Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments What's happening in early education in my district

I'd love to know what the minds on this wonderful forum think of the new learning environment in my district.

The kindergarten classrooms have been stripped of any toys, naps have been forbidden and kindergarteners are now required to sit through 90 minute ELA instruction, half of which is a powerpoint presentation. This is all Journeys based and teachers are not permitted to stray from the script (yes, there is a script) and they are to teach the same way, the same level, to all children regardless of ability.

There is something very, very wrong with this in my opinion. We are losing teachers.

Can any of you see any positives in this kind of approach?

If I had a kindergartener my first instinct would be to take him or her out of that school and go for a private school or homeschool situation.

Wow! That sounds the total opposite of what I'd want to see in kindergarten - I'm curious what your district is saying are the positive points, and why did they implement it?

I'm not a teacher, but I can only imagine how my friends who are teachers would feel about this... and it's not "positive"!

polarbear

well, that approach should surely reduce class sizes - you know, with what with all the families pulling up and moving to the next district!

also, yikes.

No, there are no positives to this approach. This is what my local public schools do. They don't allow the kids to have recess either. Run like a madman away from this!

Polarbear, I'm not sure any info was given about this to the general public. It seems like this was sort of swept in quickly and thoroughly with the attitude that this is the way things will be. What I see as a layperson is there are a lot of banal, mind-numbing brain-washy type slogans such as "I can" statements, and that teachers of early grades have little control over their curriculum designs.

That is simply appalling.

Is this an all-day class? I suppose there might be something to be said for removing toys if they were replaced with useful manipulatives. The rest of it sounds absolutely stupid. Maybe they want to decrease enrollment? 45 minutes of staring at a screen seems to fly in the face of any good research.

What is ELA?

Language Arts. And yes, this is all day kindergarten.

I know from several sources that this is true. I think someone has already talked to a writer from the local paper. I don't know if anything will come of it because of politics.

If all the classes are to be the same, why not just have them all in a single large lecture hall?

Sounds crazy. Admittedly it has been a long time (35 years maybe) since our new entrants (5 year olds) have had toys and naps. They do have manipulatives/blocks/board games though plus singing/dancing/outdoor games spread throughout the day (we don't have specialists so they canbe loosley scheduled). Plus more recess etc than you guys over there.

I can't see anyone thinking a power point was a good learning tool for little kids though and I can't see our teachers teaching from a script - they don't even use textbooks.

and if the classes are scripted why have a trained teacher. If fact we could put 200 five year olds in the gym and get the older kids to take turns teaching with the biggest bully in the school in charge of discipline. That sounds quite familiar now I think of it.

My first instinct is to gather a group of parents armed with research studies and make a compelling presentation to the local school board regarding the ways in which this approach is detrimental to the children.

My second instinct is that your district may actually be participating in a research experiment? Possibly the development of these pupils may be measured in several areas and compared with similar measures taken for other groups of students? Have parents signed any type of release or blanket permission slip for their child's participation in any educational research or study... possibly at time of registration/enrollment? Is information available online at your district's website, or through open records request, providing transparent and accountable government?

You described in your OP schools doing something ridiculous. Usually the press loves to do stories on things like this. Why would "politics" stop them telling the story.

This sounds disturbingly like a story I heard a few days ago on NPR about Bridge International Academy. It is apparently a for-profit school; the story was focused on a school in Nairobi. It uses what they called the school-in-a-box model, where the goal is to educate large volumes of kids for as little money as possible. The "teachers" all get the day's script via hand-held tablet computers and they literally read the lessons. They claim it is a successful model in the developing world, in part because they hire teachers who don't have college degrees (or much education at all, apparently).

Can't seem to make a link; the story is at NPR.org, entitled "Do For-profit Schools Give Poor Kenyans a Choice?"

When DD was in kindergarten at an absolutely awful inter district magnet she had the kindergarten teacher from hell. Absolutely no explanation for why she ever chose teaching as a profession or who in their right minds would have put her in a kindergarten classroom. She would have LOVED the program the OP describes. In fact it's actually pretty close to what she tried to do. No toys, no play, nothing creative or imaginative allowed. It was up to the kids to adapt to her teaching style - no way would she consider adapting to individual needs or learning styles. Obvious signs of learning disabilities or other neurological issues? P-shaw! These children are just lazy and need additional doses of discipline. Recess is a waste of time! Developmentally appropriate? Don't make me laugh! Silence, marching in straight lines, belittling criticism and punishment - that's what these spoiled brats need if we are going to meet the "rigorous academic standards of kindergarten today"!

Yeah it turned out really well for my DD. 3 years later she still suffers from PTSD type reactions to anything that reminds her of that teacher or that experience. This should prove fun for years to come...

{shiver}

Have you looked into the EMDR therapy for DD? I have heard good things about it.

Yes, I just read that story as well. It does indeed. And then I googled "scripted teaching" and it seems it's become a thing here as well.

Awful.

KDAmom, you may want to read about direct instruction, and project follow through. There is some research and background about the scripted teaching model- the wickipedia entries were good overviews.

Thanks, Cricket3. I will.

It has happened in my school district too and is happening in a lot of school districts. In my school district they use a program worse than 'Journeys' called 'Treasures', all in the name of implementing the Common Core. These programs are only useful if you have inexperienced and weak teachers in your school district that need a script to teach. A really good school with strong teachers will design its own curriculum to meet the Common Core from various sources including in house resources.

Okay. I've done some cursory reading and now I understand more where this latest trend is coming from and why: an extention of Headstart so that the achievement gap between the disadvantaged and the rest of the population can narrow (or as some wishful thinkers hope, close).

But once again, if we don't deal with the effects of poverty directly, such as safety and nutrition and parenting education, we are just throwing the latest trend at the issue hoping it will stick. Meanwhile, closing the gap means, whether intentional or not, lowering the ceiling because how else is the data going to justify all the money and energy spent to do so?

My apologies for any typos--on my phone.

Yep, programs like Journeys and Treasures lower the ceiling in a scary way for all children, but especially for gifted readers in the classrooms. The so called "above level' basal books in these programs are too easy for gifted readers, which results in gifted kids and advanced learners being left behind.

I think my kids are using Journeys. No wonder DD isn't doing too great on Reading achievement test scores.

My ds is older. Last year he was in 5th grade and his teacher was required to use Journeys, but I think at that grade level there is more opportunity for differentiation.

Fortunately I didn't see any of that scripted teaching in his classes last year. And now that he's in middle school, I'm assuming he'll be free of it.

I hope the parents you know with kids in those kindergarten classes are pulling them out, banding together and making life hard for the principal and the district.