Teacher Post... & Parent Post

Remediation –noun - the correction of something bad or defective
noun -act of correcting an error or a fault or an evil


Okay, I am a teacher and a parent. Well, actually, I am a parent who just happens to be a teacher as my job. I have a child who is making gains at school. This child has shown more than a year's worth of growth. This child is not performing on grade level across the board. Here is my problem.

I disagree completely with the way this child is being taught. The child is pulled out of class up to 15 times a week for small group activities. This is being called remediation. Look at the definition above. That is what the educational system is calling providing help to students. I have thought a lot about this topic. I do not, for the life of me, understand how a child can be expected to meet "grade level expectations" when they are not being taught on grade level material. This is causing me a great amount of discourse.

I do not see how it is EVER beneficial to pull a child out of class an average of three times a day not counting lunch and specials. That is actually 5 times a day the child is out of the classroom. A child being pulled out like that is getting pulled an average of about once an hour away from the teacher. How can this be a best practice??? Let's not even factor in trips to the library, running errands for the teacher, etc.

As a teacher with almost 20 years of experience under my belt I am furious with the current state of the educational system.

We have the NCLB legislation. I understand the intent completely. I also know that schools and districts must assess student growth... so standardized tests are used.

Now, this is where the water gets even more muddy. We are "remediating" students. The goal is to get them to "catch up". We test them on grade level specific material. We remediate them with below grade level material. HOW ARE THESE CHILDREN SUPPOSED TO TAKE A TEST THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR????? Many of these students have received little to no on grade level instruction yet they are expected to perform successfully on on grade level material. How can this be??

Okay.... I do think we can provide appropriate leveled reading groups while exposing students to grade level material.

This is not a new frustration for me. It has just taken a very different perspective for me lately.

MY CHILD IS THE ONE WHO WAS BEING PULLED 15 TIMES A WEEK!! No one told me this was happening. I was not informed that 6 different adults were teaching my child this year. That number is not counting special area teachers.

How can a child learn how to work independently if constantly pulled into a small group out of the classroom?
How can a child pass an on grade level test when not being taught on grade level material?
How can the educational system believe that remediation is the key.. not instruction?
How can a school pull a child out of class 15 times a week and never notify the parent?

I am ticked.