Part 2.
We would love to think that the Board of Education is doing everything possible to empower and equip our children to be successful. Do we pay close attention to the details of what our children are being taught? We should not necessarily be blamed for a school system short changing its pupils. Neither should we feel guilty for not knowing the difference. This is one of the reasons I am shedding light on this inequity and conspired disenfranchisement to our next generation.
We had our own firsthand experience when we sought answers for the obvious challenge and confusion of our sixth and eighth grader who are currently enrolled at TJMS. We sought answers through all the appropriate channels and did not get a resolution. It was stated that the math program was instituted some since 6 years ago, and thus far the school is satisfied with the newly adopted math program. Besides, making any changes was not possible, due to financial budget cuts, and herein dwells the crust of my contention. What is our priority? And, why are we playing school? We called on the current Director for the math program for some enlightenment. The Director seemed flustered and aggravated that I would even question the program. He proclaimed that he was new to the position and was looking into it. It was rather a surprising reaction displayed by the current Director. It is common knowledge that the Director's cultural heritage is one of profound diligence, with hard work, strong foundational principle in a uniform and organized system. The Director's education was wrought from an education culture that drives for excellence. His current success is a testament of his dedication and diligence to a system that gave him the tools to be successful. What tools is he equipping our children with, which allows for the individual pursuit of success?
Our dialog with the Director did not end well as some excuse resolution was done that did not really change anything. Patronizing homage to one screaming parent to keep them quiet does not help all the other students who are unjustly served. "We are not free unless we are all free". The current Director and the Board of Education for Teaneck Public Schools conclude that parents with children in the middle school are comfortable with poor achievement and a dis-organized math curriculum.
We are proclaiming that we are preparing our children for future leadership. We are preparing them for college. All colleges are structured, and curriculums are tailored for focused and structured learning. What would allow a school district to railroad the children's future? Why are there are so many people in charge, yet no one is responsible? Why do we trust a corrupt system that has the power to change a failed program for the past six years, now approaching guaranteed seven years of failure? Are we as parent all unaware of our children's low level of performance? Do we have low expectations for our children because we ourselves were and are afraid of math, so we set very low bars for our children's achievement? Are we regressive compulsive failures ourselves? Does it really matter what our children do as long as they get through school, stay out of trouble and graduate? Are we alone with disdain, for the hypocrisy and injustice dealt to our children? Somehow, I don't believe that. I know that I am not the only one that loves my children and will do anything to see them successful. I know that all responsible parents will stand up for their children, if they are informed. Well, consider this editorial rendition as your formal update. What are you going to do about it? I tell you what some will do, nothing! There are others that will demand change of this program immediately. There should be that emergency siren alarm set in motion to prevent another batch of students jumping over the cliff of guaranteed failure in math. Of course, there is that three percent that will pass even if they never attended class.
There are few shining stars that attain honors for excellence in math despite the overall average of failing scores. Did the few honor students gain excellence because they had external aid? Why should the 96.8 percent of the 2011 graduating class live their dreams in the success of the 3.2% percent passing at honors level? I said it before; "Success of one is not celebrated until all students are given the tools to be equally successful". Teachers have unions, delegates, and parents for teacher advocates, admonishing on their behalf. I am also an advocate for equity and just compensation for dedicated teachers. Can someone tell me, WHO IS ADVOCATING FOR OUR CHILDREN, especially our minority children? Who is fighting the good fight with knowledge and a loud voice? If you care as we think you do, why don't you join us and make a difference. Send us your comments and views. We would love to hear from you. Email this article to a friend.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Math Fragment - TJMS "Bits and Pieces", what is this?
Part One
Our experience with the Math Program
I have two sons who attended the Thomas Jefferson Middle School for the 2010 - 2011 school year. I was alarmed that they did not have structured text books for math. Parents are looking for structured textbooks as those with topics and examples to follow and help students in practicing on weekdays/ weekends. How many of you parents were able to assist your children with their math homework based on using the math booklets called "bits and pieces"? When we looked at these books, there were no tangible examples to follow. Our sons told us that their teachers taught them from notes. Upon attending the parent/teacher conference, the math teacher told us that he got his notes from various on line sources. The only referring example that our children had was the notes gathered from a standard teaching session. This means if the child copies an error in his/her transference of information from the black-board, there is no other reliable resource for the child to refer to for clarification. As responsible and concerned parents, we spoke to the teacher and he agreed to fax his notes to us as a means of supplemental source to aid with homework and class assignment. This was done once by the teacher with no further compliance. When we followed up with the math teacher, he stated that we should send the child to see him after-school. When the child went to see the teacher, he was missing from the classroom. The other excuse given to us for informal text book was that the budget did not accommodate for the text book, so the alternative is to inject a trial and error system to compensate. What is the cost factor for purchasing these small booklets in comparison to purchasing one textbook? This math program has been around for six years, a trial run which has now become a permanent fixture. How can parents sit on the sideline and continue to embrace this experimental math program as an acceptable resource for teaching? The effective results of this teaching module and textbook used by Teaneck compared to neighboring schools using other math programs is reflective in the 2010 NYASK results showing below. Our current math average is even lower than the average for the State of New Jersey.
