Education expert, Alfie Kohn has written extensively about the lack of any real educational value in homework, especially for young children.
In this brief video, he refers to homework, after a full day of school, as the Second Shift. After a full day of Kindergarten, homework for 5-year-olds IS just like working a second shift. Why can’t they just be 5 years old?
Last night, in the Opt Out Seminole group on Facebook, parent Brandi Kitchens shared this letter sent home with her Kindergartener yesterday. For whatever reason, the school is unable to get in the 90 minutes/week of i-Ready during school and demanding, not demanding that parents see to it at home, complete with bribes galore to enforce compliance. Many parents were appalled. It was a robust discussion. While there were a few parents who stated that their child likes i-Ready, outraged is not too strong a word for what others expressed.
Seminole County is not alone in this poor educational practice. i-Ready is excessively required in Orange County, Palm Beach County (here, here and here) , Miami-Dade County and many others – to the same degree. Parents in the Opt Out groups have been discussing i-Ready homework for months. And they’ve had enough.
“Apalled. I don’t care if the child likes it or not. Some kids might like licking cement but we don’t let them do it. No kindergarten child should have homework, but if you must, one worksheet or a story to read should be the max. I think it will take parents drawing the line on the amount of time spent on homework at all grade levels and opting out of anything in excess of that time for schools to think about ending this obscene policy.”
What would YOU think if you received this letter from your child’s school?
Letter to Kindergarten Parents from a Seminole County elementary school
Brandi and Jonathan Kitchens sent this letter to SCPS Superintendent, Dr. Walt Griffin:
Dear Dr. Griffin,
When my husband and I decided to move to Florida this summer, we chose to move to Seminole County because of its solid reputation for doing what is best for children in education.
Yesterday, my child brought home a letter from school informing me that SCPS is now requiring Kindergarteners to complete 90 minutes per week of Math and Reading on i-Ready. At home. The letter says that children who do not do i-Ready at home will not be punished. However they will also not partake of the rewards shared with those who put in their i-Ready hours. They will be excluded from multiple trips to Treasure Box and Fish Awards, which will be used in larger weekly prizes. Therefore, punished without calling it punishment.
This is unacceptable.
These children are FIVE YEARS OLD. They’ve already put in their seven hours of hard work at the office. Seven hours of being good. Seven hours of being told what to do, say and think, of “minding their manners” with other five-year olds, of sitting still and “keeping your hands to yourself,” of lessons and lining up for lunch and learning to color inside the lines.
This is to advise you that my child will not be completing i-Ready at home. We will not subject him to “overtime” at home. When he gets home, he needs to tell me about his day. He needs to play and climb trees. He does not need to do MORE work. He does not need the screen time. He needs to just be five years old.
What is striking to me in the letter is that there is no mention of how i-Ready will benefit my child, only how important it is to get in his “minutes” and we will do everything possible to get in those precious minutes.” There is NO research demonstrating that 90 minutes of weekly i-Ready will improve any student’s learning. In a school year, that’s 54 hours of assessments. Just for i-Ready. Unacceptable.
Furthermore, not all families are “plugged in” making this is an unfair demand. But if i-Ready is online and the school has the ability to track student time in the program, why would parents need to sign off “yes” or “no” on the calendar?
Parents get homework too!
This strikes me as further distancing my child from others in the class due to our inability or (disinterest) in the program. The entire “reward system” seems unfair, and inappropriate in a class full of Kindergarteners.
My understanding is that i-Ready is being used to evaluate teachers. It is not any child’s job to sacrifice valuable time with his teacher for his teacher’s evaluation.
I am told by an elementary school teacher of more than twenty years with a Masters degree in Developmental Psychology that there is a “standard of care” that academia and early childhood experts have concluded is best for children. And that would be NO HOMEWORK IN KINDERGARTEN. The people who know what’s best for children have determined homework is not one of those things.
