Weighing benefits of late starts, collaboration | Prescott

I attended a Kent School District Board meeting last week with other concerned teachers, parents and community members. The issue of concern being discussed was late start days.

Currently the Kent School District has nine late start days. The Abbreviated Day Committee presented a report to the school board and audience about its work on this issue. Its recommendation was to have no more than 30 late start days next year.

The issue in question about late start days – also called abbreviated day or collaboration time – is complex. Many districts throughout the nation have built additional time for teacher collaboration about student achievement into the school day by having a late start or early release.

Research supports the positive affect on student achievement when additional teacher collaboration time is added. However, teacher collaboration time during a late start or early dismissal does shorten the instructional day. It also can present day care issues for families.

As a teacher, I always greatly appreciate the input and involvement of parents. After all, parents know their own children best. When teacher and parent work together, it’s the best possible scenario for student support.

Last week, the room was full of parents who are advocates for their students. Each parent who spoke had sincere, heartfelt thoughts about whether additional late starts in Kent were in the best interests of their child. Many parents did not feel additional late starts were a positive step.

Education and what is expected of educators have changed greatly in this day and age. And some would say it should, as there is a big divide in student achievement in our country. The so-called achievement gap has seemed intractable. As a result, education reforms of one type and another have been instituted. This is a hot button topic in recent years, with everything from high-stakes tests to common core standards (a new framework for teaching that will be almost nation wide).

Teachers and districts are working very hard to implement new requirements. Educators have put their emphasis on looking deeply at student assessment in order to meet each student where they are and bring them along to standard or above. This work takes dedicated, common time, in order to be effective.

Parents and community members, as well as teachers, in attendance at last week’s meeting seemed to be in favor of collaboration. The disagreement seemed to be concerning when the time for collaboration would be taken. Suggestions were made to use before- or after-school time to collaborate. And many schools in the Kent School District have been doing that.

However, other important parts of teaching, such as helping students with difficult subject matter or homework, organizing materials for the teaching day or even just spending time with a student who needs a listening ear, have to go by the wayside. It makes sense that all we were doing before in our 7 1/2-hour day would be squeezed if we also add collaboration time.

We are paid for 7 1/2 hours a day, but, of course, we work many more hours than we are paid for, as many employees of other businesses do. However, the need for and benefit of collaboration has led many of us to feel additional time from the instructional day to fully plan for each student, and to work together to make instruction intentional and specific would more than make up for that loss.

Why isn’t collaboration happening in the nine late start days that already exist? These nine days were not specifically set aside as collaboration time when they were implemented. Many good things are happening during this time, such as planning, teacher collaboration, staff development or development of assessments.

However, the time is not dedicated to collaboration in a regular manner, such as was discussed last week in the presentation. That is what most teachers would like: regular, dedicated time for collaboration with colleagues to insure each student gets the very best education possible.

After all, that is the reason that each of us to come to school every day – to do our part to help our students excel in the content and skills they will need to be successful in their lives.

I hope more discussion between these groups will take place in Kent. It can only be a benefit to us all to continue to communicate about this, and other, important issues in education.

Cindy Prescott is a fourth-grade teacher at Crestwood Elementary School and president-elect of the Kent Education Association. A Kent resident for 20 years, she has been teaching in the Kent School District for 15 years. Her four children have attended Kent schools.