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Many of the thoughts expressed in this editorial are things that Darrel and I have always talked about and considered, but within the past couple of weeks, they have just really been front-and-center for us.

The most recent discussions and frustrations we’ve shared with each other started after the most recent school board meeting.

When I first arrived at the meeting, so many people packed into the room that it was difficult getting through the door and I had difficulty hearing the board president. I felt forced to the back and experienced some less than cordial behavior by more than one person including at least one teacher. Luckily, I and the other person who had attended the meeting with the intent of speaking during public comments, were eventually given the opportunity to do so.

Students and parents attended the meeting to express concerns for the English Language Learners and their rights as students. They did this as part of an attempt to advocate a Student Intervention Committee. The committee itself was not clearly explained or defined during the board meeting and there came a point where control of the meeting clearly shifted. Board member Jesus Rodriguez asked Board President Stella Estrada to read from the district’s vision statement. As Estrada turned back in her notes to do so, a parent approached the lectern, took control of the microphone and suddenly it was apparently time for public input on the topic at hand.

Time limits were not strictly enforced. (Public comments are to be limited to three minutes per person with no more than 20 minutes allocated per topic. At least that is the case for the Public Participation portion of the meeting.) According to the standard information that appears on every board agenda, “The Board President shall not permit any disturbance or willful interruption of board meetings.”

The parent taking control of the microphone while the board president looked at her notes seemed like an interruption to me. And then, at one point, the topic at hand went to the back burner while a discussion on the high school’s dress code erupted. This was another interruption that, thankfully, was eventually set aside so the discussion on the agenda item could proceed.

Among the accusations made by some of the parents and students was one that there are students who may not graduate on time because of a lack of course offerings. This accusation, combined with the district’s vision statement, led us to dig deeper, analyze a few things and really evaluate education, not just for Delhi, but in general.

I come from a long line of educators. I grew up knowing that an education was valuable and was especially important to my family. My grandfather was talking to me about where I would go to college long before I can remember. I had a t-shirt as a baby, “Whittier College Class of 19??” and education wasn’t just something we got at school. (Of course, I didn’t attend Whittier College, but my brother did and was one of the last “19??” classes to graduate there.)

First, let me say that the Delhi High School graduation requirements and course offerings seem to be pretty much in line with college entrance expectations as far as the University of California and California State University systems are concerned. They may not offer the most well-rounded opportunities, but many schools do not these days and that is one of the things we will address in this editorial.

If students and parents are frustrated by the course offerings or a difficulty in getting into certain classes, I would strongly encourage them to talk to a school counselor and, if necessary, the administration and teachers. It is my hope that there is some form of solution available and, that the interventions in place will work. For students who cannot attend after-school tutoring, can they attend tutoring before school or request to meet with teachers at lunch? All available options should be explored and attempted before thinking that they are not working.

But, beyond that, let’s take a look at education as a whole.

The DUSD Vision Statement starts out with an equation: Asset Building + Connected Instruction + Academic Rigor = A College-Going Culture.

Perhaps here-in lies the problem for some students. So much emphasis is placed on the idea of a “College-Going Culture” that some of the basic needs of students may not be met.

When we were in school, the focus was on “the Three Rs.” The “R” referred to the hard “r” sound in three words: reading, writing, arithmetic. Yet, our classrooms nurtured all parts of who we were and there was something for everyone. It wasn’t strict instruction and “standards-based” education that helped us learn what we learned and grow into who we would become. There was so much more to it than that and we still took and succeeded on standardized tests.

There are a handful of things that really stand out to me from my elementary school years. I remember participating in class plays as early as kindergarten and throughout elementary school. I remember listening to the Challenger launch on the radio in my third grade classroom then going home to my mom and dad and talking about what happened that day. I remember being in a combined fourth and fifth grade class and having a day spent living the Gold Rush. The fifth graders hid the “gold” and then we brought supplies and set up camps and looked for “gold.” I remember taking charge in fifth grade (another class) and setting up at least two field trips for my class. Those are the things I remember. I attended elementary schools in Virginia, the Bay Area (Fremont) and two districts in Southern California (Orange and Whittier). Those are the things that enhanced my learning. Additional enhancements came from my upbringing. I try very hard to appreciate what my family did to help me learn. We visited California missions throughout the state, spent time in Sacramento and Gold Country, hiked in the hills near Santa Maria and gazed at the stars through a large telescope. I realize not all of my education happened in the classroom and not everyone will have those same opportunities, but there are opportunities Darrel and I had that students just don’t have anymore and it saddens us.

