Dodd Education Speech to the NEA in Bartlett, NH

Looks good, (4.00 / 1)

I'd like to see NCLB totally dismantled. No alternate tests? Have you ever witnessed a severely learning disabled or autistic student take an on-level CMT test? It's horrendous.

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by: Sue @ Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 09:49:43 AM CDT

Lengthening the school day? (0.00 / 0)

Say what?

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by: Sue @ Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 09:50:19 AM CDT

Lengthening the school day, hwayyy! (0.00 / 0)

I've long been an advocate for this. I'm not suggesting (nor do I image Dodd is) adding more content to the school day... but keeping the kids on campus 'til the end of the adult workday would save lots of parents money and hassle on after-school daycare, and would also provide studets structured time for tutoring, homework labs, and extracurriculars... not to mention providing an anchor for latchkey kids who might otherwise have little to do but wander the streets.

The details would have to be worked out, of course: Teachers would have to be compensated for the extra time (though perhaps not as much as you might think, since the extra time "at the office" would presumably offset some of the off-hours workload teachers always face), and there'd need to be some sort of opt-out option to accommodate non-school afternoon activities (e.g., dance, gymnastics, sports...). But I have a vision of the public schools as centers of the community, and extended school days with expanded student services fits right into that vision.

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by: dauphinb @ Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 22:43:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

If you do this you CAN'T do it with teachers (0.00 / 0)

You would need a whole new staff. They can't be at the office superviaing and helping kids and do all their off hours work at the same time.

I am sure Dodd DOES want more content. What other reason would advocates suggest extending the school day? Not for the reasons you are advocating.

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by: Jon Kantrowitz @ Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 07:00:55 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Lengthening the Discussion of Lengthening the School Day (0.00 / 0)

I am sure Dodd DOES want more content. What other reason would advocates suggest extending the school day? Not for the reasons you are advocating.

Well, I shouldn't have presumed to speak for Dodd, since all I really know about his plan is what I've seen here, but I have spoken to others about this idea over the years, and in my experience, most people who advocate for longer school days are NOT suggesting we cram more requirements into the curriculum, but rather that we restructure the day to better support mastery of the existing curriculum... and to better harmonize with the needs of the community the schools serve.

[Teachers] can't be at the office supervising and helping kids and do all their off hours work at the same time.

Actually, speaking as a former (and hopefully future) teacher myself, I think I probably could have gotten a fair percentage (though admittedly not all) of my paper grading, lesson planning, etc., done at school while holding additional office hours or supervising study halls (we're not talking about teaching additional classes here)... and keep in mind that many teachers (i.e., those who coach or sponsor extracurriculars) already spend the hours we're talking about on campus. But even so, the concept would probably require some combination of additional teacher compensation and additional staff. IMHO that's "a feature, not a bug": The opportunity to earn more would be a recruiting incentive for teachers, and the additional staffing requirements could be filled by student teachers, interns, and paraprofessionals as part of a more disciplined professional development path.

I stand by the idea of longer days. The objections you raise are, IMHO, "engineering challenges" rather than basic conceptual flaws.

(BTW, I strongly prefer extended school days over the competing idea of year-round school.)

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by: dauphinb @ Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 10:36:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]