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AmyZ
Administrator
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Posted: Sat Jan 5th, 2008 03:07 am |
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D.C. Mulls A Return To Pre-K-8 Schools
Proposal Worries Parents, Teachers
By V. Dion Haynes Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2007; Page C01
Reflecting a shifting national philosophy on how to educate middle-grade students, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is considering expanding several elementary schools to include students up to eighth grade, going back to a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade structure once the norm in the District...
...The idea is being met with skepticism from elementary school parents who do not want adolescents in the buildings with their young children and elementary school teachers who are opposed to altering what they consider successful programs in the schools....
I like this idea! Unfortunately, Washington, DC, schools have made a lot of changes in the past many years and there are those who see this as just the next fad.
Hopefully DC will get a chance to see how it really works--and hopefully they will let it keep on for more than just a year or so before making their decision.
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Cassie
Afterschooler
| Joined: | Thu Feb 22nd, 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Jan 5th, 2008 11:44 am |
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| I have heard that moving kids to middle school in 6th grade helps them adjust to the different system of multiple teachers before puberty kicks in full-force, and prevents the unstability that is seen when this move occurs at 7th grade. However, if you move them at 9th grade then you also avoid that problem, giving them stability during the difficult middle school years. Interesting thought.... But I assume they would keep the multiple teachers switch-over somewhere around 6th/7th grade, so that would be the real change and it really wouldn't matter much which location they are in, would it?
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AmyZ
Administrator
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Posted: Mon Jan 7th, 2008 06:49 am |
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According to this article and The War Against Excellence elementary schools traditionally consisted of grades 1-8 (later kindergarten - 8) and high schools were grades 9 - 12. The changeover to junior highs in the US came with the increase in population at the beginning of the 20th century and it became easier to switch children going into a grade rather than change the school of kids already in a school and they kept the kids an additional year (junior high was 6 - 9) to ease the burden on the crowded high schools. The concept of "middle school" didn't emerge until the 1970s, if I recall correctly. I think (and this is from reading, not first hand knowledge) that the UK has only primary and secondary schools, not "middle school". I believe North America is rather unique in the middle school concept.
When I started in parochial school, it went from kindergarten through the 9th grade to accomodate students who went to public high school, but the 9th grade class was very small as students who went to the private high schools started in the 9th grade. Just as I was entering public high school they changed back to being 4-year institutions: mine was the first freshman class in a gajillion years or so (the private school dropped ninth grade then, too).
For us, we had one main teacher through the fifth grade. Teachers changed classrooms in the sixth grade and then students changed classrooms in the seventh and eighth grades. Not only does the switch begin to prepare students for high school and beyond, but the teachers are supposed to start specializing at around that age, or so goes the logic.
The squawks I've read in the DC media have been that the older kids are going to swear around the younger kids and that will be horrible. I fail to see the logic of that argument--the youngers have likely already heard whatever it is and the olders shouldn't be swearing anyway!
There seems to be a lot of horror of The Mixing Of Ages in my son's school, and I think that is more the norm than I would hope. The older kids aren't even supposed to go in the wing of the school where the younger kids are. Now, I have fond memories of my first grade year when we were assigned third grade "reading buddies"--they were supposed to listen to us read and help us with the hard words. Of course, I stumped mine with "chrysalis", but despite that it was still a good experience overall. I don't understand why we insist upon perpetuating the notion that it's only natural for kids to have friends their own age. How many friends do you have today that are exactly the same age as you? It's not a natural state of affairs!
I hope DC gets this program going, but there are a lot of things wrong with that city's schools so I'm not too hopeful this will happen any time soon. But at least they're thinking about it...
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Cassie
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| Joined: | Thu Feb 22nd, 2007 |
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Posted: Mon Jan 7th, 2008 01:56 pm |
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Japanese schools are 1st to 6th, and then middle and high school. I think that the distinction between middle and high schools is because compulsory education is only through middle school. Middle school is tracked into blue collar bound and white collar bound, so thus elementary ends at 6th.
If properly managed, I think it is good to have mixing of age groups. Our Japanese pre-elementary school allows mixing between the three age groups (3-6 year olds) during playtime- which is the majority of the day. Students are free to go whereever they want throughout the school, inside and out, and do not have to stay with their class or teacher. It seems teachers are assigned certain areas- e.g. each classroom has a teacher and each playground has a teacher for general supervision. Generally it seems that most children in the school have their friendships with same-age peers. At a certain point my ds became a "big brother" of sorts for a younger class, which was pretty fun for all involved. Some pre-elems are mixed age classes.
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AmyZ
Administrator
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Posted: Sat Aug 30th, 2008 07:29 am |
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Doubts Linger on Pre-K-8 Strategy
Schools Chancellor Pushes Program as Part of D.C. Reform
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 22, 2008; Page B01
Like surgical scars, once promising or trendy ideas for reform have left their marks all over the D.C. school system. Many came as officials pursued the best way to configure schools for students coping with their turbulent adolescent years.
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So far the superintendent is sticking to her plan. It will be interesting to see how this goes.
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Cassie
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Posted: Tue Sep 9th, 2008 05:22 pm |
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| I have been following Rhee in the papers, and I'm intrigued by her tactics. I do think that in the case of DC a shakeup is necessary, and I happen to agree with many of her opinions which have upset the unions. I hope for everyone's sake that she is successful in making progress.
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