Ever learned something that seems so obvious you wonder why it took so long to figure out? Like, evolution or atheism, for example.

A Plan to Hire the Best Teachers
NY Times, November 28, 2008

While I was reading a recent editorial in the NY Times this morning I though, “well duh”. I’m amazed that senior teachers have, for so long, been able to transfer at will, even when the receiving principle objects. Who, I wonder, thought that was a policy which would benefit the students. We don’t operate an education system to employ teachers, do we?

It is refreshing that New York City and its teacher’s union have updated their policy to allow principles to build cohesive and effective teams without undue consideration for tenured faculty. I was also refreshed to learn that teachers in New York City public schools are paid up to $100,000 per year. If other school districts invested as much in their talent our educational systems might not be in the dire situation in which they currently find themselves.

Within a year or so, the city should know which teachers were passed over for salary reasons and which ones have languished in the reserve pool because of poor performance. Once the data is in, the city and the union will need to negotiate a plan for ushering the inadequate teachers out of the system.

Good riddance.

editorial · education · new york city · ny times · nyc · politics · school · teachers union · tenure · union

As an atheist I do not like that in 1954 the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Obviously. Nevertheless, the girls recite it each morning before they begin their studies.

The very notion of reciting, in unison, a pledge of allegiance to anything is nothing less than thought reform and has no place in an institution of learning where minds should be challenged and dissension encouraged.

On a lighter note, Hayley loves being in kindergarten and adores her teacher. Several times she has been selected to be the Star of the Week and enjoys the responsibility and attention each time. She tells me she doesn’t learn anything and attempts to placate me by saying that it’s just the way kindergarten is.

atheism · education · kindergarten · pledge of allegiance · video · youtube

Photo: Brent Danley

Last Sunday we drove to Hampton, New Hampshire to attend a Hillary Clinton rally. We stood outside the local high school cafeteria for an hour or so, then stood two more hours inside before she finally arrived. After a brief speech she spent the remainder of her time answering questions. The room was so packed that they had an overflow area in the gymnasium. At one point an aide handed her a note which began, “Fire department extremely upset…” Doh! Too many people, apparently.

Skye elbowed her way up to the railing and enthusiastically raised her hand until Hillary eventually called on her. Skye asked, “I’m eight and I skipped second grade. It’s still easy. So, how can you make it more challenging?” After some laughter and much applause, Hillary responded.

(more…)

campaign · clinton · democrat · education · election · hampton · hillary · new hampshire · primary · rally · school · video · youtube

brentdanley

Jenna and Skye started school today. We are excited the girls are in great schools and have excellent teachers. Jenna is in a multiage (1st and 2nd grade) class at Fairfield and Skye is in a multiage (3rd and 4th grade) class at Burns School. We had never heard of the multiage concept but think it will be great. Not all the classes in their schools are multiage so we are fortunate they were placed in them. The advantage, we’re told, is that the younger pupils can be assisted by the older ones or work at an advanced pace while the older pupils benefit from tutoring their younger classmates. We’ll see how it works but I think it’s a promising idea. Being in a multiage class environment with two teachers also means they’ll have the same teachers and classmates next year. It was neat to see the teachers and students interact at the open house last night. They knew each other and had a good rapport. I think the continuity will be beneficial especially early on in the second year.

brentdanley

Friends and family who know that Skye was a first grader last year may be wondering why she is in a third/fourth grade class this year. Yesterday we finally won our long battle to have her placed in a grade appropriate to her academic level. Last year in Kansas we asked to have her placed in a second grade class and were told it was against the district policy. Her teacher was able to arrange to have her attend a second grade class. She was technically still a first grader. This was acceptable to us only because we knew we were moving. We were hopeful Maine would be more accommodating.

The principle at Burns School initially denied our request to enroll her in third grade. We asked him to consult with her teachers in Wichita and scheduling conflicts prolonged their communications. When we met with him to present our case last week he again would not acquiesce. He had many concerns about “skipping” her because he didn’t know her and didn’t know us. Every parent, he said, thinks their child is a genius. He was concerned she would be overwhelmed in a class of older pupils where she wouldn’t be the star. While we appreciated his time and geniune concern we knew enrolling her in second grade was the wrong decision for Skye. So I argued my case in a letter to the district superintendent. Two days ago Skye was evaluated by a reading specialist and yesterday she met with a teacher who evaluated Skye’s abilities in mathematics. Skye did awesome!

When Kirsten and I met with the principle after the examinations he felt better about letting us enroll Skye in third grade. Although his concerns remained he allowed us to make the decision. We had made up our minds two years earlier and were elated to have finally won. We hope Skye will find challenges in her new class and learn what it’s like to have classmates who know the answers before she does.

Skye considered herself a second grader last year. Therefore, while putting her in third grade is technically skipping, enrolling her in second grade would have been tantamount to holding her back. She is where she needs to be and is excited to be there. Because her classmates consist of third and fourth graders she’ll be able to do math with the fourth graders and other things with the third graders. It’s all going to work out beautifully!

Today Skye got to open a box in class because she was so polite (her words, not mine). It contained a watermelon which the class ate outside. Also, the cafeteria is huge and she can sit wherever she wants. The fourth graders in her class are assigned third grader “buddies”, so Skye has someone to show her around. She exclaimed, “You should see the art and music rooms! They’re amazing!”

