The DEIJ meeting, aka the dog and pony show, showed the community where this district is now focused. HINT: it’s not on academics.
If the administration and full board were concerned about improving academic achievement, they would be presenting valuable information to the community. For instance, according to the latest standardized test scores, only 54% of high school students attending Exeter High School were proficient in math. The data comes from the 2016-2017 school year. It’s hard to say what the latest scores will reveal after last year’s disastrous remote school year.
In science, it’s worse. 49% of Exeter High School Students scored proficient.
Keep in mind, our standardized tests are dumbed down so these are inflated scores when compared to students in countries like Singapore or Japan. A student in the U.S. is considered proficient in math if they reach Algebra I by 9th grade–that is two years behind their peers in Singapore. That’s Common Core folks.
Common core is developmentally inappropriate math for the youngest children. Then as a student remains in a Common Core school, the further behind they fall compared to students in the top performing countries.
When will David Ryan talk about this? No community meeting on math education for Exeter students versus Singapore students.
What does David Ryan, Superintendent of SAU16 focus on? Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice which is code for Critical Race Theory.
The ranking of schools within SAU16, has fallen too. That’s what happens when you take your eye off the prize.
No matter if you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, most will agree that they all want a good quality public school where academics are the priority. That’s obviously no longer the case, and while there may be disagreements on how to handle the topic of race relations, this district is heading off a cliff. It started with dividing a once unified community with Critical Race Theory.
Just think if David Ryan put all of the effort he does into math education as he does CRT.
Teachers have been training in CRT propaganda. In a district where they admitted that they have had no racial incidents, they now say that they have to do pro-active work on your kids. How about some pro-active work on math? How about taking some of that money they are wasting on professional development in CRT and using that to provide math tutors for students who need help?
There is a Russian after-school program in Nashua that teaches real math. They were recommended by some of our top mathematicians as a great resource for students. If the public schools are negligent in their task, why not turn to a resource that will elevate your child’s math literacy? CRT is Marxist indoctrination. Your child will not need Marx in the real world if they are educated in the public schools.
Why not go through the Common Core Standards, identify the numerous flaws and, make sure that they have been addressed?
Professor James Milgram, Stanford Mathematician made this easy. He provided a document that points out all of the flaws here. I bet David Ryan has never presented that document to your school board members. It’s better to keep that stuff hidden, otherwise someone might actually demand better.
Do you want your children to be prepared for a scientific field after graduation? Good luck with that. New Hampshire schools use the dumbed down Next Generation Science Standards. They are even worse than the Common Core Standards in math and English.
Has David Ryan said one word about the flaws in the NGSS?
Here are some problems with the NGSS that David Ryan should be talking about
:Stan Metzenberg, Ph.D. , Professor of Biology at California State University Northridge, prepared an analysis of the NGSS when they were under consideration in Massachusetts:
1) Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8 and introductory high school courses have significant, unacceptable gaps in science content, as well as some notable errors and inaccuracies.
2) The standards are stunningly devoid of Mendelian genetics and large parts of cellular biology. This is an astonishing oversight for a state that has notable institutions of higher education and a thriving biotechnology industry.
3) The principles of evolutionary biology are incomplete and sometimes incorrectly stated.
4) The standards are largely unintelligible because of abuses of the language, and they are sometimes grammatically incorrect.
5) NGSS does not support the stated purpose of standards, to indicate what students should know and be able to do.
6) These draft standards do not include any high school exposure to the nucleus, mitochondria, or chloroplasts.
7) There is a complete absence of Mendelian genetics at the high school level, despite the promising language on p.51 (titled p. 49) of the draft .
Public schools are free to use any set of standards they want. So why not develop local standards that are the best in the state? Since there is money to burn in this district, why not develop quality standards for the students and purchase materials that align?
An astute teacher in some of the science classes will certainly fill in the gaps, but if the gaps remain, that shows up in high school, and will deny your child many opportunities. If you are not aware of the flaws or missing concepts, how do you know this information is taught?
This is the kind of focus that a public school administrator should be engaged in. Too often, administrators wander in so many different areas like treating mental health, (they’re not qualified to do that) or DEIJ/CRT.
If you want students of color to be able to pursue a career in the STEM field, you must uplift them academically. Provide them tutoring, fix these numerous flaws in the curriculum, and let the teachers teach.
Several years ago, the IB Coordinator in Bedford spoke honestly before the school board. He talked about how the district offered the high level math classes for students BUT, when students reached high school, many were not prepared for the rigors of these courses. It had nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the lousy math program they chose based on lousy standards. What do parents do in Bedford when challenged with this problem? They hired private tutors for their precious angels. That’s how you close the achievement gap, you offer your marginalized students the same opportunities. So provide your students of color (actually all students) quality math programs,. Offer additional tutoring to any child that needs it, and fix the math program that put your students on a path to needing extra tutoring.
The DEIJ Director thought that if you just implement DEIJ, you will fix the problem. Clearly he’s either done no research or is just parroting the tired narrative that blames race for this plight. This problem targets all children in public schools. It’s the parents who invest in tutoring who can escape it. Help the students of color in Exeter with their academics or they will continue to fall behind just like their white peers who do not have the resources to correct this problem. If you really care about social justice, stop with the CRT narrative and get these kids the help they need in the academics, and you will offer them a lifetime of opportunities.
I wont hold my breath. The status quo in public education fights to keep the schools dumbed down for all of their students. When I suggest real solutions, the status quo fights hard against that.
Everyone who researches public education knows this, but those working in public education never talk about it. Just ask your board members if David Ryan has ever talked about any of this at a school board meeting. Superintendents sell what they are doing, they tend to leave out the critical analysis that board members should expect and deserve.
If you want unity again in this community, stop selling the CRT narrative and go back to a focus on academics that serve students of color, and every other student in the district. Parents care about race relations, and would certainly support a positive approach with their children versus the shame and blame they’ve seen in the materials. What they’ve seen is more of a psychological experiment that many of these parents never asked for.
