High Achieving Student Programs: "I Think We Can Do Better"

At a recent Board of Education Meeting, attendees discussed 'Meeting the Needs of High Achieving Students' in Guilford Public Schools. After a presentation, Superintendent Paul Freeman kicked off the discussion by expressing his expectations.

"The first goal in our schools is that we expect that every child every day, is exposed to rigor," said Freeman. "We have an investment in meeting the needs of high achieving students in the regular classroom."

Much discussion focused on Freeman's support of differentiated learning, and the progress within the schools. According to Freeman, differentiated learning is supported by the state common core standards, which encourages students to delve into fewer subjects at a much deeper level, versus many subjects at a superficial level.

"This is a continuing conversation, and integrating this learning is going to take time," said Freeman. "We know that a grade is important culturally, but we want to move our focus from 'what did you get' to 'what did you learn.' I get that we have work to do, and I think we're doing the right work."

Some audience members weren't as convinced of the school's direction. 

"We keep hearing about differentiation, but it is not happening," said one parent in the audience. His comment was met with applause from other attendees. 

"The problem with differentiated instruction, is that there is no instruction," said another parent. 

"My first grader is correcting his 4th grade reading buddies, and he breezes by his homework," added another parent. "I'm glad we're talking about this for the future, but right now, we're doing a disservice to our children."

"I love that this conversation is happening," another parent added. "But as we've talked about this over the years, time is going by for my child. Some of our children have been waiting for years for progress to be made. That's time we can't get back."

Check out our PatchClip Video for more parents' opinions about what should be done.

Both Freeman and Bill Bloss, of the Board of Ed, encouraged the conversation. "This is great, this is what we're here for," said Bloss. "I hope we all feel the urgency of this issue. But this is not a budget neutral conversation. It will take resources and it will take an investment."