As August nears its midpoint and teachers, parents, and students all begin to think about school, we must ask ourselves, how will it be different, how will it be better?
Sadly I can think of nothing our community has done to improve our schools. Two years ago 74% of first graders at my school were significantly below reading grade level when they entered school. Last year it was 88%. No where has this problem been addressed, but the public clamors for teacher accountability.
Doesn’t parental accountability come first? If a child is arriving at school behind what exactly is the teacher’s responsibility? The numbers at my school suggest teachers are doing an excellent job since only 22.4% of our 8th grade graduates are below basic in reading. (2007 numbers as 2008 numbers are not yet available).
Why isn’t the community suggesting to parents what academic tasks their children should be able to perform when they arrive at school? Why isn’t anyone telling them their children should know their colors, their children should know their alphabet, their children should be able to pronounce certain letter combinations and recognize basic sight words, and be able to count at least to 10?
I do believe it takes a village to raise a child, but the village is not doing its job. It’s merely trying to assign blame to a group that is doing an outstanding job despite under-funding, ridiculous mandates, and raw materials which do not meet requirements. That group is teachers, and it’s about time we demanded village accountability.
Keith, it takes more than a village. The ‘village’ can only do so much, unless it has a supported requirement to do so. It takes a state legislature recognizing that all children need to attend kindergarten at a particular age, and encouragement and financial support of preschools.
Pennsylvania (and other states as well, most likely) still do not mandate kindergarten education. Further, apparently a rule still exisits that does not require a child to be educated until the age of 8. Excessive absences/truancy issues are not followed up for even school-registered students if the child is younger than eight years old.
I have observed how primary-level ESOL students with “spotty” attendance have not had district “intervention” meetings with the parents, simply because of the child’s age. It turned out that the child was also “learning delayed”. So problems got compounded through neglect all around.
Your ICA plan has many advantages, but it needs certain inclusions, I believe, regarding incoming students from other (similar) states or other countries. Also, when new families enroll their children, perhaps ‘entry preparation’ should be available to the parents as well as their offspring.
Language support services for ESOL parents would enable them to better understand the policies and support their children. The village needs to support the adults, as well!
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