School - Math Average NJASK - Year
Thomas Jefferson grade -7- 61% - 2010
Thomas Jefferson grade-8- 61 %- 2010
Tenafly Middle School- grade-7- 87%- 2010
Tenafly Middle School-grade-8- 90%- 2010
Closter Middle School-grade-7- 95%- 2010
Closter Middle School-grade-8- 88%- 2010
Data adapted GoodSchools.org 2010.
In the State of New Jersey ,there are four school districts that are highest paid and among them is this small town of Teaneck."A quarter of teachers in Hackensack, Teaneck and Carlstadt and a third of those at the regional high school in East Rutherford earned six figures for the 2008-09 school year, according to data provided by the state. The city of Passaic had 115 teachers with salaries above $100,000, the highest number of any district in the state. Hackensack had 98, Teaneck 93, Wayne 81, and in Ridgewood, 71 teachers were above the $100,000 mark",http://www.northjersey.com/news.
Closter school district is among the highest paying for teachers in the State of New Jersey and they are producing results. Teachers in the Teaneck school district are equally compensated as those in Closter. Prior years showed even lower results of our student's performance in math. The obvious question is, "What is the goal and mission of the Teaneck Curriculum Administration and the Board of Education for our students?"
Your comment on this blog is welcome.
Reference Source: www.GoodSchools.org, www.northjersy.com/news
Our experience with the Math Program
I have two sons who attended the Thomas Jefferson Middle School for the 2010 - 2011 school year. I was alarmed that they did not have structured text books for math. Parents are looking for structured textbooks as those with topics and examples to follow and help students in practicing on weekdays/ weekends. How many of you parents were able to assist your children with their math homework based on using the math booklets called "bits and pieces"? When we looked at these books, there were no tangible examples to follow. Our sons told us that their teachers taught them from notes. Upon attending the parent/teacher conference, the math teacher told us that he got his notes from various on line sources. The only referring example that our children had was the notes gathered from a standard teaching session. This means if the child copies an error in his/her transference of information from the black-board, there is no other reliable resource for the child to refer to for clarification. As responsible and concerned parents, we spoke to the teacher and he agreed to fax his notes to us as a means of supplemental source to aid with homework and class assignment. This was done once by the teacher with no further compliance. When we followed up with the math teacher, he stated that we should send the child to see him after-school. When the child went to see the teacher, he was missing from the classroom. The other excuse given to us for informal text book was that the budget did not accommodate for the text book, so the alternative is to inject a trial and error system to compensate. What is the cost factor for purchasing these small booklets in comparison to purchasing one textbook? This math program has been around for six years, a trial run which has now become a permanent fixture. How can parents sit on the sideline and continue to embrace this experimental math program as an acceptable resource for teaching? The effective results of this teaching module and textbook used by Teaneck compared to neighboring schools using other math programs is reflective in the 2010 NYASK results showing below. Our current math average is even lower than the average for the State of New Jersey.
School - Math Average NJASK - Year
Thomas Jefferson grade -7- 61% - 2010
Thomas Jefferson grade-8- 61 %- 2010
Tenafly Middle School- grade-7- 87%- 2010
Tenafly Middle School-grade-8- 90%- 2010
Closter Middle School-grade-7- 95%- 2010
Closter Middle School-grade-8- 88%- 2010
Data adapted GoodSchools.org 2010.
In the State of New Jersey ,there are four school districts that are highest paid and among them is this small town of Teaneck."A quarter of teachers in Hackensack, Teaneck and Carlstadt and a third of those at the regional high school in East Rutherford earned six figures for the 2008-09 school year, according to data provided by the state. The city of Passaic had 115 teachers with salaries above $100,000, the highest number of any district in the state. Hackensack had 98, Teaneck 93, Wayne 81, and in Ridgewood, 71 teachers were above the $100,000 mark",http://www.northjersey.com/news.
Closter school district is among the highest paying for teachers in the State of New Jersey and they are producing results. Teachers in the Teaneck school district are equally compensated as those in Closter. Prior years showed even lower results of our student's performance in math. The obvious question is, "What is the goal and mission of the Teaneck Curriculum Administration and the Board of Education for our students?"
