CLARIFICATIONS ON DRAFT RESOLUTION ON PIONEER TECHNOLOGY CHARTER SCHOOL PETITION
School Principal:RoseEducationCenter board members have identified Momentum Middle School (San Diego)'sviceprincipal Mr. David Yilmazas the principal of PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool.Mr. Yilmaz holds a masters degree in Electronics from the University of California-Irvine. He started as a science teacher at MagnoliaScienceAcademyfrom scratch and has been the only vice principal at MomentumMiddle Schoolfor the last two years. He has been handling both academics and the discipline. He will move to Portland area in the beginning of June, possibly May of 2008.
PioneerTechnologySchool was assigned only 10 minutes in total for speeches in support. The development team, therefore, decided to sample its support by one parent and one professor. PioneerTechnologySchool submitted the signatures of 101 “meaningfully interested” 6th and 7th grade parents’ to Mr. Cliff Brush on December 3rd. The supporters attended the December 4th meeting and those who will attend the December 10 meeting will clearly show the support for PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool.
The discussion in the mentioned part of the petition is not the demand in the area, it’s rather why Pioneer is targeting that area. Pioneer targets the achievement gap reflected in the area students’ test scores. We aim to raise the area students’ low test scores and decrease the burden on public schools.
Not all area schools met the AYP in all areas. The demand in the area is well analyzed in the petition.
A analysis of where the potential pool of students for the charter school reside is shown on the following table with the school districts students are enrolled.
Table I
Total / PPS / David Douglas / Vancouver / Beaverton / Other Districts6th Grade / 51 / 15 / 12 / 7 / 4 / 13 / Tigard - Tualatin, Centennial, Parkrose, Reynolds, Gresham, West Linn-Willsonville, Oregon Trail, Canby, Camas
7th Grade / 50 / 25 / 12 / 9 / 0 / 4 / Scappoose, St. Helens, Tigard-Tualatin, Parkrose
Total / 101
Pioneer will be a replication of Dialog Foundation’s highly successful charter school; MagnoliaScienceAcademy ( and meet all requirements of the state of Oregon. Dialog Foundation will support RoseEducationCenter’s new charter school Pioneer in terms of educational program, professional training, fundraising practices and all other applicable areas.
The Dialog Foundation will not charge for the services it provides to PioneerTechnologySchool, only travel expenses will be covered for professional training activities from the professional training allocation in the proposed budget.
California State Department of Education uses “similar schools ranking” to compare similar schools. The similar school ranking of MagnoliaScienceAcademywas presented at the public hearing. It has been 10 out of a possible 10 for the last 3 years.
From the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission website:
TRANSITIONAL TEACHING LICENSE [See OAR 584-060-0161 for eligibility.*]
Transitional Teaching Licenses are temporary provisional licenses issued to eligible out-of state educators who have completed an approved program in their own states or who may hold an unrestricted out-of-state license. Theses licenses are issued for up to three years and are not renewable. The three years is intended to give people time to complete Oregon's statutory and regulatory requirements for the Initial Teaching License.
RESTRICTED TRANSITIONAL TEACHING LICENSE [See, OAR 584-060-0162 for eligibility.*]
Restricted Transitional Teaching Licenses are temporary provisional licenses issued to eligible applicants, only upon request from a school district. Districts may request this license when an otherwise licensed teacher is not available. The applicant must have a bachelor's degree or higher, the district must assign a mentor for the licensee and the licensee must complete a teacher education program within three years from the date the license is issued. These licenses do not meet the definition of "highly qualified teacher" under the federal "No Child Left Behind Act."
APPROVED NCLB ALTERNATIVE ROUTE LICENSE: [See, OAR 584-100-0041 for eligibility*]
The Approved NCLB Alternative Route License may be issued to eligible applicants only upon district request when the applicant meets the federal definition of "highly qualified teacher" in any core academic subject. This license enables the teacher to be legally designated as "highly qualified" for a period of three years. Oregon law requires that in order to remain licensed in the state, the educator must complete a teacher education program within three years from the date the license is issued.
The above information clearly shows that international teachers’ licensing will not be a problem as Pioneer will use one of the above methods for international teachers and will not ask the district to mediate any efforts in doing so.
A powerpoint presentation on Magnolia’s free-reduced lunch ratios, demographics and API (Academic Performance Index) scoresfor past five years, similar schools rankings were made at the public hearing. The track record presented at the hearing clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the program. The educational program outlined in the charter petition details how low-achieving students are identified and supported during and after-school. Additional information can be provided upon request.
