Parent Post

Thanks to the DCS Post for investigating these very important issues.

We, too, had to hold our giggles and gasps during many of Denton's remarks on Monday's forum.  She truly must live in another world!   

We'll be watching to see how this all plays out.

Update

After reviewing the numbers with Jan Seely and Superintendent Wilkinson on Monday the water actually became muddier instead of clearer.  But at this point we will give you what we found and it is up to the school board to check into why the numbers that don’t add up.  Our conclusions are based on the reports given to us by the school district.  These reports are available for anybody upon request.

To start we will have to define some general terms for better understanding about the numbers.  These terms are necessary for both the test scores and attendance issues.

High Mobility any child who is considered NFAYed.
NFAY Non Full Academic Year
FAY Full Academic Year

Full Academic Year- As defined by the state of Oklahoma, one full calendar year after a child enrolls in school.  So if a child enrolls on October 1st they become FAYed on October 1 the following year.

TESTING ALLEGATION
Did children's tests not get handed in? We looked at the numbers. Here is what they were and what we found.

For API testing purposes the process is as follows (this is not an exact list but a generalization how the process works):

1. School District runs enrollment report
2. School District orders labels from testing company in October
3. Students take the test in April
4. School District updates student information on test if necessary
5. Tests are returned to testing company
6. Results are given to the State

Step 4 is where teachers or administrators would be updating student information.  They would be doing this not to fabricate the numbers but to update the information.  Since the labels are ordered in October some of the students’ information is not going to be correct. Also any student who entered the school district after October would not be not accounted for in the labels so would have to be added.

Why is it important to distinguish between FAYed and NFAYed students?  NFAYed student tests do not count towards the API scores.  They are, however, turned in with the other test to the state.  The school district is still accountable for the results of NFAYed students under other programs but not the API.  It is important to note that of the 198 tests (2 tests per student) turned in by Deer Creek, 193 came back with passing results.

Now this is where the water really gets muddy.  Below is a chart of information that was developed based on the information provided by the school.

• Test represents what Deer Creek shows as the number of NFAYed Students in grades 3-5 for 2006-07 school year.  Only grades 3-5 take API test in elementary schools.
• State represents the number of NFAYed Students tests recorded by the state in grades 3-5 for 2006-07 school year.
• Difference represents the difference between Test (what DC shows) and the State (what the State shows). This should be zero since the school should be showing the same numbers as the state.

When we requested the numbers for the 2006-07 school year we were under the impression the state looked at that data to determine FAYed and NFayed students.  It wasn’t until we met with the school that it was determined that the state look at the numbers for the entire period between tests.  Had we known that we would have asked for those numbers specifically.  With that said we realize that the numbers above are not a direct apples to apples comparison.  The point of the chart is to show there is enough of a discrepancy in the numbers that the school board should do an investigation using apples to apples data.  After looking at all of the data we received it is highly improbable that comparing data from the correct time period will change the numbers that drastically so that the state and school will match.   

ENROLLMENT ALLEGATION
Were enrollment numbers fudged? Again let’s start with some definitions

Entry / Withdraw Codes:
L3: Withdrawals from the school due to illness, suspension, necessity to work, truancy, or temporary absence from the district. Any student who is out more than 10 days is automatically withdrawn on the 11th day by state mandate.

G3: A student reenters the same school after withdrawal due to illness, suspension, necessity to work, truancy, or temporary absence from the district.

The information for the chart below was developed based on the data provided by the school.

Number of G3 Reentering Students after withdrawal due to illness, suspension, necessity to work, truancy, or temporary absence from the district.
	DCES		Rose Union		Prairie Vale
	L3	G3	L3	G3	L3	G3
08/17-10/17/2006	0	0	0	0	0	0
10/23-12/19/2006	2	2	0	0	0	0
01/03-03/09/2007	5	1	0	0	0	0
03/12-05/30/2007	4	1	0	0	0	0
Total	11	4	0	0	0	0

As can been seen DCES is the only elementary school with any kids in the L3/G3 section for the 2006-07 school year.  If it is true that people were told to un-enroll and re-enroll they would be in this category.  Superintendent Wilkinson said that she had all the entries checked by other district staff and none of them were for vacation purposes.  She also went on saying that no parent went to her last year about being forced to un-enroll a student.  One last note, Jan Seely was not sure that if a student was L3’ed did that student become NFAY’ed.

OUR CONCLUSIONS
We start by saying that we believe no teacher intentionally modified any information that would be in suspect of manipulating the numbers.  We do believe that teacher may have changed incorrect information since the labels for testing were out of date.

As for the district it is alarming that the information in their systems contains such large discrepancies.  What other information could be incorrect?  Could it be what Tim Draper report was correct after all?

