The End is Near, Maybe

I've been dreaming about this for months. As my youngest child was getting ready to graduate from high school, all spring I would think about winding down this blog. Which--to be fair--I've been doing over the last year. It turns out that there are other things I want to spend my time on in my life.
And, as my children have moved out of the public schools, and moved on to other things, my attention has wandered. Also, I don't get as much "back door" information about the schools.

I said several years ago, that when my last child graduated high school I would end this blog. Now, I'm not saying that I will completely and totally end the blog. That seems too final. You may see me pop up now and again, for elections, major controversies, etcetera.

In case you're wondering, I've mostly been happy with the education my kids got in the Ann Arbor schoosl, I still believe that all of Michigan's schools deserve more money, and I still believe that public schools--for the people, by the people, of the people--are the way to go. And I still believe that testing is a waste of time and energy.

So for now, I'm winding down.

Except--I want to end on a high note, before school starts again, so there are 2 (or maybe 3) posts to go.

One more thing: I will be keeping the Ann Arbor Schools Musings facebook group open. If you are interested, ask to join it.

And if you see me on the street, introduce yourself!

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Note to Readers

Well, I've been gone from the blog a bit.
About a month ago one of our computers died, giving me less access to the computer. Add to that a lot of (paid) work, an art class (!), some genealogy projects...plus life intervening...and the days turned to weeks.
And, I kind of liked it.
Which means--I'll probably continue to do less blogging, even though we do have a new computer.
But--I am really happy to have guest bloggers--I still have a long list of ideas for projects if you are looking for topics to write on--contact me if you are interested.

[Remember, I did say that I would probably stop blogging about schools when my son graduates--and he is a junior now.]

Also--if you are in the Ann Arbor schools district, I encourage you to follow Monet Tiedemann's web site. Monet has been live blogging the Ann Arbor school board meetings at annarbivore.com. [Unlike me, Monet is looking for donations to keep her work going. It is a time consuming job.]

[And, Lindsay Knake from the Ann Arbor News has also started live blogging the meetings--as part of her Ann Arbor News reporting.]

And by the way, wherever you live, I really encourage you to sometimes go to your school board meetings!

There are also some facebook groups you might be interested in. None of them are affiliated directly with a school district, but are groups of parents, teachers, and other citizens.

Ann Arbor Schools Musings (really meant to get discussions going, though when I post I do usually also post the links there)
Friends of Dexter Community Schools
Michigan Parents for Schools
Save Michigan's Public Schools
Ypsilanti Community Schools Supporters

If there are other groups that should be added to this list, let me know and I will update.

And remember what this is all about:

Read about where this picture comes from, here.

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Ten Thoughts for the Last Two Weeks Before School Starts

1. M-Live has an article, that says there may be a tentative agreement between the teachers and the Ann Arbor school district. I have no idea if it is true, but here is the article (along with a document that looks authentic). If you haven't already read it, take a look, and see what you think.

One thing is for sure--even if there is a contract that ends up being like the tentative agreement referenced above, I think it's going to take a bit more to mend fences between the teachers and the administration.

2. Apparently, a lot of people were unaware that Powerschool is owned by Pearson Systems. Yup. Pearson has been in our district with Powerschool since 2007 (and many, many others too)--and probably earlier with textbooks. The alternatives to Powerschool are also owned by big corporations. I guess the question is (and I don't know)--what kind of data does Pearson get to use and keep about us and our children? What kind of safeguards are there? (And starting this year, I believe grading will also be done in Powerschool.) Powerschool is a *huge* convenience--but based on my facebook feed this afternoon, parents need to be convinced that our data is safe.

3. Riding my bike past the "Pathways Campus" today, I decided I like that name, much much better than the old A2Tech name. It implies that there are multiple ways of getting to the same destination.

4. Please--as you turn your thoughts toward the school year--take my survey and offer some meaningful critiques of the Ann Arbor district's new web site. It's my impression that a lot of stuff that was on the old web site is not on the new web site, but I don't know if that's true, that is really based on some cursory searches that I have done. What do you like and what don't you like? Take the survey!

