This was an intresting perspective on Springboard

This post was left by anonymous in reference to a SpringBoard posting I wrote a while back.

As one of the teachers who "created" the learning schedule for this year's implementation of Springboard in Hillsborough County, let me assure you that we did not create the schedule. We were given printed calendars and suggested "Pathways" and instructed to fit the Pathway into the calendar. We were told to leave NO days for individual choice of lessons. We were allowed to leave a few days each quarter to "Reloop and Reteach" concepts. Our district had a very strong curriculum for the high school English classes. I felt that I sent my students to college prepared to be successful. In fact, several of my previous students have become English teachers in this district. The students I as sending away to college this year have no idea what "Beowulf" is or who Chaucer was. They don't know what a Romantic poem is or why the Victorians wrote the way they did. They do, however, know how to identify camera angles in popular movies, how to identify critical perspectives, and a great deal about the Congo. The Springboard curriculum in English works well with my "regular" level students who were struggling with the more literary curriculum. My "honors" level students are being disadvantaged by a curriculum that does not provide them with a common basis of knowledge shared by other students across the nation.

Anonymous who posted this please email me at april@voteapril.com I want (need) to talk to you.

Couldn't have said it better myself

I read the article that is in my previous post before reading this editorial in the Tampa Tribune. Thank you Tampa Tribune editorial board for paying attention to such an important issue. Together we have opened the door to a much needed conversation. There will be more to come on this issue...stay tuned.

This highlights perfectly why I have been voicing concern

An article today on the front page of the Tampa Tribune highlights perfectly one of the reasons I have been voicing concern for this college push that in my and some members of our community’s opinion is de-emphasizing career and technical education.

During board member comments I expressed concern over the CollegeBoard programs that are being heavily pushed in our schools. With the classroom size reduction amendment and all of the assessments we have to comply with (not that accountability is a bad thing), but FCAT is driving our curriculum and we are losing sight of career training. This concerns me greatly.

These are some of my comments from the last board meeting:

"College enrollment is going to be down because of the budget crisis we are facing as well as Bright Futures scholarships due to people are not buying lottery tickets because people don’t have disposable income right now".

"The unintended consequences are that we are eliminating classes that are important for hooking kids into school. With classroom size reduction we have already lost a lot of career tech units".

I made these and other statements to start the conversation with the rest of the board about this CollegeBoard emphasis.

Pushing kids that are not going to further their education in a four year university is doing them a disservice and taking away opportunities to expose them to classes that could lead them to a high paying career. This hurts the community too.

Don't get me wrong I want more students going to college, particularly non traditional students, but not at the cost of losing programs that could help students go on to successful, necessary high paying careers.

Florida Bills that could affect schools

Here is a link to a listing of bills that could affect schools if passed.

Tell me what you think.