We do believe that running and playing outside for the hour of daylight after we get home from work is more valuable for all aspects of his growth and development than any amount of i-Ready, especially after a full day of school. We believe that helping to set the table will teach him more practical math; and reading together as a family at bedtime will help instill a love of reading far more than i-Ready ever could. Family first.
There is ample research against using extrinsic motivation in school. Therefore, I hope that special treats will be shared with the entire class – just as treats, not incentives. Has it even occurred to anyone in the district to question the wisdom of i-Ready if the schools must “incentivize” participation to the extent that it does in order to get the compliance it seeks?
Because we strongly disagree with i-Ready for homework, and with the use of the school’s “rewards game” to coerce five-year-olds into compliance, it is our family’s decision that he not participate. I am prepared to discuss with my five-year-old, the fact that life can sometimes be unfair, and that as his Mom and Dad, WE have to decide what is best for him. He will understand that if he is excluded from “treats or special rewards” at school, he is not being punished by his teacher – he is being punished by his school district’s questionable demands.
Please restore our trust in this district and put a stop to requiring i-Ready as homework for our youngest students. Please stop demanding that schools and teachers push for the “minutes.” It is an unnecessary stress for families.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Respectfully,
Brandi and Jonathan Kitchens
_______________________________
This is not the norm in every district – most, but not all. In Marion County, Supt. Heidi Maier has all but banned homework for elementary grades. It’s true! A Florida school district banned homework.
“Heidi Maier, the new superintendent of the 42,000-student Marion County public school district in Florida, said in an interview that she made the decision based on solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students. They are being asked to do one thing to help them academically: Read for 20 minutes a night.”
Let me repeat – in bold, AND underlined:
“..she made the decision based on solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students. They are being asked to do one thing to help them academically: Read for 20 minutes a night.“
This IS possible in your district too. But not unless YOU demand it.
Otherwise, this may be the alternative for your child…
For years, school boards have been telling parents how much they sympathized and empathized with us, as we have pleaded and protested to make a year of school count for more than one test. There are districts doing right by the children and promoting them, as the law specifies. However, immediately following Judge Gievers’ ruling last Friday, effectively “untying the hands” of all school districts in Florida to do as parents have requested and use a portfolio assessment (not the same as the state’s portfolio test bank), Orange and Hernando Counties filed their already prepared appeals. It’s clear now, that the boards’ chants of, “Our hands are tied” were just excuses to not do better. Sadly, yesterday, Broward and Seminole Counties followed suit, in defiance of the judge’s orders.
In response to the districts’ motions for appeal, this “Open Letter to Florida School Boards” was penned by parent activist, Jinia Parker of Pinellas County. We couldn’t have said it better and we are sharing it here with permission:
____________________
Dear Florida School Boards,
Parents, educators and activists have reached out to you for years, asking for your help and guidance. Again and again we got the same messages.
“Our hands are tied.” “We must follow the law.” “We wish we could do things differently, but…”
The order issued last week by a Florida Court finally freed those hands completely as the judge’s order made it clear that the districts had not been following the law (as directed by the purposely absent hand of the FLDOE).
I waited for the celebration from the districts. Finally! Those hands were freed and with them, so too, our kids. Finally! School boards were free to follow the statutes plain language AND with the support of the court. Finally! You could authorize superintendents and principals to promote all those proficient students to fourth grade, saving tax dollars & reducing the harm already done to them under your authority. Finally! School boards could recognize, as it was demonstrated plainly in court, that the FLDOE does not have your back. Finally! The focus of school districts would be our students, not serving the illegal mandates of the FLDOE.
That isn’t what happened.
First, Orange County Public Schools appealed the judge’s ruling, followed by Hernando, Broward, and sadly, Seminole Counties. The FLDOE’s appeal is expected, but I’d rather the districts hadn’t raced them to do so. Though it shows us who is who.