We grew up at opposite ends of the state in completely different school districts, yet we had some similar opportunities. Darrel took German in seventh and eighth grades, I took French those same years in school (until I moved to a district where French was not offered in junior high). He also had art in middle school. I remember having music, choir, wood shop, computers and homemaking in middle school. In high school, Darrel was placed in auto shop, but as soon as he had the chance, he switched into an art class. He had art all four years of high school and went on to major in it at Modesto JC. He had two or three years of German in high school and still speaks a little of it today. I took French all four years of high school and went on to take two semesters of it in college. I attended two different high schools. My traditional high school offered me lots of opportunities. I took drama my freshman and senior years. I participated in sports my freshman year. My senior year, I took AP English, AP Government and AP Economics. I received an award for my role in the fall play my senior year because drama was a class, an extracurricular activity and a huge part of my life. The two years in between, I attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. We had regular classes during the mornings and did our art-specific classes in the afternoons. I was a theatre student. I loved all the aspects of theatre training that I received. My PE class in my sophomore year included dance. I wasn’t particularly good at it, but I loved it. I had four years of science and three years of math (one of which was taken during summer school so I wouldn’t have to take math my senior year and because college entrance requirements had changed). I struggled most with my math classes. After not doing as well as I should have in my eighth grade algebra class, I took it again my freshman year. I got an “A” then a “B” in geometry and a “C” in Algebra II. I continued to have these struggles in college. It’s not that I can’t do math. I actually have tutored students in it at all different levels and I have seen their improvement. It was just the type of class I struggled with through the years. I excelled in my drama classes and with doing some performance-based things. I wasn’t a particularly good singer, but I did well in choir. I loved it. There are many different types of learners in the world and many different talents.

As parents of a toddler, we have started watching shows such as “Yo Gabba Gabba” and even an episode of “YGG” is devoted to exploring the ways in which everyone has a different talent. Then they use their different talents to do something together. We have to allow our students the opportunities that will nurture who they are and help them develop to their greatest potential.

In 2006, renowned author Sir Ken Robinson addressed a conference in Monterey. He recounted a story of a little girl drawing a picture following an art lesson. The teacher asked the girl what she was drawing and then went on to dismiss it instead of encouraging it. The girl was drawing God and the teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” Can we afford to take students who are eager and making efforts in things that interest them and dismiss those interests?

DHS offers one level of art class. It offers one foreign language (Spanish) and, of course, the language is listed as a fine art. There are three levels and two different types of class per level for Spanish. A small variety of music is offered and Paige Parrott has kept drama alive at DHS. But, what about dancers? The only dance instruction “offered” has been offered during an after school program.

In his 2006 address, Robinson said, “Art and music are normally given a higher status in schools than drama and dance. There isn’t an education system on the planet that teaches dance every day to children the way we teach them mathematics. Why? Why not? I think this is rather important. I think math is very important, but so is dance. Children dance all the time if they’re allowed to, we all do.”

Later in the address he shared the story of Gillian Lynn who thanks to a good doctor was diagnosed as a dancer rather than with an attention problem or illness. Gillian Lynn, among other things, was the choreographer for “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” Imagine what her life would be like had she not started dancing. Now, imagine what the world would be like had she not started dancing.

Robinson said there are three things we know about education: it’s dynamic, it’s diverse and it’s distinct.

“We think about the world in all the ways that we experience it. We think visually, we think in sound, we think kinesthetically. We think in abstract terms, we think in movement,” said Robinson.

He also described how the education system seems to be designed for producing university professors. Another thing that really clicked with me is what he said about the decrease value of degrees. This is something we have seen evolve in our lifetime. Where a high school diploma was once acceptable, AA degrees are required. And so it goes until you reach the point where PhDs are required where a Master’s Degree was once accepted.

