Yes, reading and writing are forever linked like twins separated at birth. But just as the age old argument of Nature vs. Nurture remains unresolved and unproven, so too does the theory that focus on reading will manifest itself in improved writing skills.
Is it the Teacher? Or the Curriculum?
This is the classroom version of the nature vs. nurture controversy. Is English a part of the Sun Prairie (or any other district) curriculum? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the English language doesn't get the press that reading and math do. English is boring, right? No one wants to diagram sentences anymore...right. Hell...many you may not have even heard of diagramming sentences.
So...is our problem the curriculum? Or the teachers? Or is it a little bit of both? Certainly, one cannot expect the average teacher to focus on something (English) which is not highlighted by the district curriculum, as math and reading are. It would be career suicide. And everyone judges results by the WKCE...again the Reading and Math portions. The Language Arts have been cast aside somewhere along the way.
The other reality we have to face is that not all teachers are created equal. Sadly, the old joke that SOME doctors have to come out of medical school with less than stellar grades unfortunately applies to teachers (and every other profession) as well. And perhaps more to the point, success in college and achieving a teaching degree does not always translate to success in the classroom. So what we have to do is cultivate the bright shining examples, like Ms. Coulthard, who performed the classroom equivalent of a goal line stand. She was able to teach a child in one class what didn't stick in 11 years of education. Like researchers in the quest to isolate a miracle drug, Administration needs to identify the essence of Ms. Coulthard's teaching skills that allowed her to succeed where others had not. And then innoculate alldistrict teaching staff with that essence. Call it...say...lessons learned.
On to the next
But that isn't going to happen. Because like some adolescent fashionistas, instead of perfecting what we already have, this school district is obsessed with quickly moving on to the next fad. It's as if they get easily bored with core curriculum and are constantly searching for something different. Not necessarily better, mind you, just something new. There has to be balance between seeking out new ideas and maintaining the core foundation of what exists. That, of course, is the school board's role. But, in this district at least, they have consistently chosen to adbicate theoir throne and let Dr. Culver have his way with the district.
We do not mean to paint Dr. Culver in a negative manner. Certainly, he is highly educated, and has had successes. But research has shown that district administrators tend to plateau after about 10 years in a given position. We've crossed that line. It's equally clear that Culver is growing frustrated with a community that's starting to show signs of exhaustion from constantly tossing money at the school district and yet Sun Prairie remains no better than middle of the pack of Dane County school districts. Instead of continully renewing his contract, shouldn't Culver be looking for his next stepping stone? And shouldn't we be looking for the leader that can take us to the next summit? Oh, please....like THAT's going to happen.
As several school board members mentioned Monday night, it's time to stop chasing after every new program and focus on advancing what we have.
How About a "Celebrate Our Language" Charter School?
Dr. Culver has gotten school board support to "begin researching" the "idea of " a charter school. Right. We know how that works. We're betting he's already done a LOT of backdoor wheeling and dealing and likely has a plan ready to spring upon the board. And it will probably be some crazy idea like building a "school within a school" (that's not the crazy part) charter school in some elementary school and then focus the charter on learning a foreign language such as an obscure Slavic dialect or the Cantonese dialect of China. (OK, that's the crazy part) It's like we teach Spanish and then take the kids on a trip to Spain only to realize that Spaniards don't speak "Spanish" as we know it. There are two main dialects in Spain: Castilian (Madrid) and Catalan (Barcelona). And neither bears much resemblance to the "Spanish" we learn in schools. Just ask any kid that's taken Spanish for 5 or 6 years and then takes a trip to Spain. Think Borat.
Whatever it is, certainly it will be something beyond anyones' wildest dreams. The only sure thing is that no matter what Culver comes up with, board member Caren Diedrich is sure to fawn over it like a blushing schoolgirl.
Age Quod Agis
How about the school board step up to the plate and direct what the focus of the charter school should be? Let Dr. Culver research how to develop it and how to fund it, but let the school board direct what the emphasis shall be. And how about a foundation based on celebrating our own native language. Imagine a charter school whose emphasis is to embrace our language and all its roots to truly develop an understanding of how to communicate clearly and succinctly? The teachers could then build in communication skills, such as public speaking (another lost art). Perhaps there could even be an opportunity to (gasp!) bring back Latin as a "foreign" language! There are countless studies that show that Latin is one of the easiest languages to learn, and that it has great value in helping studients understand our own grammatrical constriucts. More importantly, nearly all words in our language are rooted in Latin, and understanding Latin provide immense assistance in understanding new words. Gee...it will help improve vocabularies too!
Further reading:
Warren Roberts, Distinguished Teaching Professor, University at Albany
" I read about accountability in our schools all the time. The
metric for accountability, it seems, is scores on standardized exams. The result
is that teachers teach their students how to score well on standardized exams, a
distortion if not perversion of proper education. In the meantime, students
aren’t taught grammar, much less how to use the English language with clarity
and assurance. Why not make our schools responsible for teaching grammar, and
proper use of the English language? '
The High Cost of Poor Writing Skills October 16, 2009 By Bill Kozel
E-Mail and the Decline of Writing, December 2004 :
" It should also be noted that reading and writing are inseparable. From this, we can extrapolate a lesson for corporate America and the country in general -- read so that you can write. The positive effect of clear, concise written communication is obvious;the opposite may catalyze inadvertent negative consequences. "
The Latin Road to English Grammar
Yahoo Answers: Do People's writing skills appear to be on the decline?
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