Monday, February 10, 2014

News Flash! Do District Parents Realize 107 Fourth-Grade Students Have Recently Been Identified as Needing Teacher Tutoring for Accelerated Math?



As a result of the Learning for All Plan and the automatic grade-level acceleration of math, which began in the Fall of 2012 and affected last year’s 3rd graders, there are now approximately 107 fourth graders who have been identified as needing tutoring services, twice weekly for a total of 2 hours. (Please review the board member question/answer segment under Dr. Schuster’s report on Boardocs.  Click to open tutoring data.) Remember, these students CAN perform at-grade level math; it is the acceleration to 5th grade level skills that these students are struggling with at this time. This means that because of the automatic one-year math acceleration, students are struggling, which in turn affects their self-esteem, which could have serious consequences for their long-term learning mindset (high school honors classes, etc.). Keep in mind: Dr. Schuster is on record of stating the Learning for All Plan will not incur additional cost. Well, this plan has proven to be costly with the recent additions of several math coaches and now teacher tutoring for at least $45/hour. And isn’t it against Board policy for teachers to tutor their own students?


The fact these students have been identified more than half way into the school year is appalling. We can only imagine the stress and anxiety that has been waged on the backs of these students and their parents. And for the other students who were not identified as needing district tutoring services, parents should ask if the district will compensate them for the private tutoring they have been providing their children all year. We have heard from numerous parents who have confirmed they have been providing private tutoring for the their children for more than a year as a result of Learning for All.


Folks, other districts simply do not operate like D181. A quick Google search of local school districts (Butler, Western Springs, Lincolnshire) will confirm this. They are tackling and focused on the demands of the Common Core and are not accelerating their entire student population.


Something is clearly wrong with the leadership and the current direction in D181. The fact that 107 fourth graders need tutoring confirms this to be the case.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nelson again hanging out with Uncle Dick ...

Cheney reveals his 'undisclosed location'

Anonymous said...

Gary Clarin's favorite quote:

Brownie You're coin' a hekuva job

Anonymous said...

Wonder if Marty will be switching from selling computer backup systems to time clock systems and software from Tyler Technologies. Sound like Marty's kind of outfit:

Fort Morgan Mayor r didn't mince his words Tuesday night when asking executives from Tyler Technologies about problems with the financial software their company sold

Fort Worth gave Dallas-based Tyler Technologies 30 days to correct any problems with its software system. If the problems persist, district officials said in a letter, they could terminate the contract or seek legal action.

Anonymous said...

Marty is well qualified to comment on math issues as he knows E. & F. to be numbers...

Anonymous said...

Could there be some type of conflict of interest here with our bloviating President Turek? He, along with Nelson and Clarin have made our district a laughing stock.

Anonymous said...

Schuster is out

The Parents said...

Breaking News: Schuster released from contract effective 6/30 for family related issues. Stay tuned for full post later.

Anonymous said...

Does any one have a link to anything about who is on the alleged facilities committee or the technology committee???

Anonymous said...

Why leave?
Worst cliche of failed leaders...

Anonymous said...

Shocking, super-Renee likes days without homework, she preaches what she already practices...

Anonymous said...

Hate Math ?

The following from Ed Frenkel, math professor at UC Berkeley – may prove useful for further discussion on the importance of math, especially today and provides compelling content and context.

Let’s Stop Hating Math at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcAZWgvFc1Q (3:44)

Why Do People Hate Math at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yexc19j3TjE (9:17)

And if you were ever curious how NSA reads your emails, Ed does a nice job of explaining it here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulg_AHBOIQU (10:59)