I think her favorite part, although she won’t say, is being a third grader. She finally feels validated. She was frustrated doing long division and fraction arithmetic at home and addition, subtraction, and graphs at school.

brentdanley

Jenna is excited about her teacher, Mrs. O’Neill, who she met yesterday when Kirsten took her to Fairfield to show her around. She is also excited that there are twice as many boys in her class as girls. She didn’t say much when she got home today but it was obvious she likes her school and is excited to be back with kids her age.

She didn’t eat her lunch today because her sandwich was squished. The lunch lady was telling kids to eat neatly and Jenna was afraid the sandwich would make a mess. She left it alone and only drank her water. Tonight Kirsten bought her a plastic container so future sandwiches won’t be smashed.

Since the end of the last school year I quit my job and we moved to Maine. All of our time has been spent as a family on one adventure or another. So today the house was quiet. Hayley especially missed her sisters. She kept bringing her toys to wherever Kirsten was so she’d have someone to play by. Kirsten softened up on the rule about leaving toys in the bedroom when she realized Hayley was lonely and missed her sisters.

education · maine · saco · school

The No Child Left Behind Act is, like most of President Bush’s programs, a complete failure. Money and attention that have previously benefited our brightest children are, under NCLB, being diverted to remedial programs that help students who struggle to grasp basic curricular requirements. Focusing every resource on failing students increases the likelihood that students who aren’t will never get ahead.

Kristen Stephens and Jan Riggsbee of Duke University wrote an interesting article in February about the impact NCLB is having on our country’s brightest pupils. It is the impetus for this post.

Please indulge a bit of bragging. My seven-year-old daughter, Skye, is a first grader this year. Early in the school year we scheduled an appointment with her teacher because, quite simply, Skye wasn’t learning anything. I requested they move her to second grade and argued that she was only a first grader because of a technicality: she missed the birthday cutoff by two weeks. Her teacher rejected the request citing district policy and told me I could discuss it with the principle. We figured we’d be moving soon so picking a fight here probably wasn’t worth it. Instead her teacher came up with an agreeable compromise, Skye would remain a first grader but go to a second grade class for math and reading.

Since then Skye has had a desk in her first grade classroom and one in her second grade classroom. She is officially a first grader but spends most of her time in second grade. That worked for a while. She is now doing multiplication and division worksheets independently while her classmates learn concepts Skye mastered long ago.

Our five-year-old daughter, Jenna, is a kindergartner in a similar situation. She’s adding and subtracting in her head while her classmates learn how to identify numbers and count to ten. Both of them are marched to the library every day for individualized study away from their classmates.

The story is repeated when the subject is switched from mathematics to reading and writing.

We have been fortunate to have teachers that are flexible and accomodating. They care about the needs of our daughters and have worked very hard to provide the education Skye and Jenna need. But it isn’t enough. They are stretched thin with federal, state, and district testing requirements and helping failing students whose parents don’t care enough to provide supplementary instruction at home.

Enough is enough. “No child left behind” sounds great during a political campaign but doesn’t make good education policy. We need to insure that “no child left behind” doesn’t also mean that no children are allowed to excel. We need to encourage our brightest students and provide them with interesting and challenging instruction. Unfortunately, the simplest way to guarantee no child is left behind is to lower the standards. If we continue to do that we will continue to fall behind the rest of the first world in science, technology, education, and innovation.

education

brentdanley

Skye was the final competitor to approach the microphone for the first round of the spelling bee. She nervously sood in front of a skinny microphone being steadied by her school’s principle, Mrs. Casados. “Display. D-I-S-P-L-A-Y. Display.” She spelled her first word correctly. The audience applauded and cheered as she walked away from the microphone and returned to her empty metal chair. She did it!

About a month ago Skye’s second grade teacher, Ms Manthey, asked Kirsten for her approval for Skye to participate in their school’s spelling bee. The bee at Griffith Elementary is for fourth and fifth graders. Skye is a first grader who spends the majority of her time in her second grade classroom. Being asked to participate was a big deal.

Skye passed a written qualification test two weeks ago to became the youngest–and smallest–spelling bee competitor. She has been studying every evening since to learn the words on the list provided. The probability that she’d get the first word correct, we thought, was pretty good. She could confidently spell the majority of them. What we couldn’t count on was her composure since she’s never been in a competitive contest or stood in front of a large audience. When she sat in her chair at the side of the auditorium it was obvious she was nervous. Her expression was of fear and concentration.

She had good reason to be nervous too. The auditorium was packed with parents, teachers, and students including her first and second grade classmates. I thought it was extremely thoughtful of her teachers to bring their students to the bee to support their friend and classmate. I knew it meant a lot to Skye.

After correctly spelling “display” Skye missed her next three; “independence”, “orchestra”, and “acre”. The rules stated that if a participant misspelled a word the next person would have an opportunity to spell the same word. If that person also missed the word they would both remain in the competition. A bright young girl eliminated Skye when she correctly spelled “acre”. Skye was devastated and visibly upset. She sat low in her chair and waited for the competition to be over.

When the bee was over the students in the audience shuffled back to their classrooms. I congratulated Skye on her tremendous accomplishment and embraced her tightly. She began to cry as soon as I held her. Skye isn’t used to losing at anything. The winner of the competition, an older boy, talked to Skye about being nervous, told her she had done a great job, and offered to be her friend. I applaud him and am grateful for his compassion and sportsmanship. His consideration meant a great deal to Skye.

I’m glad Skye had this opportunity to compete. She’ll never forget the hours of studying and the thrill of competition she experienced during her preparation for and participation in her first spelling bee at Griffith Elementary. The excitement and pride she felt as she walked back to her seat after correctly spelling “display” will fade slowly, I’m sure.

bee · competition · education · spelling