Regional Office of Education ROE 38 articles posted

I’ve added the four part series that I did for the Lincoln Daily News regarding the Regional Office of Education for Logan, Mason, and Menard Counties as a separate section on my sidebar.

This series was the result of a nearly three hour interview with Regional Superintendent Jean Anderson.

Those of you, who know me, know that I inherited my children after they were adults.

Therefore, I didn’t have any first hand experience with kids in school, except to draw from my memory of what it was like for me and my sister.

So, the first thing I have to say, is that even though Anderson is heads and shoulders above me in Education, experience, and sophistication, she was very approachable.

She didn’t get the least bit frustrated over what may have been elementary questions on my part. She never once made me feel like I was inferior in any way. And, I can assure anyone who might want to speak to her, that she will treat them with the utmost respect.

The series of articles covers quite a bit of information, and I could have written at least four more, but in the world of news, we have to cut, edit, cut, edit, and cut again.

So, there is a lot of good stuff in the series, but there is also some stuff that got left out.

One of the items that touched me most, was personal observations from Anderson regarding the life of a teacher.

Teachers have become not only educators, but also guardians on the whole of their students during the class day.

As such, they have to know each child, understand their behavioral issues, and deal with any emotional problems they may be having, plus be a nurse, a disciplinarian, and sometimes a substitute mommy.

And, their support system is very faint. Most teachers don’t get the chance to interact with other educators daily or even weekly. They can’t always talk about what they hear and see going on in the classroom with people outside of the school, so they end up isolated.

For example, if little Janie has developed a knack for hurting peoples feelings with her harsh words, that is an internal problem that the teacher has to deal with alone for the most part.

He or she can’t go home and talk about what a terrible little child Janie is. And while a talk with the parents may be warranted, and may actually happen, there is no release for the teacher in doing so. As a matter of fact, that may increase the stress level of the teacher, as now little Janie’s parents think the teacher is “out to get” their darling daughter.

Of course, there are exceptions. If they suspect a child is being neglected or abused, they are mandated reporters, and have to talk to their supervisors about those situations.

Once a teacher becomes a teacher, the education process for them is really just beginning.

They are required to do ongoing studies, which means many of them attend classes during their summer break, they take online courses during the school year, or perhaps even attend night-classes.

Parents who believe that teacher’s works from 8 to 3 are simply put; dead wrong. There are many teachers who between their work day, their classroom homework they have to do, and their course studies for ongoing education work 80 or more hours a week.

Plus high school teachers are often class sponsors, club sponsors, and chaperones for extracurricular activities.

Since public schools began, there have been ongoing complaints about children having too much homework. Kids and parents think that the teachers make enormous assignments just out of spite sometimes. But, what parents and kids alike need to know, is that when a teacher gives homework, they are also getting it themselves! Consequently, if they didn’t feel it was necessary, they wouldn’t do it.

Another thing that Anderson and I talked about that didn’t make it to the article was the new testing programs that are a part of the “No child left behind” act.

“Response to Intervention” is a classroom assessment program that uses a series of benchmarks to chart a child’s progress throughout the year.

The assessments are designed to identify how much the child has learned and retained during his or her class time.

Children who show a lack of progress are given additional assistance. This assistance may be extra one-on-one time with the teacher, a tutor, or whatever else is deemed necessary to get the student up to speed.

Anderson spoke highly of the program, even though it is not something that the Regional offices are involved with (which is why it didn’t make the articles).

The RTI is successfully identifying the needs of the students, without stereotypically sticking them into special ed classes. This has got to be a good thing!

If a little extra effort on the part of the teacher, parents, and child, can prevent the student from being dubbed as a special education case, is that not what we all want?

The program is identifying problems that in the past have been overlooked.

Anderson explained this and offered an example of how the testing is benefiting not only the students but the teachers; “this is a state wide initiative that I think is going to be tremendous as its already showing some significant positive change particularly in our elementary schools.

“I was on a school visit recently and the principal was talking about their kindergarten students and how they have made such gains in their achievement level since the first of the year.

“The school has used simple testing procedures with the children to determine their level of maturity. In every class there is a possibility of age gaps that affect a child’s ability to comprehend. These age gaps are most noticeable in the younger children.

“Conducting these tests enabled the teacher to identify which children were more advanced in the knowledge and maturity, and which were in need of more individual and personalized attention.

“The end result was that after a period of time, all the children were performing on the same level.

Anderson concluded saying; “I think that RTI is going to make a huge difference in education in Illinois.”

As I said there was much discussed, and even now I am only touching of a few points.

We talked a great deal about how home life affects child behavior.

This was a topic I would like to have put in the articles, but really couldn’t work it in as well as I wanted to.

With the loss of employers in this area, the increased cost of getting to work due to gasoline prices, and such, there are middle class families, who in the past have not needed assistance, and now they do.

Even though this sounds a bit stereotypical, it is founded in fact. People who have lived their life in poverty have a network that they can rely on. They know where to go to get rent paid, food, medical assistance, child care, and other essentials to survival.

The new breed of financially stifled families doesn’t have that experience. They are less informed about what they can get help with and what they can’t.

In addition, they are more hesitant to ask for help, because to them it is a stigma.

The end result, parents are taking on new burdens and with no support group so to speak to assist them.

Anderson said that this is translating to additional emotional and behavioral problems in the classroom.

For the most part, good parents think it is their job to protect their children from the trials of life, so they are talking in private, whispering their concerns, and doing all that they can to spare their children from the bad things that are going on.

The problem is, in their effort to protect, they are leaving it to the child’s imagination to figure out what is wrong.

Younger children especially, will let their minds carry them away, and may be envisioning a situation that is much worse than reality.

Anderson said that parents need to include their children in the discussion.

The financial situation at home may mean that there will be no family vacation this year, or that fun activities have to be cut out of the budget, and nothing more.

However, the child putting two and two together on their own may be thinking that the family can’t buy food.

The bad situation may lead to giving up a home and moving back in with a parent or sibling, while the child may consider the end result of loosing a home means they will be living in the park and sleeping in a car.

When creditors call, and parents try to be vague in their conversation, they are leaving children to imagine what kind of threats are being made toward their parents.

These are real situations, and parents need to be aware that they are causing worry and stress in the child’s life by omitting them from the conversation.

The end result of all this, is that their worries at home are going to the classroom, and it is causing lack of concentration, moodiness, and even conflict with other students or their teacher.

Now I’m not suggesting that you sit down with your seven year old, and show them your bank statement and all the bills you have to pay, but don’t try to hide from them that your struggling.

Tell them that mom, dad, or both have lost their jobs, but that doesn’t mean they are going to go hungry, that the family is okay, but that some of the fun things they like to do may have to be put on hold for a while.

If it comes to making a move, let the kids know that leaving this house doesn’t mean they won’t have a home, only that they are going to have a different home for a while.

If a parent has to leave town in search of work, don’t leave it to the child’s imagination as to why they are going, because they may wonder whether or not mom or dad is ever going to come back.

And finally, parents; know that you are not alone in this. Hundreds of thousands of families all across the nation are suffering from a bad economy. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and you and your children need to realize that.

If by the grace of God, you are not a family suffering, there are a few things you can do to help those that are.

First pray for your friends and if you are led to offer help, do so in a sincere, non-patronizing way.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is don’t speak about those you know who are suffering in a derogatory way, and teach your children not to do that either.

Well, I guess that is all I have to say for now. I hope you will read the articles on the ROE, and know that while they were written with this area in mind, much of the information there will translate to anywhere in the state of Illinois.