As explained above Magnolia or Dialog Foundation will not charge any fees other than travel expenses for staff who will come to Portland to provide Professional training to Pioneer teachers and administrators. Dialog Foundation is a non-profit organization, receives funding as grants and donations. Some of these grants and donations are specifically allocated to be spent on the expansion and dissemination of its educational program.
The analysis of parent signatures presented in this document and the table showing howPioneerTechnologyCharterSchool is different than mentioned programs in the same are proves that Pionner Technology will have no adverse impact on the district schools. (Please see Table I and Table II)
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How PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool Is Different Than Existing Pps Schools?
From the questionnaire provided by the district staff:
The Creative Science focus option and LEPCharterHigh School are now operating in Southeast Portland. How are they different from Pioneer’s proposal? Will Pioneer compete with them for students?
As the charter school division expressed in the staff review on page 3, PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool offers a different educational program for grades 6-12. None of the above mentioned schools are offering Technology Integrated Education (TIE) © with International Computer Driving License (ICDL)nor do they have a Math, Science Olympiad Program (MSOP) ©. In addition, home visits and free after-school tutoring make Pioneer unique.As it’s stated on their website CreativeScienceSchool is using technology as a tool to build up a relevant context for the application of basic skills application of basic skills whereas PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool will be integrating technology into their classes.The only similarity between LEPCharterHigh School and PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool is the word “charter” on their names. As it reads on its name LEP is focusing more on Leadership & Entrepreneurship whereas PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool will be focusing on technology. LEP only has grades 9-12 as well. With different approaches in its entire program, PioneerTechnologyCharterSchoolaims to enrich the education opportunities for students in public education. Pioneer’s purpose is not to compete for students with any schools in the area but believes that there is a unique niche market that Pioneer fits in.
How is the proposed Pioneer program different from the programs offered by the Academy of Arts and Technology and the Academy of Science and Technology at JeffersonHigh School?
The Academy of Science and Technology is only offering science and technology classes for grades 9-12 as a focus while students are completing health science/biotechnology endorsements. As it states on the name of the program “The academy of arts and technology’ is an art focus program and is only offering education with concentrated training in the performing and visual arts using technology as a tool. PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool offers a different educational program for grades 6-12 and can not be compared and contrasted with the above mentioned schools.In addition none of the above mentioned schools are offering Technology Integrated Education (TIE) © with International Computer Driving License (ICDL) nor do they have a Math, Science Olympiad Program (MSOP) ©. Also, home visits and free after-school tutoring make Pioneer unique.
Will Pioneer compete with them for students? Why?
No. As it’s discussed under the previous question Pioneer Technology cannot be compared with these programs in any way.In addition to the structure of both Academy of Arts and Technology and the Academy of Science and Technology programs at Jefferson High School these programs are only being offered in high school level in northeast part of Portland whereas Pioneer Technology Charter School will begin education with 6th graders in southeast part of Portland.
How is the proposed program different from programs offered at BensonHigh School and at PaulingAcademy of Integrated Science at the Marshall Campus?
As indicated in our charter proposal on page 16, above mentioned schools offer different programs. Both Benson and PaulingAcademy are offering their programsstarting from grades 9 through 12. Benson’s program is a communication technology program. Pioneer will be serving grades starting from 6th through 12 on technology in a broader sense in addition to math and science education. Pauling Academy of Integrated Science offers Expeditionary Learning (EL) program which is completely different than our educational program. None of the above mentioned schools are offering Technology Integrated Education (TIE) © with International Computer Driving License (ICDL) nor do they have a Math, Science Olympiad Program (MSOP) ©. In addition, home visits and free after-school tutoring make Pioneer unique.
Will Pioneer compete with them for students? Why?
No. Competition is a matter of offering the same program in a better way. Benson is a polytechnic high school and Pauling Academy is more than five miles away from the proposed school location in addition to the fact that Pioneer Technology Charter School has a unique educational program and different than all the schools mentioned above.
Table II: How PioneerTechnologyCharterSchool is different than mentioned programs?
as a Tool / ICDL / Homevisit / Free Tutoring / Map Testing
Pioneer Technology
CharterSchool / SE / 6-12 / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes
The Creative Science
Focus Option / SE / K-8 / N/A / N/A / Yes / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
LEP / SE / 9-12 / N/A / N/A / Yes / N/A / N/A / N/A / Yes
Academy of
Arts & Technology / NE / 9-12 / N/A / N/A / Yes / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Academy of
Science & Technology / NE / 9-12 / N/A / N/A / Yes / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
BensonHigh School / NE / 9-12 / N/A / N/A / Yes / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
PaulingAcademy
of Integrated Science / SE / 9-12 / N/A / N/A / Yes / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
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