Ridgewood mentioned in NY Times story about Rosetta Stone language software

Here's a link to a story in the NY Times about school districts switching to software or other technology for teaching foreign languages in the elementary grades.

The article headline/intro:
Foreign Languages Fall as Schools Look for Cuts
By WINNIE HU
Published: September 13, 2009
Suburban districts struggling to balance their budgets are reducing the language instruction they had expanded into the elementary grades.

So....we are not alone.

¡Que bueno! Spanish program for grades 3-5 looks really good

At the 8/24 Board of Ed meeting, we approved some new textbooks and curricula for the 09-10 school year. One of these was the interactive software program that will be used in grades 3-5, since we had to eliminate the Spanish teachers in those grades due to budget pressure. I wanted to let you know that the program we approved -- Rosetta Stone -- is much better than, frankly, I expected it to be.

I was a little worried. I mean, Rosetta Stone -- isn't that one of those "learn to speak a language overnight" cassettes they sell in the back of airline magazines? Well, I checked it out and, while yes Rosetta Stone is marketed in in-flight and other magazines, it is also becoming more widely used in schools. I played around with the program. What I learned -- and what impressed me -- was the way it uses voice recognition technology. Each student logs in and follows speaking prompts that allow the software to recognize his or her voice. During lessons, students speak and the software hears their pronunciation and self-adjusts the lessons to give feedback and extra practice where needed. Students cannot progress to the next level until they meet certain proficiency. In addition to the assessment tools built-in to the software, classroom teachers from every school have been attending special training sessions to allow them to supplement the computer lessons and practice with games, projects and lessons on Spanish culture.

Would it better if we could have Spanish teachers teaching our students in grades 3-5? Probably. But I believe the Rosetta Stone program will give our children real Spanish skills. Of course we'll be looking for feedback from students and parents throughout the year...but as someone who studied extensively and was fluent in Spanish and Russian (at one time!), I am actually feeling pretty positive.

Rumor control: art is not being cut

I should have done this earlier today, but I did not know things had gotten so out of control. The word is that "a lot" of people are planning to attend tonight's meeting to protest cuts in the art program at RHS. I've received phone calls from concerned parents and heartfelt emails from upset students. Here's the problem and I'd appreciate if you'd spread this news far and wide as quickly as possible: the budget as proposed does NOT include any cuts of art programs or art curriculum. There's NO PROPOSAL TO CUT AHLISA. There's NO PROPOSAL TO CUT MAROON & WHITE RECITALS.

The proposal is to reduce administration by consolidating Art and Music instructional supervision. When the change takes place, there will be the SAME number of teachers teaching art in the classroom.

Fact: the arts are extremely important to the central office administration as well as the Board of Education.

It is unfortunate that students felt their art programs were threatened and they were encouraged to sign petitions and come to the meeting. Those kids have been misinformed and misled. Hopefully tonight's meeting will set the record straight.

If you want to get upset about anything, be upset about the proposed loss of Spanish teachers in grades 3-5. That's a real cut, with real consequences in the classroom, but unfortunately it's a better option than cutting regular classroom teachers. We'll get more info on the impact of that proposal tonight.

In the meantime, rest assured, the proposed budget does not cut the arts in the ways you've probably heard: AHLISA is not cut...Maroon & White is not cut...OK, I have a meeting to get to!

The budget drama continues

Well that was pretty unpleasant Monday night, looking at the proposed 2009/10 budget as presented by Mr. DeSimone, with a line-by-line tale of increases and cuts that the district is proposing. (If you want to see the budget as it was presented that night, click here to go to the meeting agenda…the budget is on page 10-11). The administration has done what it needed to do to close the budget gap. The highlights of how they propose doing that include reorganizing some central office administration, reorganizing some school administration, reorganizing some other staff – all of which will result in staff cuts. There may be a reduction of world language teachers in grades 3-5, instead offering Spanish in a high-tech, interactive computer/DVD-based program. There are cuts in aides, cuts in co-curricular activities, the cut of summer school...There's the reduction in the RAAS (administrators' union) contract, and the cabinet (Fishbein, Botsford, DeSimone, Hall) forgoing their salary increases...Dr. Fishbein asked for more time to speak with staff who may be directly affected, before making specific cuts public. That seems fair. Tune in for more detail this Monday 3/16.

I wish we could find a way to not lose human teachers in grade 3-5 Spanish and I will be wanting to see the alternative program as soon as possible. There will be more discussion about this – along with everything else in the budget – at the next meeting.

Speaking of meetings...I don’t know why there always seem to be sound issues with our meetings. I hear it all the time (no pun intended) and it seems to apply to both the TV channel 77 broadcasts and (to a lesser extent) the webcasts. Apparently these complaints have gone on for years. It’s ok if you want to say something to me in the aisle at Stop & Shop, but it would be much more effective if you contacted Dr. Fishbein directly.

As for now, we’re all waiting with bated breath for the announcement of Ridgewood’s allotment of state aid...we should know something today! Governor Corzine’s speech yesterday seemed to have some hope for school funding, but you never know. He can talk about increasing funding statewide, and yet that money could go to other “needier” districts. We shall see...