There are a couple of really hot topics that seem to garner enough attention to deserve a page of their own. Let's start with the current conversations regarding Sue Haynie. We have had teachers, administrators, probably RedApples and parents commenting on the latest 'SH situation'.........
Does Sue Haynie have the right to choose a different curriculum from the curriculum that the teachers want? Where is her expertise in this matter? Is there something fishy going on, as one person wrote? Is the person who is selling the curriculum a friend of Sue's? Is there a Language Arts curriculum now or not? Should Sue Haynie take over the district as someone suggested, even in jest!
Sue, how about answering these questions? And did you only attend one of the curriculum presentations, namely the one you want? Did you not attend the others? Let's hear it from you! We want to know wherein your expertise lies.
Teachers, other brave administrators, please weigh in. If we are going to get transparency, it's not going to be from this Board! (Do we even know anything about the finalists for the superintendency?)
Again, folks, this isn't curriculum. It's just a program. A one size fits all developmentally inappropriate program -- with no provision for independent reading at level -- perhaps one of the most important things needed for students to develop stamina as readers. It would even require us to buy portions of another vendor's program.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was supposed to be a great leveler of the inequalities between Title I and non Title I schools. Not so!
Curriculum selection has to do two things (and I commented on this on a prior post here)- it must, in the professional opinion of educators charged with evaluating it, meet the needs of all of our students and it must, in the opinion of the elected Board of Education, meet our community standards.
ReplyDeleteHaving taught high school in a district with poor curriculum implementation has helped me to realize that a curriculum must do so much more than lay out a progression of facts that students must master. It must critically equip all students with a means to acquire necessary skills and must provide for intervention strategies to insure that those skills can be acquired by all students.
The review process needs to be free from untoward political agendas. Repeated demands for site visits to "see" a school that uses one curriculum favored by one member does not (in my opinion) add to the transparency of the process. If such visits are critical, why isn't the demand being made that the review committee visits schools where all of the considered curricula are implemented)? In fact, a curriculum is far more than a single lesson plan that can be observed. A review of a curriculum requires extensive inspection of the student materials, the methodology employed to teach that material to students of various capabilities and the research to support that system of teaching-- none of which is readily observable in a single visit to a particular school.
I am looking forward to a timely review of the work of the professional evaluation committee and am asking that the entire Board of Education evaluate their suggestions as soon as possible so that long-overdue new materials can be procured and shared with the teachers who will be charged with implementing them for the benefit of all our children.
Steve,
DeleteWith all due respect - what was/is the NPS process for selecting a curriculum?
We haven't had a comprehensive LA program for at least the decade that I've been a parent and likely longer. My kids, now in high school never had a consistent foundation of reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, etc. In fact, when I was the Treasurer at Rowayton in 2004 and questioned the purchase of Columbia Teachers' College Readers and Writer's Workshop by our PTA,I was told that every teacher did their own thing given there was no standard curriculum and so we had to purchase it!
As for NPS consensus...at a DDDMT meeting a few months back when Jean reviewed the selection of the secondary textbooks and curriculum, you still had NPS naysayers around the room, not liking it. (I apologize for not remembering the textbook publisher chosen and will refrain from who objected to it.)
As, my children are now long out of a K-5 program, I have no dog in this curriculum 'fight' but I would like to see a COMPREHENSIVE approach to LA that would satisfy the ELL and FRL students. If my kids suffered over the years due to a weak K-5 LA program, you can better believe that these kids will as well if we do not choose well.
Simply listening to textbook vendors give their sales pitch is no way to evaluate a program. Another critical aspect for LA is teacher professional development. NPS can't just purchase books, throw them over the wall with a day of training before school starts and hope to have happy staff.
Instructional professional development is as important as the book chosen, since many staff are new to teaching at the elementary level. (Even as I write this post, I just came off of writing a grant for our high school teachers to get PD instruction now that my volunteer efforts have progressed to the HS level)
Again, I have no opinion on which vendor is chosen. But I have witnessed first-hand the lack of a program over the past decade would like to see a more rigorous curriculum evaluation within NPS.
Attempts on this blog to politicize this with anonymous innuendoes is unfair to Haynie, NPS teaching staff and most of the children.
