Monfredo: The Election Is Over, Time For The School Committee To Move Forward

Saturday, November 09, 2013

John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester Education Contributor

This week the local elections in Worcester finally came to a close and as a school committee member, I couldn’t be happier! Now we can get down to working with administration in moving our system forward.

The election for school committee had many candidates’ nights with questions from the business and private sector for the candidates to answer. That to me was worthwhile for it gave all the candidates insight on issues that the public wanted the candidates to address.

That being said, it’s time to get back to major issues such as closing the achievement gap in our system, decreasing our dropout rate and increasing our graduation rate. Let’s look at prevention strategies such as more pre-school programs and more resources for children in the early grades. Let’s work to make reading on grade level by the end of grade three a priority. Let’s increase the number of AP courses offerings to our students and let’s use the model at Goddard Academy in grades 6-8 and have an additional site perhaps in the Burncoat area of our city. These are just a few of the challenges facing our school system and we as a body need to work in partnership with the Boone Administration in addressing these issues in our district.

I’d like to address one of these problems and that’s the achievement gap. The achievement gap starts before our children enter kindergarten. It starts in the pre-school years with children not being exposed to reading at home. I believe that early literacy is an essential component of academic success impacting the educational voyage of each child. All across America children are entering school without the necessary basic early literacy skills for lifelong success. According to research, the early years are the time when a child’s brain undergoes the most growth and development. This period is essential to set the stage for future learning. Early literacy is regarded as the single best investment for enabling children to develop skills that will likely benefit them for a lifetime.

We need prevention at an early age and we need to work with parents in helping them help their child at home. The Worcester Public Schools has started a Books for Babies program and district in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Memorial Hospital, with RSVP Worcester Area Volunteers (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and the Worcester Educational Development Foundation is working on developing an early literacy program for new mothers who live in Worcester. This program started over three years ago and was the brain child of Paula Harrity, coordinator of volunteers in the Worcester Public Schools. The program puts books in the hands of every new mom who lives in Worcester in an attempt to show the importance of literacy in the life of their new born. Books are delivered to the mothers in the hospital before they go home with their babies. In addition, the RSVP volunteers not only deliver the books but also bring along information about the WPS programs offered and about the WPS web resources and activities parents can do at home with their baby to begin the process of developing early literacy skills. The information is translated in five languages.

This program is the first defense in closing the achievement gap for all across America children are entering school without the necessary basic literacy skills for lifelong success. Research continues to emphasize the importance of early learning. Here are some ideas for parents and caregivers to consider:

age 0 - 6 months

Talk to your baby during everyday routines. Changing a diaper, bathing, eating can all become ‘teachable moments’ if you sue them to talk to your baby.
Sing songs and read to your baby. Point to pictures and colors as your read.
Call objects by name. Your child is developing a vocabulary even though he or she cannot speak yet.
Provide a stimulating environment for your baby to look at.
Hold and touch your baby often.

Age 6 - 12 months

Imitate the sounds that your baby makes.
Sing songs and read to your baby.
Play simple games with your baby, such as pat-a-cake or peek-a-boo.
Continue to do all those things you did with your child at age 0 - 6 months.

Age 12 - 24 months

Read and sing to your baby.
Have your child begin to point to body parts.
Ask your child for hugs and kisses.
Continue to use everyday routines as teaching opportunities.
Encourage your child to move around in a ‘baby safe’ room.
Talk with your baby.
Have your child pick out pictures in a book.
Play with large puzzles and blocks.
Encourage your baby to help undress himself/herself.
Dance to music with your baby.

All of these activities are developing a listening vocabulary within the child. Can we as a community assist in this project? I believe that we can and it’s time that we sit down as a school system and as a community and look at the necessary resources that we have and find ways of assisting our families.

Notice that the importance of reading at every level is essential and we must continue to talk about its significance in the development of each child. Author Emilie Buchward’s famous quote, “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents” is most significant as we attempt to develop within each child a love for reading. These suggestions on working with your new born are only the beginning for we also need to look at our pre-school years (ages 3-4) and continue to develop the child’s readiness skills but let’s zero in on “Books for Babies” first. Thus far thousands of books have been distributed to moms in the hospital and this is a great start in PREVENTION but it’s time that we as a community consider the next step. I would like to see the health community (school nurses, health centers, hospitals) collaborate and make home visits and talk to our new moms about nutrition and the importance of literacy.

If there are ideas out there from the health community or individuals on how to expand the program I’d love to hear about them. E-mail me at [email protected] .

The Worcester Public Schools has started the ground work on this project and now we need to expand this operation. This year, let’s as a community make this project a priority in our city.

Related Slideshow: AP Opportunities at Worcester’s High Schools

According to ProPublica, studies have shown that students who take advanced classes have increased chances of attending and finishing college. However, with the number of advanced placement (AP) courses offered at Worcester's public high schools varying significantly, not every student is given the same chance. The slides, below, show the Worcester public high schools whose students have the most and least AP opportunities to help them get into - and graduate from - college.

The below data were collected from the Civil Rights Data Set, released by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Right, and refers to the 2009-10 school year. The data were analyzed by ProPublica.