Selected Community Forum Testimony 2009

1

President of the School Board, Ms. Shirley Brandman, school board members, goodevening. My name is

Preston Rico

, president of AAPAC. It stands for Asian AmericanParent Advocacy Council. Our group mission is to support and speak on behalf ofAsian American children and youth. Encourage Asian American parent involvement intheir schools and their community.There’s a myth in the county that have the perception that since Asian Americans workhard, keep to themselves, are quiet that all is well. Silence means consent. Silencemeans agreement. With that silence comes some unintended results. Some mightwant to take advantage of that silence. Some might want to ignore the needs of thecommunity because of that silence. As a community, we haven’t done a good job ofmaking ourselves be heard.Recently, there was much debate in the community on MCPS’s decision to somedaydrop the label of “Gifted and Talented.” The Asian community is not so muchconcerned about the labeling per se, but what they are concerned about is, is this astart of something more? Is MCPS doing this for political reasons? Is MCPS thinking ofmarginalizing the program? Is it because of budget constraints? Asian Americanscomprise 40%-to 60% of the GT population. Why would MCPS try to change writtenpolicy? Does the replacement have the same rigor? As a community, we believe inclosing the gap through raising the bar. Keeping what we have now and improving it.Therefore I am here to ask you to fully fund MCPS budget for the upcoming year. Yourcommitment to education throughout all your careers should be commended andpraised. The gains have to be sustained even in tough economic times. We know thatstudents of all backgrounds, regardless of ethnicity who are currently achieving at thehighest levels may appear to be less in need. However, appearances can sometimesbe deceiving. Who can measure the loss of a child who is not motivated in school?Who can measure a child that doesn’t reach his or her potential? Who can measure achild’s progress without necessary resources?Funding spent on Gifted and Talented programs goes a long way and supports manymore students then just those labeled “gifted and talented.” Highly gifted centers andprograms serves as a great tool for challenging instruction. I know you have to look atthe budget as a whole and probably can not make specific recommendations to MCPSas to what areas to fund. But I know you can review the budget and ensure that giftedand talented programs are not shortchanged.Thank you for listening and have a good evening.

I am

Dr. Lisa Beaudet

, parent of a 5

th

grader at Takoma Park’s Piney BranchElementary School.Members of the School Board, Dr. Weast, assembled parents and members of thecommunity:The mission of MCPS’ strategic plan is “To provide a high-quality, world-classeducation that ensures success for every student through excellence in teaching andlearning.” Yet, we have heard in the roll-out of the “Seven Keys to College Readiness”that MCPS’ grade level instructional program falls short of being world-class; indeed,MCPS itself has shown that on-grade-level instruction provides inadequate preparationfor a successful college experience.Though MCPS has waved the red flag, it has been largely left up to the parents,rather than the school system, to ensure that our children are on-track, enrolled inappropriate “advanced level” classes so they will be ready for college. But no matter, ifthey do not reach that level, MCPS can stand behind the “on-grade-level” mantra andclaim success for all students. Well, it’s time for those of us who really care about

all

ourstudents to speak up! Every child can succeed only if

every

child is brought to aminimum level of competency, and in MCPS, this should be college-readiness. Ifcollege-readiness is not the goal of a 12-year elementary and high-school education,then I ask you,

what is

? I believe it is the duty of MCPS to ensure that

all

children areindeed ready to succeed in college if they choose to go.In these difficult economic times, the MCPS strategic plan should focus on its’second stated goal, to “provide an effective instructional program”. As part of this, Istrongly feel we must raise the bar starting in Kindergarten (and earlier, in head-startprograms), rapidly phasing in the 7-Keys criteria as the

new

standard for an "on-grade-level" curriculum.How can this be accomplished? In my son’s classrooms, I have observed somevery talented teachers, skilled at providing differentiated instruction, continuallymultitasking to reach children in three different reading levels within a single classroom.It is exhausting to watch under the best of circumstances, and amounts to a 90-minuteblock with only 30 minutes of instructional time allotted to each child. Wouldn’t it bebetter if each teacher were assigned only two reading levels, or better yet, only one?Why not regroup students for homogeneous reading and writing, just as MCPS does inmathematics instruction? More focused instructional time is the only way to provideadequate instruction for all children, and in these difficult economic times, increasedinstructional time can most readily be had at the expense of a bit of heterogeneity.Increased quality and quantity of instructional time is

especially

needed for thosechildren at the two extremes: the truly struggling students and those who are highlyable. Maybe if we stop expecting our teachers to be superhuman multitaskers, we coulduse their gifts more wisely and truly address the needs of

all

our students.Finally, in order to regain “world-class” status, it is very important to continue toprovide challenging material for our highly-able students. We must maintain robustmagnet programs in middle school and high school, that can accommodate the

increasing levels to which our elementary students will be prepared. In elementaryschool, a combination of generally raising the bar, increased classroom homogeneityand generalization of the highly gifted (HG) center curriculum to at least a few high-levelclassrooms in all schools (for example, the piloting of the HG center reading curriculumat Piney Branch Elementary, now in its’ second year) would go far in educating our mostable learners, at the same time this strategy addresses the needs of all.In these difficult economic times, I strongly urge MCPS to do the sensible thing:expect higher grade-level standards of all our students (patterned on the 7 Keys),increase quality and quantity of instruction to ensure students meet these higherstandards, give them the incentive of tantalizing magnet courses and the ultimatereward of true college readiness, at and above the

new

“grade level”.