Students at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles staged a sit-in to protest a scheduling breakdown now in its third week of school.
“Students gathered in the quad after first period, sitting in a grassy area in a silent protest of what they contend has been weeks of mismanagement by administrators that has wasted their time and severely interrupted their education.
“For the first weeks of school, many students were left without class schedules, others were given courses they did not need and some were without those required for graduation, students and teachers said.
“Several Advanced Placement courses were scheduled at the same time, leaving students unable to enroll in all the college-level courses they desired. Students still learning English were unable to enroll in courses at their level, as they were scheduled during the same periods.
“Problems were apparently intensified by a new computer database, known as the My Integrated Student Information System, which caused a litany of scheduling problems around the district in the first weeks of school.
“Teachers have described over-enrolled classes, missing or inaccurate rosters, students without schedules and an inability to take attendance in the system.”
The students want an education, but their schedules are in chaos due to the district’s hasty adoption of a computer system that wasn’t ready.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yesterday I had 565 students on my elementary roster today 7456 students. This will get even more interesting when it comes to hire or displace teachers at the 5 week mark.
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I’ve read that Bill Gates thinks we should add more students to the class size of excellent teachers. These #s are a real testament. Hope you have a rewarding school year & they can fix this soon.
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Msis is another stone laid on top of the the chests of teachers students in LAUSD. My poor elementary colleagues have to input grades every week for every subject. I hope it stays broken forever!
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Secondary teachers are supposed to start using the grade program in January.
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If your SIS is from the same folks, whoever they are, that sold our district the SIS, all I will say is “Good Luck, suckas”
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Why is it that when all of this work had to be done by hand, it was ready for the first day of school? Now that we have the so-called computer efficiency, these screw-ups cause major problems. Computers allow us to produce mountains of data, but they don’t guarantee that it will make sense. We can now make mistakes much faster and compund them more quickly. Because computers can process so much information rapidly, the task of proofreading becomes monumental and as a result too often cursory. Everyone prays that nothing will go wrong. The last two years I taught, it took until almost November before my class rosters were even close to correct. The last year, it was the second semester before my last student was scheduled correctly.
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This isn’t a question of proof reading. Different reports are producing different information. At our school, we generate program cards for students, but the lists assigning them homerooms were different. So the 6 the graders went to a homeroom that didn’t have a program card for them. They all ended up in the auditorium, with teachers calling out names of students from the program cards.
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Proofreading is obviously not the right tech jargon. Troubleshooting? Bottom line is is the information being produced accurate? Computers are very useful tools but sometimes, in our eagerness to try out the newest bells and whistles, new systems are implemented before all the kinks have been worked out. We have all experienced the headaches of programs being implemented before training was completed or all of the resources were available, so the issue pertains to more than computers.
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I taught at Jefferson for 17 years, 12 of those as part of the innovative Humanitas program. LAUSD has mostly treated Jeff as an ugly stepchild, failing to value and respect the students and their parents. I watched the students on ABC7 this afternoon, as they calmly argued their case from behind the spiked steel fence that surrounds the campus. They deserve better.
As for John Deasy, he deserves to be fired for this latest disaster. When added to the iPad boondoggle, and the sweetheart deals with Apple and Pearson, enough is enough.
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YES…come to the BoE meeting tomorrow and join us in saying all this in public comment…unless he stacks the deck by bussing in his shills again as he did on Oct. 29. Deasy has failed at almost everything he has touched. In private sector he would be long gone.
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I wonder if “Dr.” John Deasy supports “accountability” when it applies to him.
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I wish I could “like” your comment!
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We have heard from the news what a scourge ISIS forces are, and here they are! The virtual version does not have to cross the ocean to impact our kids! Of course, at my school on our first day our new fangled computer integrated system, infinite campus showed infinite stupidity and instability. It decided elementary teachers have to take roll every hour although they have the same students, and refused to accept those same reports and crashed. To err is human, to really screw up takes a computer.
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John Deasy…parents and teachers have been and always will be the true advocates for our children and our students. If you really truly care about the students of Los Angeles, it is time to step down and resign your position immediately because your administration has not only been a disgrace to the people of Los Angeles, but also to the eyes of our entire nation. Your time at the LAUSD has been harmful to our children. Go back to the reformers who have backed you up until now and tell them, “From this point on I am an advocate for the children and not for billionaires…take back your tainted money”…Mr Deasy, democracy is one of the slowest types of government to right a wrong…but in the end it will prevail, as it always has…1) Which side will you go down in history as supporting? 2) How would you like to be remembered when the reformer policies eventually, and inevitably, go up in smoke? 3) Will you be one of those who will be shamed at minimum, or punished for crimes against American citizens? 4) And will you do as others have, and worm away as you claim to have been following orders from others?…Mr Deasy, whether it is tomorrow, next month, or next year, the truth will come out…You will be judged on all you have done, and all that you continue to do…If you have any honor and decency, put the students of Los Angeles first, and say “no” to the reformers!
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Now imagine the mess when all the assessments are computerized. Pearson couldn’t even produce accurate booklets for the third grade test in NYS (Booklet D was missing several pages in numerous copies distributed throughout the state). Just think what errors will come with the online versions.
It will make this scheduling fiasco look like a day at the park.
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And more news: http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81181647/
This man has got to go!!
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These LA students won’t be the only ones with this maddening mishap. A lot of school systems around the country are buying into “tech companies” (I am sure at great cost) that sell their product (data tracking software) but are far removed from the “clients” (schools) they service. Teachers have to enter career-crucial information that gets more and more detailed and often personal on a company’s database system supposedly specifically devised for the school system. And there are lots of glitches and this significantly slows down and even impedes teachers from preparing for actual teaching. There are only 24 hours in a day. Has anyone thought about this???
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Remember Garbage In, Garbage Out.
In the Buffalo Public Schools, the computer is the Great Tracking Device. Teachers use the device to record attendance for each class. Grades are uploaded online. Teachers also use the computer to ask for substitutes when they log in for a sick day, personal day, or in service – with a pull down chart and an additional box to indicate the “reason” for the absence. The computer also tracks a teacher’s credentials and their continuing education credits. It’s all there in black and white – and teachers are quietly removed from their jobs if they do not meet the state requirements.
I don’t think Superintendents have to log in their attendance or credentials. A pity! Some of them need to disappear into the night – at least according to many of your stories.
I know Buffalo has had a few we abracadabra’d away with a hefty amount of change in their pockets.
And now the search for a Superintendent begins anew, but, unfortunately, their computer image is not always accurate. (I speak from experience). Wish us luck.
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