Robinson really put it in perspective when he said, “But now kids with degrees are often heading home to carry on playing video games, because you need an MA where the previous job required a BA, and now you need a PhD for the other. It’s a process of academic inflation. And it indicates the whole structure of education is shifting beneath our feet. We need to radically rethink our view of intelligence.”

This is not to say that going on for a college education should not be encouraged. For some people, it is absolutely their calling. For others, it is absolutely not their calling. It is the incredibly strong emphasis placed on academia without providing all means of learning that is frustrating. According to Superintendent Bill Baltazar, electives are determined by student “ballot.” Essentially the high school sees how many students sign up for which electives and the classes with the most interested students win. So, perhaps the issue is not just with the school districts but with the students as well. Are the students signing up for the classes that most interest them? If they are and if those are the classes that are opened, then perhaps the majority rule idea works for some places.

A current AdCouncil campaign specifically promotes the arts and arts in education. You have probably seen one or two television spots. Today, as I was reading some news online, I came across an ad on a website. The main part of the ad reads: ART. ASK FOR MORE. It linked to americansforthearts.org and information on the AdCouncil’s website includes, “The average kid is provided insufficient time to learn and experience the arts. This PSA campaign was created to increase involvement in championing arts education both in and out of school.”

An interesting article (written in 1998) posted on artsreformation.com makes the case for Arts being the fourth “R.” You can read the article here.

The problem isn’t just at the elementary and high school levels. In fact, I think at least part of the responsibility should be placed on the universities. The UC system requires three years of math, but recommends four years. They only require two years of history and one year of fine art. How sad that is. And yet, seeing that made me reflect once again on a conversation I had with the now former assistant superintendent in Delhi a few years ago. As I talked to him about my major, social science, he suggested that I switch to a “real,” “academic” subject like math or science. The other option would be to be able to coach a sport. At that time, according to him, they looked for coaches in their social science (history) teachers. How disappointing that was and how discouraged I felt after that. Not even history is taken seriously, let alone the arts.

The passage and enactment of NCLB perpetuated some of these things. Even Andy Rooney would agree. In a segment in 2006, he pointed out that the national tests only test reading and math, so that is what the emphasis is placed on in school. The focus seems to be on passing a test or receiving high test scores rather than on educating students.

“Something’s wrong here. Any time teaching is done just to help kids pass an exam, it’s wrong. The purpose of teaching is to provide an education, not to help kids pass a test, “ Rooney said in 2006.

He went on to say something rather bluntly, “Subjects like science, art, history and music are being taught very little in a lot of schools. We’re going to raise a generation of cultural idiots - people who don’t know Beethoven from Mozart, Cezanne from Van Gogh, or Albert Einstein from Charles Darwin.”

It’s not just about the lack of arts in education. In fact, some teachers have worked really hard to maintain some arts and other talent-enhancing subjects in their classrooms. My mom and a couple of her co-workers did plays with their middle school students. I know there are still teachers like that today.

But, we are also concerned about the lack of classes for different trades. It still amazes me that there is no FFA in Delhi. I was thrilled when a 4H program got tied into the after school program, but I still think there would be a benefit to offering agricultural courses. What about various shop classes? Sewing? Cooking? My senior year, I took a class that was like a precursor to some early childhood education classes. We even go to help run a preschool on our campus.

Obviously not every district can offer every subject at every time. We would just like to see more well-rounded offerings and more support to students across the board.

This is how Rooney ended his two-minute segment: “Knowing something about science, art, geography, music and history may not help you make a living but it’s the kind of information we share.
It’s this common knowledge that keeps our civilization together. Mathematics is just for counting the money.”

What classes would you like to see? Why? What is important to you? Do you (or your children) intend to go to college? Why or why not? Share your stories with us on our website’s community forums page.

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Tags: Andy Rooney, art, arts, dance, DUSD board meeting, Education, math, music, NCLB, Sir Ken Robinson, theater

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 2:06 am and is filed under Education, News, Opinions, Our Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.