Task force recommends changes in teaching urban youth
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Published: October 27, 2009
Updated: October 27, 2009
PROVIDENCE—A task force appointed by Gov. Don Carcieri is recommending sweeping changes in the way children are educated in urban areas.
The recommendations include developing a pre-kindergarten program, changing the way teachers are evaluated, offering students learning outside the classroom, and encouraging educator collaboration.
“Early literacy is critical. We understand when we look at the data and local data what begins to happen and that it’s important to work on basic skills. Around the third- or fourth-grade transition, many students begin to fall behind because at that point, basic skills are not enough,“ said Dr. Warren Simmons, chair of the Rhode Island Urban Task Force.
Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals and a task force member, is questioning some of the recommendations involving teacher evaluation.
Carcieri said while Rhode Island is making some progress in educating children, the recommendations will help close what is still a wide gap between student scores in Rhode Island and the rest of the country.
“At the end of the day, if we do right by them, they get the skills they need to be successful, then there’s no doubt we as a state will prosper,“ he said.
The governor and other task force members said the report will not sit on a shelf. They call it an action plan.
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Reader Reactions
I think the people at the top should start by educating the parents of the urban school kids instead of blaming the teachers for the students not making the test scores. A teacher can only do so much when parents are not involved or held accountable for their child’s education!
It is somewhat difficult to educate these students whose parents are illiterate, don’t speak English, and use schools as free day care while they sit home doing nothing.
No matter what kind of changes are proposed and made for these urban districts there will be no change without the parents being held accountable!
“Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals and a task force member, is questioning some of the recommendations involving teacher evaluation.“
...what about teacher evaluations? does it count as part of the news if you say someone had an opinion, and then continue on, leaving the opinion behind and out of the article?
hows about some real reporting, you don’t get much local news thats not from the AP, so…hows-about you spend some time, and do your job.
-thanks
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