Kindergarten as the New First Grade

More for Governor Markell, Department of Education, and the State Board of Education to be proud of. Push ’em in pre-school so they hate school by 2nd grade. It is time to end your failed experiments on children.

Diane Ravitch's blog

Due to the Common Core and testing pressures, children in kindergarten are now expected to learn to read. Kindergarten, writes Erika Christakis in The Atlantic, has changed, and not for the better.

“One study, titled “Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?,” compared kindergarten teachers’ attitudes nationwide in 1998 and 2010 and found that the percentage of teachers expecting children to know how to read by the end of the year had risen from 30 to 80 percent. The researchers also reported more time spent with workbooks and worksheets, and less time devoted to music and art. Kindergarten is indeed the new first grade, the authors concluded glumly. In turn, children who would once have used the kindergarten year as a gentle transition into school are in some cases being held back before they’ve had a chance to start. A study out of Mississippi found that in some counties, more…

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15 Who Made On Impact On 2015 AND 16 To Watch In 2016: The Parents of Delaware Students

2015 had something happen that hasn’t happened in a long time.  Parents voices were heard loud and clear with education, and the Delaware General Assembly acted on their behalf with House Bill 50.  Parents also spoke out about bullying at Skyline Middle School in the Red Clay Consolidated School District and made a difference.  I expect this trend to not only continue in 2016, but also to increase.

The General Assembly has a big choice in front of them when they return to session on January 12th.  House Bill 50 WILL come up for a veto override.  Will they listen to parents or will they stick with Governor Markell?  Let’s be crystal clear: he has no intention of getting rid of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  The key to this will be the parents.  They need to start emailing and calling their state senators and state representatives in their district NOW.  On January 14th (not January 12th as previously reported), parents will rally at Legislative Hall in support of the veto override.  Sponsored by the Delaware PTA, this will be big.

Democrat Governor hopeful John Carney has kept mum on his position with opt-out.  Colin Bonini, the main Republican contender voted yes both times the bill came before the Delaware Senate.  I’m hoping you have a hat trick on this one Senator Bonini!

I have a feeling as more and more parents become upset with the way special education is going for many of their kids across the state more and more of them will speak up.  Many want to act but don’t know how or even if they can.  It only takes one person helping another.  Reach out to them and let them know there is no reason to be afraid to advocate for your child.

I’ve heard many parents tell me they won’t opt their child out unless a law is passed.  There is NO law that could pass that could give or take away your constitutional and fundamental right to opt your child out.  Know that, and act on it.

I personally want to thank all the parents who came to make their voice heard at Legislative Hall this year.  No matter which side of the fence you were on, the important thing is you were acting in the best interest of your children.  That is something to be proud of!  Whether it was bills on Autism, or teen suicide prevention, or opt-out, your voices were heard.  We will have a lot to fight for next year!  And really stepping forward to help parents was the Delaware PTA.  House Bill 50 would not have become the success it was had it not been for them.  Let’s stop the Governor from disrespecting parents!

Chaos Unleashed At Delaware Met Yesterday

Instead of students being somber about their charter revocation January 22nd, they decided to do something else yesterday.  This week, the Delaware Met received a new leader in the form of Denise Barnes, a former middle school assistant principal from Appoquinimink.  Yesterday, the students took full advantage of the recent decision by the State Board of Education to shut down the school by misbehaving and “jumping”, a slang term for causing fights.  The school had no clue how to handle the unruly students, so they shut down at noon.  This was not a planned and scheduled day.  They just said “School’s over, time to go home.”

Why would the charter, with a model that  focuses on personal relationships called “Big Picture Learning”, allow this behavior to continue.  And with all the problems, why would they hire a person from Appo to lead the school?  Appo and Delaware Met are two completely different worlds.  I’ve heard that even though the students had issues with former school Leader Tricia Hunter Crafton, she at least had their respect.  She knew how to connect with the students.  But as the school has gone through a few “leaders”, the students are running the school.

Delaware Met closes for Christmas break on December 22nd.  When they come back in January, they will have a few weeks before they close for good.  Who is monitoring what goes on there between now and then?  Is anyone?  It is painfully obvious that whoever the authority figures are now do not know what they are doing.  Are these students even learning anything these days?  And what about all their internships?  Is that even happening (which was the whole purpose of the school)?  The school bragged about their hiring of A.J. English and his mentoring team with English Mentoring.  What is going on with that?  What is their much vaunted “school climate team” even doing there?  The school has bragged about how things have turned around, but just this week alone there was an emergency room visit for a student who got stitches after a chair was thrown at his head, and then the mini-riot yesterday that forced the school to send everyone home without parental notification.  Apparently, the DOE was unaware of the stitches incident until well into the State Board of Education meeting the next day.  As if not telling the DOE about the stitches thing would have stopped the State Board from shutting them down!

As the Delaware Auditor of Account’s office investigates the school’s finances, many are wondering about what they will find.  I would assume they are looking at how funds were allocated, especially special education dollars.  Their budget submissions to the DOE during their formal review showed a lot of funds moving around.  And if there was any misappropriation of federal dollars, that’s big time!  I would also guess they are looking at Innovative Schools role in this unprecedented disaster.  How was money spent during the two-year planning period?  Did Innovative take advantage of the apparent inexperience of their board of directors?  And will we ever find out the mystery of the bleeding meat served at lunch to students?

Don’t get me wrong, I think the State Board of Education made the right decision in shutting them down.  But with that decision also comes the responsibility of making sure things run right until that closure.  By shutting them down, the State Board is saying they don’t trust the school to make the right decisions for their students.  So if they didn’t trust them before their decision, why would they trust them now to do the right thing?  With everything going on there, someone needs to look out for these kids.