A Georgia Home School Legal Defense Association member family recently received an unexpected visit from a social worker. The social worker explained that he had received an anonymous tip alleging that the family was not educating their children, allowing them instead to watch videos all day. The family did not allow the social worker into their home, but did allow the social worker to meet their children out on the front porch, at which time the children voluntarily showed the social worker their daily schoolwork.
I laughed when I saw this because I'd just talked to a friend of mine who subs a lot:
I used to be nervous every time I went in to sub. I'd get there early so I could read the lesson plan. But now, I don't know how long it's been since I've seen a lesson plan. I'll look at the teacher's lesson book and see "Work on projects" written in on Monday with an arrow going across the other 4 days. Or I'll see "Watch movie."
And let us not forget Richard Elmore:
My favorite story, which is now increasingly confirmed by the aggregate analysis of block scheduling*—the current structural reform du jour of secondary education—involves a high school social studies teacher I interviewed recently. I asked him, “So what do you think of block scheduling?” He said, “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened in my teaching career.” I asked, “Why?” And he said, “Now we can show the whole movie.”
The Limits of “Change”
So....say you've got a high school biology teacher who's having his students draw and color pictures of animals and organelles during class time.
Can you get a social worker to make a surprise visit?
* Our middle school has an identified need for block scheduling.
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