Posted on 01/03/2003 3:31:42 PM PST by hsmomx3
STILLWATER -- A Stillwater second-grade teacher is asking a judge to decide if she has the freedom to choose how she teaches.
In a suit filed Dec. 13 in Payne County District Court, Linda Green- shields alleges that Stillwater Public Schools administrators are harassing and threatening to fire her if she doesn't use a certain method of teaching.
Greenshields said her contract specifies she has the freedom to choose her methods.
Her husband, Bill Greenshields, said the judge's decision could affect teachers statewide because it would clarify their academic freedom.
"Administrators are telling teachers how and what to teach," he said. "Our contention is that her contract gives her that freedom. The school board is ignoring that for not only Linda Greenshields but all Stillwater teachers."
Linda Greenshields, a 30-year veteran who teaches at Sangre Ridge Elementary, said she doesn't believe her students benefit enough from the science module method of teaching advocated by administrators.
"They never say this is best for the students," she said.
Joe Haney, school board president, said members have not met to review the lawsuit and that he could not comment.
Wendy Pratt, spokeswoman for the state Education Department, said the agency sets curriculum standards and holds schools accountable for students' performance. The department does not tell teachers how to teach, she said.
"How it's taught is up to the local district and the teacher," she said. "The teacher's in the driver's seat in instruction."
The science modules, used in grades kindergarten through eight, contain the materials for science experiments, and students are supposed to receive the instruction they need in other core curriculum through the experiments, Linda Greenshields said.
She objects to the method because it takes her out of the classroom too often for training and because it does not contain enough material from other subjects such as spelling, math and reading.
For example, in one module that teaches about soil, students measure grass seed and soil. Then, they measure the growth of the grass. Through the experiment, the students also are to exercise reading and math skills, she said.
However, her students are moving into multiplication, meaning they would not receive the math instruction they needed from that module, Greenshields said.
The modules also do not contain objective testing, she said.
Teachers must have three days of training for each module, and each grade has four modules.
Greenshields said she attended training for three of the four modules for her grade. She said she could get the same information from reading the teacher's guide included in the boxes.
She said she has taught two of the modules.
The petition maintains that Linda Greenshields' methods of teaching comply with state standards, but administrators have continued to harass her to make her use the module method.
"Defendant's efforts to compel her to use (the module method) violates her academic freedom guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth amendments," the petition states.
According to records Bill Greenshields said he obtained from the Education Department, scores on Oklahoma core curriculum tests have gone down since teachers started using the modules in 1999-2000.
In 1998, the average fifth-grader's score was 83.83, and in 2002 it was 78.14, the document shows. The trend is the same for eighth-grade scores except the scores in science have increased while other categories decreased, the Greenshields say.
Linda Greenshields has filed two grievances with the Stillwater School Board, but board members said she didn't file on time and wouldn't rule, she said.
Probably because she interprets the contract she signed to be contrary to what her administrators are demanding she do. Thus, it is up to a judge to determine who is correct. If you contract to do 'X' and you are instructed to do 'X+Y', or 'Y'; you have an option to disagree.
A good friend of mine teaches in Louisville. He conducts teaching methods seminars for other teachers.
I hit him up on whole language vs. phonics and he readily admitted that most teachers he's talked with despise whole language -- but are constricted by local policies.
He stealthily promotes phonics and suspects that it's still the predominant method. But he can't dare admit it. And, oh yeah, he's a flaming liberal on every other subject.
When it comes to his kids failing, he just can't bear to sacrifice them to ideology. Maybe there's some hope.
Is it local policies, or federal? I seem to recall hearing that the idea got most of its promotion from the federal Dept. of Education, and eventually became a condition for grants of funds.
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