Onto the enrollment issues. It is clear by the data that the allegation of un-enrolling and re-enrolling may have happened.  The only way to know for sure is for the Board to contact the families whose students are in question.

So where does this all bring us?  Back to the school board.  They need to investigate why the numbers are so far off.  They need to investigate the names of the students associated with the L3/G3’s.  They need to contact the families directly and not just take the word of the administration.  Oh heck, they just need to start living up to their responsibilities.

One last point. After going through this whole process I almost fell out of my seat last night when Shelley said, “I am an engineer.  I need data.”   Great, so she asks for numbers. Obviously she is not checking them.

Shelly Denton and the school board had all of this data and did nothing with it.  Here is a thought. At the next school board meeting maybe she will quote a state procedure to explain why she wasn’t able to deal with this or maybe, just maybe, she and the rest of the school board will put away their rubber stamps and start analyzing some numbers.

Parent Post

Why would a parent accept being told to re- enroll their child...that doesn't make any sense to me.  I wouldn't do it and would have questioned it as soon as it was told to me. My son missed more than three days of school and we were never asked to re- enroll.  I want to know all the facts before making any accusations against DCES or Mrs. Straughn.  We have been at DCES with both of our children for many years now and I will say it is a wonderful school with excellent and caring teachers.    Debbie Straughn runs a wonderfully effective and well organized school.  We will support her until there is proof of any wrong doing.   

Thank you again Mr. Talbot for the time and energy you put into this site and for your fairness in your replys...you are appreciated.

Update

We met with Superintendent Wilkinson last Friday and reviewed the numbers in regards to the API scores.  First and foremost, the numbers Do Not support the allegation that certain kids’ tests were not reported to the state.  Every students test was indeed turned into the state.  There was some question as to the difference of State testing and District testing which may have led to the confusion.  To restate,  No Teacher or any other person was involved with hiding any information from the State.

As for DCES requiring parents to un-enroll and re-enroll, the numbers Do support that this may have been happening.  While reviewing the numbers we uncovered some discrepancies that we will meet with Superintendent Wilkinson to clear up before we post our findings.

One early observation that we came out of all this with is that the school board should have determined the facts surrounding these allegations on their own.  It only took us about 15 minutes to go through the numbers and see what was happening.

Parent Post

We are not at all discounting our students' and teachers' successes.  In fact, we would be the first to applaud them.  The teachers nor the students have done anything wrong.  The problem lies within the administration at DCES and with our superintendent.  The purpose of the original post is not to launch a smear campaign as one parent accused us of doing. 

In fact, that is not my style.  I am someone who you have seen many times volunteering for after school activities, volunteering as a DEER mom, etc.  I care about DCES and I care about what kind of message Mrs. Straughn's practices are showing the students of our school.  My post was written to bring attention to a matter that has already been brought up to our superintendent numerous times without any action taken. 

It is a matter that has been going on for years since Mrs. Straughn has been the leader of DCES.  It is one of those things where people (I say people because it isn't just me talking to our superintendent) wonder how many times they need to address this issue with our superintendent before something is done.  Since nothing has been done by our superintendent, then another action had to be taken and this time it was by posting on the DCS Post. 

We teach our kids that if they misbehave or do something wrong or dishonest then there are consequences.  What is that teaching our children if their principal/role model is able to instigate "shady practices" yet not face any repercussions for doing so and furthermore getting applauded for her "whatever it takes to win" attitude?

Do you know how many teachers and parents will openly tell you of first hand experiences with Mrs. Straughn's illegal attendance issues and testing practices?  So many of them experienced it themselves and were utterly confused but told that this is the way things are done.  Do you know how many people have addressed these issues with Becky Wilkinson for years only to find her "listening" but never addressing it?  Life is not always fair, but as parents it is our job to try to make it as fair and equitable as possible for our children.  Sometimes the consequences for actions are unpleasant, but wouldn't you rather succeed honestly rather than dishonestly? 

If Mrs. Straughn and Mrs. Wilkinson want to set a good example for our children, they will come clean about this by admitting wrongdoing and taking the consequence.  It wouldn't be easy, but it would be the high road instead of continuing to act like nothing ever happens in our district.  Respect would be earned by doing so.  In addition to these thoughts, I agree with a previous parent's posting in that there needs to be an investigation to see what is happening.  It shouldn't hurt anything by doing so, especially if a school doesn't have anything to hide.  We have a right to know what is going on.

Our Reply

We do have one question?  What would have happened if you didn’t un-enroll and re-enroll?  We are not attacking the parents that did, but just curious as to what would have happened if you didn’t.

Parent Post 1: How is (allegedly) manipulating attendance records and test scores termed "success"?