5. Want to be a guest blogger? Let me know.

6. Back to School Helpline: From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. you can call 734-660-9911. 
Email:  backtoschool@a2schools.org 

Now that helpline is truly a great idea--I have often gotten panicked questions from parents in the last few days before school. I hope it works well (in other words, I hope that they have the staffing to handle the call volume). I also hope that the people answering the phones have the correct answers at their fingertips.

At the end of Rick's Run, 2014.
I got my son to come with me! Thanks Joel!

7. Let's talk about Rick's Run! It's a fundraiser for Ann Arbor Rec & Ed scholarships, in memory of Rick DeKeon, a favorite PE teacher at Northside Elementary who was also active with Rec & Ed. I ran last year (the inaugural run) and it was at Pioneer, and it was freezing cold. OK, actually, I half ran and half walked, and it really doesn't matter, you can run or walk. It's a little bit earlier this year so it should be a little warmer (October 24th) and I'm signing up! Join me? (Maybe I should form a team...the blogspots?) You can register as a family or an individual right here, and tomorrow (Monday! August 24th) is the last day for a discount. Who's with me?!

[I went searching for the piece I wrote about Rick DeKeon and the Northside naming of the gym in his honor, and now there is a new gym being built over at Northside--so I'm wondering if the new gym will also be named after him.]

8. There is a really interesting lawsuit coming out of New York about how standardized testing can (or can't)--certainly shouldn't!--be used to evaluate teachers.


New York: Controversial teacher evaluation method is on trial--literally--and the judge is not amused

and a Slate piece on why this is a big deal.

9. Also in New York, where about 20% of students opted out of standardized tests, the New York Times reports that school districts will not lose money.

10. John Oliver takes on standardized testing!



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Key Updates--And A Survey

1. Have you liked Monet Tiedeman's live blogging of the school board meetings?
Find her work again tonight (the meeting is at Huron High School, by  the way):

https://annarbivore.wordpress.com/

Bookmark it!

2. Congratulations to Scott Westerman, for getting the Ann Arbor Preschool named after him. Dr. Westerman was Superintendent of the Ann Arbor Public Schools for many years and has stayed active in the community. (Yes, even now! He's still on the AAPS Blue Ribbon Advisory Group.)

3. Regarding the rumor that TAs might be outsourced, the school district would like to put that rumor to rest. Here's a comment from David Comsa, the Deputy Superintendent for Human Resources and Legal Services:

There is no chance of AAPS outsourcing teaching assistants. First, the district is actively bargaining with the Paraeducator unit, which includes teaching assistants. Second, state case law considers most teaching assistants to be protected from outsourcing. 

4. Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley has been doing a lot of work on the needs of kids who qualify for special education services in this state.

He has had meetings around the state, and now he has got a survey going, and he's hoping for a better response.

Find the survey at michigan.gov/calley.

I think most parents who have kids with special education needs have been impressed by Lt. Gov. Calley's work on this issue, so...help him out!

5. Need shots? The Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools is offering free immunizations:

Student Immunization Clinics

Walk-ins available from 9 am - 1 pm     

July 29th, 30th  &  August 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th

RAHS - Scarlett Middle School

You do not need to be a registered student at these schools to receive services. RAHS accepts insured and uninsured patients, regardless of ability to pay.

Washtenaw County Public Health staff bringing in polio vaccines.
In the 1950s. From Old News at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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Live-Blogging the Ann Arbor School Board Meetings

Nope, not me.

Monet Tiedemann has started live blogging Ann Arbor school board meetings. Tonight is the first night! 

For a time, Monet Tiedemann wrote the Ann Arbor Chronicle Ann Arbor school board coverage.

Thanks Monet! Check it out--

https://annarbivore.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/aaps-board-meeting-15-june-2015/


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Coda: Process Errors in My "Honeymoon is Over" Post

In writing my post about how the "honeymoon" is over (read it here), I got a lot of positive feedback--especially from teachers, who said, "Right on!" The teachers who contacted me felt that it mirrored very closely their lived experience.

