Cathedral doors once served as bulletin boards. Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the doors of the Wittenberg church as a catalyst for debate. This is how I'd like to think of this blog, as a "door" on which to post brief theses about public education. I don't intend to go to great lengths to argue for or against the statements in the initial post for each topic. Expansion and clarification of the positions will come through dialogue. Ready? Here's the first:
There will be no true reform of American public education until the grade level system is discarded and every child has an IEP (individual education plan).
8 comments:
Unbelievable idea! I love it! An IEP for everyone! Would matching IEP's be grouped together and taught collectively in a more standardized classroom? Or would students become responsible for their educations? How do you feel about retention? Why are kids promoted when they aren't to grade level standard?
Okay, sounds complicated to me!! Too many IEP's to keep track of. But if it is for the best for the kids, then I will be for it. But I can see it being hard to implement, much less getting the parents to come aboard. You know how most people feel comfortable with the status quo.
Maria, yes, I know how most prople feel about the status quo. Yet I think that parents would welcome the idea of an individual education plan for their child[ren] since the focus of the school would be on their unique child to help that child realize theri unique potential according to the child's abilities and interests. I envision a much more fluid approach to education than now exists. Students progress at rates suited to them and not according to artificial "age appropriate" benchmarks.
Implementation would require a significant increase in the amount of money spent on education so that you, the teacher, would have the administrative and paraprofessional support necessary to manage student progress.
Pamegranite, welcome! There would be no promotion or retention and there would be no grade level standards because there would be no grade levels.
The intent is to develop student responsibility for their own educations.
Student groupings would be more fluid than now, flowing back and forth from individual to small group to large group work. I think that this would allow for flexible groupings of students with similar and different IEPs as student needs change.
I believe that it would enhace education for all by removing the invisible barriers erected by labeling some children as learning disabled and others as talented and gifted. Each child would be seen as an individual with unique challenges to learning and with strengths that enhance learning.
What I meant to say was retention NOW, of course it's not going to happen with IEP's at your ideal school.
Pam, thanks for the clarification. Retention? Not certain. It might be appropriate at the primary grade levels, but I think less appropriate at 3rd grade and above. There have been a couple of times when I considered recommending students for retention and I completed a form that indicated that they were not good candidates for retention. Can't remember offhand the name of the scale.
The probelm remains, how to meet the needs of a student who has not met grade level benchmarks and yet is promoted to the next grade. To be consistent with my original thesis, I believe that I question the validity of grade-level or age- level benchmarks in view of what we are learning about the unique way in which every individual learns.
I think it is interesting how this ‘maybe next year’ attitude has become a part of everyday conversation. Maybe next year I will teach this better, or maybe next year the next group of kids will be more interested. I can’t help but feel that if the kids don’t get it this year, what happens to them next year, and what do I need to change that? Are they truly ready for the next year although they are much lower academically then all the other school districts. It seems like maybe next year they don’t stand a chance. That is a scary feeling, knowing that I am a major part in that… whether or not they are ready or not for secondary education. I can’t just leave it for next year.
Angela, I apologize for this tardy response. I was enjoying the extended holiday break AND I wasn't sure that anyone would really want to participate in this forum. I resolve THIS year to check and update the blog more frequently!
You raise very legitimate concerns and I agree that a "maybe next year" attitude can be harmful to students under the current educational model. This is why I think that the American public education system needs reinvention rather than reform. There should be no "next year". Student needs should be met as they arise and there should be appropriate resources available to the student, family, and teacher to accomplish this.
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