Thoughts on Oysters Changes to the bilingual program - opinions from parents in the school???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever seen an Oyster 'curriculum'? It is pretty much up to the teachers how to implement the standards and what approaches to use. When you separate the two language teachers, these decisions would be happening in a language split--two worlds. I do not dislike this idea, I just think there is a priority list (write a curriculum across both languages!) to put in place before creating even greater challenges for communication pathways by splitting up the teachers,

Do you have inside information which suggests this isn't happening or can't happen?

Not trying to be snarky here, btw. I'm genuinely interested in what you're saying but not altogether sure I'm following you completely. I know that in many immersion models this is exactly what has to be done (write a curriculum with the collaboration of the lead teachers of both languages) even though it is implemented in two classrooms.

I would have supposed that given the historical experience at Oyster (by which I mean they teachers don't have to re-invent the wheel every year) this wouldn't be such a difficult transition to make. Especially given the fact that the current curriculum as it exists has presumably already been written in collaboration both between languages but also across grade levels (i.e., so that K sets the stage for 1st, and 1st for 2nd, 2nd for 3rd etc.). I guess I'm wondering about he difference between what can be "re-freshed" or "re-paired" vs. the necessity of wholesale "re-invention."

There is no curriculum at Oyster beyond the DCPS Standards of Learning, which aren't a bad bare bones, and the text books teachers are handed (many missing in Spanish). As you know, since you sound with it on ed. issues, a text book is not a curriculum. Oyster has worked in the past in a free-wheeling, creative way based on really smart teachers, students and families all coming together in some weird educational kismet. The fault-lines may be showing now. Without taking away from teacher freedom to be creative, it may be time to actually define what two-way bilingual immersion 'looks like' at Oyster. I am not trying to drive down property values or bring people down, but moving the teachers around does not really get at the heart of defining the core program. I would do this first, then perhaps look into whether program delivery and resources were more effective with single language classrooms. What is being done in said classrooms is basically undefined right now in an 'Oyster'-specific sense.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for taking the time. Your response goes a long way towards helping me understand your point
I'm interpreting you correctly, Oyster has been very fortunate in that the school's "alchemy" has historically delivered excellent results in measures of both subject-area mastery and language proficiency. However, current efforts to "systematize" the Oyster program aren't differentiating between the curriculum and the "alchemy" of teachers/students/families/community. And you're saying that before trying to re-program, there needs to be a better understanding or definition of where or how the magic is really happening. In which case, I believe I see your point.

Or I could be misreading you, but if so the fault is mine and not yours.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, for the mis-keys above.

"...understand your point.

IF I'm interpreting you correctly..."

[Anonymous]

Several new threads on H.D. Cooke's new program prompt this question: Why isn't Oyster considering implementing an I.B. program? Or is it?

[Anonymous]

I don't think the Chancellor really cares about IB. If she does, she sure isn't making room in the budget to pay for language teachers at the IB candidate schools or to pay for IB coordinator positions.

The IB is a great program, but it takes funding.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, given H.D. Cooke and Deal. (Deal's introducing IB in the fall.; I realize there are different levels of I.B.) The standards are high and very well regarded, it seems a good fit for Oyster. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Don't get me wrong, IB is terrific. The schools that are planning on going IB (Cooke, Shepherd, Thomson and Deal) are all held back by the lack of funding by the Chancellor. Deal has been paying their IB coordinator out of some other funds. Thomson has a grant that they are using to pay their coordinator.

The Chancellor talks a great deal about attracting "middle class" families to DCPS. I think it's great that schools are trying to implement the IB. It's attractive to all sorts of parents. It would just be fantastic though, if she would actually back a bit of the talk with funds.

[Anonymous]

Right, PP, I got that sense. Are IB programs more expensive than Oyster's current two teachers per classroom? (FYI: I'm a former Oyster parent.) I cannot imagine that to be the case.

[Anonymous]

Oh no, Oyster has to be a much more expensive model since they have 2 teachers per classroom for their immersion plan.

The other schools that are trying to go IB just have daily language instruction. Basically all the chancellor has to do is come up with the cash to pay a couple of language teachers per school (the # depends on how many students they serve) a part-time IB coordinator and the fees for the IB. It's really not that much and again, if you look at any of the school's budgets (available on the DCPS website) you can look for these positions. If you find them, best of luck.

It's extremely frustrating as a DCPS parent to see schools struggling to do a good job and offer compelling programs and having no support from the administration.

[Anonymous]

honest question here:

is it that they have no support or there just isn't any money available?

[Anonymous]

Yes, not to hijack this thread but one of my biggest frustration with DCPS is that the schools are understaffed at the administrative level. All this talk of higher teacher pay is great but how can one principal and one vice principal and a few part-time this and part-time that (including counselors) run schools of 300, 400 or more. It's just nuts! Isn't there some education reformer out there who's tauting administrative development that as part of the solution?

[Anonymous]

The money is at 825, not in the actually schools. One principal and 2 office workers (forget having a vice principal) have to staff an entire school, often nearly 400 children. Just the volume of paperwork is staggering and (wait for it) DCPS doesn't provide any tools to help them manage the paper flow. It's still 1965 with lots of paper and file folders.

Gates, Broad and other reformers ought to task experienced office managers to the schools. They could make a huge difference in how things are run.

It's hard to think about Rhee having a driver when we don't have a database to manage student forms and records. (Of course if we actually had the database, the computer to run it probably wouldn't work, so maybe file folders is the wise system!)

[Anonymous]

In response to 14:00 and 14:20: I don't know if becoming an IB candidate school would be more expensive than Oyster's current model, but the process of becoming an IB Primary Years Program school is considerably more complicated than hiring a couple of language teachers and a part-time coordinator.

PYP schools use a transdisciplinary curriculum: see http://www.ibo.org/pyp/curriculum/ for the basics. If I understood correctly from the open houses I've attended, Oyster does not currently operate on this model at all, so it could be another huge transition---in addition to the one they're currently considering.

WIS is currently the only IB World School in DC offering the Primary Years Programme and the Middle Years Programme. Several other schools, in addition to WIS, offer the program at the high school level.

More useful info about the IB PYP is here:

http://www.ibo.org/pyp/curriculum/profile/

http://www.ibo.org/pyp/become/

[Anonymous]

Right and to me that is a critical component to any meaningful education reform, adding both administrative and academic staff at the top. No school will perform at its highest level without adding to the top, too.

[Anonymous]

To 16:50, you are absolutely correct and I apologize if I minimized the complexity of the IB program or process in my post.

My point was that the IB is, relatively speaking, a small financial investment for DCPS.

I can tell you that the schools that are making progress towards the IB are working very, very hard and have been at the process for years.

It just kind of stinks that at this point in the game, the higher ups can't be bothered to fund critical positions to the IB such as language teachers and an IB coordinator.