Failing performance
Is Dr. Harold Mowl responsible for the RSD failure?
Should he be fired for his poor performance?
They are the two questions I kept hearing from the Deaf community.
What's wrong with RSD?
Many of us have complained about Rochester School for the Deaf. We need a common place to vent our concerns with each other without revealing ourselves to RSD to protect our jobs and children.
15 Comments:
He needs to be fired or RSD will be closed forever because more students are still leaving.
We heard the rumor that Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) has the waiting list for the new students. They are moving to ISD from all over the country. Why do you think ISD is the popular choice for the deaf school??
#1
I am curious to ask anyone who knows about how many students who are hard of hearing and have cochlear implants attend ISD?
The teachers who use ASL to teach deaf students achieve English writing in the class will spend more and more hours, perhaps a whole day, in the class to finish a lesson.
How many hours does a deaf student with a hearing aid speak by mouth and actually hear sounds?
Can anyone find information about standardized test scores in Bi/Bi? What grade level do these test target?
Everyone needs to fight to save RSD to change the deaf education systems.
Karen,
You are the one of the few parents who are very happy with RSD. You are lucky! Many parents don't have the luck with Dr. Mowl and teachers.
Dr. Mowl is the primary responsible for RSD because any decisions he made in the past do make a big impact on RSD. So it does not matter if the teachers are good or not.
I wish I could name the students who were not happy at RSD are now happy at the mainstreaming schools. So I can explain in the details why they left RSD. Dr. Mowl did not bother to talk with them and find out why they decided to leave RSD. He should have setup something to keep the students and parents happy at RSD. That would be called the retention. He needs to figure out the way to keep the students. Still he don't bother to. We had to make the bold move with this RSD blog and forced Dr. Mowl to do something about it.
So, that is not a good leadership Dr. Mowl has for RSD.
Hmm... Until someone polls every parent with a child at RSD, I don't think it's fair to say Karen is "one of the few" who is happy with RSD. Besides, Karen has never said RSD is perfect, and she has encouraged changes for the better.
The anonymous above said, "Dr. Mowl is the primary responsible for RSD because any decisions he made in the past do make a big impact on RSD. So it does not matter if the teachers are good or not."
I am curious about what decisions Dr. Mowl has made that you feel made a big impact, such that the quality of the teachers doesn't matter.
The issue of deaf students leaving to go to mainstream schools is hardly unique to RSD, and it is hardly a new issue. Does everyone understand that the perception of the "general public" is that any student with a disability, including deafness, should be kept in the mainstream whenever possible?
This is a battle schools for the deaf have been fighting since the 70's, when P.L. 94-142 came out... a.k.a. the "Mainstreaming Law". The key to fighting this is to educate parents of deaf children, especially hearing parents, about the options and advantages available at a school for the deaf. Dr. Mowl has made steps to address this with new efforts in Outreach.
So again, please describe what decisions Dr. Mowl has made which render teacher quality irrelevent. Without specifics, how can improvements be made?
Also, with parents not having luck with Dr. Mowl and teachers ... In my opinion, there is no "luck" involved in working with teachers. Efforts must be made to communicate, and communication is more than one side dictating to the other what must be done. Both sides need to be willing to listen to the other. Teachers must acknowledge that parents know certain things about their children, and parents must acknowledge that teachers have training and expertise in their areas of education.
I'm not saying things at RSD are perfect, either. But I agree with Karen that more parent involvement could make a big difference, along with some modifications and considerations within the school program.
The anonymous above said, "Dr. Mowl is the primary responsible for RSD because any decisions he made in the past do make a big impact on RSD. So it does not matter if the teachers are good or not."
I think we did discuss the problems Dr. Mowl had for RSD in the previous comments. I can give the general examples that he caused some problem for us.
First example: He decided to close the position of ASL specialist before we complained.
Second example: The previous ASL specialist who left RSD complained that she did not get the support from Dr. Mowl and RSD community. Why should she put up with this terrible treatment from the administration of RSD? So Dr. Mowl was responsible for this screwed up situation.
