Parents Sound Off on De-Leveling

On Monday night, parents and residents were given an opportunity to tell the Board of Education and the administration of the South Orange-Maplewood School District what they thought about recent data given about de-leveling or "Leveling Up" — the process of combining Levels 3 and 4 for 7th graders in English Language Arts, Science and Social Studies that took place for the first time for the 2010-11 school year.

Superintendent Brian Osborne opened the meeting by explaining what the district is trying to accomplish with the “Level Up” process.

“The mission of the South Orange-Maplewood School District is to be the top-performing diverse suburban school district in the nation,” Osborne said prior to the presentation. “Our mission is to prepare each and every student, regardless of demographic or socioeconomic background for post-secondary educational success."

The district aimed to disarm criticism of the data presented by giving out an 18-page handout that answered “frequently asked questions” that the district administration and Board of Education has been asked.  Chief Information Officer Paul Roth gave a presentation on the data as well.

In the public question and answer section, several parents and residents asked whether the Board of Education had independently studied the data.  Resident Rusty Reeves questioned the data as presented and wondered if the data was positioned to make the grades seem inflated.  Board of Education President Beth Daugherty said Reeves’ concerns were valid.

“We’ve heard of differentiated paths, but I think there might be a problem in which the rigors become optional in what path the student selects,” said Daugherty. 

She wondered aloud if by allowing the students to choose their own path in the process they were choosing the easier path and fewer rigors, which in turn would show higher grades.

Eve Kingsbury, a sixth grade teacher at Maplewood Middle School and a member of the original task force that looked into deleveling, explained that it’s not as simple as choosing which path to take.  Every student’s educational path is based on a student’s mastery and understanding of each subject and students don’t necessarily get to choose which is most convenient for them.

“As an educator and a professional, I’m not going to let anyone take the easy way,” said Kingsley. 

Daugherty said the process as described sounded good and useful, however she said that the description was “not necessarily consistent with what we hear from parents.”

A South Orange parent asked why A’s and B’s were grouped together in all the data presented.  She said that students don’t strive for a B and the ones that do, shouldn’t be grouped with the ones that strive for A’s.  She asked why the Board of Education did not challenge data with the two grades grouped together as it gave a false idea of what the data was saying.

“Though it might not meet everyone’s particular needs for each particular issue, we’re satisfied that the data points in the direction that there is success in the program,” said BOE member Bill Gaudelli.  “It aligns with the policy of aggregating A’s and B’s.”

Fellow board member Wayne Eastman said he had concerns with the grades being mixed together.  He said that there is always a want for more detail in the data presented. 

Fellow board member Lynne Crawford said she was unhappy with the accusations of grade inflation.  She said that with all the change recently in the curriculum, bringing up Language Arts specifically, that the new curriculum might be why grades are rising.

“I’m a little bit disheartened by everybody who seems to think that just because the grades have gone up that it’s automatically grade inflation,” said Crawford.  “You do not consider any of the major changes that have gone on in the district in the last several years.”

She also brought up new teacher supervision as a reason why grades may have been rising. 

A parent brought up that children were not being taught to their full potential.  He said that students were being taught out of text books and that some students aren’t being asked to go further in their learning.

Maplewood Middle School principal Jeffrey Truppo brought up several examples of ways that teachers have been engaging students, using social studies as an example.  But he agreed that more still needs to be done.

This was the first of three meetings that the district has planned on this subject.  The next meeting on deleveling is scheduled to be Jan. 11.