To the editor:
The recommendation by the Somers Point School Restructuring Committee to restructure the school district to improve student achievement in response to the March 2011 CAPA review of the Jordan Road School on the last of seven standards is fundamentally flawed. The review is an indictment of the school leadership team’s failure to ensure effective teaching practices. Selected problems include:
“The school … walkthrough process is only infrequently used and no feedback is provided to teachers.”
“Some teachers report that they are reluctant to implement effective teaching strategies because they believe the students are not capable.”
“The school and district … shared distributive leadership model … (and) wide array of committees … does not always permit a coordinated effort.”
“A (Professional Development) On Demand program is in place and meets the needs of most staff members.”
“The level of academic rigor observed during classroom visits is not high. This is connected to both the content and the instructional strategies utilized.”
It is unclear how a rush to implement grade reconfiguration, based on the CAPA team’s “belief that reconfiguration could have a positive impact on Somers Point schools” will have much positive impact on leadership. The empirical research data, while complex and sometimes conflicting, is clear with regard to student achievement: setting high standards, strong leadership and administration, rigorous curricula, effective teaching methods, and appropriate parental involvement is far more important than grade configuration alone.
Many studies find transitions particularly damaging for disabled, low-income and minority students – the underachieving subgroups cited in the review. Yet under the proposal, all 1,100 children in the district would make the transition, and the entire third grade would do so every year.
While there may be several possible benefits from reconfiguration, the only one that we can be certain of is that it would eliminate the artificial “Route 9 divide” between
Some questions to consider:
What stops teacher collaboration now, and how can we improve it while retaining the present structure?
Why aren’t teachers using the “PD On Demand program” to become “content experts” now?
Exactly how will reconfiguration convince teachers to discontinue using “outmoded practices” or cause them to see their students as more capable than they currently believe them to be?
If the current administration isn’t insisting on “developmentally appropriate” and “research-based best practices” or providing feedback now, how will reconfiguration change that?
Is the space at the
How will the absence of older students affect younger students, and vice versa?
How will we compensate for interaction between age groups that we currently enjoy?
How will reconfiguration affect parental involvement and satisfaction?
How many students will take advantage of the shuttle busing and at what cost in dollars and time: for students, in waiting for buses, and in transit between schools; for parents with students at both schools; and for faculty to manage busing and wait time?
What additional crossing guard resources would be necessary to facilitate the safe passage of those children who will walk across Route 9?
Given that the CAPA report identifies the “root cause” for the present grade configuration as “community valuing” our neighborhood schools, what else can we do to improve achievement and retain what we value?
Michael A. Michnya
Somers Point
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