Your comment on this blog is welcome.
Reference Source: www.GoodSchools.org, www.northjersy.com/news
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Why are our children failing?
There is a growing concern of parents for students attending the Teaneck Public Schools. This concern varies on many fronts.
Students are failing math and science at an alarming rate and parents are distracted and engaged in other pursuits. Some are busy working 2 and 3 jobs to meet the monthly mortgage and tax note, another group knows something is wrong but does not know where to start and other parents does not expect much from the public school system so they compensate by paying for private tutoring to supplement for the lack experienced in the public schools.
What happens with the parents who depend solely on the public school to educate their children? Some parents are duped into thinking that the teachers are advocates for their children as they are told all the politically correct verbiage.It is so convincing that when your child comes home with a complain you would be tempted to doubt him/her. Parents never doubt your children, explore and investigate everything that is told to you by the child. Be reminded that whatever is committed to parents verbally will not be committed in writing. This has been the sub-cultural tradition of the Teaneck school system. The teachers maintain camaraderie and self preservative adherence in conducting their duties routinely. There has been no specialized attention focused on meeting needs versus teaching methodology. For example, it is common knowledge among all teachers that the math curriculum and teaching strategy for the middle school has been failing for the past (6) years.,yet for our highly favored teachers it is business as usual as our children are consistently failing and pass through the system to the next grade. The continued trend of weakness,fear and failure for math continues among our student population.
Why are we surprised as parents when our children are not doing as well as we expect them to? I have attended countless PTA meetings,and have seen the disappointment on the faces of parents and the despair on students as they get the news of poor performance. We cannot blame the failure to perform or the failed results on our students. It is very easy to point blame on the student as they are the obvious and the more likely candidate to be blamed for failure to perform. After all the students are the ones with poor study habits, failure to return the home work in a timely manner, or simply lacking interest in school work. As tempting as this seems, there is yet a deeper more sinister contributor to the high dropout rate of our students and the high failure of our most deserving students.
Indeed all our students are deserving of the best that we can do as parents, teachers, administrators, politicians, and the community. When we negotiate the raises and benefits for staff, why are we simultaneously injecting consistent cuts for student services? Why are we not hiring more teachers who care about students and less of those who are in the vocation for career advancement and steady income?
Students are failing math and science at an alarming rate and parents are distracted and engaged in other pursuits. Some are busy working 2 and 3 jobs to meet the monthly mortgage and tax note, another group knows something is wrong but does not know where to start and other parents does not expect much from the public school system so they compensate by paying for private tutoring to supplement for the lack experienced in the public schools.
What happens with the parents who depend solely on the public school to educate their children? Some parents are duped into thinking that the teachers are advocates for their children as they are told all the politically correct verbiage.It is so convincing that when your child comes home with a complain you would be tempted to doubt him/her. Parents never doubt your children, explore and investigate everything that is told to you by the child. Be reminded that whatever is committed to parents verbally will not be committed in writing. This has been the sub-cultural tradition of the Teaneck school system. The teachers maintain camaraderie and self preservative adherence in conducting their duties routinely. There has been no specialized attention focused on meeting needs versus teaching methodology. For example, it is common knowledge among all teachers that the math curriculum and teaching strategy for the middle school has been failing for the past (6) years.,yet for our highly favored teachers it is business as usual as our children are consistently failing and pass through the system to the next grade. The continued trend of weakness,fear and failure for math continues among our student population.
Why are we surprised as parents when our children are not doing as well as we expect them to? I have attended countless PTA meetings,and have seen the disappointment on the faces of parents and the despair on students as they get the news of poor performance. We cannot blame the failure to perform or the failed results on our students. It is very easy to point blame on the student as they are the obvious and the more likely candidate to be blamed for failure to perform. After all the students are the ones with poor study habits, failure to return the home work in a timely manner, or simply lacking interest in school work. As tempting as this seems, there is yet a deeper more sinister contributor to the high dropout rate of our students and the high failure of our most deserving students.
Indeed all our students are deserving of the best that we can do as parents, teachers, administrators, politicians, and the community. When we negotiate the raises and benefits for staff, why are we simultaneously injecting consistent cuts for student services? Why are we not hiring more teachers who care about students and less of those who are in the vocation for career advancement and steady income?
Teaneck Voice: Why are our children failing?
Teaneck Voice: Why are our children failing?: "There is a growing concern of parents for students attending the Teaneck Public Schools. This concern varies on many fronts. Students are f..."
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