Letters
Glowing report of test score gains masks deadening effect of test prep
Letters to the Editors
Glowing report of test score gains masks deadening effect of test prep
To the editors:
As an involved public school parent, I had to wonder about the District's glowing report of test score advances in Philadelphia.
Last year, my daughter's day in school consisted largely of the required 90 minutes of reading and 90 minutes of math taught - day by excruciating day - from the same standardized first grade reader and math workbook as one might have seen from a half century ago. Teachers have little, if any, freedom to be creative or imaginative in implementing the curriculum.
I saw the virtual elimination of social studies and science from the elementary school curriculum, and classes like art and music were given the barest gesture of support. She had one field trip the entire year and didn't even visit the library. She had worksheets and test drills for homework and found that her love of creative writing had hardly any place in a day geared towards multiple choice test answers.
Looking at a test score is a narrow perspective on the life of a school or a child. Such a crude assessment of "improved schooling" doesn't reflect the perspective of teachers and parents and students who are still struggling to define education as more than a "bounce" on a single test that children took on five particular days out of the year.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal referred to Philadelphia's test score advances as "revolutionary." Let's refrain from using the term "revolutionary" until more teachers and parents and students start to use it - rather than those who flaunt the scores to further their own ambitions or those companies who profit from them.
Bret Flaherty
Philadelphia, PA
After 10 years, little evidence of progress on inclusion
To the editors:
Paul Vallas and the School Reform Commission need to take note. Upon reading your 'Eye on Special Education' piece titled 'Special education: bastion of apartheid" (Summer 2004,reprinted from Fall 1994), I found it pitiful to see that nothing has changed in the past 10 years since that column was first published in your paper. Hana Sabree's article could have been written yesterday.
The only thing truly different is that Hassan is now 24 and out of the hands of the School District. Despite the attitude of his previous educators, he's gone on to become a fine, independent young man. Thank God, his mother wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
What about other families who want the same things for their children? The Philadelphia School District needs to wake up and move forward. Learn how to educate ALL children together so each can become a full contributing member of the community in which he or she lives.
Martine M. DeLorenzo
Northeast Philadelphia
mdelorenzo@visionforequality.org
Keeping education advocacy alive during challenging times
To the editors:
After attending Public School Notebook's 10th anniversary celebration in June, I realized that the same decade which witnessed the tremendous growth and impact of the Notebook witnessed the death of three key education and parent advocacy organizations: Citizens Committee on Public Education in Philadelphia, Parents Union, and the Alliance Organizing Project.
In a milieu that has not been kind to public education advocacy, we need to reflect on why the Notebook has succeeded in swimming against the tide. My answer is twofold: the advantage of a high-quality and tangible product that folks can hold in their hands, and the tenacious pursuit of a sharply defined mission - furthering community investment in Philadelphia's public schools.
Debra Weiner
Philadelphia Futures
Views expressed in "Letters to the editors" are not necessarily those of the Notebook.