I do not see this as a smear campaign; there are serious questions here that must be answered.  I would think that the Board would want to absolve these issues, swiftly and succinctly. 

Total transparency should not be an issue if there is nothing to hide.

If there were an open line of communication between the Board and the patrons, a dialogue could exist.  Imagine what could happen then!?  I've heard some wonderful ideas, solutions and possibilities at PTO meetings, when people are working together.  I believe that there are many people who want to work for the greater good of Deer Creek but are shut out, their ideas not even heard. 

If there is no wrong-doing here, questions, investigation and resolving the issues should be a painless process - one that the Board and school administrators welcome, to put these questions to rest - once and for all.

Parent Post 2: One would have to at least question the timing of the "API cheating allegations".  Did someone consult Carl Rove?  Hats off, very impressive.  Can't wait for next week.

Our Reply: To parent post 2 there is no doubt as to the timing of the allegations.  Welcome to the world of politics.  As unfortunate as it is, school board elections are a political process. As for next week, we will be meeting with the superintendent to review the numbers of all the schools on Friday, January 25th.  We will post the outcome of the meeting next week.

Parent Post

It seems some people are willing to shoot ourselves in the foot to discount our student's and teacher's success.  Launching a smear campaign against ourselves just doesn't seem logical.  Posting on a public blog should be the last resort, not the first.  

I'm proud of our schools, I'm proud of our success. I get fired up when anyone from another school says anything bad about Deer Creek.  (I don't sit there and agree with them or site some other examples of our shortcomings).  I guess I'm the minority on this site.

Our Reply

Actually we believe that you are in the majority as well since you care about the district as much as the rest of the people.  The difference is a majority of the people on this website have tried to do the right thing.  They have tried to follow proper procedures to handle their concerns only to be rebuffed by the district time and time again.

Over 50 people were ready to meet with the Superintendent and School Board President Shelley Denton to discuss their concerns.  Unfortunately they were denied their chance.  Their were over 30 people signed up to talk at the school board meeting to discuss their concerns about the Tim draper issue and they too were denied the chance to talk.  We really could go on and on citing examples with similar outcomes.

If the school board and administration are not going to talk with people what choice do they have but to turn to a public forum that will allow them to speak.  Nobody wants to downplay the accomplishments of the teachers and students.  They just want the chance to have their concerns heard.

Lastly, according to what the person who originally posted, they did go to the superintendent after talking with the school first about the issue of having to un-enroll their child and then re-enrolling.  But it appeared to fall on deaf ears.  Where do they go from here?  To the school board?  It is a vicious cycle that never ends.  If the school district would open up communication avenues about ever topic then the need for the dcspost would cease to exist.  And believe us when we tell you everybody, including us, would love to see that day come.

Parent Post 1: As a person who has volunteered for numerous years as a mentor for the testing, the circling of students names to be omitted from test scores is a true statement.  I have sat with teachers while they explained the process many times.  Children new to the district, those with any disability needing and sort of remediation, any challenges at all - could be omitted by circling their names. 

Maybe this sheds more light on why so many staff members left Debbie Straughn?

Why wouldn't we have an outside source investigate?  Our Board and Superintendent certainly won't turn her in to the state - they are friends with her!

Why not go to Rose Union where most of Debbie's staff transferred to?

What does it take to get people to demand some discipline in this district!  If we don't have higher expectations for our administration - how can we demand it from our kids?

Parent Post 2: I learned that in addition us cheating to receive our API scores.  (our students couldn't really be that smart).  That the 06 girls state basketball championship is a farse.  It seems we played with 6 girls instead of 5 and one of the girls was a 28 yr old former WNBA player.  (Recently reviewed game film revealed).  I've made my discovery known to the OSSA and they are investigating.  Please help me bring down that state championship banner!

Our Reply: To Parent Post 2, why is it when the whole Tim Draper thing was going on you kept telling everyone that the school had no choice because of the laws? But in this case you choose to ignore any possible breaking of the law by the school district.  You really don’t care to discuss both sides of any issue, you just want to criticize anybody for questioning the school district.  It would be easier to follow your logic if you stayed on one side of the fence.

Isn’t it also ironic that you questioned candidates for not voting, saying there are not involved.  But you won’t question the actions of a principal who uses questionable tactics. You just reply using similes that are far-fetched.  If you think the allegations are that far-fetched, read Parent Post 2.  If you have an open mind, maybe just maybe, you may see that there is a possibility of inappropriate actions going on.  I won’t count on it.

January 22, 2008

Parent Post 1: Wow, this is big news.  The school board must get behind this and do an audit of this school and all schools in the district - and then report the results to the State and to the PTO, as well as all parents!

Parent Post 2: Questions about the testing situation.

