I found this little blurb in Parade magazine today. It happens to be something RJ and I have been contemplating for years (ok...about 2). I think it would change our education system in a serious way....and is that such a bad thing?
I worry SO much about the high and low kids in my class. Since No Child Left Behind, SO much emphasis has been placed on bringing the low kids up, which is great. I think NCLB has a great basis to make teachers accountable and to make something get done where excuses used to be made.
BUT....I worry a lot about the higher end kids, because usually they're well-behaved as well. So, when they're done with something, they are content to "just sit and read" but really....should they have to? In my dream classroom, all children would be doing something completely different at any given time, yet completely on task and learning at their own instructional level....not just something (like a worksheet about a concept they've already mastered) that needs to get done because the teacher said so. Anyway....Enough of my rant. Read on...what do you think?
The End of Grade Levels?
Starting this August, elementary and middle-school students in one school district in Westminster, Colo., won't be assigned to grade levels based on age. Instead, they'll fall into multi-age levels based on what they already know and will move up only as they master new material. I worry SO much about the high and low kids in my class. Since No Child Left Behind, SO much emphasis has been placed on bringing the low kids up, which is great. I think NCLB has a great basis to make teachers accountable and to make something get done where excuses used to be made.
BUT....I worry a lot about the higher end kids, because usually they're well-behaved as well. So, when they're done with something, they are content to "just sit and read" but really....should they have to? In my dream classroom, all children would be doing something completely different at any given time, yet completely on task and learning at their own instructional level....not just something (like a worksheet about a concept they've already mastered) that needs to get done because the teacher said so. Anyway....Enough of my rant. Read on...what do you think?
The End of Grade Levels?
The concept makes sense to many education experts because it matches how kids actually learn: One student needs three hours to figure out fractions while another takes a full day. The approach was successful in the Chugach public school district of Alaska during the 1990s. After five years, student-achievement scores there jumped from the bottom quartile to the top quartile, and the system is still working well today. Several other districts nationwide are considering the model, and some schools in Maine plan to implement the philosophy over the next few years. "Teachers who try it are excited. They see how powerful it is," says Richard DeLorenzo, who was superintendent of Chugach during its transformation and who co-founded the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition to perpetuate the model.
Still, many districts are hesitant. "It's very hard to get people to believe in something new," says Deborah Meier of New York University's Steinhardt School of Education. "They worry that it's a guinea-pig experiment or a fad that will go away in a few years."
— Susan Fine
I completely agree with you on NCLB! The teacher I used to share a classroom with (we each taught every other day) was amazing and having each student in the classroom doing something different, yet all learning a similar objective on their own level. I like the idea of doing away with grade's, but I am sure it would be hard to convince enough people how great it would be. Interesting post, thanks for getting me thinking
ReplyDeleteMakes so much sense!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an intriguing idea. I can see where it would be easier in junior high/ high school level so i'm curious how this would work in an elementary school environment. I was good at reading and english, but not so much with math, so i'm curious how that would be dealt with. Cool concept, I hope they find success.
ReplyDeleteI teach in a multiage program on Yorba Linda, California. We have been running a multiage class for the past 8 years. We started with 2-3, 3-4, 3-4-5, and currently have a 4th/5th multiage. We teach to ability levels rather than grade level. A student could be struggling in a subject area and can be differentiated without stigma of leaving the room and that same kid could excel in another subject and have the opportunity to shine, not stopped by the glass ceiling of grade level. The confidence level of your lower achievers picks up the second or third year, and your higher/GATE kids will soar. Their is nothing stopping them. The set-up is a great deal of work, but the payoff is worth it.
ReplyDeleteSomething new is always looked at as a fad, however this type of teaching dates back to the one-room schoolhouse. I would hardly call that a fad. Thanks for starting this discussion
I teach with Mr. Z (and Mrs. T) in Yorba Linda, Ca. I have been working in a multi-age classroom for the past 13 years. Back when we first started we were fortunate enough to have an administrator that completely supported the idea and parents willing to give something "new" a shot. We took down the wall that separated our two classrooms and merged the two into one giant classroom with two teachers. The most exciting years were the ones in which we had three grade levels, those kids that stayed with us for three years showed amazing growth.
ReplyDeleteYou will have those kids, teachers, parents, administrators that support and love your program--however, you will also have people from those same groups that loathe what you do. Be prepared for arrows in the back, way more work, but, also way more reward and growth for the students.
Tom