A Letter to A Charter High School

After almost five months my son's IEP is still hanging and tenth grade is more than half over. I am soured on the way his high school is not supporting his needs. It is a right that he has and as usual no one really understands. Having an IEP means that he should NOT fail a class. It is the safegaurd against failing classes. In a class of under 40 students total there is no excuses for teachers and administration to marginalize any student.

This is a letter which they will get from me this week.

February 9, 2013

To: The Administration and Faculty of Credo High School

 

          I am concerned about the change that was made to the tenth grade curriculum at Credo High School. The change I am referring to is for the tract class Civil War/Civil Rights. It is not clear to me why it is formatted as a test taking skills class. If there is a need for the majority of the students to have tutoring for better study and test taking habits could that be addressed in a separate specific class? Furthermore it should be a class carrying less weight than a major history class needed to meet graduation requirements. Test taking should represent all forms of testing for various subjects.  

Short answer essay and long answer essay are a good method of knowing what a student is thinking. Memorizing names and dates does not show true understanding of historic events and periods. Process of elimination used as a method for answering on the multiple-choice format is very risky and seeds misinformation. The bigger picture is study skills that the students should be able to support each other with so that they know the correct answer rather than ruling out wrong answers. Trick or complicated multiple choice is not a good assessment of knowledge. There are two sides to a test. One is the test taker; the other is the test maker. There is a fine art to making a test and assuring that it serves all of the students in a fair manner. For instance if there are sections which involve matching listed items, it should all be located on one page, likewise for choosing a short answer to match a long statement or passage. I would go crazy if I had to flip pages to locate answers that all need to be used (i.e. match a-m to the correct statements 1-13). When a test requires knowledge based on implication the student should be allowed to justify their answer in a short answer or essay, because there is a wider margin of correct answers.

          I would like to know that the information imparted to all of the students about Civil Rights in the United States inspires them to participate in government by holding their attention. They should be doing a more in depth project to stimulate their awareness. They could stage mock trials based on court cases, write plays about human rights, host Peace Jam. I thought that Credo had designs to create presidential bound students. Sustainability has to reach beyond gardening and recycling. It must reach the deeper intellectual that lives in every student. It must come through by allowing each and every student a chance to shine not just those with a gift for music, or academic achievement. It must include the students who have a gift of organization for activism, alternative ideas that break paradigms, student government, and athletic excellence. Along with science and technology the future of this world will rely on the innovation related to Civil Rights and Laws. All of these are needed to appeal to post-secondary schools as much as GPA and met requirements, and SAT/ACT scores.

          In just a few months from now California will be the first state to have a non-white majority. This is big and Credo has the ingredients to evolve along with this change. There is also the fabulous opportunity of having Noah be a leader in educating about how to communicate with people who have issues with the brain and nervous system. There is no room left for people living with disability to be marginalized in society. Veterans of the Iraq and Middle Eastern occupations are suffering due to the lack of understanding about traumatic brain injury. Many of whom are taking their own lives because they have nowhere to turn for help. Our children at Credo, who will be faced with developing solutions that eliminate the relegation of people born with disabilities, have injury or sickness that creates disability. They will have to think of excellent solutions that will transform education, housing, transportation, medicine/health care, etc., which will be available to everyone.  

          My point is that Civil Rights are too important a topic to use it as a test taking skills class. Please consider changing the format of the class. Please also consider the way that the students chosen to demonstrate the giftedness that exists at Credo. I understand that due to funding some condensation of material is required for a healthy budget. I am always willing to make time to volunteer if I can help to facilitate a study hall or club to help students with study skills or special projects.

 

Sincerely,

Amy Leader