But I also think I might have missed the mark in a three ways.

First, I think that some people might have read the post as violating one of my core blog rules, posted on the right hand side of my blog: "All are welcome to comment, but please be respectful, and assume that everyone wants the best for the schools." And for me, that approach is supposed to extend beyond the comments section, and into my blogging itself. If it came across to you that I don't believe that the superintendent or school board wants the best for the schools, then I am truly sorry--because I believe that Dr. Jeanice Swift, and every school board member, DOES want the best for the schools.

Second, perhaps I should have asked for a reaction from Dr. Swift before posting my piece, so I could have given her the chance to respond. I don't say that because I think my blog needs to be "balanced" or "neutral" in the classic newspaper way--I don't think it does. In fact I think my best blogging happens when I write from a point of view. However, I end the post by saying that "process matters," and if I believe that, then maybe I should myself be modeling better process and opportunities for airing disagreements. [And--if we're contrasting past and present here, I can say that former Superintendent Dr. Pat Green never answered my emails, and Dr. Swift always answers them.]

Third, from a comment that somebody made about how parents "can send her packing," I think some people might have inferred that I want to start a campaign to get rid of Dr. Swift.

So to set the record straight: That is not true.

I think that Dr. Swift has done a really good job on a lot of things for the Ann Arbor Public Schools. As I say in the first post,

Some notable successes--she got the principals of Roberto Clemente and Ann Arbor Tech to work together; turned Northside into Ann Arbor STEAM; got the school board to open seats to schools of choice, and also attracted a lot of Ann Arbor residents back into the schools. The number of students in the district grew significantly, and that allowed the budget to grow as well.

In her first year, I think we saw a marked shift from a culture of "No we can't" to a culture of "Yes we can." I appreciate her energy, her hard work, and her interest in all facets of the district, Many (not all) of the current issues can be attributed to the fact that there are fiscal constraints, which we ignore at our peril. 

Do I see Jeanice Swift as a strong booster of the Ann Arbor Public Schools? Absolutely yes.

Do I agree with her (or the school board) on everything? Clearly not. 

At the same time, that does not mean I think it's time to "send her packing."

No, I want to convince her (and the school board) that I am right and she is (they are) wrong. :)

We cannot be like the queen in Alice in Wonderland, who--whenever she didn't like someone (Alice)--cried, 

No, I want to convince her (and the school board) that I am right and she is (they are) wrong. :)

I want us to be a community where we can disagree and model conversations about these disagreements. 

That's why I want a transparent process. I realize that union negotiations can make that difficult, but ultimately I think we help ourselves if we make discussions about disagreements public, open, and honest.

Look for a post next week where I try to make that happen.

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Today This Blog Is Five Years Old

Five years ago today I started this blog. Read why here.

Five years, two children who have graduated from the Ann Arbor schools, one more with just 2-1/2 years left, educational policy in this state that goes from bad to worse.

I'm not sure what comes next with this blog. I do know that I have a lot of other things competing for my attention, and a lot of other interests that have gone untended.

I also know that there is a huge need for attention to be paid to the schools--much more than I anticipated when I started.

In the meantime, I expect the next year to be one of discernment regarding what I should do with this blog. It might continue, more or less as, or perhaps with a focus on higher level thoughts about education. I might be looking for someone else to take it over. Is that you? Or it might just remain, as a piece of history.


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Introducing a New Contributor, and a New Organization!

New Contributor

I am very excited to introduce a new guest blogger to Ann Arbor Schools Musings!

We'll be calling this teacher A3 Teacher, because he teaches in Ann Arbor, and would like to remain Anonymous.  For now I'll just tell you that he has several years of teaching under his belt, both in Ann Arbor and outside of Ann Arbor.

Welcome!

New Organization

For his first blog post, A3 Teacher would like to feature a new organization:

Michigan Teachers and Allies for Change meeting this Thursday

A new grassroots group organized by local teachers, families, and community members has begun in Southeastern Michigan  The group is called Michigan Teachers and Allies for Change (M-TAC for short) and in about a week and a half the group has swelled to just over 430 Facebook likes.  Following the recent investigative articles published by the Detroit Free Press on charter schools and the onslaught of for-profit schools in Michigan, this group seeks to inform citizens on the realities of public education in Michigan in order to best help students.  This non-partisan group is focused on positive action, both locally and at the state level.  

