Last Thursday, October 22nd at 7
o’clock in the evening more than 50 community members, parents and students met
to discuss the current Challenge program and what questions we have about what
might become of it with the shift from Junior High to Middle School.
Several concerned parents presented their own
research on a variety of topics including:
·
How the current self-select Challenge Program works and what kinds
of students choose it.
·
An investigation of the District’s proposal to give
challenging curriculum to all in a heterogeneous mixed-ability classroom and
the problems with the District’s research
·
Struggling Learners and how they might be affected by the
Challenge-for-all model
·
Equity versus Equality and how giving every student the same thing
is not the same as giving every student what they need to learn.
These
topics generated many questions and concerns from the room along the way and
well into the evening. We wrote these ideas down on several large pieces of
paper and brought them with us today. Some of these questions and comments
included:
1. Do
behavioral problems and bullying decrease in heterogeneous classrooms, or
increase?
2.
Will the district be exploring many options of how to go from a
Jr. High to a Middle school, or will they just be looking at one option
proposed by one organization?
3. Is it
truly beneficial to either child to have the high ability learner teach the
struggling learner in a mixed ability classroom? How is the high ability
learner moving forward in their own education when they must take on the
teacher role? And how does the struggling learner feel about being taught by a
peer?
4. Contrary
to what some believe, not all Gen. Ed. Students are struggling learners with
behavioral problems. Most are capable students who know what pace works best
for them and have chosen to opt-out of Challenge for one or more subjects.
5. What
happens if the district implements Challenge curriculum for all and some
students are unable to keep up? What supports will be put in place to help
those students who are no longer allowed to opt-out of challenge?
6.
Why are there not more low income kids in Challenge? What is the district
doing to encourage more underrepresented kids to take hicap programs like
Challenge?
7.
How will we support the emotional needs of kids in the new middle
schools?
8. What
problem is the District trying to fix by eliminating the Challenge program? If
Challenge is eliminated, what measure of success will they use to determine if
they’ve fixed the problem?
These
are just a few of the questions and concerns stated by community members
attending this discussion. These are questions we expect the district to be
asking while studying Middle School Models. When the district does their due
diligence and finds their own answers, we expect them to communicate those
answers to the community, parents, students and the school board. We look
forward to hearing those answers.
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