & Articles About The New York Court Decision Releasing Teacher Ratings | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

· Feb 28, 2012 at 10:31 pm

[…] The True Story of Pascale Mauclair demonstrates the damage this kind of fiasco can cause. […]

14 EHeinze

· Feb 28, 2012 at 10:51 pm

We need a Pascale Mauclair day where every teacher wears a tee shirt with Ms. Mauclair’s picture…our new hero.

15 Michael Martin

· Feb 28, 2012 at 10:52 pm

“If a journalist with integrity had examined the TDR data”

Yeah, right. A journalist with integrity is an oxymoron.

16 Robert

· Feb 28, 2012 at 11:02 pm

Eighteen years teaching and the most important evaluation is simply the look in the eyes of my students as we’re learning in my class. Pascale, you know that look. Don’t internalize this hateful nonsnse; stay strong!

17 mm

· Feb 29, 2012 at 1:05 am

If you had any doubt left, this is clear evidence as to why mayoral control is an

abysmal failure! It is time to leave teachers alone give back a local control to the school boards and begin holding legislators politicians and the media accountable. It’s their turn now!!

18 Len Lubinsky

· Feb 29, 2012 at 6:31 am

This is a thoughtful and tough report. Klein, Bloomberg, the NY Post and their individual reporters and editors owe Ms. Mauclair, her colleagues, and the students she works with an apology.

19 Woodside teacher put through hell, according to website | Sunnyside Post

· Feb 29, 2012 at 9:13 am

[…] Edwize […]

20 T

· Feb 29, 2012 at 10:28 am

Ms. Mauclair, Hang in there!

Christopher Cerf, now Acting Commissoner of Education in New Jersey, played a key role in this dishonesty.

Chris Cerf shoyuld resign. Is there no Shame?

Cerf must go…..

21 The True Story of Pascale Mauclair | Class[room]-Conscious

· Feb 29, 2012 at 10:49 am

[…] on School Progress Report, placing it in the 94 percentile of all NYC public elementary schools.[2] Over the last three years, the school has earned consistently high grades of ‘A’, ‘B’ and […]

22 Dear Education Reporters, Don’t Turn to the New York Post for Advice « thewaywardrose

· Feb 29, 2012 at 12:44 pm

[…] Wize reports that soon after the teacher evaluation reports were released, the NY Post harassed a Queens middle […]

23 Incentives and Disincentives: The Case of NYC VA Scores – the weighted pupil

· Feb 29, 2012 at 5:02 pm

[…] brings us back to NYC. Take a minute to read this story published by Edwize that critiques the behavior of the NY Post in the aftermath of the scores’ release: On […]

24 Mike

· Feb 29, 2012 at 7:12 pm

A standing ovation is great, but they should walk off the job until the mayor apologizes to her (or at least for a day). The rest of us would be happy to cover the fines.

25 Linda Johnson

· Feb 29, 2012 at 8:23 pm

Pascale, consult a good labor attorney to see if there is anything you can do about this. In the meantime, if parents or other citizens say anything to you, with “Oh, the data is wrong.” After all, that is the truth.

Hang in there.

26 MK

· Feb 29, 2012 at 9:50 pm

This is a very moving article, and my heart goes out to Ms. Mauclair. Leo, thank you for sharing this story – your article clearly and convincingly outlines why her value added ranking is simply wrong.

So here is my question: Why did NYSUT agree to a statewide evaluation system in which value added measures count for 20% of every teacher’s evaluation when union representatives are pointing out how unreliable and unfair these ratings are? What happened to Ms. Mauclair is going to happen again to other teachers next year. Sadly, this is just the beginning of teachers being unfairly maligned.

Is it too late for NYSUT to withdraw its support of this flawed system?

27 Gail

· Feb 29, 2012 at 10:06 pm

The only thing the NY Post has proven by calling Ms. Mauclair the worst teacher in NY is that the NYPost is the worst newspaper in NYC.

28 Richie

· Feb 29, 2012 at 10:57 pm

How can we stop deliveries of the Post to our schools?

