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[quote=Anonymous]I can guarantee that post was originally written by Toth.  Few would have the time or pretend to ahve the knowledge of the curriculum like him.  The overwhelming tone is negative about STA, which he was in the exact same ways.  Plus, I know his writing style and have IN WRITING some of the exact same quotes from him.

So here is my refutation, though I am doing this quickly.  Wouldbe happy to discuss STA offline with anyone actually truly interested if they are looking there.

As for St. Albans, here are some specific observations about its academic program:

1) Most of the curriculum is test based. Vocabulary tests, Spanish tests, spelling tests, math unit tests, social studies chapter tests, geography quizzes, reading quizzes, etc. are a fairly omnipresent part of the St. Albans experience starting in fourth grade. The measure of one’s learning is most definitely taken in terms of grades.

**Not exactly true, but there are tests.  Guess what.  Most schools have tests.  Most colleges have exams.  Life is filled with tests, and the key -- for the lower school -- is learning HOW to study and prepare yourself.  Tests are not 100% of the grades -- for any class.  In most classes, lower school boys can do corrections.  If you made a poor grade on a math test, you can turn in your corrections as it is more important that you understand what you did wrong, or understand what you did not understand.  But there are tests and I believe every middle school in our area has some kinds of tests.  Another benefit of tests is that teachers can get a sense of what knowledge the class (or a specific kid) has retained.  Mommies and tutors cannot takes tests for little Johnny.

2) Some partner work is occasionally present for academic projects, but actual cooperative learning as defined by educational research (starting with Johnson and Johnson decades ago) is rarely (if ever) used. This has not always been the case. For example, Peter Barrett (now head of St. Patrick's) had implemented some cooperative learning at STA prior to his departure from there.

**VINTAGE Toth.  Cooperative learning is used this is total bs.  Boys are paired up in almost every science lab, sometimes even in 3 kids.  Science Fair can be a team.  Most of the English projects are with partners.  This is simply untrue, and any teacher who actually teaches at STA lower school can give numerous examples of cooperative learning.

3) Students compete for academic awards based on their grades.

** True.  There are academic (and citizenship too) awards on Prize Day.  there are numerous threads on DCUM about Prize Day but yes there are awards given to those boys (usually 3 or so out of a class and around 9 or so in the grade) that have the highest grades.  There are other awards too on prize day.   But to be clear, not everyone cares so much.

4) Students in a class all complete the same assignments, do the same readings, etc. until seventh grade when an honors program is implemented. Students are either invited or not invited into the honors program.

**NOT True.  First of all, there is no honors program -- there is an honors math track.  Another vintage Toth-ism.  Yes students based on math grades, rec from teacher, ERBs, SSATs if a new student, etc are invited to aprticipate in honors math which has the same teacher and the same textbook but goes deeper and faster.  Boys who are in honors in 7th are not always there for 8th and some boys move in from 7th as well.  It is fluid.

Most of the other work is similar -- the classes are so small that differentiation (ie literature) would be a challenge.  A good student always does more and can do things like math counts (math team is open to all, and over 50 boys from 6/7/8 participated in math meets last year!), spelling bee, geography bee, write for the Current, etc.

5) The curriculum is extremely teacher directed. Students do not play a part in deciding what novels they read, what topics they study, what math concepts they explore more in depth, etc. (That's not to say students never get to make any choices at all, though. For example, they might be asked to do a report on a current event.)

****And the problem with this is?  Yes teachers have lesson plans.  It does not mean they do not let the class lead them (ie if something is not well understood or iif they are excited by the civil war trial held in history it might go on a bit longer than originally planned, etc).  teachers are well qualified and often have advanced degrees in their subject area, I have no problem with them deciding on what to teach for the most part.

6) Science is done in the laboratory. Most science activities are labs with pre-set procedures that require the students to write up a formal lab report at the end of it. (Lab reports are homework.)

****Science in 4/5/6 is fantastic.  It is hands on, there is not even a text book for 4/5 grades.  The boys learn how to write up their findings though, which is a useful life skill.  It makes science real.  Most boys LOVE this class.

7) Homework consistently takes many students in fourth and fifth grade 90 to 120 minutes and more by time they reach sixth (and then even more in seventh and eighth). Some students use a study period they receive at the end of the day wisely, and others don’t (which can mean more or less homework).

