Talk about a lack of critical thinking!The Charleston County School District's Chief Academic Officer Doug Gepford stated that "it's been his experience that retaining students doesn't work because nothing different happens when students repeat a grade." [See Policy Panel Grapples with Literacy in Thursday's P & C]
So the Charleston County School Board's committee on literacy policy (when you want nothing done, form a committee) simpered in unison, " Oh, yes, Doug! Of course, Doug. We shouldn't make students repeat a grade." Let's keep doing the same thing we've always done--promoting students who aren't reading on grade level--and hope for different results.
You all know what that constitutes, right? Insanity.
Oh, I know that the committee is trying to dress up the status quo with different language, such as directing the superintendent to identify which literacy programs purchased from the edublob might help individual students (Gregg Meyers's idea), but those same programs could be directed to students who have been retained. It was virtually automatic promotion that caused the severity of the problem in the first place.
Committee Chairwoman Ruth Jordan sincerely wants to see a change from students entering high school unable to read their textbooks. Let's hope Meyers and his ilk don't bamboozle her with their vocabulary on this one.
Why, even Jon Butzon (and what was he doing there?) disagreed with Gepford and Meyers, proving once again that even a stopped clock can be right twice a day: [he] told the committee after the meeting that he wanted them to take a firmer stance on requiring children to be able to read before pushing them through the system." [italics mine]
Holy cow! I just agreed with Butzon?
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7 comments:
Meyers is simply posturing so as to appear as if he's in charge of a ship that's lost its rudder. Gepford is trying to hide a large hole in the bottom of the boat. McGinley is running in circles on deck now that the problem is common knowledge.
What no one is saying is that Meyers, Gepford and McGinley were each told at least 3 years ago about serious problems and shortfalls in reading and math competency. They were each given specific examples that named schools where social promotion and fraudulent course credits were given to a significant number of high school students who were performing at grade levels far below where they were enrolled. Only after the local newspaper began running the story about rampant illiteracy among CCSD's high school students McGinley began to address the issue as if it was something new. If she had done her job, if she had understood her job, as chief academic officer in 2004, she would have blown the whistle herself and not waited for nearly 5 years to make this a priority. It's no good for $200,000 a year CEO's to simply react to problems instead of doing something about the causes before they become problems.
Her lap dog and "come here" principal at Burke, knew of dozens of Burke 9th and 10th graders who couldn't read even at a 3rd grade level as far back as the 2006-07 school year. When Benton was confronted about a Burke 10th grader who couldn't read his own report card the principal wasn't surprised. Benton's excuse was simply to say he knew of at least ten more just like that student also in the same grade at Burke. He was more put out with the parent for bringing it up. So what was he supposed to do?
I don't know what Benton should have done about so many high school students who can't read, but I do know he didn't come out of retirement and move to Charleston without knowing what he was getting into. He was imported from NC by Goodloe and McGinley in 2006 to run a school in decline and he's been paid over $120,000 a year to do something about it. Benton's now going into his 4th year; McGinley is going into her 3rd as Super and 6th as one of the top two in charge; Gepford and Meyers have been going along with it all for at least 3 times as long. Still we have kids who can't read, who continue to be promoted and who get ignored in the lower grades when the problem could have been easily fixed. Wasn't Gepford the former elementary level associate superintendent before he was CAO? The results will still be same as long as CCSD keeps doing what it has always done. A large number of high school students in Charleston County will continue to be unable to read or unable to count as long as the same people with the same dull vision are in charge. What a waste!
Yes Bitsy or Bambi or whatever your name is, even you get it right once in a while. And you ARE right about this.
When the same leaders do the same things you get the same results.
To Anonymous 12:05 or Jon, or whatever your name is: You can't read either? I don't make fun of your name, although I bet others have. Anyway, no one would ever think to call either of us "Bitsy."
Until the people on all sides of this debate stop seeing the issues as about something more important than their personal egos, then the education of Charleston's youth will continue to be lost. Win, loose or draw in the shouting match, it's clear the people in charge don't care one woop about children who aren't theirs. Why don't we all try to stay on point and just discuss what is working or not for the education of our kids...each and all of them. Sure it's frustrating dealing with block heads, but calling names just feeds failure and delays solutions. Stick with the facts.
Seven years ago when I was teaching 8th grade LA in a middle school in Charleston County, we were told that ALL 8th graders would be promoted to the 9th grade no matter what their grades were. Teachers were upset, parents were upset, and believe it or not, there were even students who couldn't believe it. Bush's "Leave No Child Behind" took on a totally different meaning to the ones of us who were TOLD to pass every child. Scary, isn't it? Teachers never did get a "clear" reason as to why this was done, but believe me, we let the feeder high schools know what had happened!!
Even though McGinley arrived here in 2004, just over 5 years ago, she's been smack in the middle of shaping those policies that promote students who aren't ready. She's also at the center of an organization that has no plan for how to make them ready when they fall behind. Like so many others before her, McGinley just pushed them along until she got caught. Gepford is just falling in behind his boss. They play with the numbers to make it appear they raised the graduation rates and lowered the dropout and expulsion rates. It looked great to some until they started checking the literacy rate. No wonder so many don't trust these CCSD leaders and the numbers they have been using to paint a pretty picture. With so much being paid to CCSD by local taxpayers and so much progress being made according to McGinley, why are so many individual kids still failing.
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