I wish you all could have been at 2200 Northwestern Avenue last night for Dr. Vanden Wyngaard’s “public debut” and presentation on closing the achievement gap. If you had, you would realize what an “ace in the hole” she is. She is one of the nation’s top experts in closing the achievement gap, and the citizens of greater Racine should know that we are lucky to have her.
She is dynamic and very engaging; I dare anyone to listen to her and not walk away thinking that closing the achievement gap cannot be done. The only obstacles, as I see it, are the grown-ups in the district! By grown-ups I mean us all – teachers, administrators, taxpayers and parents! We need to step up and do what is right for educating ALL of the children in the district. I believe that if Dr. V had been working along side of Dr. Hicks since his coming to Racine; the suburban communities, the NAACP, and the RTA would not be in battle-mode right now.
As inspiring as she is, she cannot do it alone. It will be difficult for her, I imagine, to change the mind-set of many in our community. From teachers to community members, everyone needs to change their feelings about how we educate our children. If this cannot be done, I shudder to think what will become of this community.
I know this might sound like I have lost my mind – I am supposed to be one of the crazed Caledonia residents who hate all things RUSD, right? I suppose for those of you who do not know me personally, it might seem that way. As I am fond of saying, I just want good schools. I don’t care if there are RUSD schools, Caledonia schools or schools run by the Hare Krishna. I just want good schools. The easiest solution for all is just to make RUSD a place that educates ALL children – and Dr. V, as I see it, is our best chance to get there.
Realistically, any action by Caledonia to create an independent school district, is years away. My children are in the system now, so I need to make sure my children are getting the best possible education NOW!
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18 comments:
What did she say that was so illuminating?
What mindset am I supposed to have? And RUSD does not educate all children in Racine. How can she help all the children in Racine, unless she advocates for school vouchers? Denis Navratil
Thank you Denis for pointing out my semantical error - you do keep me I my toes. Of course, I meant to say all the children of RUSD.
My apologies to those parochial/private/charter school students and their families who have may been offended by my comments.
Regarding the mindset - Dr. V wants to educate a very different way than what has been done for the last 30 years.
Less worksheets and more meaningful curricula, much like what Prairie has done for decades.
Multi-discplinary approaches to learning, instead of the narrow focus as is practiced now.
The teachers need to be in a different mindset to teach this way and the parents and others in the community need to accept that the "old" way may not be cutting it.
We are in a global economy now and the rest of the world is kicking our ass - we need to step it up.
Randy,
First four words:
Demography is not destiny...
Those were the words she opened and closed her presentation with, and it kind of set the tone.
She talked at length regarding the fact that although some children come to school with maybe not the experiences - those experiences are valid.
Teachers should have high expectations for all their students, we need to challenge the students with a better curriculum,
address more resources to where there are needed most, less centralization - more site based management.
There really wasn't anything she said that I did not 100% agree with.
But I know she cannot do this alone; she needs every teacher, administrator, parent (and even taxpayer) to make this work.
Principals have not been expected to manage their staffs, budgets, goals. I imagine there will be costly training (this is where the taxpayers need to buy in), many veteran teachers may not want to do things a new way - another obstacle to overcome.
Parents will need to know that the days of simple homework sheets are gone.
I only wish you could have heard her speak, I really think you would have appreciated her energy, her sense of excitement, and her tenacity. Hell, I was excited and I am not even a teacher.
It sounds intriguing, but unless this new philosophy leaves CP in the dust, the teachers won't buy it. I know the veterans in the district may balk, but many teachers don't want to go back to how it was before CP. The reason there is so much resistance to Dr. Hicks is that trained professional teacher know that CP is pedagogically and ethically unsound.
But I'm preaching to the choir in your case Brenda.
I'll be waiting to see what stems from these new ideas.
Brenda, why does there need to be costly training involved in changing a mindset? If this is true then Dr. V. is going to face bigger challenges that she or you think.
Yes, Randy I am with you that the way CP has been implemented in our district is flawed and pedagogically unsound, but in theory it should work. Great idea, bad implementation.
Teaching to different skill levels is needed, don't you think? Should my 5th grade daughter who is (by testing standards) in the top 1% percentile have to be taught the same material as little Johnny that is reading at a 4th grade level?
I believe the answer is NO!
I see that the way CP has been implemented has still left my child behind, as well as the child is struggling. But this doesn't have to be; why aren't more resources (tutors, EAs, etc) directed to the children at the lower end of the spectrum to get them to grade level?
But I will get off my CP horse for now, as I think that our elementary schools are very slowly getting better.
The very real disconnect is in the middle and high school curricula, and I think that many of Dr. V's plans are to address this.
More school-to-work programs for the child that is not college bound. Partnering with the employers, technical colleges, etc to give the children some "meaning" to go the school.
High schools are still teaching the way they did 30 years ago, with a college prep curriculum knowing that the ones who did not go to college would still get a high paying union job at Case or Modine.
Kathy said:
Brenda, why does there need to be costly training involved in changing a mindset? If this is true then Dr. V. is going to face bigger challenges that she or you think.
Kathy, take site-based management for example. Our principals are educators, not CEOs. You cannot just say the principal is now in charge - they need guidance and training. I think there will be costly training to get these principals to start thinking like the leaders of a organization.
And I agree that this is a very real obstacle (money-wise) to overcome. This community hates spending money for everything - they want to continue in the 1950s mindset and wait for the big union jobs to come back.
