The furor in Palm Beach County continues over the mandated, unproven curriculum plan advanced by Superintendent Art Johnson.
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Stop wasting the school year on unproven curriculum plan
By The Palm Beach Post Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 6:56 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, 2009
Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Art Johnson needs to do one of two things: Tell protesting parents and teachers that he's going ahead with curriculum changes, or drop the controversial plan — entirely — for this school year.
Dr. Johnson and Chief Academic Officer Jeffrey Hernandez, who get credit/blame for imposing the regimented, test-heavy program designed to improve FCAT scores, announced this week a series of 11 meetings with teachers and parents to resolve complaints. Good luck with that.
Dr. Johnson has tried a strategy of incremental capitulation. He said that the tests wouldn't necessarily count toward a student's grade. He announced that there would be flexibility for teachers to modify the pace of lesson plans. He announced that principals could make "school-based" decisions to follow the new curriculum or not. None of those responses to the criticism satisfied parents and teachers, who show little inclination to compromise. By the time the meetings are supposed to be over — Dec. 17 — the first half of the school year will have been dithered away.
The upheaval can't help but be destructive from all angles. What are students to think when parents and teachers tell them that what's happening in the classroom is worthless? What are students to think when the district micromanages and shows so little respect for its own teachers? Uncertainty will be even more destructive if it continues into January and February, the crucial run-up to the actual FCAT testing.
Protesting parents are convinced that the curriculum puts too much stress on students and limits educational opportunities of students who don't need special help. They are convinced of what they can't possibly know. And because of the disruption protests have caused, the effectiveness of the Johnson/Hernandez approach can't be gauged based on results from this academic year.
Dr. Johnson and Mr. Hernandez, for their part, did a terrible job of laying the groundwork for the curriculum change. They didn't prepare parents or show them why they're convinced that the curriculum is beneficial. They didn't get teachers on board. They didn't sufficiently explore alternatives that could have better targeted the students who need help. How will 11 more meetings resolve all that? This is not a matter of tweaking.
Keep the curriculum? Don't keep the curriculum? At this point, it probably doesn't matter much this year. The very students all this upheaval was designed to help will end up suffering the most if their FCAT scores result in them being held back or failing to graduate. Those students have not been the primary concern of protesting parents. Those students, supposedly, have been the district's primary concern. But the attempt to help them has been inept. Pretending that these meetings can make things better is folly.
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Read the editorial and post a comment on palmbeachpost.com.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/edito...lum-100662.html
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Read an earlier post on passing notes.
http://www.techplug.com/uniserv/index.php?showtopic=528