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Comments
As long as they don’t extend
As long as they don’t extend the school year.
I don't thnk that will happen
Too expensive and too many stakeholders won't want to. I certainly won't rob my kid of a summer break from school.
Not offering summer school to
Not offering summer school to all is robbing many kids of their education
Please
Six weeks isn't going to make or break a 12 year education process.
According to research the
According to research the summer break always puts kids behind. This is a year break, much worse.
Behind what or who? I for one
Behind what or who? I for one will always believe that continued education is essential but what sort of education gap are you referencing?
Behind where they should be
There are educational goals for each grade of school. MCAS, for all the criticism, is a way to make sure kids have hit those goals at certain time periods. The generally accepted belief is that teachers, due to the constrictions of remote teaching, are not able to get through what they would be expected to get through. Taking numbers out of thin air, let's say that the kid who was in third grade, 6 months in at this time last year only has the body of knowledge that a kid who is in fourth grade, 3 months in would typically have by this time. Something should be done to get that kid the extra 3 months of learning.
I was reading once about the quality of instruction in the US. The author pointed out that the reason American high school graduates are so far behind Chinese high school graduates in math has nothing to do with culture or any similar reasons but a lot to do with the number of days Chinese students attend school. One month a year over 12 years equals an entire year extra.
Why did they aim for pre-break opening?
Makes me wonder if whoever is in charge at the state level even knows what the local school calendars look like.
This also gives enough time to get all the educators vaccinated.
Politics, pure and simple.
The Baker administration and DESE's management style has been top-down since the beginning of this pandemic. Every step of the way, school nurses, teachers and parents have had to fight for a seat at the table, putting them in a constantly reactive mode.
The result? People have dug in their heels on all sides and the kids have suffered.
Why pre-break?
To allow sufficient time for the perpetually delayed districts. If DESE set it to begin April 26 instead of April 5, then districts like Boston, Worcester, and Springfield would have argued for a waiver to reopen in June.
The larger districts NEED the momentum of full-time learning this Spring so they can reopen full-time in the fall. Even though *some* people dislike DESE's mandate, it was the only way schools were going to reopen in my district (not Boston). There have already been comments made by certain school committee members in my city who believe schools should not reopen at all until all kids are vaccinated. And we can't do anything about the people on our school committee who have been insisting schools remain closed until the next election.
Will this actually work?
I'm confused how full in person is going to work this year given that many schools can't keep 3' between students in the classrooms they have. Even if they halved class size and spread the kids out to new spaces they wouldn't have to staff to cover the classes.
I teach at a suburban high school and even at 1/2 capacity we are only able to distance students 3' - 4' in classrooms.