The group’s Facebook page states the description of the group as the following:

We are a grassroots group of teachers and allies working on behalf of public education. We are devoted to turning the tide against the for-profit and political forces in order to refocus our state's resources on students. We are dedicated to raising awareness and taking action based on what is best for our communities.

The group is holding an informational meeting in Ann Arbor on the evening on Thursday, July 10th at 6:00 p.m. for teachers, families, and allies of public education.  David Arsen, a professor at Michigan State University’s School of Education, as well as State Board of Education president John Austin will speak for portions of the meeting.  If you haven’t yet read David Arsen’s Open Letter to Governor Snyder, it is an interesting and powerful read.  Additionally, John Austin’s Michigan Economic Center recently released a short promotional film titled The Michigan Dream at Risk.  

Interested in the new organization? Check out the Facebook page or RSVP to the Thursday event here.  

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Understanding the Education Achievement Authority (EAA): An Activist's Guide

Are you confused about what the Education Achievement Authority is, and what some people want it to be? If so, join the club.

The Okemos Parents for Schools blog (which, by the way, is on my blogroll in the right-hand column) has just done an excellent three-part series on what the EAA is. I highly recommend that you take a look at it!

Part 1: Methods and Results

What is the EAA? Part 1, Methods and Results

To whet your appetite, here is a small excerpt from Part 1:

The EAA was created in 2011 by an interlocal agreement between the Emergency Manager of the Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts, and Eastern Michigan University.  An "interlocal agreement" is one of the methods of creating a charter school.  See What are "charter schools?", Okemos Parents for Schools, June 28, 2013.  The EAA is essentially a charter district. Originally, the EAA was tasked with taking over 15 schools from the Detroit Public School district.  Before the EAA had even finished one year of operation its proponents were trying to expand it statewide with a measure which would allow the EAA to capture 5 percent of Michigan's public schools every year, with no mechanism to return them to local control. 

Part 2: Management and Finances

What is the EAA? Part 2, management and finances

In Part 2, you learn some information about who is running the EAA and how they are managing financially. For instance:

The Chancellor of the EAA, John Covington, came to the EAA after heading up a public school district in Kansas City. One Michigan blogger wrote that Covington "faked a conflict with his former employer to get out of his contract" in Kansas City and "could make as much as $1.4 million in four years" at the EAA.  New Education Achievement Authority leader’s former school district loses its accreditation,Eclectablog, September 21, 2011.  Covington's tenure in Kansas City was a rocky one.  Covington oversaw closure of nearly half the schools in the Kansas City district.  Board strips Kansas City schools' accreditation, MSNBCNews.com, September 20, 2011.  As he was leaving, the district he oversaw was flailing on almost all measures of performance, "the district met only three of the 14 standards in the state's annual performance report, down from four in 2010."  Id. Less than a month after Covington left, the Missouri state board of education voted to strip the schools of its accreditation.  Id.  Recently, the EAA board "voted to hire Interactive Learning Systems LLC of Columbia, S.C., as an 'executive coach' for" Covington.  EAA collapsing, The Michigan Citizen, December 12, 2013. 

(And that's not all...)

Part 3: Widespread Opposition

What is the EAA? Part 3, widespread opposition

In Part 3 we learn about teaching and learning conditions, and we also learn about the local connection. As you may recall, EMU is the chartering institution.

Remember that the EAA is structured like a charter district, and so requires an "interlocal agreement" with an "authorizing institution" to receive state funds.  Eastern Michigan University is the EAA's authorizer.  We've discussed before how authorizing institutions like state universities give charters a feel of credibility, but in practice the authorizer has almost no involvement with the charter.  What are "charter schools?", Okemos Parents for Schools, June 28, 2013.  The EAA's colossal failure and the faculty's complete lack of oversight has proved too much for the EMU faculty to stomach. The faculty are protesting and their efforts have made national news:

And Part 3 ends with this:

In sum, outside the small circle of those politically and financially invested in the EAA, there is almost no one in Michigan advocating for expansion of the EAA. (Emphasis added.)