While I think many of the ideas she has are not big ticket items, I do think she will have to overcome some obstacles.
Of course if we continue to bicker on the racial/socio-economic make-up of our elementary schools - we will get nowhere.
That is my biggest fear...
Brenda, when I heard Dr. V. talk about site based management it was not my impression that the principals would have financial control over their building. Maybe I'm wrong, but what I understood it to be was that the principals would have more control and take more responsibilty over their staff and implementation processes. They should be able to say to their area superintendents, "we need more resources here", and actually receive them as part of Dr. V.'s "support theory". I never understood Dr. V.'s "site based management" to be a true form of site based management, but rather a version of it. She said it herself that "we have the tools in place". That is what I came away with. Maybe I misunderstood what she was saying.
By the way Brenda, our principals have had costly training...Don't you remember the Lake Lawn Resort?
Now you're just baiting me, right?
As if they did any "real" training at Lake Lawn....
To clue the rest of you in-
Golf and "team building exercises" and "rejuvenation" for the upcoming school is NOT training!
They are already in charge of their day-to-day budgets. The new ERP system has X amount set aside for each school year. They "shop" and the money comes out of their "account".
Apparently some principals have budgeting issues - they have been out of money for supplies since January.
They implemented the ERP without proper training, now they have to go back after the fact and train them that money does not really grow on trees.
They're going to teach the principals that, "Money does not grow on trees"? That's really rich...I believe that that is a perfect example of, "The pot calling the kettle black." I've gotta see this...Of course I have to feel bad that the principals don't have the privilege of holding a referendum.
OK, Brenda, if I understand correctly, Dr. Vandeb Wyngaard favors meaningful curricula, a multi-disciplinary approach, high expectations for students, less centralization and an education more like Prairie. But this would only be possible with the full support of "every teacher, administrator, parent (and even taxpayer) to make this work." While I agree that these sound like fine ideas, it is simply not possible to get everyone on board. We have a one-size-fits-all school system, very centralized and dominated by a union totally resistent to actual decentralization. All the good ideas in the world will never come to fruition so long as the union dominates the scene.
Brenda, you mentioned that Principals are educators, not CEO'S. From my experience working as a secretary of an elementary school, the Principal spends the majority of her time on behavioral issues,re-instatements, sitting in IEP meetings, P5 meetings,handling parent & teacher complaints & just trying to keep the school a float.I swear she is constantly running from one end of the building to the next. With just enough time to use the bathroom & eat her warm yogurt that's been sitting on her desk all day. I have prepared notes & made copies of reports for the many presentations she's had to give. Her last one was on poverty. The principal's job is not to educate the children, that is the teacher's job. The Principal's job is to make sure her teacher's are performing up to standard & that the children are thriving in a healthy & knowledgeable learning environment. The Principal holds weekly staff meetings & puts out a weekly staff bulletin on top of her daily tasks. She is doing all she can to make things run smoothly. The problem that I see with this particular school is not the staff, it is the parents. In this school, tardies & truancies are the norm. It's sad to say, but it's true. In February alone, there are 75 truancy letters waiting to go out in the mail.Did I mention that this is an elementary school? When the majority of the parents recive these letters, they get upset with the Secretary, clerk, social worker & home worker. The parents need to place the blame on themselves, not us. We are just doing our jobs.I wish they would do their jobs & make sure their kids are getting to school on time. I actually had a mom yell at me once because I called to tell her that her children were late to school every day for 10 days. I was told that once those kids left her door step that they were my responsibility, not hers. Last I checked, I didn't give birth to her children! Poor parenting is the cause of many of RUSD's problems, at least at this particular school.
Anon,
Yes parents are to blame, but are you ready to simply write off these children because they come from a "bad" home? That is whole other topic for another time...
Back to your comment on the prinicipals of our schools. I believe they are educators - they do not educate children, they "educate" their staff and teachers.
If we had more principals who took leadership of their schools seriously there would not be having this discussion, now would we?
If you are who I think you are, the principal you are referring to is one of the principals who is doing it right and was commended by Dr. V on Monday night.
We need more of her and other effective principals (Dr. Citron, Mr. Thielen, etc) who see a challenge and figure out a way to solve the problem.
Denis said:
"While I agree that these sound like fine ideas, it is simply not possible to get everyone on board. We have a one-size-fits-all school system, very centralized and dominated by a union totally resistent to actual decentralization."
Hence, the mindset change is needed.This is what I am talking about, but it does not only relate to teachers. They are a huge factor in the equation, but parents and other stakeholders are also factors.
Do you really think that a major undertaking like this will be free? One of her initiatives is bring technological education to the high schools, enabling high school graduates to graduate with an associates degree.
From health-care labs built to computer labs, this is not something that can be done without spending a little money. This, to me is her biggest obstacle. This town does not want to pay for anything - with the exception of new jails.
The union jobs of the 70's are gone; we need to move past that and figure out a way to educate our children so they do not end up in the new jail.
Hopefully it won't be too outrageous, but I do know that buildings will need more resources (tax money), so the mindset of the tax paying public needs to change too.
Brenda, you are way way way more optimistic than I am about the prospect of the teachers union ever supporting reforms that will actually work. Schools innovating, competing for students and dollars, firing teachers, ending tenure, etc... are the things that would bring about meaningful change, and the union will fight them all with everything they've got. It is just my not so humble opinion, but I think that anyone who thinks that we can turn RUSD around without a fight with the teachers union is fooling themselves. Denis Navratil
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