29 Another Big Test Error: Misplacing Students into Remedial Classes « seeingshadesofgray

· Mar 1, 2012 at 12:04 am

[…] their numbers despite significant evidence of their lack of reliability. We pillory teachers like Pascale Mauclair when in reality we should be honoring […]

30 OTR Links 03/01/2012 | doug – off the record

· Mar 1, 2012 at 12:34 am

[…] The True Story of Pascale Mauclair | Edwize […]

31 Pearl

· Mar 1, 2012 at 1:00 pm

Richie I was thinking the same thing! The NY Post should not be delivered to any school in this city! It is ridiculous to subject any teacher to this type of nonsense. How is the Post able to get away with such poor journalism? We must unite in solidarity to stop this madness! No other profession, even those without college degrees are treated this unfairly. The lousy politicians aren’t even given this type of scrutiny!

32 Frank

· Mar 1, 2012 at 1:02 pm

The NY Post is available at my school every day for free. They drop it off! They probably do this to increase their circulation numbers. Whatever the reason, I don’t want to ever see the Post again, especially at work. How can we put an nd to this practice?

In fact, teachers should publicly boycott the Post. That will send a message. Let’s do it

33 Amanda

· Mar 1, 2012 at 1:48 pm

I’ve worked as an arts provider for NYC schools for 30 years, and in that time, I’ve worked with hundreds of teachers. Pascal Mauclair is one of those teachers, and I consider her one of the best teachers I’ve ever worked with — she is smart, incredibly hard working, passionate about teaching, and dedicated to her students, who adore her. She has such high expectations and standards for her students, many of whom arrive throughout the year with little or no English language skills, that we warn our artists who work with her that she will tolerate only their best work. And I’ve watched them blossom and thrive in her care. How can we expect to attract and keep excellent teachers like Pascal if we subject them to this kind of dishonest and irresponsible journalism and misleading grading system? This would be a terrible way to treat any teacher, but to treat an excellent teacher like Pascal this way is outrageous.

34 Paulette Powell-Latson

· Mar 1, 2012 at 1:51 pm

Dare I say…”yellow journalism”…there, I said it!

35 cksdc

· Mar 1, 2012 at 6:23 pm

This is such a travesty of education. To defame a person based on an unreliable number without addressing the whole truth is shameful, slanderous, and ludicrous. It is unspeakable on so many levels…

36 Daphna

· Mar 1, 2012 at 11:07 pm

As a fellow 6th grade elementary school teacher, my heart goes out to Pascale. It is a disgrace and shame that this had to happen. I propose that all NYC school teachers wear buttons with Pascale’s picture on it to show our admiration and support!

37 Douglas Sacks

· Mar 1, 2012 at 11:42 pm

Children are not factory-assembled, interchangeable parts. Each child is different and every class is different in make-up and feel. It is the fault of the test that seeks to compare a new student with limited English proficiency to a student who has been in the school for a whole year and then use that result to fault the teacher. It is obvious from a closer look at this teacher’s particular circumstances, that her actual teaching results are not reflected by the “score” she received. It is impossible to compare apples to apples in such a situation as a 6th grade teacher who teaches the way she does vs. a 6th grade teacher in the “typical” situation. The principal gives her high praise, that should be sufficient.

38 Calling it what it is « seeingshadesofgray

· Mar 4, 2012 at 3:54 pm

[…] what I am now. As I read about Pascale Mauclair, I am a duck watching at the window. Watching an execution and simply waiting my […]

39 phyllis c. murray

· Mar 4, 2012 at 4:10 pm

How do you measure a teacher?

By Phyllis C. Murray

How do you measure a teacher? The students know because the students are the direct recipients of a teacher’s work. And in most cases, it is the hard work of the teacher which produces the best results. There are many tangible as well as intangible markers of a child’s growth and development. One of the best that I have seen was crafted into a poem by students in a tribute to their teachers.

Perhaps the DOE should listen to a child because as Educator/TV host Art Linkletter once said, “Out of mouths of babes often times comes gems. ”

WHAT IS A TEACHER

Written by Bibana ~Ashanti ~~Jamal~~Ellenah

~~Diana ~~John Henry ~~and Mohammed

A teacher is a symbol of learning: a leader of learners and a miracle to education.

A teacher is an educational god that leads us to goodness while caring for our learning spirits.

A teacher is the captain of our educational journey; Exact about everything.

A teacher has the courage enough to teach; And knows mostly all the answers.