Ellen Cogen Lipton, a Michigan House
Democrat, has been a key point person on
getting the FOIA'd documents and putting
together the Inside the EAA website.
Photo taken from her state representative website.

More Information from Inside the EAA

After you've taken a look at the "primer" on the EAA, then you might me interested at reading some FOIA'd source documents and lots of other news articles at Inside the EAA.

And why is all of this important in 2014? Expansion of the EAA is one of many terrible educational initiatives we can expect to see back in the legislature...

Interviews with Teachers in the EAA

Just an hour before this post was set to "go live" I found out that today Eclectablog published an important piece about the EAA that has interviews with real live EAA teachers. Serendipity? I think that really it just highlights the fact that this is really important stuff! Read on.

As Chris Savage writes,

I spoke with several teachers, some of whom came to the EAA through the Teach for America program. What follows documents the outrageous and frightening situation in the EAA schools. I am keeping the gender of the teachers, which schools they work in, and any other identifying information hidden so that these teachers will not be fired for speaking to me. Every quote and statement, however, are real and the teachers represent both elementary schools within the EAA as well as high schools.
While much of what I learned from these courageous teachers I had heard about at least in part before, the most shocking thing I discovered was that school administrators have been seen physically abusing problem students. In addition to this, the teachers themselves are put in danger by violent students that the administration appears unwilling or unable to deal with.
It is critically important that these stories be told now because Republicans, including Gov. Snyder, are determined to expand the EAA statewide. The failure of the current EAA “experiment” shows in vivid and frightening detail what a colossal mistake that would be. I encourage you to share this information and this post with others you know so that all of us can contact our legislators and encourage them to stop the failed experiment before it is expanded even further. (Emphasis added.)

Read the interviews with the teachers on Eclectablog.

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State of the Blog: Five Year Anniversary!

Five Years

Five years ago, over MLK Weekend, I started this blog. When I mentioned this tonight, my husband said,

"What made you start it then? You were bored, right?"

Actually--wrong.

 I wanted to learn more about blogging and I couldn't figure out how to do it except by creating a blog. I spent several months looking for a topic that I wouldn't get bored of writing about, and one day I was really pissed off about something that happened in the Ann Arbor schools (I don't remember what, and it really doesn't matter, because it was neither the first nor the last time) and it was as if a lightning bolt struck. "I'll never get tired of writing about the schools!" I thought. And most of the time, I haven't--although occasionally I think about writing about other things as well. On the other hand, the schools need writing about (and do not criticize the grammar of this sentence, please). I certainly haven't run out of things to write about related to education, and I didn't anticipate all the drama around education! I do sometimes run out of time to write. Work is very busy and now it's full-time. But then someone comes up to me and says, "What you're doing is a huge community service." (Awwwww....)

So, Happy Anniversary to my blog!

1. If you like the blog, make it worth my while by recruiting more readers.
2. If you like the blog, take the time to write an engaging comment.
3. If you like the blog, recruit another parent, teacher, administrator or taxpayer to protect our public schools and become a schools activist.

State of the State vs. State of the Blog

I couldn't really stand to listen to Gov. Snyder's State of the State address (although I'm glad that Rep. Jeff Irwin invited Jeanice Swift to be his guest, and I did like what she had to say about the speech.)

Looking ahead, there are lots of things I haven't gotten to yet. . . I'm hoping to write more about charter schools (especially for profits). . . more about competition between schools. . . more about ending high-stakes testing. . . more about good things going on in education. As always, if you're interested in contributing to the blog as a researcher or writer, just let me know.