1. How many schools in the state have a perfect API for one year, two years and three years in a row?  That can be found on the state dept of ed website.
   
   
2. What is the likelihood of a school scoring perfectly after replacing 3/4 of the staff?
   
   
3. If attendance or high mobility is tampered with, would it be considered falsifying public records? What is the penalty?
   
   
4. If the superintendent knew of attendance and/or testing tapering and didn't stop it, What's that person's liability?
   
   
5. Wouldn't it be simple to find out? Ask current and former secretaries, counselors and teachers.  Ask parents if they are or ever have been asked to withdraw their student then re-enroll.
   
   
6. Is the district so desperate to hang onto the number one test score that they are willing to ignore these issues?

Our Reply: These are great questions and statements.  The school board must investigate to find out if there is any truth to the statements. 

While we would all like for everyone of our schools to be the best, we think we can agree that that the title should be earned legitimately and not by any other means.  If the allegations are true, let’s take our ‘black eye’ and move on to fixing the problem. In other words, the school board should not be scared of what will be uncovered but act on it and deal with it.

We are going to submit a request to the superintendent requesting the data associated with this situation.  We will let you know what we find out but we figure it will be a couple of weeks before the district delivers the data.

In the past when situations like this have come up, we were told by the administration that all those involved just wanted to move on and not deal with the situation.  Maybe this is a lesson in what happens when you don’t deal with an issue.  For the record the previous school board president said when addressing a situation with this principal, “Why we would want to tarnish the reputation of a good individual?”  We wonder how this school board will deal with this situation or will we continue with status quo?

January 21, 2008

Parent Post

To Whom It May Concern:

As parents, we have concerns about our elementary school that scored a 1500 on the API, Deer Creek Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma.  It has been brought to our attention that there are some practices going on there that benefit this elementary school that do not go on in other districts.  It does not seem right or fair that Deer Creek Elementary can use these practices to their advantage when other districts do not do these things.  Both of these practices are illegal and are silently going on at Deer Creek Elementary.  It is no wonder that DCES continues to have perfect API scores.  Any district would if they did these two things.  Here are our concerns:

• The principal at Deer Creek Elementary, Debbie Straughn, enforces attendance by having students withdraw from school if they are going to miss more than 3 days consecutively.  When the student returns, the parent must re-enroll the student in Deer Creek Public Schools.  This ensures the school that poor attendance does not affect them.  The principal openly tells parents that this is to help our API score.  Parents that had to do this in the spring were not happy.  Other school districts do not do this and if they did, they would have much, much higher ratings in the attendance portion of the API.  From our investigation, no other elementary school in Deer Creek follows this practice because it is illegal.
  
  
• For the spring testing, teachers are given a form listing all of the students who are new to Deer Creek Elementary for the current school year.  These students include ones that enrolled before school even started.  It is called a "high mobility" form.  Really, to be "high mobility", you have to have entered the school AFTER it started, not before it started.  Each teacher usually has approximately 5-6 students' names on the list and many have falsified start dates for when they started school.  Teachers are told to circle the students' names if they want their score to count for the total DCES score and cross out the names of the students that they do not want their scores to count.  It was much like circling your smart ones and crossing out the ones that you knew will do poorly on the test.  The students whose names are crossed out have their test booklets pulled so that their scores do not show up on the DCES total.  In talking with other districts, this is not a practice that other districts use.  If we could all use this, then our scores would look perfect. 

These practices have been said to have been going on for several years.  Current teachers are aware of this and it is always brought to them by the principal as practices used in every district.  These practices DO NOT occur in every district.  People need to be aware of this and ask questions to the State Department of Education.  Most of our teachers at DCES have only been at DCES and follow directions very well when told that something is legal.  We all assume that our principal and leader would not try to be dishonest.  In talking to other districts, we don\'t know anymore.  Word has spread throughout the parental community about these practices and parents are questioning this.  If these practices can be done at one school, why can't they be done at others?  Don't you think that other schools' API scores could be dramatically affected if they did these two things? 

If these are legal practices, then it is only fair to the state of Oklahoma that every school district is notified that they can do these two things.  I know of two districts right now that believe that these are illegal practices and they play by the rules.  If these matters cannot be addressed, then it is only fair that they whole state gets notified about using these practices so that they can do both of these things next year.

Why does Superintendent Wilkinson and School Board President Shelley Denton allow these things to continue?  Everyone knows that they go on, but no one has the courage to stand up for what is right.  Maybe if we had NEW LEADERSHIP in our administration office and school board then something would change.  Think about this...

Our Reply

Since the State is going to hand out $3000 bonus to school with perfect API scores, it would seem that if your allegations are correct then the school district may be guilty of defrauding the state.  Let’s see how this plays out.