DCPS Survey - Increase Instructional Time

[Anonymous]

I just voted for a longer school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm all for a longer school year!

I'm all for thinking before posting!

[Anonymous]

I'm a no vote. My kids need time to pursue all of the things they will never teach and never be able to do well in a school. I value after school hours, family dinners, peaceful evenings, and think summer is too short right now. I am quite certain that I'm a minority opinion though.

[Anonymous]

They can increase instructional time by eliminating testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a no vote. My kids need time to pursue all of the things they will never teach and never be able to do well in a school. I value after school hours, family dinners, peaceful evenings, and think summer is too short right now. I am quite certain that I'm a minority opinion though.

+1

(Unless there is a very robust and enriching plan about what to do with the extra time)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a no vote. My kids need time to pursue all of the things they will never teach and never be able to do well in a school. I value after school hours, family dinners, peaceful evenings, and think summer is too short right now. I am quite certain that I'm a minority opinion though.

+1

(Unless there is a very robust and enriching plan about what to do with the extra time)

+2 I think the desire to increase "instructional" time is to benefit students who never have "peaceful evenings", family dinners or anyone in their lives who support their education.

The irony is that the kids they're targeting will benefit the least. Let's be real, many of those kids really don't learn anything during the school day. Just look at the released PARCC scores. There were high schools with not ONE student who showed proficiency in reading and writing. Then there are schools where nearly 90% of the kids are on the honor roll but less than 10% showed proficiency in reading and writing. The kids are passed along but learn nothing. Lengthening the school year won't change that.

Kaya needs to focus on depth, not breadth. Quality education over quantity. A longer school day/year will just give those students more time to act out in a classroom, more teaching to be disrupted and more education to be disregarded.

[Anonymous]

My DH and I both voted no. It's a bad idea that sounds good on the surface. Classic Kaya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am mixed on this. If the "extra tim" really is to explore more arts and music etc then great. I think the reality is that its just worksheets, drills, busy work to get the slowest kids up to speed so they aren't hurting test scores. I just don't see the benefit for my kid. Maybe if the school committed to no more homework in elem school it would be ok.

High school student's parent perspective here. I agree with this PP. I have not one ounce of faith that DCPS would do anything creative or worthwhile with either extra hours or extra days. They already seem to shut down the learning process entirely once the test cycles are over, leaving the last few weeks of school to movies, goofing off, and cleaning tasks that paid staff or parent volunteers should be doing. Extra hours or days will just be filled with more remedial-type worksheets and other busywork.

I would prefer that my kid have time after school for music, sports, and other activities on his own, and in the summer, to have a summer job and pursue other interests. Anyone who has been through the college application process knows that DCPS kids are already disadvantaged in applying to colleges because of inadequate counseling, a sub-par curriculum, generally inferior extracurriculars (some schools are much better than others), and very old-fashioned teaching and administrative approaches to learning. Even the top DCPS schools graduate "A" students who have somehow never written a research paper, presented and defended a portfolio of work, or carried out a long-term group or individual project demonstrating depth of knowledge in a subject. The last things these kids need are 1) more time spent on this sort of academic approach, and 2) a new schedule that makes it harder for them to pursue the extracurricular and summer activities that they need to be competitive college candidates and to become skilled, happy, creative, well-rounded adults.

I think the vast majority of "yes" responses will be from elementary school parents who want more free daycare. I remember craving that myself in the early days, but you may come to regret your "yes" vote when your child is bored stiff in an unchallenging DCPS middle school or high school. Hard to think ahead that far if your kid is in preK, but the years really do fly by.

What she said. For us, summer is a time for my ffth grader to pursue interests that are important to her -- zoo camp, programming, national park visits, more focus on music. Interests that can help prepare for college and career. They are also an opportunity for me to help her catch up on foundational math, spelling, and other language arts skills that are not covered in the kaleidoscope of a curriculum that DCPS is rolling out these days. I understand the need for daycare for young working parents, and that many DCPS students need all sorts of support year round; those problems need to be addressed separately. But I agree with PP on the need to take a longer view, and not condemn students to eleven months of discombobulated worksheets and test prep 7 or 8 hours a day.

[Anonymous]

And where is the extra $ going to come from to cover all this? Teachers will have to be paid more, and be given additional planning time. All overhead expenses will increase; by a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And where is the extra $ going to come from to cover all this? Teachers will have to be paid more, and be given additional planning time. All overhead expenses will increase; by a lot.

From what I understand, the schools that are currently piloting extended days do not give additional planning time to teachers, which is wild.

[Anonymous]

How about instead of increased instructional time for all, instead making increased instructional time and increased year and summer school mandatory for students who are below grade level?

Those students who are really on grade level and not just "basic" or a low bar "proficient" level should have optional only extended school day and year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about instead of increased instructional time for all, instead making increased instructional time and increased year and summer school mandatory for students who are below grade level?

Those students who are really on grade level and not just "basic" or a low bar "proficient" level should have optional only extended school day and year.

This is a good idea.

I voted no to the extended day and school year for all the reasons the parent of a 5th grader stated above. My older kids are in a charter that finishes up a full week before DCPS right now. Having DCPS have school for several weeks after them would screw up vacation/swim team/camp plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about instead of increased instructional time for all, instead making increased instructional time and increased year and summer school mandatory for students who are below grade level?

Those students who are really on grade level and not just "basic" or a low bar "proficient" level should have optional only extended school day and year.

This idea is clearly too bright for DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a no vote. My kids need time to pursue all of the things they will never teach and never be able to do well in a school. I value after school hours, family dinners, peaceful evenings, and think summer is too short right now. I am quite certain that I'm a minority opinion though.

+1

(Unless there is a very robust and enriching plan about what to do with the extra time)

+2 I think the desire to increase "instructional" time is to benefit students who never have "peaceful evenings", family dinners or anyone in their lives who support their education.

The irony is that the kids they're targeting will benefit the least. Let's be real, many of those kids really don't learn anything during the school day. Just look at the released PARCC scores. There were high schools with not ONE student who showed proficiency in reading and writing. Then there are schools where nearly 90% of the kids are on the honor roll but less than 10% showed proficiency in reading and writing. The kids are passed along but learn nothing. Lengthening the school year won't change that.

Kaya needs to focus on depth, not breadth. Quality education over quantity. A longer school day/year will just give those students more time to act out in a classroom, more teaching to be disrupted and more education to be disregarded.

+3 and I have kids in elementary school. I would actually be happy if DCPS had less days off during the year and used the entire school year proficiently, we have noticed that after the end of April kids are working less, the last week or two or school is just a (fun) waste with water balloon fights on the playground and the like.

money and efforts should be concentrated on the kids who need help, the ones who get to MS and do not know how to read and write.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What part don't you like OP? Longer days or longer year? I personally like the longer year so we can minimize summer camp time. I would love for this to happen.

+1