One thing that is still true, and still motivates me, is something that I wrote in my first post on Sunday, January 18, 2009:

Sometimes I find the schools satisfactory, and sometimes not, but in general I have a lot of questions. Questions about why things run the way they do. Questions about whether things could run better. Critiques about the schools. Ideas to improve them.. . . I believe that these are our schools--yes, the taxpayers--and we need to know what is going on. These are our schools--yes, the parents--and we need to be able to make decisions for our kids. These are our schools--yes, the staff--who often don't have a voice in decisions. These are our schools--yes, the students--and what students think also matters.

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Housekeeping Notes--But They Are Really Interesting, I Promise

How Can You Follow This Blog? Let Me Count the Ways

My friend asks me, "How do I know when you've posted?"

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, 

follow, follow, follow, follow. 

[With apologies to The Fantasticks.]

Seriously, there are many ways that you can find out when I've posted.

1. Visit here--a lot! (I usually post 2-4 times/week, but not on a schedule. So you have to check back to find out. Some people think that is a pain. Therefore, there are some easier (painless :)) ways to follow me.

2. Subscribe to the blog by email. I have now made this very easy by setting up a link that shows up at the bottom of every new blog post. [Thanks to Jenna Bacolor of the Ann Arbor Schools Rec & Ed blog--when she did it on her blog I realized there must be a way for me to do it too. And there is!] So just scroll to the bottom of this post, click on the link, and put in your email.

3. Follow me on twitter. My "handle" is @schoolsmuse, and can be found at twitter.com/schoolsmuse. I now (finally) have the blog set up to auto-post to twitter so every post gets tweeted. Just be warned though, that although I don't use twitter every day, I use it a few times a week, and I re-tweet things that catch my eye. Some of those things are about education, but I also will retweet local events, public health news, environmental news, news from the Middle East, and other things that catch my interest. 

4. Join the Ann Arbor Schools Musings Facebook group, which I started to have some more informal discussions--and allow people to post things that interest them about local education as well. You can find the group here: 

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/annarborschoolsmusings/

I usually--but not always--put my posts up there. Sometimes I forget, and sometimes it just seems like too much self-promotion.

5. Follow me on an RSS feed. That is a way of looking at a lot of blogs, or web pages, all at once. I used to use Google Reader, but Google closed that down, and I now follow myself--and many other blogs--on feedly.com. There's a link to feedly on the right hand side of the blog. I think it will work, also, to click the links with the orange rainbow on the top right-hand side of my blog. There are other options too: Newsblur, Inoreader, Digg... Readers, feel free to make suggestions about these in the comments.

Commenting Guidelines

1. I love comments. Really, I do. Please comment. On the one hand, I dream of having a comments section that is as robust as Mark Maynard or Dov Bear. On the other hand, I think they have more tolerance for rudeness and snarkiness than I do. (Is that a guy blogger thing?) So having said that, I think my commenting guidelines are very modest, but it's worth mentioning them.

Comments policy: All are welcome to comment, but please be respectful, and assume that everyone wants the best for the schools.

2. Also, I don't mind anonymous comments. Really. I was an anonymous blogger for a while so it would be a little hypocritical to say no to anonymous comments. But the other day, looking at this post (which got 19 comments! maybe a personal record!), my husband said to me, "The same person had all those different opinions?" He was confused. I explained to him that "anonymous" was actually several different anonymi (is that a word?).  If you comment occasionally, even if you log in as anonymous, consider typing a name that you will use consistently every time you comment here. You can put it in the text, as does--for instance--someone who posts as Ypsi Anon. That way, I can (and readers can) separate out multiple opinions.

Help!

People are really enthusiastic about this blog, and I really do appreciate that. But I would love some help, in two ways.

1. Want to guest blog about something you know about and are passionate about? I would love informants from local schools and different districts (Ypsilanti, in particular). I would love to have some one write regularly, or occasionally, about their experiences with special education services. I would love to have a teacher or two write about how Common Core and other new legislation is affecting them. Those are just a few ideas. No fortune from this, and not much fame either--but you'll get the thanks of a lot of people in the community who are hungering for more news about local schools and education. [And my thanks to Ypsi Anon, Julie Roth, and Steve Norton who have each stepped up and written things for me over the past year or so.] If you are at all interested, send me an email to rlk234 [at] gmail.com.