This speaks volumes about those districts, demanding free hands to continue harm against students. If you think parents won’t be aware, you are wrong. I believe the impeachment of any elected official, seeking to continue harm to children by refusing to follow a court order is not only appropriate, but the only appropriate action. I’m asking that they resign right now. I have little hope of that, given the complete lack of honor with which these districts (and therefore school Boards) have approached the last school year (and more) on this subject.
I will not accept “our hands are tied” ever again. Throughout history, “I was following orders” has been the excuse of cowards and those who lack honor.
I’m not asking for anything extraordinary. I am asking that school boards in Florida do the right thing.
These families, including children, chose to be honorable and brave. You should try it.
Out of patience,
Jinia Parker #180DaysCount
__________________
==>> TAKE ACTION: Use #180DaysCount
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In the most succinct statement on this year’s adventures in Florida’s public education system, Seminole County parent, Michelle Stella states,
The system labeling our children is asking us not to trust the labeling system.
On July 6 and Seminole County on July 7, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) and Seminole County (SCPS) issued joint press releases.
And so the “spin” begins…
Orange County Superintendent Barbara Jenkins and Seminole County Superintendent Walt Griffin caution community to consider 2015-2016 as the baseline year.
July 7, 2016 – School grade calculations as determined by the state using the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) will be released in the coming days. Superintendents Barbara Jenkins of Orange County and Walt Griffin of Seminole County encourage parents, students, and the community to view the 2015-2016 school grade calculations as our baseline year. These school grades will reflect learning gains made by students which could not be captured from the 2014-2015 FSA as there were no previous, similar tests to use for comparison. It was noted in the release of the first year of FSA-determined school grades that the grades were only partial, so any comparison to this year’s grades would be inappropriate.
Dr. Jenkins said, “It is important for our community, especially our parents and students, to know that learning gains are now more difficult to attain. If we see a decrease in school grades, it will likely be because of the new and complicated learning gains structure.”
Dr. Griffin said, “We believe the new calculation of learning gains implemented in this year’s formula will result in school grade drops for many schools compared to the inflated grades that were released last year. The learning gains calculation is complicated and confusing. It needs to be overhauled and completely revised.” For example, high school grades do not account for students who successfully completed Algebra 1 in middle school. Also, the 2015-2016 high school grades are calculated using data from 2014-2015 in areas such as graduation rates and how many students who take advanced coursework. These factors do not depict accurately the high schools’ measure of success.
Both superintendents stand firmly behind the hard work of their students, teachers, and administrators. Potentially lower grades will misrepresent what happens in class rooms in Orange and Seminole counties every day during the school year.
OCPS and SCPS will continue to advocate for a more accurate and improved accountability system where schools are not simply labeled with a single letter grade.”
As school grades have nothing to do with the actual teaching and learning that happens in schools, does this mean that superintendents will finally advocate for the abolishing of school grades, which are the driving force behind the state’s high stakes test-obsessed accountability system?
No. It does not.
Orange and Seminole are two of the twenty districts, which failed proficient third grade students, who had no FSA score, because their families took a courageous stand for them to be evaluated on their work done during the year, as opposed to just the FSA.
From Pinellas parent and vocal advocate, Jinia Parker,
This coming from two of the districts failing proficient 3rd graders. High stakes good enough for our babes to be judged, punished, and failed..but a plea from you not to be judged by those same high stakes. It’s almost as if these districts are hypocrites. If anyone would like to see report cards of proficient third graders marked retained, please visit The Opt Out Florida Network page.
From Sarasota parent and veteran advocate, Tracy Damron-Roelle,
It’s wrong to use the FSA for school grades since it doesn’t actually measure learning gains. It measures income not outcome. Using this method deprives money to the schools that need it most.
The best interests of children and their education are in opposition to the (private corporate) interests of the majority of FL legislators.
Must superintendents be thrown under the reform bus and backed over repeatedly before they will stand up to strongly oppose the lobbyists for the best interests of CHILDREN and oppose school grades?
Should you find yourself dizzy from the spinning, there is safe harbor in The Opt Out Florida Network. As we look to another year of uncertainty, may your children be spared the worst of the ed reform storms.
