GILROY
– Gilroy Unified School District administrators are looking
readier than ever to end a once-vogue instructional program for
dyslexic children and students with other language
disabilities.
GILROY – Gilroy Unified School District administrators are looking readier than ever to end a once-vogue instructional program for dyslexic children and students with other language disabilities.
GUSD administrators held a public forum Wednesday night to air out concerns, largely from Slingerland teachers and parents, that the district is slowly killing off a program they believe is essential for student success. The district has promised Slingerland classes will continue for students already in the program, but staff will make a recommendation to school board trustees in May regarding future children.
The district Wednesday highlighted classroom capacity issues, declining parent demand and inconclusive student improvement data as factors for considering the program’s demise.
“My kids are proof the program works. They’ve had a large amount of growth in a short period of time,” said Jackie Lance, a parent of three children in Eliot Elementary’s Slingerland program.
Slingerland, a remnant of GUSD’s magnet school format, is offered only at Eliot and uses specialized instructional techniques to help children with language disabilities learn how to read and write. Slingerland theorists believe that all learning takes place through auditory, visual and kinesthetic faculties. Linking these is especially challenging for dyslexic children.
For the first time in roughly 20 years, children will not be screened for Slingerland eligibility before entering kindergarten next year.
At yesterday’s forum, GUSD staff provided several pieces of data outlining why it would be difficult to offer Slingerland in the future. One of the more controversial pieces of information showed that students eligible to join Slingerland but opted not to are outperforming children on regular district assessments.
According to the district, one out of every three Slingerland-eligible students met a particular reading benchmark in the second quarter of last school year. Only one out of every 10 students in Eliot’s Slingerland program met that same benchmark.
Teachers and parents supporting the Slingerland program argued that the data was at best a snapshot in time. It only analyzed scores of first-grade students over the course of one semester.
Parents provided a slew of anecdotal evidence that early Slingerland intervention has big payoffs later. They talked about children who needed upward of an hour to write their first and last name before attending Slingerland classes, and writing long paragraphs in minutes after receiving Slingerland instruction.
Lance said a cousin of hers with dyslexia attended Eliot years ago and is now a successful Certified Public Accountant.
“Who knows where he would have ended up if he didn’t get the right instruction,” Lance said.
Slingerland is one of three specialized instruction programs under scrutiny since GUSD abandoned its magnet school format in favor of consistent curricula at schools districtwide. The other two programs – Gifted And Talented Education (GATE) and Dual Immersion – will endure budget cuts like everything else, but have for the most part expanded their scope this year.
Last year, 80 kindergartners across the district qualified for Slingerland’s first- through fifth-grade program at Eliot. Only 20 enrolled.
Some administrators at last night’s forum suggested that parents were satisfied with the district’s adoption of new instructional techniques, many of which borrow from Slingerland.
The district says funding issues will not play a role in its recommendation to the board next month, however, training a teacher in Slingerland instruction can reach roughly $5,000.
“If we didn’t have a state budget problem, we’d still be dealing with this issue,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz said.
The same is harder to say when it comes to the state’s accountability system.
If Eliot does not show improvement when the latest student test scores are released next school year, the school could face intervention from the state. In such a case, state-approved consultants would visit the school and outline managerial or curriculum changes the district must adopt.
By bringing in students who are likely to perform at a lower level on standardized tests – at least in the short term – it will be harder for Eliot to avoid state sanctions.
Teachers and parents pressed the GUSD to place a Slingerland trained teacher at each elementary school site if the school board votes to stop admitting children into the program next year.
“What I’m hearing is that there is a role for Slingerland instruction in this district, and maybe the knowledge and experience of our current Slingerland teachers can be used districtwide,” Assistant Superintendent Jacki Horejs said.
