As Jim was walking in the building he ran across an Obama sign in a classroom window that can easily be seen from the hallway. Newport is failing at teaching math but it looks like indoctrination is underway. Like how the sign is kind of leaning against the window so they can use the excuse they were not intentionally posting the Obama sign?
For six years Newport has been failing it's students when it comes to math. At the school board meeting tonight Jim raised the question is it because the material is too easy and the students aren't prepared for the math on the standardized tests or is the material too hard and the students are being passed on to the next grade anyway? Of course a teacher piped up with the usual line "Oh no, the students have poor learning skills." It always amazes me how teachers never accept responsibility for the failing of students and yet refuse to allow school choice.
Why does Newport continue to ship it's students to Sunapee to learn calculus? Because a teachers job comes before the students needs. If a high school math teacher is incapable of teaching Calculus they should no longer be employed, math teachers that can teach calculus should be hired to replace said teachers.
Jim's primary reason for attending tonight was to focus on the issue of full day kindergarten vs half day kindergarten. You can find research stating the case for both. The source of funding for said research tends to skew the results in the direction of the desired outcome. The fact of the matter is, it is the quality of the educational material, practices and the quality of the teacher that are the biggest factors in educational outcomes. If teachers are failing at teaching math and reading why spend money on full day kindergarten which provide questionable results at best and the have no cost benefits when compared to half day kindergarten?
Cathy
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