In Just Read Florida’s Read to Learn, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) is clear:
“The purpose of retention is to give children who have substantial reading deficiencies more time and the intensive instruction they need to catch up in reading.”
There are decades of solid research and scholarly articles about why third grade retention is not only not beneficial for students, but is, in fact, harmful. Therefore, if a student has no documented reading deficiency, it is even more obvious that no one is served by retaining a child simply because they are lacking a single test score. Not teachers, not schools, and most importantly, not the student. The opt out movement seeks permanent change for all children, with research-based decisions. Third Grade retention goes against all accepted scientific research about the best practices in education.
Florida law is clear:
FS 1008.25(5)(c)6. 6. That the statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment is not the sole determiner of promotion and that additional evaluations, portfolio reviews, and assessments are available to the child to assist parents and the school district in knowing when a child is reading at or above grade level and ready for grade promotion.
“As superintendent of Pasco County Schools, I want to make it clear that I have no desire to retain third graders who clearly demonstrate that they have mastered state standards. Retaining students not only has questionable long-term benefits for the retained student, it also adds to the cost of educating them.”
And yet, as the school year has ended and satisfactory report cards have been sent home, many third grade students across Florida, whose report cards proved them proficient, but whose parents opted them out of testing, have been either retained (here, here and here), scheduled for summer school or further testing (SAT10, IOWA) before their districts will promote them. These children minimally participated in the FSA by sitting for the test, but did not complete the test and received no test score.
Throughout this post, I will refer to “portfolio tests” and “student portfolios.” This is an important distinction. The state has seen fit to “help us” by creating a bank of test items, which they call a “portfolio” (don’t forget the air quotes). That is not a portfolio. It is a series of tests (in some cases as few as 15 in Seminole or as many as 42 in orange), which cover the requirements to meet the required standards.
Some districts have promoted students without test scores (see here), confident that the children’s (satisfactory to excellent) report cards are evidence that they met the required standards to prove their mastery of third grade. Some children are in retention limbo, waiting for their districts to make final decisions to promote them or to continue this farce of retaining proficient children. Other districts, having foreseen this exact predicament, administered the state’s portfolio tests, some from the beginning of the school year, and were able to satisfy the good cause exemption from retention. Still other districts administered the SAT10 or the IOWA, post-FSA, both with and without parental knowledge, and promoted some of the children.
Parents, who opted out of the Third Grade FSA are testing the system and have also refused all manner of standardized testing. They are demanding that the districts promote their children based on their work, done throughout the school year. These courageous parents are not afraid of tests. A portfolio may contain many different kinds of tests and assessments done throughout the year. They object to the standardized tests which are used, not in service of their children’s education, but for the data used to rank and sort their children, teachers and schools, adding to the culture of incessant test prep which eats up valuable instruction time all year long. They object to promoting (or retaining) their children by a single test score, which denies teachers’ professional integrity and their children’s hard work. Reliance on a single test score denies the worth of a year of teaching and learning in the classroom.
Children with no FSA scores and NO reading deficiency are STILL at risk of retention. Many of us in the opt out movement believe strongly, that without evidence of a documented reading deficiency, a report card should suffice to promote a child from the third to the fourth grade. Most school districts either don’t agree, disbelieve this or they dismiss it. From our perspective, the only acceptable alternative assessment is the assessment of a student portfolio – a collection of a student’s independently completed work from the classroom, done throughout the school year.
“…nowhere in the state law does it say that a child with a poor score, or no score, must take an alternate test to the Florida Standard Assessment before seeking a portfolio option. In fact, the law offers a portfolio as an equal good cause exemption to an alternate assessment…”
In the absence of an FSA score, and in spite of having administered the IOWA twice in the year, Seminole County remains adamant about using only the SAT10 or the state’s portfolio tests for good cause exemption, instead of an actual portfolio of independently completed work, which, if the standards have been taught in this stellar district (7th out of 67 districts), all students should have. There should be no reason why the work would not match the standards.
