What we're up against

What do Communism, the Iraq War and Whole Language have in common?
The answer is that these are examples of ideologies put into practice. In each instance, the proponents meant well: "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs", "reshaping the middle east through democracy, freedom and free-market capitalism" and "a holistic approach to reading instruction" that de-emphasized phonics.
An ideology can be described as :

3. A set or system of theories and beliefs held by an
individual or group, especially about sociopolitical goals
and methods to attain them; in common usage, ideology is
such a set of beliefs so strongly held by their adherents
as to cause them to ignore evidence against such beliefs,
and thus fall into error -- in this sense it is viewed as
a negative trait; contrasted to pragmatism, and distinct
from idealism.
PJC (The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48)

We all know what happened to Communism. The Iraq War is not going well and Whole Language was finally pitched from the classroom in the last decade in favor of more phonics based instruction. The reason these ideological examples failed is because they didn't take into account human nature, tribalism and neurology. The adherents of an ideology will always insist that their plan would have succeeded but it was never fully implemented ot never implemented correctly. You are not likely to hear that the ideology was flawed to begin with.
In 1996, E.D Hirsch wrote a controversial book called, "The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them". The author is a proponent of "core knowledge", an educational reform theory that states that curriculum should have core or common elements nationwide. Whatever your thoughts might be regarding core knowledge, Hirsch's biggest contribution through his book might be the history and analysis of the American educational system from the Enlightenment to the present day. Hirsch is unsympathetic about the ideology that has crept into Schools of Education. This ideology has an aversion to research and facts. It is more about wishful thinking of how things ought to be than how things actually are.
The differentiated classroom experience is one part of this ideology. The idea is that in a mixed environment, children learn as much from each other as from the teacher. The teacher does not teach the same curriculum to each child but takes advantage of many levels of instruction in the same room. The teacher tailors instruction to each individual child based on their strengths and needs.
Now, in theory, this sounds just hunky-dory. The teacher is the maestro of a big, beautiful chorus and is teaching everyone to sing in perfect harmony.
In practice, this is very hard to do with a classroom of 27 children, the bulk of which are either average skill level students and remedial students. What happens to the high level learner is that they finish their work quickly and either do enriched work on their own or they socialize. In neither case are they learning any new material.
A couple of teachers have confessed to me that they are simply stretched beyond their limits. They can't pull off this magnificent orchestration with the number of students in the classroom that require their attention. So, they prioritize. The average learner and remedial students get their help. The very bright and gifted students suffer.
We are lucky in that the REACH kids are pulled out for Social Studies in the intermediate school. But the instruction in Science and Math has gradually gotten worse over the past couple of years. One of the reasons that this has occured is specifically related to the ideology of the differentiated classroom experience. It would be relatively easy to address the problem of teaching to the level of the student by grouping skill levels together. Many of us who were educated in the 60's and 70's might remember this kind of grouping by the term tracking. You may not be surprised to learn that tracking is a undesirable thing to the educator who likes differentiated classrooms. Even though the grouped or tracking method would allow the teacher to teach without exhaustion or guilt and even though all children would benefit, it ain't going to happen as long as the Superintendent and her curriculum advisors want everyone in the same room singing in harmony.
What to do about it?
Two things: 1.) Hold the administration accountable. Ask them to explain their ideology, philosophy, pedagogy. Ask to see the research. Ask how this method of instruction compares to other districts in our socio-economic group. (Like West Windsor-Plainsboro) How do the NJASK scores in Math compare for districts that offer advanced math to those that do not? Do this at every possible opportunity in a public setting, like the board of ed meetings.
2.) Run for the board of education. If you aren't on the board, you can't see the way curriculum is approved in this district and you have no way to question it before it comes before a vote. The board of ed tends to attract people concerned with facilities and budgets. But curriculum is considered sacrosanct and where most board members will vigorously challenge budget items, they tend to rubber stamp curriculum issues. The NJ School Board Association almost encourages such behavior because they hold the educators up as the experts and ask that you trust them. But as working professionals, especially those of you who evaluate data all day, YOU are more than capable of knowing whether the curriculum advisor has done his or her homework and has valid research to back up a proposal. If you have ever wondered if you can make a difference, consider running. We need you.

What the Heck is this?

Welcome, REACH parents. You're probably wondering what the heck this blog is all about. Well, if you are like me, you have a child in your family who is a little bit different from any other child you've ever known. Maybe she learned to talk on fast forward so that you got insights into the language acquisition proccess you might have otherwise missed. Maybe the kid started drawing pictures at a very young age. Maybe he learned to read without instruction. Maybe she corrected her teacher's math, um, in front of the other students (ouch!).
You might have thought that when your special kid, the one with the vivid imagination and tons of drive, hit elementary school, the school system would acknowledge their giftedness and plan to do something about it. You may feel frustrated that this is not always the case.
Our school district seems to be going backward in some respects. We don't evaluate children until the end of the second grade. By that time, your child has spent three years in school without any attention to his or her needs.
Our district also seems to have an aversion to advanced math and science instruction for our elementary and intermediate school students. Recent years show a gradual removal of advanced math instruction our classrooms in favor of a "differentiated classroom experience". The reasons for this shift may be ideological, structural or something else. Your child may be telling you he is bored and isn't learning anything new. If you are work in a profession where math and science are used routinely, you may find this trend alarming.
But what can you do about it? That is what this blog is all about.
Last summer, I attended a conference on something called "the netroots". Netroots is a term that refers to grassroots organization that occurs on the web. The philosophy behind any grassroots organization is that if you don't like what is going on, you have a responsibility to change it yourself. Don't wait for a leader to do it for you. Become the leader.
But, you ask yourself, how do I do this? I'm one person. I don't know much about how things work. How do I find like minded individuals? How do I research my area of interest? How do I contact the people who can make a difference? How do I organize this? And where the heck am I going to find the time for all of this?
A blog is one of the solutions to these questions. Here are some of the benefits of blogging:

*There is no set date and time. The blog is always here for you to connect to others.
*The blog can serve as a bulletin board. You can schedule events and broadcast them.
*You can post your concerns anonymously. Your email address will not be shared.
*The power of the community to research and share information is virtually limitless.

In short, a blog can serve as a nucleation site: a place where bonds can be made easily and without too much organizational effort.
This blog is in its infancy. There is plenty of space to add links and hear your points of view. Let's use this resource and organize so that we can become powerful advocates on behalf of our children and all of the district's children.
Do I have any takers? Please use the comments below to post your thoughts, ideas, links, etc.
First item on my agenda: I'd like to have an organizational meeting. It doesn't have to be elaborate. If we put our heads together here, we can pre-organize it and live blog it for those of us who can't attend but would like to participate.
Things I'd like to cover would be:

*Official name of our group
*Officers. (Necessary?)
*Funding (dues? PayPal? Any left over funds from older REACH group?)
*Mission, philosophy, values
*Committees (Extracurricular, field trips, school board and REACH staff liason)

I'd love to have other front page posters write content for this site. If you are interested, contact me at redkimba@earthlink.net.
Have at it!