The Dispatch has published a lot about Gilroy High this year.
The textbooks, the reading list, the math department, low scores in
AP exams, and unfavorable comparisons with other high schools.
The Dispatch has published a lot about Gilroy High this year. The textbooks, the reading list, the math department, low scores in AP exams, and unfavorable comparisons with other high schools. And those are just the things related to the classroom education. Test scores show a rising trend due to a combination of factors but still too many of the students are not proficient.
Doug Meier shared his simple solution with us in his column on June 11: “Teach your cultural agendas at home. Teach grade-level subject matter in the classroom.”
Two weeks later he writes: “The real, root problem is that too many elementary students are performing below grade level.”
Does this seem contradictive and confusing? For now, let’s just focus on the second statement, the one that actually makes partial sense.
This year, the teachers in the English department at the high school have adopted the new textbooks. For a very large percentage of the new students coming from the middle schools these textbooks are going to be too difficult. More than 700 students move from elementary to middle school in August and at least half of these students are one or more grades behind in reading and math. Thus, a lot of time needs to be spent on intervention. Students will receive two or three hours of math and reading a day in order to close the gap between their level and grade level. With 30 or more students in each class, can we really expect the teachers to bring up half their students from being several grades behind every year?
When I decided to take my big step from private business to education, I had a timeline in my head. Put additional focus on kindergarten in the first year, bring these children up to their grade level and keep it that way for all students throughout their GUSD experience.
Then, 12 years later, the same students would graduate from one of our two high schools. They would easily pass the high school exit exam and almost all of them show proficiency or above in every possible topic.
Starting at kindergarten level, that can’t be too hard, can it? Each kindergarten class has only 20 children. Many parents are involved in these first few years and standard materials have been adopted already by the district for elementary and middle schools. Every classroom teacher, literacy facilitator, principal, and administrator can follow the results of the students. They can make small weekly adjustments if certain strategies aren’t working.
Unfortunately the reality is very different. The results of the kindergarten students are not showing proficiency across all schools. More than a quarter of the students going into first grade next year are already not proficient in reading.
Of these students who are below grade level, almost none will catch up during their first grade year. It gets worse: of the students who actually went into first grade at a proficient level, another quarter will not learn enough during first grade and end up below grade level.
Many of our students fall behind in kindergarten! Almost none of them catch up during first grade and a much larger percentage ends up being behind at the end of first grade.
Five Rod Kelley Elementary School kindergarten teachers decided they wanted to start full-day kindergarten classes next year. Measured by the reading test, the Rod Kelley kindergarten teachers already have the highest success rate of all schools in Gilroy. Only 15 of 97 students did not make grade level this past school year.
But the teachers wanted more. They wanted the additional time for children to learn. They work closely together and rely on each others strong points. They want to involve parents even more and the result should be that they actually get all their children at standard or above next year. And that would give the first grade teachers a fighting chance to do the same the year after. Will other schools and teachers follow the Rod Kelley example?
Rob van Herk, his wife Karin and their three children have been living in Gilroy for three years. He is the technology manager for Gilroy Unified. You can reach him at ro*@*****rk.com. His column will be published each Monday.
