Measures of River Forest student achievement in reading were steadily rising until 2016 when the Board decided it was time to “take the sage off the stage”, a dubious way of describing District 90’s switch from a teacher-led instructional philosophy to one that became student-centered through all new curricula and rules for teachers.
The Journeys reading curriculum relies on teacher-explicit instruction and was used up until the district adopted Lucy Calkins Readers Workshop. The Calkins curriculum “takes a constructivist approach, minimizing direct instruction” writes Sara Schwartz for EducationWeek, and has been the center of controversy.
Math Expressions uses a traditional “teacher to student” pathway for learning and, like Journeys, was replaced by the Investigations curriculum that instead uses a “between-students “or student-led pathway for learning. Student achievement reading and math have plummeted in District 90 since the switch.
One concerned RF parent pointed out a podcast that does a wonderful job explaining the difference in effectiveness between explicit instruction and ideas originating with students. A no-brainer?
He says "knowledge is something that turns experience into something valuable" and he is Paul A. Kirschner, expert on the science of how children learn. In this one-hour podcast Kirschner cuts through the jargon and paints a clear picture for parents that should help explain at least some of the changes to curriculum and instruction in River Forest.
Click the link to listen.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/progressively-incorrect/id1602317019?i=1000576009298