Six on Schools: Florida orders schools to reopen in the fall, even as virus cases soar; Former students reflect 50 years after desegregation of Dorchester County schools; Rethink how schools teach history lessons; With a glitchy start, some NYC stude
panaritisp
And please don't forget to check out the pertinent images attached to every post
The state’s education commissioner issued an executive order calling for in-person instruction
"The announcement comes the same day President Trump tweeted, “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!” In a later tweet, he said those hesitating to reopen schools amid a global pandemic were politically motivated: “Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!”
His education secretary, Betsy DeVos, backed his statement. “Absolutely right, @POTUS! Learning must continue for all students. American education must be fully open and fully operational this fall!” she tweeted.
Fedrick Ingram, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said his members also want to see schools reopened, as long as they have the resources and guidance to make it safe."
|
"While debates around whether Black students could legally occupy the same building as white students are long gone in Dorchester County, it wasn’t a position that came easily or without sacrifice.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of schools in Dorchester County. In 1969, U.S. District Judge Robert Hemphill signed an order specifying how county schools would be expected to fully integrate institutions that once solely housed white children for the 1970 school year.
For example, Harleyville-Ridgeville High School, one of those predominantly white institutions at the time, would serve 285 African American students and 229 white students that year.
Around 1954, some of the students had the option of applying to help integrate Summerville High School. This wasn’t full desegregation, but a process of school choice where a handful of African American students would be allowed to attend Summerville High School.
“I decided not to go,” Fowler said. “It was to my benefit.”
This wasn’t because he didn’t support integration or realize the value of students being a part of the program. His father, the Rev. J.C. Fowler worked closely with the NAACP on voting rights for Black people in the area.
“I remember them marching down main street in Summerville in the early ’60s,” he said.
But his father didn’t pressure him about being a part of the integration process. And at Alston, he said, the teachers were nurturing and highly encouraged him to go to college. He was also president of his senior class and the student council.
The school had a successful football team, band and school newspaper.
So he didn’t see himself wanting to leave what he had built at Alston. He would go on to graduate from Alston in 1966 and attend Benedict College in Columbia.
While desegregation in 1970 meant more African American students at Summerville High, the same couldn’t be said for Alston High.
“You didn’t have any white folks coming to Alston,” he said.
Desegregation meant the closure of Alston High and not some white students going to Alston and some Black students going to Summerville High. A part of Fowler wishes the school had been able to remain open because of the impact he felt the African American teachers had on the students.
It also wasn’t likely that all of those teachers at Alston would have the opportunity to follow their students to Summerville High.
Summerville Councilman Aaron Brown was the band director at Alston High School in his early ’20s. He said the desegregation was smooth and benefited the town in the long run. His only grievance was that all the instructors at Alston would have to be assistants if they got a chance to work at Summerville High.
This would’ve made him the assistant band director.
“I refused to take that position. ... Other than that, it went really smoothly,” he said"
|
"Over the past few weeks, I have been hearing politicians and media types lament the public’s lack of knowledge about U.S. and world history. As a career educator, I began to think about how this happened.
Knowing that Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, is one thing. Understanding what led to this cataclysmic event and the long-term impact of what came afterward is quite another.
We need to stop teaching history like we are preparing students for a television quiz show instead of for informed citizenship. The focus on teaching history as a means to pass a standardized test needs serious rethinking."
FRANK MORGAN
Hunter Hill Road Camden
|
Why A.A.P. Guidelines Are Pushing for Schools to Reopen This Fall
Why a Pediatric Group Is Pushing to Reopen Schools This Fall
|
Dive Brief:
- "In the absence of preparations for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, one district's science instructors encouraged students to explore science in and around their homes, watch for science in the news and perform their own experiments, District Administration reports.
- Georgetown Public Schools Superintendent Carol Jacobs allowed teachers to scale back test prep, giving teachers the freedom to assign their own science projects. For example, one teacher had her students collect data at a creek or dig soil in their backyard to identify it.
- Teachers could also focus on teaching students to connect to current events through science, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The June 3 SpaceX launch was also an interesting science topic that gave teachers the opportunity to discuss the issues of privatizing space exploration."
Scaling back on standardized assessments makes way for creative instruction
|