In Seminole County, third grade students are among the most heavily tested in the state and are subjected to:
FSA – March through May
IOWA – October and April/May
Trimester exams – every 12 weeks
Progress monitoring Assessments – 3 times/year
Scholastic Reading Inventory – 4 times/year
This is in addition to Accelerated Reader, used to derive Lexile scores and all of the computer adaptive competency-based online tests, such as iReady and SuccessMaker, among others. Why insist on the portfolio tests, which is really just MORE testing, about which teachers have said repeatedly that very few third graders can pass because they are above grade level?
If schools are teaching the standards, a student portfolio would be proof that required standards are met. What reason then, could a district have for not using such a portfolio?
Consider…
If a teacher is not meeting the statutory requirements from their unit assignments or chapter tests, this begs the question: Why not? If a teacher does not have at least three pieces of evidence of students’ mastery for each standard, what is the teacher doing? If a teacher is concerned that the assignments they give through the year may not satisfy this requirement, that’s another question entirely. If a teacher says: “This is too hard” or “This is more than what I’m doing”, we can respond by asking: “Then, what exactly, ARE you doing?” Remember, our teachers are teaching the standards. And if they are not, that is where the Principal comes in. That’s a conversation to be had with the Principal and the Teacher.
The assessment of a student portfolio is, without question, the best test of a teacher’s and a district’s accountability, which is what the opt out movement supports. The student portfolio is the best evidence of a child’s work, on good days and bad, under the guidance and direction of a trained professional for all 180 days in school. When parents opt out of allowing the FSA to be the sole determiner of their child’s fitness for promotion, they entrust the authority of assessment where it belongs: in the teacher’s hands.
“What’s happening in third grade and throughout the state is we’re devaluing our teachers in third grade by saying it really doesn’t matter what you think, it doesn’t really matter what you say if they fail this test,” MacIsaac said.
The opt out movement is the strongest grassroots advocacy movement supporting teachers’ professional autonomy and authority, stronger than the PTA (where’s the T?), stronger than the two national teachers’ unions (NEA and AFT), which, in the past, have repeatedly avoided partnership opportunities to defend their own teachers’ classroom authority. Many teachers don’t even realize that this movement supports them, nor do they clearly understand how we do so. This is a reminder that the Florida Education Association has posted informational resources from The Opt Out Florida Network on the FEA website for teachers (also here).
Florida statutes and the Oct 24 2014 Student Progression Technical Assistance Paper both state that parents can choose a student portfolio as an alternative assessment and that a student need only pass ONE assessment to be promoted to the fourth grade. Nothing in Florida statute or the Student Progression Plan states that parents may/shall/must be denied the option to use a student portfolio as a good cause exemption – for any reason. AND the FLDOE has said there is no hierarchy of good cause exemptions, therefore, none is more or less valid than any other.
The FSA validity report said that the FSA does not fully align with all the required standards. (The DOE did counter by saying that almost every question did match a standard… just not necessarily the one it was claimed to match.) Since the requirements for a student portfolio do match the standards, a satisfactory student portfolio actually exceeds the standards tested by the FSA. A student portfolio is superior evidence of a student having mastered third grade requirements.
A portfolio is not simply a collection of a students work. A satisfactory portfolio must meet State requirements, and the requirements are not a breeze. The FL DOE clearly details the requirements for a student portfolio here:
B-2. When should the teacher and students begin the third-grade student portfolio?
A parent of a student in grade 3 who is identified anytime during the school year as being at risk of retention may request that the school immediately begin collecting evidence for the portfolio.
B-3. Are there guidelines provided by the state for the third-grade student portfolio?
