Is ACPS the mausoleum of failed teaching practices?

One popular adage has it that Alexandria's public schools are where costly, unproductive and unproven teaching practices go to die. Recently, at a local happy hour populated by TC teachers, the following Washington Post Article was circulated:






Posted at 5:00 AM ET, 01/24/2011

Teacher: The worst of "best practices"

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by Roxanna Elden, the author of See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. She teaches high-school English in Miami and is a National Board Certified Teacher. This piece explains how the push for teachers to use "best practices" can get out of hand, and it will make you both laugh and cry. It first appeared on Rick Hess’s blog, Straight Up, on the Education Week website.

The reaction by the teachers was, as Valerie Strauss predicted, one of laughter followed by sincere sorrow and commiserating.  One of the few elementary school educators present shared the following story concerning what passes for best practices at her school:

Our building principal called an emergency/unscheduled meeting of all faculty one day.  She announced that we would be purchasing a new online, computerized reading program known as iStation.  It would be at the cost of thousands of dollars for a site license and all classroom teachers would be required to undergo training for implementation and be held responsible for using it, daily, in the classroom.  Use would include; setting up an iStation lab, keeping track of student progress, ensuring that lesson plans be written to incorporate its use and, of course, finding time in a 55 minute class period for iStation, whole group, guided/directed reading, vocabulary, running records and streamlining the 1099 reporting requirements of health care reform (I made that last part up).  Never mind that no one was consulted on the adoption of this program.  Never mind that knowledgeable teachers shook their heads at the spurious and ludicrous claims about the program's success that were offered. (One such claim was that students who were new to English vaulted several grade levels in just months!  No supporting data was presented.)  In fact, this teacher claims that noone had any input as to whether this was a strategy that was needed, wanted or proven effective.  It was presented as a done deal!  The money had been spent and faculty were to stay late into the evening for training at a future date.  

What's sad is that this is not an isolated incident.  Throughout the school system, dozens of unnecessary, even counterproductive 'initiatives' are being trotted out.  Valuable resources, both money and student/teacher interaction time are being wasted.  At a time when administration calls for greater student/teacher face to face time and, simultaneously decries the shortage of funds, iStation and boondoggles like it are presented as great ideas.  

Where are the teacher protests and the parents up in arms?  We have entered a brave new world, indeed...one where advertising execs are hired to spin for the superintendent and principals foolishly and thoughtlessly spend taxpayers' money during austere economic times.  WAKE UP ALEXANDRIA!

Common sense is not so common.

--Voltaire