The Gift of Time

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The Gift of Time
The Gift of Time

• Jane Seward
• ESSDACK
• 620.663.9566
• janes_at_essdack.org

Jane Seward ESSDACK 620.663.9566 janes_at_essdack.org
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The Gift of Time Jane Seward ESSDACK 620.663.9566
janes_at_essdack.org
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Issue

• Redesigning schools to nurture the developmental
  needs (social, emotional, intellectual, and
  physical) of all children is one of the
  significant challenges educators face in the 21st
  century.

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Essential Question

• What options do we have for the child who arrives
  developmentally young, at the age of five, and is
  not prepared after the traditional two years
  (kindergarten and 1st grade) to meet the demands
  of 2nd grade?

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• Developmental K
• Transitional 1st
• Retention
• Special Education

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• Retention refers to the practice of holding back
  a student at the end of an academic year and
  requiring him or her to repeat a grade level.
• With regard to retaining children in the early
  grades, research consistently indicates that
  retention harms self-esteem and increases the
  likelihood of dropping out in later years.
  Retention worsens rather than improves the level
  of student achievement in years following the
  repeat year (Shepard Smith, 1990 Gutierrez
  Slavin, 1992). Katz (1988) goes further in saying
  that when retained children repeat a curriculum
  that is too academic and does not match their
  developmental needs, they acquire a sense of
  incompetence or "learned stupidity" (p. 20).
• Goodlad and Anderson (1987) note that the policy
  of retention affects most children more
  negatively than social promotion. Their research
  indicates that children who are retained have
  lower self-esteem and achievement in all the
  years following the year of retention than those
  students who are socially promoted.

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• Sometimes its necessary to change course.

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What is multiage education?

• Mixed-age
• Multi-grade classes
• Non-graded
• Continuous progress

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½ Youngers ½ Olders
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The Pros

• Benefits children
• 1 reason national survey (NWREL)
• Transition
• Procedures
• Student performance
• Leadership skills/Nurturing behaviors
• Developmentally appropriate
• Self-directed

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The Cons

• Requires more preparation
• Lack of instructional/collaborative planning
• Harder to teach
• Difficulty letting go of grade-level thinking
• Support for the change effort
• Overcoming staff and community resistance

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Key Factors Teacher readiness Staff
ownership Parental involvement Collaborative
planning
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Indicators of Readiness

• Commitment
• Experience
• Curriculum
• Expectations
• Relationships

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Childhood is a journey, not a race.