Yes. As provided in the updated Rule 6A-1.094221, F.A.C., to be accepted as meeting the portfolio option for demonstrating mastery of the required reading skills, the student portfolio must:
Be selected by the student’s teacher;
Be an accurate picture of the student’s ability and only include student work that has been independently produced in the classroom;
Include evidence that the standards assessed by the grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment have been met. Evidence is to include multiple choice items and passages that are approximately 60 percent literary text and 40 percent information text that are between 100-700 words with an average of 500 words. Such evidence could include chapter or unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the Language Arts Florida Standards or teacher-prepared assessments;
Be an organized collection of evidence of the student’s mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards that are assessed by the grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. For each standard, there must be at least three examples of mastery as demonstrated by a grade of 70 percent or above on each example; and
Be signed by the teacher and the principal as an accurate assessment of the required reading skills.
Additionally, note that the Just Read, Florida! Office has begun creating an updated Third-Grade State Portfolio.
B-4. Do the same portfolio guidelines apply to ESE students? Yes. The state portfolio guidelines apply to all students, including ESE students.
B-5. Is the student portfolio the only tool used for good cause exemption and/or promoting a third-grade student to fourth grade in the middle of the year? No. The student portfolio and an alternative assessment are the two state-approved options for good cause exemption and mid-year promotion. The student must be offered both options. However, the student must only demonstrate proficiency on one of the options in order to receive a good cause exemption or be promoted midyear.
B-8. Can grade 3 English Language Arts items from the Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform be used as part of a student’s third-grade portfolio for good cause exemption or mid-year promotion? Yes. Items used in a student portfolio must meet the specifications stated in question B-3 Rule 6A-1.094221, F.A.C. NOTE: B-8: “…part of a student’s third-grade portfolio…” School districts have mistakenly turned Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform (a series of tests) into the entire “portfolio.” This is a mistake, it’s lazy and parents should not accept this.
A student portfolio and portfolio test items are not interchangeable, nor were they intended to be. There is nothing in the state statutes, which supports having to use the state’s portfolio tests over a student portfolio. AND – Parents have the right to request it. No district can legally deny that option to parents, if it is requested.
Adopted Core Reading Program – consists of end of chapter or unit tests; and
Teacher, school or district-prepared assessment examples.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
NOWHERE does it say that a portfolio must utilize ANY content from the IBTP.
At the June 14 Orange County Public Schools board meeting, Vice Chair, Nancy Robbinson provided a strong statement of support for the use of an authentic portfolio to promote children who have no test score. (Watch from 2:07:39)
Nancy Robbinson stated:
“At our last board meeting, several weeks ago, there were some comments made that implied that… parents were harming their children by having them minimally participate and not take the FSA. And I just have to defend those families. It’s their choice to send their child to public school to begin with; their choice to have their child participate in all the different things we offer. I understand that in the Third Grade, state requirements says that they have to take the FSA, but there are other options.
If you read the statute, there’s are other options. There’s a portfolio statute, that you can start at the beginning of the year. Up until recently, it used to be that the portfolio was really there for teachers, for students that they felt wouldn’t be promoted, because they might not pass the test.
But through this little bit of crisis we went through, going back and forth like Mr Katz said, where the DOE threw the school boards, the districts under the bus, through that, I think we’ve all determined, if you really read the statute for what it really says, and it’s very clear – The teachers CAN choose the portfolio items that they want their students to have. And we’ve found that some of the teachers did a really great job of providing the proper work. When several of those families came in (I didn’t work with every family. I only worked with 8 that came to me. There were some that already been worked with through the same dept.) They came in and their work was so phenomenal that they just went tick, tick, tick, tick and met all the standards. It was really phenomenal.
So that led me to think – Why can’t we use the statute that the DOE is saying is our prerogative to do and be a little more proactive, now that we know this is available, rather than having to be reactive and scramble at the last minute? Why don’t we put out the information at the beginning of the school year – to the third grade parents, to the third grade teachers, to the principals, to the reading coaches and explain the statute – explain what their options are and explain what it looks like?”
Why indeed?
Some schools have said that they are not allowing the use of a student portfolio (not portfolio tests) because it is too time-consuming for the teachers. Some have said that the work alone does not show clear evidence of having met the standards. If the standards are what are being taught, then this should not be possible and that is not a problem solved by more testing.
