kitchen table math, the sequel: need help and information

Monday, February 26, 2007

need help and information

I recently found out that I might be moving to Anchorage Alaska next august. The Anchorage school district has a pretty good school choice program, and one of the choices they have is Eagle Academy Charter School.

The school supposedly uses Direct Instruction, specifically the Spalding curriculum in english language arts, and Saxon math. They also have grade leveling (pc term for ability grouping), in which students are grouped for their core subjects.

I know we have lots of experience with Saxon math here, but does anyone know anything about Spalding?

I have until March 14th to submit my applications for my kids. I want as much information as possible.

I already know that they kick ass in their test scores, though the school has only been open since 2005. I think a large part of the score difference might be due to the students who enroll there. Alaska's profile of performance does show that they have pretty good scale score growth from year to year though.

The good news is that if I get the assignment, and my kids get in, I will have loads of things to blog about.

2 comments:

Catherine Johnson said...

wow!

A DI school!

What would I give for some direct instruction around these parts.

Which reminds me....time to start lobbying the district.

Haven't heard of Spalding - look forward to doing so.

Tex said...

I don’t have any info on Spalding, but I want to wish you well on this move if it happens. This sounds exciting and a big change. Although, if your family has moved around quite a bit it’s not as big an event as it might be for some of us that have lived in one place for many years.

As usual, I’ll stay tuned to learn more.