He
brought home his school work with a fair number of words on one of his assignments
was misspelled. What surprised me was that his paper was marked by his teacher
with a smiley face – the universal symbol for all is well.
Well
- all was definitely NOT well. The spelling errors were not called out by his
teacher. So I sat down, marked what was wrong then had my son correct them. His
comment to me was that if his teacher didn’t care then why was I giving him a
hard time? I told him that this was what his teacher SHOULD have done, and what
she should do for any student who passes through her classroom.
Boys
in particular, traditionally are less engaged when it comes to reading and
writing, with some finding it more difficult than others. Having students at
the 5th grade level be required to 1) write in cursive; 2) spell
correctly; 3) increase their vocabulary is basic education. Anything less is
just basic incompetence and honestly, malpractice. (Wouldn’t it be great if we
could actually charge teachers with malpractice? That would get their
attention.)
In
a meeting with his teachers, I was told that the focus in on the concepts being
taught in the classroom, with secondary focus on spelling. They want to know
that the students can get their thoughts down on paper. I told her that having
kids spew concepts without any attention to detail like spelling is horrifying
to me. (And yes, I used the word, “horrifying”.)
When
I asked how a child was expected to read and understand what they are reading,
when they can’t spell well, I was told there was no evidence that one impacted
the other.
As
a journalist and editor – a person who has made wordcraft a profession, I find
this disturbing. So the county’s public elementary school children are no
longer being held to a standard of excellence? Being able to spell doesn’t’
matter?
A
child who does not have the ability to spell will be unable to function in a
greater society. As late as the 1950s, when a person was unable to spell or
write his own name, he would “make his mark” with an “x.” Is this where we are
headed?
In
an article “Would You Employ Someone with Poor Spelling or Grammar” posted by
Jason Elsom on the-principal.com,
he states that the “chief executive of the National
Governors Association has told the Independent that some of the top schools in
the UK have received high-level job applications containing mistakes of
spelling and grammar.”
I have
personally pitched resumes with spelling or grammar mistakes and have deleted
emails from prospective intern or job candidates who have demonstrated lazy
English skills. It’s a nonstarter for me, as it should be for any employer.
While
schools and teachers are saddled with this arcane Common Core curriculum, room
remains for teachers and principals to incorporate the basics. Anything less is just lazy teaching. At the
very least our kids should leave school knowing how to spell a word correctly.
Apparently
the concept isn’t particularly new. A colleague mentioned that in the late
1990s, the American Institutes for Research contracted to design high school
exit exams in English, Math and Social Studies for the Philadelphia public
schools. On the English exam, the teachers did not want to hold the students
accountable for spelling or grammar errors in the test scoring. So the lackadaisical
attitude among teachers has been around for a while. To Philadelphia’s credit,
they never used the tests.
My
son’s teachers agreed to start being more aware of spelling issues and it also
will fall to me to be sure that is backed up with action. In fact, the homework
email on Thursday, read “Please remind your child that quality work is
expected and neatness and accuracy is required. Proofread for proper spelling/grammar/punctuation/capitalization.
All assignments should be titled.”
It’s a start, I guess.
Here
is the thing: Leadership is borne of people who toss the book out the window
and move instead to do what’s right.
If
top MCPS administrators refuse to forward that message, then perhaps a few brave
ones in the ranks will.
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