Numerous teachers, including my children’s teachers from years ago, have stated that creating a portfolio as the work is done, is really just a matter of marking the standards required and assessed in school and saving the work in a simple folder. Social Studies and Science can be used to cover the informational text requirements.
Compiling a portfolio is not new and it is not rocket science.
This doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Parents need only request early on in the school year, that a portfolio be maintained because there is a risk that their child may be retained, and they need to request to examine the portfolio from time to time. This is necessary because in numerous instances, parents have been told that a portfolio was being maintained at their request, and then too late, found that it was not the case.
Parent and high school teacher, Joshua Katz spoke compellingly at the same board meeting and addressed the fact that his daughter, Abigail was promoted to the fourth grade without a test score by using a portfolio as her good cause exemption.
Wouldn’t a portfolio be a far more authentic, effective and informative assessment of a student’s progress than a one day snapshot? It would certainly provide immediate feedback for teachers and students – and it is there for immediate reference.
Three years ago, when my son was in the Third Grade in Orange County, I quietly asked my son’s teacher at the start of the school year, to maintain a portfolio because I would not be allowing him to take the FCAT. She said that it was no problem as she had already started a portfolio for a few students in the class, who she felt might be at risk. She was kind enough to ask if there were any other tests I wanted him not to take. I opted him out of iReady, AR and benchmark testing. I remember being concerned that there might not be enough “data” to promote him. A veteran Third Grade Teacher reassured me that there wasn’t any “data” that could be gotten from the online assessments, benchmark tests, etc. that my son’s teacher wasn’t able to get in the course of the day. She further reassured me that the data the teacher would get would be higher quality data, with which to immediately inform her instruction of my child.
My son was promoted without incident. There was ample evidence of his mastery. Because his teacher knew that he would not be taking “the test,” she was free to really teach him outside of the test prep box… and he was free to really learn.
“On Friday night, I learned that, with just 14 school days remaining in the year, and with the Spring Concert THIS Tuesday, our highly respected Orchestra Teacher, Kevin Strang was advised by the principal at Tuskawilla Middle School, that she would not renew his contract for the 2016-2017 school year. To add insult to injury, Friday was the last day of National Teacher Appreciation Week. It bites…
My daughter is a student in Mr. Strang’s Orchestra class and was very much looking forward to studying both Violin and Piano with him next year. As I write this, we do not know if we will have an Orchestra Director on Tuesday evening.
When the previous Orchestra Director moved away suddenly before Winter break, and Mr. Strang was hired, my daughter, who adored her teacher, naturally resisted warming up to the new teacher. I, on the other hand, knew of Mr. Strang’s stellar reputation for excellence in Orange County and was familiar with what he had achieved at Blankner Elementary and Boone High School. I could not have been more pleased that Seminole County Public Schools had won an educator of Mr. Strang’s caliber over to this district. It took all of a week for her to warm up to Mr. Strang, whose approach was, in her own words, “more demanding, serious and professional.”
She recently said to me,
“I missed Mr. Welch in the beginning, but I’m a much better violinist now because of Mr. Strang.”
At eleven years old, she takes her education very seriously. Just since January, he has been able to inculcate in her, the philosophy and discipline behind the premise that,
“if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing it right.”
In an entire lifetime, many adults never learn that from anyone. How do you evaluate that?
At the recent Florida Orchestra Association (FOA) Music Performance Assessment, under Mr. Strang’s direction, the Tuskawilla Advanced Orchestra was rated Superior on stage and in Sightreading – the very first time this orchestra and any of the students had attended.
