The full Board of School Committee met on Aug-14 and approved a recommendation to standardize the districts standardized testing. That’s not a misprint: For years, the Manchester School District’s formative assessments were an inconsistent Frankenstein’s Monster that soaked up far too much classroom time and delivered precious little instructional value to teachers. That will change in … Read more
In 2014, a Manchester elementary school teacher was in so much anguish, she felt compelled to speak out. The source of her angst was the excessive amount of assessments teachers are mandating to administer. Kelley Tambouris was “angry, frustrated, but most of all sad! Sad that the system is so broken and that we are … Read more
Today, I appeared before the State Board of Education in Concord to offer the following testimony during public comment: I took time away from my business this morning to drive up to Concord and support the review of the state English Language Arts and Math Common Core standards. I’m a parent of 4 daughters, currently … Read more
Many school districts are partnering with universities, think tanks, and non-profit organizations to administer non-academic behavioral surveys to students. These surveys ask very personal questions including but not limited to sexual activity, drug use, domestic violence, etc. They argue that the data from these surveys helps the school district understand the needs of the student … Read more
There are many discussions that take place about school spending and I’ve found it difficult to find data to put budget discussions into context. This post is the first in a series that will examine expenditures both citywide and in the school district. This first, high-level look compares school district spending to student enrollments from … Read more
The Manchester Board of School Committee formed a subcommittee to help alleviate overcrowding in some of the city’s elementary schools by studying and recommending options for redistricting. Due to the fact that the city has far more capacity than enrolled students, the problem could be solved by moving students from where there is too little … Read more
This article first appeared on the Girard at Large website. On Wednesday, October 16, 2013, the public session of Manchester Board of School Committee’s meeting, I voiced my opposition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In order to ensure my comments fit within the allotted three minutes (unlike many proponents who arrogantly droned on for five, … Read more