Some Children Should Be Left Behind [a successful public school for low income minority students]

nationalreview.com ^ | September 02, 2005 | Catherine Seipp

[grundle]

Here's a successful public school for low income minority students. The success was not achieved by spending more money. Show this to your liberal friends and watch them deny the truth.

[zook]

bump to save

[dawn53]

Esquith’s approach to field trips is rather different. His first field trip each year is to the Hollywood Bowl — after each child has demonstrated his ability to participate by writing a report on every composer featured at that evening’s performance, learning and playing parts of the pieces on a musical instrument, and demonstrating (during a dry-run in class, listening to a CD) the ability to sit quietly and politely for two hours listening to classical music. If they can’t do all this, they’re left behind, but not unkindly. “I explain that there are many things they can’t do yet: they don’t drive a car, date, or vote,” Esquith writes in his book, which I was surprised to find as page-turning as a thriller. “And they don’t do these things not because they’re bad people but because they need to acquire certain skills before they’re allowed to do them.”

Very wise!

[NonValueAdded]

school ping

[rockprof]

Great article.

[cyborg]

bump and ping

[Verginius Rufus]

I don't remember having to listen quietly and politely to classical music as part of the test to get my driver's license. Maybe that's only in Los Angeles County.

[aberaussie]

bttt

[FixitGuy]

Very fine article. Thanks!

We don't all have the same talents, a fact which most edutomaters fail to address

[Old Professer]

Children are like fragile, empty vases, they must be filled up with something of substance to keep them from crashing and shattering.

[Rockingham]

It sounds like the old line Catholic schools I went to, K-12. Like Rafe Esquith, they did not develop or patent traditional teaching methods, but they applied them with dedication and energy.

[summer]

Hi NonValueAdded,

Thanks for the ping on this article. A very good read. I didn't agree with everything he said (as someone has to teach kids at the bottom rung, too), but I especially liked what he said here:

“You have kid one, the gift from God, the parents say, ‘How can I help?’ Then you have kid three, in serious trouble, and the parents say, ‘If you try to help my kid, we’re going to kill you.’ Most teachers spend their careers at one end or the other — they either love working with easy kids or spend all their time trying to control the incorrigible ones. My favorite kids are the kids in the middle — the average kid who kind of does their work but doesn’t realize how great they can be if someone spends a little time with them.”

Those middle kids can get left behind as well, because many of them are on the brink -- and could go higher, if so much time wasn't spent on tedious matters. And, if teachers always really wanted to reach higher. Some don't.

For example, I happen to love Shakespeare, but not every teacher does, no matter what they claim. And you can't teach a kid what you yourself don't understand.

Thanks again for the ping. :)

[summer]

A very good post! Thanks, grundle. :)

[summer]

BTTT to your post #10, Old Professor. :)

[summer]

FYI. A very good read. :)

[Gabz]

I really wanted you to see this.

[Gabz]

I'm so happy you found this and posted - otherwise I would have missed it all together.

Open house at school was on Friday, it starts tuesday. I had very long talks with my daughter's 2nd grade teacher, the principal, and a 5th grade teacher who is the school reading specialist, about a directive that came down from the superintendent's office that ended a program for advanced readers in the school.

My daughter was in 1st grade last year, but spent part of the day in 2nd grade for reading and writing and this was a schoolwide (K-5) program the principal started 3 years ago. The idea being, the advanced kids would be working at their level and the teachers would be able to devote more time to the at level (middle) and below level. It was working wonderully, at least according to me, other parents I know with children at various different reading levels, and the teachers I know...............but apparently there was one parent not happy about it and insisted his/her child just skip kindergarten altogether, instead of doing 1st grade reading. when the teachers and principal disagreed and wouldn't do it, the parent went to the superintendent.

That parent didn't get his/her child skipped a grade, but the rest of the children being moved around for their reading level now can't. But, the way I look at it - one squeaky wheel squelched the program, 25 or so can probably get it back.........

As the 2nd grade teacher my daughter had last year told me on Friday, "No Child Left Behind" has to mean the advanced children as well.

[Gabz]

I'm still digesting our conversation, but I wanted you to see the post I just made onthis thread, it's a bit more detail on what I am currently concerned about :)

[summer]

As the 2nd grade teacher my daughter had last year told me on Friday, "No Child Left Behind" has to mean the advanced children as well.

Agreed. Thanks for your fascinating post, Gabz.

[Gabz]

Thank you, summer.....I have always enjoyed your posts in regard to education.