I am a 4th grade teacher, so my math computation skills are pretty good. Here is what I can figure out concerning the school board’s new math and science proclamation: There are 330 minutes in a Chicago Public Schools day. Take away time for art, music or gym, lunch, a short recess, a couple trips to the bathroom and time to settle in and pack up for the day, you are left with about 220 minutes. From that take 120 minutes for required language arts instruction, another 60 for math and you are left with 40 minutes a day, or 200 minutes a week. Using 150 minutes a week for science leaves you with 50 minutes a week for social studies. Ten minutes a day for social studies?
I am so tired of CPS officials offering “more time” as the solution to low test scores. We must look deeper and question the brevity of the school day, low teacher pay, inadequate after-school funding, economic injustice and other factors that make high-stakes testing an unfair judge of teaching and learning.