“The Florida Orchestra Association is an association of orchestra teachers that began giving assessment to kids in the 50’s. We select our most successful directors to be judges, who must then go through a certification process, which must be successfully completed. The judges are then assigned by the FOA State Executive Board to judge in each district. The judges are from out of town and may not be affiliated with the district they judge in any way. The judges follow a strict rubric and rate each orchestra in several categories, such as blend, balance, pitch, articulation, dynamics, orchestral technique. The rating comes from the average of each category. The students play 3 pieces on stage for three judges, then go to sight reading where the judge passes out a piece of music they have never seen and students are given five minutes to study and talk about it. It can’t be played during the 5 minutes. The first time the students play it is for the judge who rates the students’ ability to read music.”
Education could learn a lot from music teachers.
Dedicated music teachers must grow weary of districts’ public celebration of their achievements and the accolades brought to the schools, borne of their HARD work and sacrifice on behalf of our children, while they are disrespected and discarded by the system they serve.
The music programs at Eastbrook Elementary, Tuskawilla Middle and Lake Howell High School are promoted throughout the district as important growing programs. From a public relations perspective, the music programs in Seminole are a perfect complement to the district’s standing as “number one STEM district in Florida.” The positive effects of music on learning are well-known and documented. Research has proven that music education enhances Math and Science achievement. At a time when quality music programs are a rarity in public schools, parents MOVE to this school zone and INVEST in costly musical instruments because of the promise of continuity in the music program here and should be incensed that this decision was conveyed to such a respected and highly skilled teacher in this manner and at this time.
Teachers are important to the success of any school. Highly effective teachers, even more so. Highly effective teachers, who are qualified to be the Orchestra Directors at multiple schools – well, I’m sure I needn’t go on. Are highly effective Orchestra Directors really that easy to find? Is the teacher shortage that we continue to hear about, not dire enough that the district can afford to get rid of a teacher, such as Mr. Strang?
At a time when the entire nation is struggling to keep teachers, how can we be getting rid of one of our best?
In spite of the critical teacher shortage in Florida and across the nation, experienced, dedicated teachers are being told they are being “non-renewed” this week. Perhaps they are too costly because of their experience, or perhaps it is because they are vocal critics of their districts or administration. It doesn’t really matter. There needn’t be cause. Principals have the authority to deny renewal if a teacher wears the wrong color shoes. It is reaching a crisis point when seen in total.
In years past, after 3 years of successful teaching, a teacher was automatically rehired each year. (Before you go there — there were always proper channels to fire an unfit teacher.) That ended with Senate Bill 736. Now, teachers hired after 2012 are on 10 month contracts forever, unless the local union negotiates language to protect teachers. A senior teacher who transfers to another district loses their job protection and works on 10 month contracts… And there isn’t a thing that can be done, because it may be unethical, but it is legal. Continuing contracts were lost when SB 736 was voted in.
Given this treatment of Kevin Strang, can parents really wonder why teachers are not more vocal? Are parents even aware of the implications of this law for the stability of their children’s education?
Kevin Strang selflessly gave up the protection (and remuneration) of a fully tenured position in Orange County for the promise of being able to help grow a program upon which Seminole County Public Schools could hang its hat. And he was doing just that. He has always maintained his rating of “highly effective,” the highest possible rating, and his time in SCPS was no different. He is an asset to this school district. Tuskawilla Orchestra students grew under his direction, had tremendous musical “learning gains” and brought acclaim and recognition to the school and the district, in just four short months. I can think of no one more qualified to do what he has done in the few months he has been here; and certainly none more willing.
It is inconceivable to me that SCPS would do away with Orchestra and so a reasonable question would be whether someone has already been recruited to take his place as Orchestra Director. Anything less would be irresponsible for such a challenging position to fill appropriately.
Mr. Strang was a gift to SCPS. It is a shameful loss that nothing was done to retain his expertise in Seminole County Public Schools. Kevin Strang is much more than just “some music teacher.” Not only is he a first rate string teacher and Orcestra Director, he is a strong advocate for students and his fellow teachers (see links below). This is a significant loss, not only to the children, but to the teaching profession and to public education.
When I broke the news to my daughter yesterday, she was sad, disappointed, and angry. I hope that more Seminole County parents and students will become angry as well.
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