Third example: Dr. Mowl allowed the teacher(s) and staff, who have the low opinion or low expectation of the deaf children, to work at RSD. I would not accept that at the deaf school. We had to deal with that outside of the deaf school. We don't need to deal with it at the deaf school. It should be the paradise for the deaf children. Dr. Mowl needs to be sure that the teacher(s) change the attitude.
Fourth example: Dr. Mowl allowed one teacher to teach her students when she was drunk. This was very dangerous situation Dr. Mowl put the student in.
Fifth example: One student in the fifth grade class has the second grade level education and is getting behind in the education in comparing with the hearing peer. This is unacceptable.
I can make more examples but enough for now.
So the quality of the teachers doesn’t matter when the parents are not happy with RSD or how Dr. Mowl administrates the school. The students will be pulled out by the parents and mainstream them to the hearing schools.
I don’t know who you, RSD Teacher, are. It does not matter if you are a good teacher because you will lose the job if Dr. Mowl don’t improve his performance.
Yes, this is very blunting comment about Dr. Mowl. Someone had to say it.
Maybe, we need someone like Ridor (www.ridorlive.com) to pick on Dr. Mowl and report on whatever he did for RSD. We have to make him to accept the responsible for the teacher’s performance in the classroom.
Karen,
Good luck! I'm sure your children will be happy at ISD. It would be great if you share your experience at ISD with us here on this blog.
There have been parents who have had misgivings about the chances and treatment their children have received at RSD.
The success stories have somewhat eclipsed those who are average...one gets the feeling that the minority who have had spectacular achievements in English, national collegiate bowls, sports, etc. are being allowed to eclipse the other students, even taking needed attention away from the "average" deaf RSD student.
If this is the case, a rebalancing and more mentoring of these "average" students is necessary. Perhaps this is what certain concerned parents are talking about and holding Dr. Mowl responsible. Instead, the school should seek out these parents and involve them in a sensitive exploration of how they might work as a team to encourage their child to excel and give that child more support and recognition for their efforts.
Dr. Mowl has been successful in attracting funds for enrichment of RSD programs for all students, and he is supportive of RSD teachers in their efforts.
As parents we need to press him and the staff to do more for the students that might not be finding their niches or having their special strengths overlooked.
A lopsided educational system that rewards only the conventionally outstanding is in need of evaluation. An enriched system that focuses on more than the 3R's is desirable. A system that USES the 3R's to bring in varied experiences and disciplines is desirable. A system that does not penalize students but rewards them for alternative skills development is great.
Hello, I have read this blog from time to time but I have to comment cause we cant put the whole blame on one person. If we blame anyone we should all blame ourselves. I am a parent of 2 students who go to rsd and I have 1 who goes to private school.
What my oldest daugheter has learned at RSD are better than what my sister has at any public school.
I guess we have to understand that ASL is a language in of its own and we teach them asl and expect them to live in a hearing world, understand english, this takes time to learn.
I am very blessed to live here and have my children go to RSD. Both my daughters have grown so much educationally, emotionally and socially. I agree with Karen comment. Parents do need to be involved.
I was unfortunatly not involved with my daughters class when she was in kindergarden which was a mistake. Since I have been involved, I have been very pleased with the outcome and have learned so much.
I could go on and on about how pleased I am.
I just hope we can get more parents involved with our children
There are the parents, who had have been involved, had the difficult time with the teachers and administrators. Sally you are right. We need more parents to involve to let them know on what we want for our children. What about PSA?
Then again I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the idea that one person can be blamed. Do YOU run RSD? No. Neither do I. Dr. Mowl does. Nobody else has the same amount of raw power in which to create an environment where deaf children can be educated at grade-level(at a level comparable with national norms). If he's not using his power to do that, then he's not doing his job. Period.
