Great tests, less filler! Now with 20% more math!

For Alameda parents, there is a new Google Group for those interested in sharing information about Alameda Schools and school related issues.   Alameda School Connection has a pretty good list of participating parents right now, you have to join to view and participate.   There is a very interesting conversation about, what else, charter schools on one of the threads.

One of the arguments that I find fascinating about the creation of the Charter Schools is to offer parents a level of choice in what schools their child attends.   It’s a fair argument, but on the other hand it seems like there are parents using the “choice” reasoning as a veil for “I don’t want to send my kid to a West End school if it’s not a charter.”   So here is my confusion, particularly for Elementary school aged kids and even more precisely for Kindergarten aged children. 

What is it about the proposed charter school that makes sending your kid to it so compelling?

I think it’s a fair question to ask.   It’s not as though they have a proven track record of serving K-5th grade kids.  And I think we all know as parents that young children learn differently than 6-12 kids.   I assume that those actively supporting and considering sending their K-5 children to the ACLC charter school have done the requisite tours and meetings and talked with staff about the curriculm and the different programs available to their children.    I assume that parents considering sending their children to private schools have done the same.  

But have the parents toured other Alameda schools to see what programs they individually offer yet prior to making the leap to, “If not School X, then it’s private/charter/insert schooling of ‘choice’ here”?   One parent on the Alameda School Connection phrased it best:

…I think the position I hear articulated by many parents which pretty much is  ”Edison or bust,” doesn’t make much sense either.  Have you been in a  classroom at Edison? At Otis? At Haight?  Do you know Haight’s math  scores are on par with Edison’s?  Do you know Bay Farm’s are better?   And they have trees at Bay Farm! And multiple playgrounds! Do you know  that Otis has about the sweetest community feel you’ll find anywhere?   That said, remember that the k-5 schools in Alameda all have the same curriculum, teachers are required to have the same training and, in any case, the best predictor of YOUR child’s scores/level of  achievement are your educational level and income level.  I also think  it’s disingenuous to say that you care most about neighborhood  schools–but are also interested in charter schools or private schools.  You want control, you want to go to the school you perceive  to be the best, I understand this–but don’t say it’s about location  when it’s really about perception of value…

Recently there was a meeting at Ruby Bridges where prospective parents were given an opportunity to learn about Ruby Bridges and after that less than two hour meeting, I walked away more confident than ever that Ruby Bridges would be able to offer my child a great education.   And the only staff person we met was the principal. 

Here’s something perhaps the school district should consider, how about an all-district Kindergarten informational meeting, it would work sort of like those college information nights some of us went to to pick up pamphlets about prospective colleges we could consider.   Everything needs to be marketed and sold these days, why not Kindergarten too?   This meeting could also include in addition to all the AUSD public schools all the private and charter schools as well, and throw in some homeschooling support organizations as well.   That way, people know what their options are and can make a decision with ALL the information at their fingertips.    It would work like any trade show where each organization would get a booth to set up informational materials, this would be an opportunity to meet key staff at the schools, a few Kindergarten teachers.   This would also be an opportunity to sign up for classroom tours.   I know it sounds like a lot of energy and effort: meeting teachers, taking tours, talking to parents of kids whose kids currently attend, but wouldn’t you do the same, if not more, if you were shelling out the dough to send your kid to private school?  Or would you rather take a “faith walk” with ACLC for your Kindergartner because of some uninformed perception of particular Alameda schools?

Just one note about the Kindergarten trade show, no booth babes, please, this isn’t E3.