Staff resistance
Restructuring ESL
The new Integrated Service Delivery had significant implications
for the English as Second Language (ESL) program. A few ESL
teachers organized a letter-writing campaign to complain to the Department of Public Instruction. Teachers spread
rumors that other schools, and other ESL programs, would follow Franklin's precedent. As it turned
out, these suspicions were well founded. In subsequent years,
district leaders began to advocate ISD-like programs in other
schools.
Art, Physical Education and Music
teachers
In many elementary schools, students leave their classrooms for
"specials" classes in art, physical education and
music. One implication of ISD was
with more classroom units in the building, specials teachers
had to double up, resulting in bigger class sizes.
The specials staff felt left out of the ISD process. They
wondered whether their programs were in place only to provide
collaborative preparation time for classroom teachers, and
commented that the school-wide ISD reform did not include
their disciplines. Specials teachers organized meetings with
district administrators to discuss workload issues. After
a time, specials teachers acknowledged the value of ISD and
continued to support their school.
Partly cited from Capper, C. (forthcoming). "Social justice through resource reallocation and academic assessment." In Capper, C. and Young, M. (Eds.) Educational Leaders for Social Justice. Teachers College Press.
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