Now if a sizable number of children are graduating from RSD with a third grade reading level, then it's obvious that the job RSD was built to do is not getting done. How much of that is Mowl's fault? Quite a bit, in my opinion. Whether most of you want to admit it or not, there is a "status quo" that becomes acceptable in all institutions, from Gallaudet down, and like it or not quite a few administrators become very comfortable with that status quo. It's always easier for them to shift the blame off of themselves by citing this or that problematic law or the lack of cooperation from parents or the unavailability of qualified faculty/staff. Do any of you remember how much more visible Dr. Mowl made himself when this blog first started up? Why is that, do you think? If he's already doing everything he can, why make any extra effort at all? Either you're doing all you can, or you're not. It's that simple.
Stop giving this guy excuses. Pressure is what will bring about results. Not patience.
"What causes people and organizations to distort the truth? One theory is that the ego is a part of the human character that wants always to be front and center, always the winner in a race that does not need to even exist."
Written by Darlene Benton for Genesee Valley Penny Saver, 7/2/06
Yes but who is doing the distorting? Mowl or those who are becoming increasingly critical of his performance? Same thing at Gallaudet... are IKJ and JKF doing the distorting, or are the protestors?
With that many people upset, I'm VERY hard pressed to believe that these administrators are as innocent as they make themselves out to be...
So I guess this website is dead now? You're all going to settle for the inept program you have?
In other words your fear and your apathy is more important than producing a generation of deaf students who can think?
Howdy Rochies,
So far my two kids have been at school for four weeks now (schools started earlier in Indiana, on August 14, and today marks the end of fourth week of school.) I'd like to share my first impression of ISD as school with you...
RSD and ISD are not really much different. Yes, there are more exposure to ASL for my kids and there are a lot of kids who do choose SEE or/and SimCom over ASL, depending on their comfort zones. Not all the teachers follow ASL. What really comes down is the dedication of the teachers... deaf and hearing... to help students succeed, with the support of parents. So far I have good rapport with my children's teachers who both are hard of hearing/deaf and I noticed that they did not have teaching assistants, a visible difference from RSD... more teachers than teacher's aides.
What makes ISD different from RSD is the number of students... ISD has a LOT more students than RSD, yup, so it provides more social and academic opportunities for my children, that I can't deny. Also, there are more deaf staff/teachers.
But that is my first impression of ISD. My children are still adjusting, making new friends, learning about school rules, etc.
I keep an open mind and a positive attitude about things in general and my kids need that, to make adjustment quickly and easier. Academically, RSD and ISD are not much different.
Okay, good luck with committees, etc.
Karen Mayes
Guidelines for Deaf Schools
Written by FSSA Editorial Team
Wednesday, 10 May 2006
Working at a Deaf school? Children interested into the protest? Here are some ideas and topics of discussion that can be related to the Gallaudet protest and the updates that come.
• Ways to peacefully disagree
• First amendment
• Fairness
• Respect
• What is an Ally?
• What mean to take responsibility?
Quotes to discuss
• "Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of Justice" Martin Luther King Jr.
• "Violence is anything that denies human integrity, and leads to hopelessness and helplessness." Martin Luther King Jr.
Activity ideas
• Create a mural of your diverse community
• Poetry writing about social justice, community, self
• Role playing conflict resolution and peaceful disagreements
• Create signs and posters for a rally about first amendment rights
• Create a commercial about freedom of speech, first amendment, diversity, what is deaf, how to voice your opinion
• Develop a collective text (all write together)
• Collage
• Develop a Bill of Rights
• Create a comic strip
• Analyze a piece of literature or text from class for racial, class, social bias and or stereotypes
• Review the Deaf Child's Bill of Rights (www.nad.org/deafchildrights) what would you change, what do you agree with? How would you revise it? If you agree with it how could you work to get it recognized in your area?
• Organize a "Day of Respect" at your school,
• Brainstorm ways to show respect
• Make a class "I Am" book (see Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy's book Authors in the Classroom)
• Draw a picture of, tell a story about or write a description of someone who is a strong ally.
• Create a story or book about "how it is and how it could be"
Resources
• www.rethinkingschools.com
• Ada, A. F. and Campoy, F. I. (2004). Authors in the Classroom: A Transformative Education Process. Boston: Pearson publishers (www.ablongman.com )
Children's books for discussion
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
• The Red Comb by Fernando Pico
• The Streets are Free by Kurusa
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