Teachers become our heroic inspiration.

Teachers educate us with all of their knowledge. Smart and spirited, teachers can make our brains work like computers.

Yet, our teachers can also hold our hands when we need it.

Teachers reach to the sky to get what we need; And exit a

subject just at the right time.

A teacher possesses the academics and grace that we all love. Teachers care for us in every imaginable way.

Our teacher is the hero in our learning lives.

Education is the key to success. That is what our teachers

have taught us.

Teachers are a class struggle in liberty: Believing in

kids; Reaching out to kids; And instilling pride within

all of us.

Our education is important to our teachers. Therefore our

teachers struggle hard to teach every student: Checking exams after school; explaining things so they are easier; And reading to us or teaching us how to read.

Each one of our praises we give. And for everything our teachers do, we will thank them today, tomorrow and always.

One must realize that the responsibility for educating a child is placed squarely in the hands of the teacher. Teachers in the inner city are aware of this fact. And once the teachers have rolled up their sleeves…the process begins with commitment, dedication, care, and concern for a human soul. For the students who have found teachers who are there to support them on their educational journey, I say, press on! These students are the fortunate ones because it is their teacher who must dream for them before they can dream for themselves. It is the teacher who prepares children for a future which is not his/her own.

These exceptional tenured teachers are fortunate because for every ounce of energy that they use to invest in the child, they will see the rewards of their investment in the child’s continued growth and development throughout the year.

When I asked these students to define the word “teacher.” it was not a difficult task for them because after years of benefiting from instruction by master teachers, they knew what being a “teacher” was all about. And of course the genre used was sheer poetry.

Phyllis C. Murray, NYC Educator/ Author/UFT Chapter Leader

District 8 South Bronx

40 Close Reading of Arne Duncan’s Feb. 7 Speech: Two more points « seeingshadesofgray

· Mar 4, 2012 at 4:17 pm

[…] evaluated on test scores. Perhaps you will adjust your metrics to account for this, but based on Pascale Mauclair, I think […]

41 Links 3/4/12 | Mike the Mad Biologist

· Mar 4, 2012 at 4:41 pm

[…] of Sarah Palin Gen. McCaffrey privately briefs NBC execs on war with Iran (I discussed this here) The True Story of Pascale Mauclair (must-read) No Embarrassment (must-read) Why it’s no surprise high- and low-rated teachers are […]

42 BMW

· Mar 4, 2012 at 11:10 pm

While we allowed God to be tossed out of our schools, only he can fix it. So many diehard teachers who love children are leaving

because the system has become so dishonest and unfair. The teachers replacing them don’t even have sense not to wear thongs with beige, low waist pants. I am so sorry Pascale, just go a short distance to Elmont Memorial where you can teach in peace. An administrator who was a terrible teacher in that district broke my teaching spirit, don’t let it happen to you. Be thankful for your principal. Hold your head up. Peace

43 Hugh

· Mar 5, 2012 at 8:19 pm

Shame, shame, shame; a margin of error of 50% and yet they publish these TDRs. SUE SUE SUE for libel ; false and malicious reporting.

44 Fresh Evidence: Pascale Mauclair’s Report Should be Declared Invalid | Edwize

· Mar 6, 2012 at 1:59 pm

[…] week, Leo Casey gave Edwize readers the real story of Pascal Mauclair, whom the NY Post declared was the “at the bottom of the heap” when the DOE released the […]

45 lauran

· Mar 6, 2012 at 2:52 pm

i saw the NY Post lying in the yard near the elementary school steps in my Greenpoint neighborhood every day, making my blood boil. I finally got up the courage to call the principal to say that the NY Post was not a newspaper and should not be given to the students. To my surprise she said that she agreed and that it was brought to the school without charge by the Post but NEVER poised along to students. Rather, it was put out with the trash, which sits where I saw the stack. It should be ILLEGAL for any newspaper to be distributed to students if that is the only way to get rid of the Post.

46 lauran

· Mar 6, 2012 at 2:56 pm

It seems the Bloomberg admin covertly asked the news outlets to file a FOIA for the reports so they could PRETEND that they were not responsible for distributing them. These flawed reports are just a device for turning parents against schools and teachers. They work to do that even if they are repudiated.