The need for a curriculum that will bring all our children through grades K-5 is why there is a team of professionals evaluating the curricula offered by various publishers. The process is that the professionals review the materials, have meetings with the presenters of the various curricula, conduct such research as they feel necessary, evaluate the curricula and then present their findings to the Board of Education.
DeleteChoosing a curriculum is far more important than the "book chosen". If a publisher merely sends a sales representative, and not someone with the background to explain the teaching and intervention strategies employed, then that would not speak well of that particular publisher. It is not a reflection of the professionalism of the District review committee.
First of all, there is a written curriculum on the NPS site. It was written to coordinate with State standards and is broken down by grade levels. . The programs that are being considered: NOT the curriculum. They are programs! Our professional educators know this. Books do not create the curriculum! They are tools that teachers use to implement curriculum.
ReplyDeleteLisa Thomson, you are foolish to believe what you heard, that there was no curriculum. All you had to do was to go to the NPS website and look under 'curriculum' and you would find it. But then our professional educators know that as well. You were misled and you chose to believe what you heard. After all, why investigate? You are very good at jumping to the wrong conclusions.
When I have more time and patience for your 'spin' I will write more.......
Thompson's response shows her blindness-- she wants to disagree with Haynie's nemesis, but realizes she can't. So she dusts off inuendo and rumor and changes the subject.
ReplyDeleteCome on, Reformer . . . should people without teaching degrees be the ones picking books, programs, curricula for our students?
I love the way Lisa Thomson had to insert how she has written a grant for high school......now that her volunteer efforts have progressed to the high school level. Narcissism anyone? Thomson and Haynie are two of a kind! I'll bet their homes are filled with mirrors.....
ReplyDeleteOur local politics reflect what is happening in the country. Some people state lies as if they are factual and expect others to believe the lies. I can't emphasize enough that people should do their own research. Don't rely on the spinners. They think you are not intelligent enough to do your own investigation of the truth. Programs that the book companies sell are programs. Curriculum is the document found on the Norwalk Public School site online. If you can't get online to find it, ask a curriculum administrator or call the superintendent's office. It will be supplied for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, teachers -the professional educators- should be picking out the books to support the curriculum. Why is a woman who doesn't even know that there is a curriculum be choosing the supporting material? Nuh-uh!
ReplyDeleteThank you to 6:17 yesterday. This is a program, NOT a curriculum. Does our curriculum need revision? Most assuredly - that's been the case for quite some time. The need will be urgent to align it with the Common Core State Standards.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I have reviewed the program being pushed at the 11th hour. Many of the topics are developmentally inappropriate, the quality of the independent student materials is poor (old school decodables, one size fits all, and not anything that will instill love of reading), and the 'slice' too meager
Sorry, this site is unfriendly to a tablet. .... too meager to allow anyone to make a responsible decision.
ReplyDeleteThe program choice was supposed to 'equalize the playing field' and give desperately needed resources to non Title I schools. Well, I don't know why anyone would want this.
My suggestion: leave the program choice to the experts, carefully chosen, who spent so much time and effort working on it all year.
Yes, the curriculum needs to be updated, as all curriculums do periodically; But to say a curriculum doesn't exist, is simply not true. I believe the last curriculum revision was heavily based on the Reading Recovery model., heavily endorsed by the State Department of Education. Now it needs to be revised to align with the Common Core State Standards. Every district in Connecticut will have to conform to this change. Doesn't mean we don't have a curriculum!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the mayor have any control of this loose canon?
ReplyDeleteBigger problems than one loose canon- I've heard Rivas was bullied by Barbis and Chiaramonte (nasty emails is what I heard). Does anyone have any more details?
ReplyDeleteWe all remember that scary picture of Barbis wagging his finger in Rivas' face. So his picking on her is nothing new. But Jack? We thought teachers were his favorite target.
Having a great big laugh over the Republican nominating Sue Haynie and Lauren Rosato- two Red Apples. Haynie crashed the PTO Council and Rosato put the NEF into a real financial mess.
ReplyDeleteIf I were one of the finalists for superintendent, I would be running as fast as I could from Norwalk.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Sue Haynie won't answer to the tax paying citizens of Norwalk. I have asked her questions above, but she doesn't care to defend herself. Surprised or not surprised?
ReplyDelete