As a parent who has a child in the Lincoln Public School system I have had to
utilize outside resources to make sure that my child can be proficient in
subjects: Math, Science and Reading Comprehension Skills. Two teachers with
whom have pushed my child in school have been Mr Trant last year and Ms Price
this year, otherwise the feedback I get is that he is not pushed enough in his
subjects. For me it is a process of going away from critical thinking and
focused on giving kids the tools to reach and exceed their goals instead of
just meeting the standards.
Both of these candidates make valid points and should be evaluated for the
content they bring to the attention of the community. We should be asking our
school to challenge our kids in all aspects of life and specifically their
education, and if that means listening to others who bring potential solutions
to an obvious problem they should be listened to and not dismissed. I know for
example I have not had one feedback session with any teacher in two years, I
have had to reach out to ask the questions. We need more parents involved in
our kids education to make sure we are not just meeting the standards but
exceeding expectations to prepare our children for High School and College,
THIS IS THE FOUNDATION.
Critical thinking is a core requirement to be successful, it allows us to take
in all the information and make critical decisions. If our kids are not meeting
general requirements then we should be asking why and I am glad to have School
Committee candidates who are willing to ask tough questions and step out of the
box and make people a little uncomfortable so we can have honest and open
conversations about our children who will not be so protected when they enter
into LSHS. We need to stop lecturing others and start listening to all concerns
especially when it comes to the education of our children and their success
when they transfer into LSHS. I welcome the conversation and think it is a long
time coming for this community.
Best Regards,John
On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 11:07:45 AM EDT, Debra Daugherty
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hi all,
I was quite dismayed by some of the notions expressed by the candidates for
Lincoln School Committee during the candidate forum. The Lincoln Squirrel
provided the following:
"Kim Rajdev implied that the goals of AIDE are not well served by having
children grouped by ability. “It really pains me when I hear a very young child
say ‘I’m not good at math’,” she said. The schools need to “move away from
content and more toward adaptability and teamwork skills… thinking on our feet.”
and
"Dwyer echoed Rajdev’s sentiment. “What students specifically learn today will
be irrelevant as a flip phone 20 years from now.""
Uh oh. Content is precisely what I want our schools to teach. Knowledge does
matter and, no, it won't be irrelevant years from now. (That very notion is
bizarre. How will math, history, or literature be irrelevant in 20 years?) Mr.
Dwyer opened his presentation during the forum by mentioning the low ranking of
Lincoln's school system and his concern over the departure of Lincoln students
for private school programs. I would argue that content is a primary driving
force behind that migration. It's certainly why I send my kids to private math
programs after school. And with regard to students saying "I'm not good at
math: It is not clear to me those students would stop saying "I'm not good at
math" if they were grouped together with kids that are exceptionally quick or
advanced in math. It's also not fair to require the kids that are quick at math
to do work that is unchallenging.
I'm hoping these impressions of the attitudes of the candidates are somehow
incorrect.
--Debra Daugherty--
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