The Treasure Hunter

Today’s post was submitted by an experienced and gifted teacher, Don Bellairs, who sees many flaws in current school systems.  The remedies he suggests reflect his own experiences and observations.

As a teacher in some challenging programs serving gifted and special needs students in several states, I grew aware of one constant: It is far easier to succeed when your students come to you ready for what you are going to teach. Yet such “successes”  are most often attributed in the media to district “communications specialists” who make more money than master teachers.

Equal opportunities in education demand cultural change. That means clearing out the sycophants who have learned that their jobs are more secure when they schmooze with the fund raisers. Reform means circumnavigating the “unions” to recognize teachers working in obscurity, designing lesson plans that provide opportunities for all students to develop and experience success.

Real teachers create learning environments where the gifted kids value helping those who are differently-abled—instead of simply working for the opportunity to surge to the front of their classes. It is a better lesson for every one involved.

We need to find ways to populate public school classrooms with REAL teachers. We don’t need school choice–we need accountability and oversight.  We don’t need vouchers–we need transparency and meritocracy.  And REAL teachers need a supportive union. Too many of them are laboring unsupported and unprotected, victimized by a corrupt union and a complicit state gov’t.

There is a LOT of work to be done, but most of the people who must do this work are also charged with creating lesson plans for two hundred kids every day (20% of whom need specialized plans), holding students accountable for completing tasks,  ensuring that students’ conduct and language are appropriate for large public groups,  interacting with stressed-out, often untrained administrators and colleagues, and reassuring parents who are trying to raise their children in a more-and-more frightening society.

When I read the article written by teacher Sonja Murray a few days ago, I couldn’t help wondering why “The Hechinger Report” (HR) thought it should be published. Ms. Murray was so far out of line with the research on young children’s capabilities, the expectations of the Common Core State standards, and the views of the well-educated teachers I know, that I wondered if the HR had some personal relationship with her. Surely, the HR with its own good reputation and broad experience had not sought her out as an expert.

After reading the article twice, along with a few others published by the HR, I felt that two things were at work in their decision to publish Murray’s opinions: the desire of the HR staff to appear open-minded and the fact that  some of them share her philosophy. It should also be noted that the HR is focusing on education in Mississippi at the present time, posting several articles that praise the state’s actions.

Even so, I find it unacceptable for a respected news medium to publish such a narrow view without making it clear that it is a single person’s opinion. the only thing the HR did to justify its action was to offer a weak defense of itself below Ms. Murray’s article: “The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education, produced this story. “

As for my reasons in posting Murray’s student requirements on my blog, I found her expectations for parents and their children so unreasonable that I couldn’t ignore them.  Moreover, I believe that the situation in her school argues strongly against her recommendations.  It is a Title 1 school in southeast Mississippi where 78 percent of students are on free or reduced-price lunches. When so many children entering kindergarten live in high-poverty families,  it is unreasonable to expect their parents to have the materials, time, and skills to teach their children all the things things Murray expects.

Finally, my lengthy experience as a teacher and school principal, my university degrees, and the honors I’ve received, lead me to be contemptuous of Ms. Murray’s beliefs and practices. When children came to kindergarten at our rural Oregon elementary school, many of them did not know their own last names, could not write their first names in “upper and lower case letters”, and did not understand what was proper behavior in a classroom. When it was time to line up for lunch in the school cafeteria, I had to help the teacher get children into alphabetical order and stay that way so the cafeteria manager knew who she was serving.

Fortunately, our kindergarteners ultimately learned the things they needed to succeed at school. One important change we made was to separate the kindergarten class into two groups and place each one with a first grade class for the morning time. The young children quickly, and without complaint or orders from their teacher, picked up the behavior of their older classmates and a good portion of their knowledge. Since the kindergarteners went home at noon, the two first grade classes in the afternoon were small, and their teachers were able to move students ahead rapidly in reading, writing, and math.

Although I recognize that there are many cultural differences between Oregon and Mississippi that may affect education, I still see the skills and behaviors Ms. Murray expects of very young children to be unreasonable, and the actions of the HR in promoting her ideas to be unethical.

I’m pleased to report that three readers, who are accomplished educators, have already sent me their opinions on the article, “What Should Children Know and Be Able to Do when They Enter Kindergarten?” which I wrote about on Thursday. I will post a quote from each contributor and give his name below. If you wish to read their complete responses, you can find them in the Comments section at the bottom of this page.

Gary R Hargett started his response by saying: “Ms. Murray’s advice offends me.” He then wrote about his own good experiences in learning to read, and ended by declaring the extent of his disapproval of Murray’s advice to parents: “I want to scream.”

Paul Eck wrote that Ms. Murray’s expectations for kindergarteners “sound like second semester first grade to me.” He ended by declaring that ”Pushing first grade into pre-kindergarten is malpractice in my opinion.”

