This past Thursday's school board work study session, despite being a standing room only affair, was mostly ho-hum typically board fest. Sure, the board asked some great questions to --for appearances sake anyway--effect some much needed change in the budget. But when it was all said and done, no one supported anything other than the status quo.That is until late in the meeting when ole AlBert Slane finally took the governor off and let 'er rip.
In a relatively lengthy monologue, AlBert offered the following decidedly non-vanilla opinions:
- I'd like to see us bring the budget back further (i.e., budget more than $600K under the revenue limit)
- combine grade levels or cut SAGE to do something different
- If we did away with SAGE, all class sizes at all 7 elementary schools would be lower
- why is the class size for high school the same as for 5th grade?
- instead of poverty, can we match classes to kids' level
Oh, how the scuttle was butting after the meeting broke up. Some thought Slane may have slit his own throat by making the comments he did. Quietly, however, some said that Slane wasn't too far off the mark.
We'll go one further. We applaud Slane fully and resoundingly for finally being a board member who put down the Board Kool-Aid, was not afraid to truly speak his peace, and --more importantly -- for demonstrating some clearly outside-the-box thinking. That's the chutzpa we need on our school board folks. Refuse to drink the Kool-Aid and check your Sun Prairie District Administration Fan Club card at the door.
Were Slane's ideas wack?
The biggest risk AlBert took Thursday night was when he talked about some new ways of dealing with the learning gap between kids. The SAGE program was kindof supposed to address that. Tim Culver will present some data that supports the value of SAGE, but like most statistics, there are other parameters NOT being shown that would suggest that we aren't gaining much -if any--ground with SAGE.
Slane talked about the complaints that he's heard from staff, that "Teachers feel the need to teach to the lowest common denominator".
When it comes to a subject like math, for example, if Jimmy is at level D, Philbert at level C, Timmy at level B, and Davy at level A, how does a teacher teach all four kids? S/he can't teach to Davy's abilities (level A) because 3 of the 4 might be lost. If s/he teaches at Jimmy's level (D), however, 3 of the four will get bored and start shooting spitballs into MaryEllen's hair. And you know how that ends.
Slane posited that if kids were grouped by ability rather than poverty, each class would be allowed to make greater progress because teachers would not have to teach at many different levels.
Already being done and there's a name for it
Newsflash...the model of which AlBert spoke is really no different that the "TAG" (Talented And Gifted" "program". With "TAG", those kids that are more advanced are pulled out of their classes and challenged in smaller independent groups.
This is most definitely not a new concept. It's called "ability grouping" or "tracking" and, like everything --including SAGE - there are both PROponents and opponents. Proponents believe that single level/ability classrooms make for more effective learning and actually lower achievement gaps. Opponents typically argue chiefly that "tracking" is tantamount to discrimination and racism as it borders on segregation.
We won't take any more of your valuable time here, but if you have an interest, here are several good links that discuss the concept. And, unlike Tim Culver, we show you BOTH sides of the argument.
Excellent PowerPoint Summary on Tracking Issue by Northeastern Illinois University
Education Week Issues: Tracking
Education World: Is Ability Grouping the Way to Go --Or Should It Go Away?
National Education Association (NEA) on Tracking
So let's not be so quick to toss ole AlBert under the bus. Actually, he should get a gold star and an extra twinkie at snack time for actually going off the board packet and doing some research on the issue.
SP-EYE's take
Well done, AlBert! It was nice to not see just 7 talking heads that all sound like the parents in a Charlie Brown cartoon [Wonk...wonk...wonk]. Slane presented some ideas that this board needs to seriously explore. Of course, in order to do so, they have to say "NO" to the Kool-Aid, put away that rubber stamp, and THINK independently.
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