2. Don't want to write, but like doing research? One of my most-visited posts, on the Broad Foundation, was easy for me to write because Sharon Simonton had done most of the research for me. I have lots of ideas for things to research that I don't have time to do.

Some of the things I'm interested in:
--local schools history--there is a lot of it, and some of it is very relevant to today!
--Title IX--how are local schools doing with compliance?
--teacher work conditions, union bustings
--effects of testing
--race and class disparities
--language learning
--charter schools--funding, who is going there, work conditions...
--online learning--
--legislative intrigue
and more

If YOU are interested in researching something and have a specific idea, let me know and I'll tell you if I think I might be interested. If you like research but don't have any ideas, I have more than enough for both of us.

See? Housekeeping. Who knew it could be so interesting!

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A Month's Wordle of Posts: Blogathon 2013 Ends

It's the last day of the blogathon. This wordle comes from the titles of my 31 (!!) June posts. [I only needed to post one a day, but there was one day where I posted twice.] You can make your own wordle at wordle.net.

Guest Post Interview: School in Singapore

You might remember that I'm participating in the 2013 Blogathon (a post a day in June). There are certain "theme" days and today's suggested theme is a Guest Post Swap with another blogger who is doing the blogathon. In my case, I found Dominique Goh, who lives in Singapore and is a primary school teacher, to be my guest poster. (I am her guest poster as well!) Dominique blogs at dominiquegoh.com. I decided to do a short Question and Answer interview with Dominique, and here it is. 



1. You teach primary school in Singapore. What grades/ages does that cover? How large are your class sizes? Do you have one group of students and teach all subjects to them, or do you teach a particular subject and students rotate? Does school go year-round?

I cover from grade 1-6 (or as they call it here Primary 1 to 6), the kids are from 7 -12 years old. At present the classes are 30 per class for the lower levels however from  Primary 3 onwards there is streaming and the top end classes may pack up to 40 students in the class with varying number of students in the other classes. We teach by subjects and the students are the ones that rotate and go from class to class. I teach English, Maths,Science and Music. It depends on which subject combination is given to you at the start of the year as in certain years I did have physical education and art classes to teach also. 

School goes all year round with breaks as follows: 1 week in March, 4 weeks in June, 1 week in September and 6 weeks in Nov/Dec. The start of the school year is in January and it ends in November.

2. I think the main languages in Singapore are Chinese, English, and Malay. At what age to children start learning languages in Singapore--how many languages, how often--are they expected to reach fluency in their non-native languages? (Anything interesting about language learning would be great!)


Most kids start to learn language from birth. They are expected to learn a minimum of two languages as it is compulsory here. English and your mother tongue. For us as we are Chinese we learn both English and Mandarin at school.  Both are treated as 1st languages here and for my own family we introduce the kids to more then a few languages from birth as we use English, Mandarin and Cantonese at home.
My aim is to raise a multilingual toddler/kid so I have been introducing them to other languages like Japanese and Korean. I intend to introduce them to French when they are older and they too get to hear and learn basic Malay as many elders around us speak Malay.  
I believe that it is important to have the kids introduce to the different languages as early as possible as they will be the least resistant to learning something new. Exposure is the key to getting them interested in languages.

3. Singapore is a small, urban island. Do children in Singapore access nature/natural environments? If so, how? Are they taught environmental education? 


Yes we live on an island but there are many pockets of greenery around as the place has been landscaped by the urban architects... there are many parks and even nature/jungle areas still around on the island.  In fact in the area where I am living in there is a bike trail that cuts throughs a greenery corridor and even to the wetland areas.  The school schedules trips to various parks or even the offshore islands around Singapore to see the different  plants/animals in their natural habitat.  We do have a great focus on being environmentally friendly with Earth Day celebration in school. 

4. I think the educational system in Singapore is pretty different from the U.S., and more centralized. How do people become teachers? What kind of training do they get? Compared to other jobs, are teachers paid fairly well, medium, or poorly? Is it a well-respected job? 