Allen Koshewa replied “It would be nice if all children entered kindergarten with these skills, but they are not nearly as essential as a sense of inquiry, playing well with others, and the ability to delay gratification.” He thought it would be better for children if “Ms. Murray could instead join forces with parents throughout the school year so that they could reinforce their children’s learning at home.”

There is still time for other readers to give their opinions. Especially, I’d like to hear from anyone who agrees with Ms. Murray.  On Monday I will give my assessment of Ms. Murray’s recommendations and “The Hechinger Report”s decision to post it.

On July 24th I read a piece in“ The Hechinger Report” contributed by a kindergarten teacher in a Mississippi public school. Her purpose in writing it was to inform local parents about what their children should know and be able to do when they entered kindergarten. Although I have never taught kindergarten, I supervised those classes in two schools when I was a principal, and formed my own opinions about what was reasonable to expect from children just beginning school. Next week I will give my opinions and describe what the kindergarten teachers I worked with did to help children who were lagging behind their expectations.

 In the meantime I would like to hear readers’ opinions. I will post their views, with or without names, as they request.

Recently “The Hechinger Report” posted an article by Sonja Murray, a kindergarten teacher who has been teaching for 21 years. In addition, she has earned National Board Certification and a master’s degree from Mississippi State University. Below, I offer key quotes from her letter to parents of children who will be entering kindergarten this year and a quote from The Hechinger Report.

Ms. Murray begins by introducing herself and her school:

I teach kindergartners at East Mississippi’s Southeast Elementary, about 40 miles from the Alabama line.

At our preK-12 Title 1 School, 78 percent of our students are on free or reduced-price lunch.

After 21 years as a kindergarten teacher, I believe the most important thing children need in order to be ready for kindergarten is for their parents or other caregivers to take the time to give their children a firm foundation of language and math skills while their children are small.

Next, she gives a brief justification for her high expectations:

Research tells us that the brain is developing quickly between birth and five years of age, making connections that will impact future learning.

Following that, she offers a list of the skills she expects from beginning kindergarteners:

In language arts, children should be able to recognize and write their names, with an uppercase letter at the beginning and the rest lowercase, and to pick their names out of a list of names.

They should be able to recognize and name at least 10 lowercase letters (which we focus on because they are harder to learn than uppercase letters). They should be able to say the color of an object when shown the eight basic colors – red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, black and brown.

Children should be able to speak in complete sentences. They should be able to identify when words sound the same.

Children should be able to take turns, share, listen and be able to play together at centers with other 5-year-old children and know it is OK that they do not always get their way. They should to be able to sit and listen to a story.

Essential math concepts include being able to recite numbers 1 to 30 in correct order; recognize, name and write the numerals 0 to 10; be able to say the name of the number when shown a numeral and write the number correctly (not backwards).

The children should be able to count a set of objects and tell the number of objects in the set. They should be able to correctly name and identify four basic shapes – the circle, square, triangle and rectangle.

After that list Ms. Murray  goes on to explain that she and her colleagues have created workshops for parents so they can prepare children for kindergarten. She adds information about “Family fun Nights” that involve children in a scavenger hunt and literacy questions in order to receive a prize. She further explains that the scavenger hunt and its rewards are “a fun way to get kids excited about reading and to inform parents of the many benefits of reading to and with their children every night.”

 At the end of the article Hechinger explains– to some extent—why it chose to post this article:  The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education, produced this story.

I will withhold my reactions to this article and it publisher until after readers have had time to express their own.

Today, an article in “Education Week”, entitled “Trump Ed. Dept. Changes Process for ESSA Feedback” by Alyson Klein, told of the reactions to the DOE’s criticism of states’s ESSA plans.  Although I don’t have much to say about the changes, I think it is important to inform readers about what has happened.

As you already know, ESSA plans from nine states were harshly criticized by the DOE. What I learned today was that several state officials and members of Congress quickly chastised the DOE for its harshness, accusing it of “nit-picking”.

As a result, the DOE, quickly moved to make changes in their Feedback process. Instead of sending written critiques to states right off the bat, it will first hold two hour phone discussions with state representatives over anything they find disturbing or inadequate in their plans.  If disagreements are resolved through those discussions, no mention of the original problems will be appear in the final written feedback that follows .

The DOE also made the following public quote to reassure state representatives and the public of their commitment to cooperation and fairness:

“The department is committed to working with states to help ensure their plans align with the statutory requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act.  Part of that commitment, in addition to the required peer reviews, is maintaining an open dialogue with state leaders. That feedback is intended to provide an informal opportunity to address any potential concerns prior to plans being submitted to Secretary DeVos for review. Secretary DeVos looks forward to reviewing plans and approving every plan that complies with the law.”

My reactions to these events are mixed. I was pleased to see state representatives and Congress members stand up for respectful treatment of all state plans, and also to see the DOE’s quick change in its way of conveying disapproval or confusion about state submissions. But, in its public statement I still sense the DOE’s resistance to state proposals that would modify some of the harsh school practices of the past several years. It looks like states will still not be able to make their schools places where students want to be.