*****This is about right.  But they are not supposed to have more than 2 hours.  The key is for the boys to elarn how to be organized and the schoo, offers an after school program called STArtsmart which is like a supervised study hall and boys can get help.  Spanish teachers hold a weekly help session too.  There is lots of time during the day to get some of the work done.  But hw is not easy/short as it is a rigorous school.

8) Typical homework assignments the first couple of years tend to be things like completing a math worksheet of 30 long division problems, doing a crossword puzzle with 20 clues, or reading a chapter and answering questions about it. As the students progress, homework really runs the gamut.

***Spoken like Toth the Tutor.  Clueless.  He loves to poke fun at worksheets yet when he was a 3rd grade teacher he taught NOTHING.  And used worksheets too.

There is math homework.  No different from anywhere else.  math is learned by practicing the concepts learned in class.  English requires reading.  There are usually projects (posters, home movies, reading scenes aloud, writing book reviews, etc).  Spanish means practice and there is a home cd as well as GASP worksheets.  Science has labs, not every day but 1 or 2 a week.  History/geography has reading, projects and the like.  Vocab has a book to work through (yep worksheets I guess).  the hw assignments are usually in line with the subject and the grade.

9) A large amount of the work production students do is done at home.

***IDK about this.  Yes most of the hw is done at home.  But they also do work at school and often have whole projects done only there (to avoid parental involvement) such as a 4th grade country assignment where boys pick a place and reasearch their country culminating in a power point presentation and a fun ethnic food day at the school (ie if you did Japan you might make teriyaki or sushi).

10) Math is taught in what one would typically call a highly traditional, rote manner (with the occasional exception of a seventh grade math teacher).

****This teacher Toth liked is now gone (pursuing a PhD).  Most math is taught this way, but this is Toth projecting.  He has not ever sat in math classes and only knows from the boys he tutored.

11) The reading curriculum in grades 4 through 6 consists of reading about four or so novels a year. The first two years typically involve quizzes or questions about the readings. By sixth grade it’s not uncommon to do some written responses/note-taking with the reading. Teacher-directed discussions sometimes occur.

*****Yes and no.  The books are geared towards reading levels, and different teachers teach in different ways.  We did not have a whole lot of reading quizzes in 4th but more projects.  The boys usually enjoy these classes.  Not sure what the issue is here, but literature is well done at STA and boys learn to appreciate reading and become critical thinkers.

12) The writing curriculum consists primarily of assigning the students writing prompts. Students begin to learn about how to incorporate literary devices or styles into their writing typically in seventh grade.

****IDK about this.  Writing is huge depending on the teacher though.  Mine has many many journals from either 5th or 6th grade where he wrote like crazy.  It is also holistic as writing is taught through writing the science labs as well.  Boys learn to have a conclusion in their work (important in real life).

13) What educational literature refers to as “project-based learning” is rare. Students sometimes do the occasional research paper or more open-ended project at school, but any elaborate projects are likely to be homework.

****Disagree.  There are many many projects done at school.  Some examples:  spanish play acted at school in class, civil war trial in 7th grade history, lots and lots of literature projects at school, research and library learning as well as in the computer lab (such as the country project in 4th grade).

14) The students begin writing term papers, complete with APA or MLA (or the like) citation in sixth grade. I think all the guys become intimately familiar with the Son of Citation Machine website!

***Yes, the boys learn to cite properly this is taught through the great library program.  In 6th grade each boys has to write a research paper about an animal (of his choosing).  It is a neat project and done both at school and at home.

15) Specific assignments in grades four through six often vary dramatically with different classroom teachers.

****Yes, like any school the teaching is only as good as the teachers, and they are a pretty solid bunch at STA.  The admin does not micro manage the classroom environment and allows its teachers to teach and use their own styles and methods.  I like that aspect.  I like that teachers have freedom to do what works for them.  Poetry cafe on Fridays in one of the 3 classes is not replicated by the other 2.  Doesn't mean the boys are not exposed to poetry, but this one teacher has every boy bring a poem to share and they have hot cocoa and treats in the winter for example.  The boys look forward to it.  The other classes have their own traditions.

************
OK I am exhausted but someone had to refute Toth.  He has one perspective which is now 3 years old and dated and not from having a son there or ever teaching there.  As mentioned, he was on the outside looking in.  I am not going to say all the horrible things he did but just say that he is NOT AT ALL qualified to have any opinions about the place but acted like a maniuplative know-it-all about the Cathedral schools.

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