To be an educator in Singapore you first have to apply for the job with the Ministry of Education. Upon passing the selection test you have to undertake a Post Grad Diploma in Education from National Institute of Education before you are qualified to teach. Upon passing out you are bonded for 3 years and posted to a school to teach. Teachers are paid fairly well however unless you assume higher leadership positions it would be hard for your pay to be equal to those in the corporate sector. It is not as well-respected as before due to the degrading of society and its moral values however it is a relatively safe occupation as in guns and other weapons etc. are not allowed for civilians on this island and so there is no chance of massive shoot outs/killings in school. 
Hope that I have answered your questions.

Here is my bio.
Dominique Goh, Singaporean elementary school teacher, professional blogger and mom of three. Catch her on her blog as she shares about her experiences with her kids, education, cooking and baking. The photos are by Dominique Goh.

Need New Reading Material? Take a Look at My Blogroll, Part I

Today, I'm posting about the education blogs on my blogroll. Next Sunday, look for all of the assorted other blogs on my blogroll. Note: these are not in any particular order.

National Education Blogs

• Diane Ravitch--she posts a lot of information about public education around the country. There is a lot of good stuff but it can be hard to keep up.
• @ The Chalk Face Knows Schools Matter--this is two blogs merged into one. I used to really like Schools Matter. I don't like the format of this "wedded" blog as much but there is a lot of good information. But I love their mission: to defend public education and oppose the so-called "reform" movement.
• Modern School: A public school teacher blogs about education, science, youth, and labor. Lately this blog has had a lot of information about labor. If you're interested in teachers' and administrators' unions, this is a good place for you to look.
• Assorted Stuff: This blog is written by an east coast educator/technology person. After I read a post of his, I often wish I'd thought to write about it first. He also has a nice education blogroll (even though I'm not on it :)
• Eduwonk: Some might find this education policy blog slightly too conservative (I think the author would describe it as centrist). However, he writes short pieces that point to interesting policy discussions at the national level. Mostly, the author links rather than editorializes.
• Title IX blog: Honestly, this is one of my favorite blogs. Title IX had a major impact on my life, and probably yours as well, and if you are interested in gender equality issues in schools at all levels, this is worth your time. The authors track stories from across the country. (Go ahead, do a search on the Title IX blog for Ann Arbor. We're in there.)
• Electric Educator: John Sowash posts from Oakland County, MI so I guess I could count him as a "local" educator--but the topic he blogs about is technology, particularly using Google programs, in the classroom. That information is useful no matter where you are in the country. He teaches at a private Christian school in Oakland County.
• School Finance 101: A thoughtful blog from Bruce Baker on school finance issues across the country.
• Honestly, I think this overview post on school funding is a must read.
• A "Fuller" Look at Education Issues: Dr. Ed Fuller looks at K-12 and higher education issues. The blog is rather data heavy, and often focuses on Texas, but it offers a good template for some ways data could be used to investigate "education reform."
• Scrap the MAP: Solidarity with teachers opposing the NWEA MAP test. Ann Arbor could learn a lot from them.
• Students Last: I just discovered this blog. It is kind of like the Onion for educators. If you like satire, if you liked Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, this blog is for you. Just look at its tagline: "If you care about education, we would like to encourage you to stop." You would laugh, except it's a truth that hurts.

Local Education Blogs

• k12christinestead.com: Kudos to AAPS School Board member Christine Stead for blogging regularly. Christine follows state education policy closely and is a good source for that information.
• Saline Superintendent's Blog: Scot Graden posts fairly regularly (and I think there are some related blogs from some other Saline administrators that are not on the blog roll). Scot's posts are generally fairly positive and short--if you live in Saline you definitely should be reading him!
• Okemos Parents for Schools: This group is loosely affiliated with Michigan Parents for Schools and I like their web page. 
• Oakland Schools: Lead blogger is Jean McLeod, and I think this group is also loosely affiliated with Michigan Parents for Schools.
• Education Matters: I just discovered this blog by a Van Buren Schools school board trustee. Martha Toth doesn't blog all that often, but this post about charter schools is quite good.