9/11/08

A Superintendent's Hope

Here is a quote from a superintendent of a public school district in the Bay area:
“We have already adopted a new math program and are well on our way to develop a language arts program which we hope will make a difference [emphasis mine],” he said.
I guess the operative word in that sentence is HOPE.

Is hoping a new curriculum will work the best way to help kids? I say no. I have identified many small but significant changes that could be made, district wide, that would improve instruction and not put teachers off or scare them. But because of NCLB, we must purchase research-based curricular materials (a load of crap) that are expensive and too complicated to use on the fly (which is how the district expected us to implement the new curriculum).

Folks, you need universal health care, corporate taxes (to fund NCLB, since you won't repeal it), early childhood education (to close the achievment gap), and a stronger teacher's union. Otherwise citizens, you will continue to have superintendents that use hope as an intervention.

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