Mayoral control under Bloomberg is the worst nightmare our kids and families could imagine. Take back the schools!

47 Protestation.org Blog » A Witch Hunt Against Teachers

· Mar 8, 2012 at 4:07 pm

[…] detailed in a union official’s recent blog entry about a teacher hounded about her rating, the attacks on teachers are quite personally vicious. The vituperation recalls not so much the […]

48 Turnstyle » Teachers Fight For Their Reputations Against Data Reports

· Mar 9, 2012 at 2:46 pm

[…] vice president of the United Federation of Teachers, and published an article in EdWize titled, “The True Story of Pascale Mauclaire.” The UFT fought the release of the data in the first place because they said the data was full […]

49 Shanker Blog » Beware Of Anecdotes In The Value-Added Debate

· Mar 15, 2012 at 7:52 am

[…] I fully acknowledge the power of “putting a face” on larger problems – the practice is as old as political discourse. […]

50 What Happens When Teachers Are Publicly Ranked @emerypetchauer — The Good Men Project

· Mar 15, 2012 at 11:01 am

[…] proverbial record straight in the past week, including Stanford’s Linda Darling-Hammond and EdWize education wire. These articles reiterate the shaky practice of value-added teacher evaluations; very […]

51 What Happens When Teachers Are Publicly Ranked? | A Guys Magazine

· Mar 15, 2012 at 11:29 am

[…] proverbial record straight in the past week, including Stanford’s Linda Darling-Hammond and EdWize education wire. These articles reiterate the shaky practice of value-added teacher evaluations; very […]

52 The True Story of Pascale Mauclair | USA Press

· Mar 15, 2012 at 11:59 am

[…] Edwize Tags: Mauclair, Pascale, Story, True © 2012 USA Press Powered by CTR Theme […]

53 A people-(em)powered evaluation system :: Reclaiming Reform | Education policy of, by & for We the People.

· Mar 23, 2012 at 4:25 pm

[…] knowledge– they’re now being inappropriately used to close schools, evaluate (and shame) individual teachers, and […]

54 | The Livingston Post

· Apr 2, 2012 at 4:07 am

[…] The REAL story of Ms. Mauclair was revealed a few days later. Included in the REAL story were a number of notable facts. “Mauclair is an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, and over the last five years she has had small, self-contained classes of recently arrived immigrants who do not speak English. Her students arrive at different times of the school year, depending upon that date of their family’s migration; consequently, it is not unusual for her students to take the 6th grade exams when they have only been in her class for a matter of a few months. […]

55 Education in Era of the McTeacher | Theresa Runstedtler

· Apr 5, 2012 at 10:28 am

[…] response, Leo Casey of edwize.org argues that “the story of Pascale Mauclair and P.S. 11 begins with a tale of the […]

56 Teacher Performance Rankings: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves – C2 Educate

· Apr 5, 2012 at 7:12 pm

[…] Ms. Pascale Mauclair could testify to the damage that the Scarlett letter can create. The day that New York City’s teacher rankings were released, the New York Post showed up at Ms. Mauclair’s father’s home, informed the man that his daughter was the worst teacher in New York, and asked for an interview. The reporters then went to Ms. Mauclair’s home, where they were reportedly told to leave by the police – twice. That weekend, the Post published a story featuring a picture of Ms. Mauclair and naming her the city’s worst teacher. Even if Ms. Mauclair truly were a terrible teacher, such a public flogging might seem unfair. But subsequent interviews with Ms. Mauclair’s principal and further review of the evaluation data revealed that Ms. Mauclair is in fact a wonderful teacher; her low ranking was the result of poor data. Because New York City has published these rankings, Ms. Mauclair’s career is in jeopardy. […]

57 RedFlag

· Apr 6, 2012 at 10:34 pm

The POST is delivered to many NYC schools everyday. This “newspaper” never misses an opportunity to vilify teachers and our profession, based solely on the actions of a few bad apples.

In our school, teachers, paras etc have joined together to stop picking up this rag in the main office. The result has been that the whole bundle of POSTS is put out to the trash every afternoon by the custodians.

58 Some Ideas on Testing « educationclearinghouse

· Apr 6, 2012 at 10:40 pm

[…] student knowledge– they’re now being inappropriately used to close schools, evaluate (and shame) individual teachers, and […]