While browsing the web for the address of a school I ran across this piece of educational double-speak on the web page of The Alloway Creek Intermediate School in Littlestown, PA, http://www.lasd.k12.pa.us/ACpage/index.html.
Quote…
Vision Statement
Through the use of a challenging curricular program that implements diverse instructional practices, the educational community of Alloway Creek Intermediate School is committed to the total education of each student.
Various, ongoing assessments will be implemented to evaluate student achievement.
Research-based interventions, including remediation, differentiated instruction, and enrichment, will be utilized to ensure optimal success.
End Quote…
I read it and some questions come to mind.
Is this intended to inform the parents of what is actually going on there or is it intended to obscure it?
Is it intended to connect the parents with the school or is it intended to tell them "we are the professional educators and we will tell you what is good for your children?"
Is it intended to bring the parents into the process as is stated elsewhere or is it intended to intimidate them into withdrawing from it?
I do not know if the motives of the person who created this are pure. I have concerns about it but I have nothing upon which to base any judgment so I will assume it was a done in good faith.
If there was no such motive the person appears to be without any real understanding of what is needed in education.
A third possibility is that the person just didn't think. This is a condition that is endemic in education and government today. Maybe an annoying jolt from one who does think and ask questions may awaken the sleeping educator.
An analysis lists this passage as Flesch reading ease of zero meaning it is very difficult to understand and it has a Flesch-Kincade grade level of eighteen and eight tenths. I removed the school name since it contains more than the average letters for a word. This drops to just over eighteen which I consider more valid but some who work with the methodology would not allow that since they claim it is really part of the equation. That means the person has to have completed grades one through twelve, four years of undergraduate work, and two years of graduate studies to understand this! I wondered what percent of the parents in Littlestown have the requisite learning to understand the Vision Statement of the school their child attends. A check of Adams County PA statistics show in 2000 the number of adult residents with at least a Bachelor's Degree (grade 16) was 16.7% of the adult population so the number with a grade eighteen or above would be far below that number. This is probably not understood by ninety five percent of the parents and possibly some of the professional educators at the school!
I tried rewriting the passage and came up with this.
ACIS will provide any teaching method with one goal, the education of every student.
ACIS will use various methods to evaluate student progress.
ACIS will use whatever any appropriate interventions to insure that each student is successful.
I can't be sure it says everything the writer wanted. I am sure it could be improved both in content and in making it easier to read. The Flesch reading ease of my version is 34.5 which is the score that the Harvard Law Review would get! The Flesch-Kincade grade level is eleven and five tenths or a half year less than a high school graduate. This would include eighty percent of the adult population based on 2000 figures. I am not sure I consider that good. I base that on the need to provide language translators for non-English speaking people for many things. If we have the responsibility to provide translators for them, why are we not responsible for making things understandable for the English speakers? Or is one politically correct and the other not? Are we not respecters of persons as the Bible puts it or practicing discrimination as the modern law states?
My blood pressure was starting to drop when I read the other portion of the page and it returned to the unhealthy level.
Quote…
Our Beliefs:
We believe . . .
. . . all students can learn.
. . . all students are unique and learn differently.
. . . all students have a desire to feel safe.
. . . children are our first priority.
. . . all children should be challenged to reach their highest potential.
. . . effective teaching is a key element, essential in developing skills for lifelong learning.
. . . education is a partnership that involves family, school and community..
End quote….
The reading ease of this is fifty three, below Readers Digest and above Time Magazine. The grade level is seven and eight tenths, most parents and many of the students may grasp this with a little effort. Good job but why is this here? Why is it necessary?
Allow me to say that any school instructional employees (and non-instructional to the point that they support the instructional staff) that does not hold these should be removed speedily from their positions and helped find work outside education not moved along to another school like a blood clot, making problems wherever it goes. This is a great description of what is needed to educate.
For those wishing to raise school taxes and teacher's salaries these are not the answer. It isn't about money it is committed people, staff, parents and community that makes the difference. I wonder of the Littlestown School District's labor unrest is a part of the problem. It very likely is. Certainly the union there and the membership are a part of that problem. It is also be a symptom of the leadership of the district not knowing what is important. Maybe both the leaders and the union members should read that block on the web page?
***FOOTNOTE***
The following is a paragraph from the Principal's message - note the spelling of the word COMMITMENT.
Please peruse the contents of this website where you will find the beliefs and attitudes of the entire Alloway Creek staff. Our vision statement encompasses our beliefs about educating the children of the Littlestown community, and our committment to excellence.
