Can anyone provide nuts & bolts advice how parents have gotten together to improve their local DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Are DCPS teachers actually developing curricula anyway? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those decisions made by the Chancellor's office and then handed down by fiat? Even if they're not, and if individual schools are allowed to select curricula, does that mean the teachers develop them? Or isn't it more likely that they're purchasing an off-the-shelf package like McRuffy v. Spectrum or Everyday Math v. Saxon?

And if that's the case, why shouldn't parents have a say in that decision?

11:22 here.

A teacher is developing curriculum every time s/he sits down to write a lesson, plan a unit, or decide whether to assign a paper or give a multiple choice test to evaluate the effectiveness of a learning activity. I was speaking broadly, above, about the whole field of curriculum development from the inside hoping that it would help people understand that merely having a voice in picking one canned package over another is not improving the curriculum of your school.

How much control any teacher has over the whole of curriculum design depends on the system. The reasons that many experienced teachers choose lower paying jobs in private schools include more curricular freedom in the classroom. Just ask them. But even in a more restrictive public school setting that predetermines instructional goals and content, *how* that content is taught is still in the control of the teacher and still curriculum development.

I guess my answer to your last question is that, frankly, if you're fighting for a chance to pick one textbook over another and think you're improving your child's school, I would say you are doing little more than choosing paint color for the lunchroom walls. I know this sounds harsh, but if you believe that the system is broken and the schools are terrible and you really want to improve your school, then you, me, and everyone we know are going to have accept that the problem is larger and more complex than Everyday Math vs. Saxon.

I have been an educator my whole professional life (and apparently have strong feelings about teaching and learning, yikes.) I read these forums and see all kinds of threads suggesting that many posters are looking for schools that don't teach to the test, that have a variable and creative curriculum that results in real learning over rote memorization, plenty of time built in for specialists and learning activities such as field trips, and no more busywork homework. The success of any of these resides in the ability of the teaching force to create, from whatever standards have been passed down by fiat, authentic, variable, and compelling learning activities. They should also be able to create such curriculum from scratch, without text books or pre-written lesson plans, in my opinion, and create unique tools for assessment and evaluation for everything they do in the classroom. Of course, I don't run the world, perhaps thankfully. The point I am trying to make is that good teaching is the foundation of a good school. Investing in a dedicated, high quality teaching force, and ensuring challenging professional development and resource support is an excellent way for parents to make a serious contribution to the quality of their school.

Sorry this post is so long. I should probably go back to just lurking. Or maybe I should start a blog and rant somewhere else about education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So glad the Cap Hill parents have managed to steal yet another thread where parents wanted to have a civil discussion on DCPS, to argue about which school is the best on the Hill. Can we leave the Brent/Maury/Deal arguments for another thread please? Some of us who live off-Hill would like to actually talk about real issues.

Hmmm... The OP asked what parents have done to improve their local DCPS. A few parents at some of the good schools on the Hill responded. Then some asshole said--basically--that the only reason Brent's any good is that yuppie scumbags throw money at the problem. To which a few other folks replied, essentially, that "you're a churlish ignorant fuckwit."

In any case, it seems that it was a Cap Hill hater who dragged the conversation off-topic, and further, it seems talking about some of the DCPS elementary schools that have become successful in the last half-decade or so is entirely appropriate to the discussion of "how parents have gotten together to improve their local DCPS".

So what's your problem? How about adding something to the conversation rather than adding to the BS quotient?

I LOVE this post.

[Anonymous]

Be prepared to quit your day job to devote all your time and energy to do this. They will try to ignore you, deflect you, outspend you and then out wait you. At least, that is what MCPS does.