From Harford County Public Schools:
Harford County Public Schools’ (HCPS) Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Office has been awarded a three-year, $1.3 million grant to support the development of pre-literacy skills and reading and writing skills for children, from birth through grade 12, in Harford County.
The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant is a federal grant awarded by the Maryland State Department of Education and is designed to create a comprehensive approach to improve literacy among all children, especially those living in poverty, those with limited English proficiency, and those with disabilities.
Harford County’s literacy plan includes evidence-based strategies and interventions to support schools and provide them with the resources needed to ensure all HCPS students are prepared for success in college and the work place.
“The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant is a wonderful opportunity for Harford County Public Schools to continue established work regarding our literacy plan. We are thankful to the Maryland State Department of Education for fully funding our request,” said Susan P. Brown, Ed.D., executive director of Division of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for HCPS. “We look forward to the work ahead, as well as the support this grant will provide to our teachers, administrators, and most certainly, our students.”
In addition to the work taking place in schools and classrooms, the literacy plan will align the actions of partnering agencies working with children from birth to age 5, including childcare, Head Start, Harford County Public Library, and targeted elementary schools, and focus on training for leaders and staff and increasing family engagement.
Let’s see how this plan for this grant develops. I hope they spend the money to help students directly. I would hope they will not added to the bloated staff of central office and hire someone to run the program but rather utilize the grant money to help students directly. There are enough people in the English office and central office to get this money to help students directly. Watch closely how HCPS develops this program.
As you can see from the article, the money will be spent in part to “partner” with other agencies. In government school speak, that means increasing bureaucracy and hiring more government school employees.This article is long on flourish but short on actual information, For instance, they will create a “comprehensive program” to improve literacy among all children. Just what does this mean? Calling it a comprehensive program sounds nice but it is a lot of empty fluff. You’ll notice that all government programs are hailed as “comprehensive” and “evidenced based” Why the heck are we not now utilizing comprehensive programs to help our children achieve? And the program is for all children but especially those with limited English proficiency. So who is the program for? How much will be spent on students from struggling circumstances and how much will be spent on everyone else? Is this another slice of the welfare pie or a government grant for all the children of HC? Statistic after statistic shows that public school achievement the last few decades has been flat. And this despite the astronomical increase in the resources being funneled into government schools. Every HC taxpayer should be asking themselves why the need for remedial education is so high at HCC. And I don’t want to hear that our HC teachers lack the resources to meet student needs. Parents, demand alternatives to the government schools that are failing so many. Demand vouchers and alternatives to government run education. Home school if you are able. But stop feeding the beast
Increasing? The BOE budget isn’t keeping up with inflation. Maybe the need at HCC for remedial courses is so high becuase in general CC students were not the best students to begin with.
Your comment, Cdev, is insensitive and biased. It is hurtful to those in CC classes. If you had any idea how defeated many students in CC classes feel because of judgemental statements like yours, maybe you’d have some compassion and help build those students self esteem, not destroy it. Many students in CC classes are talented artists, musicians, etcetera. We should try and compliment our fellow humans, not insult them. Damaging and demeaning an adolescent’s sense of self is negative behavior. By the way, why is it the students’ fault that they are in CC classes, not their previous teachers? Maybe they’re in CC classes because their home environment is not conducive to academic achievement. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter what classes they take.
http://www.daggerpress.com/2009/05/10/many-hcps-graduates-not-ready-for-harford-community-college/
When is someone, anyone, going to address all of the students, k-12, that suffer in silence? We have an epidemic of students, good kids, that don’t say much, but, they have been neglected and ignored by our school system. Thus, they are lost and forgotten about. How many do you think aren’t able to walk in to their assigned school due to fear of being bullied and harrassed by another student, teacher, and/or administrator? These youth are intelligent, kind, and sensitive. They don’t have IEP’s. They just happen to be timid and quiet. Yeah, someone please address this problem and put some money towards it.
So we get rid of Library techs to now worry about Literacy????????????????????????? So confusing how this works. Way to go-we are worried about literacy, after cutting 15 library techs! If you cut some of the IF’s (Instructional Facilitator) you could fund a whole lot more than just this literacy program.As a substitute in this county and hearing all the chatter in the faculty room-it is no wonder teachers are leaving.
Teachers are asked to choose between school supply’s or getting paid for after school activities they must attend.Maybe the Maryland State Board of Education could think about what is actually needed and what sounds really good in the news?
I hope they don’t use this grant to buy more trucks.