Oh, how time flies. Kids will be back to school in a matter of weeks. This year, I hope to encourage parents and grandparents to pay close attention to what and how their children and grandchildren are doing in school. From curriculum to report cards, it is critical that parents are informed and aware of what is happening with their children’s education. Things are often not what they seem to be.
Every year, school curriculum seems to become more socially and politically relaxed allowing for content that should be left to parents to decide whether to allow their children to participate. In an admirable effort to create inclusive learning environments, many school districts are incorporating controversial LGBTQ media and information to be shared with students as young as four years old. My concern is not as much with the topic as it is with districts’ reluctance or failure to inform parents when planning to disseminate such information.
I tell my students “If you have to sneak to do it, you know you are doing wrong.” Parents should be allowed to know what their kids are learning. Not necessarily to opt them out of the content, but perhaps to receive the information to compare with and contrast against what they believe as parents and as a family. Open and transparent information is not the enemy. Propaganda is.
Grade reports are notoriously counter to students’ actual ability in subject areas. Parents: DO NOT rely on grades as an indicator of your child’s skills or ability in a subject area. Many districts will not allow students to receive a grade less than a 70. Think about that. Your child may not know how to read or write but could have grades in the 70s or above indicating they can. I have seen students who could not read at all get 90s in Reading and English language Arts. No joke. I even had a 6th grade student ask me how she got 100 in Reading when she can’t read. The public-school system failed her and many others miserably.
Rather than celebrate the awesome grades on your child’s report cards, ask your child to demonstrate his or her ability in the subject to you. Ask the teachers for work samples outlining your child’s strengths and weaknesses.
Ask for benchmark, curriculum assessments and other data to compare throughout the year.
Pull the TEKs from the TEA website so you will know what the state has outlined for your children to learn in each grade. The TEKs are straightforward, but if you need help going through them, there are people on campus and at central office who can help you understand it all.
My goal is to empower parents to ensure their children succeed in a climate that sometimes seems to want otherwise. Know for yourself what and how your children are doing in school.
Email me at FMTeachersLounge@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter @ DrTeresaSanders
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