Students with LD are a SubGroup according ...
to the person that put this the Daily News for Newburyport, Ma.
How do feel about this???!!
It's the kids, stupid October 7, 2010
As I See It
Joe D'Amore The Daily News of Newburyport Thu Oct 07, 2010, 03:38 AM EDT
James Carville, the political strategist in Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, coined the phrase, "It's the economy, stupid," to enforce the critical reason for leadership change in Washington.
Similarly, I am stunned by the raging debate about whether teachers and educational leaders are receiving enough credit for surging MCAS results in the state. Taylor Armeding on Oct. 2 in The Daily News outlined the folly of it.
So to borrow from Carville, I say, "It's the kids, stupid."
Today, students are growing up in what will be known as the Great Recession. The financial consequences are real. In my district, Pentucket, we've eliminated the general music program at the middle school and the business program at the high school. We are in the final phase of the French program. Elementary class sizes have increased. The district has lost classroom teachers, special education teachers, high school tech integration and district-wide instrumental music. Our budget is partially built on temporary money through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and the latest "award" via the Jobs Recovery Act. We've had discord among staff, administration, School Committee members and boards of selectmen. The beautiful thing about this is the kids are insulated from it all because youth enables them with coping mechanisms we adults have long lost.
The proof is evident all around us. Recently the Bagnall School in Groveland was recognized as a Governor's Commendation School. This means Bagnall is in the top 10 percent of schools in the state in combined MCAS performance and MCAS student growth, which encompasses 'some subgroups of students' who have not traditionally performed well, such as children with learning disabilities. Our high school music program has achieved regional and national recognition. Our district's aggregate hours of student volunteerism is the highest in the region. Our sports teams and athletes consistently excel. Students starting in kindergarten are immersed in a student achievement process called the Habits of Learning that compels them to progressively acquire and "demonstrate" their mastery of knowledge and skills that will enable them to succeed in the 21st century.
Another recent crowning achievement is the Page School sixth-grade class achieving the highest MCAS mathematics scores in the state. School pride runs rampant in the hallways!
Look around you and despite some isolated, well-publicized failures in Lawrence, many school systems in the Merrimack Valley are similarly improving and students are rarely mentioned as the reasons why.
Instead, we are predisposed to commend the administrators for their vision, the teachers for their skills and the parents for their patience. I won't do that here. My gratitude is to the students who through their youthful passions, energy and resiliency have performed splendidly.
The celebration of student achievement should be our focus and inspiration. Their achievement should also be the basis to redouble our efforts to support them better at School Committee meetings, through teacher professional development, in contract negotiations and at the voting booth.
They have certainly done their part to deserve this.
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Joe D'Amore
