School departmentalization raising concerns

St. Mary Parish public schools have extended departmentalization, in which even kindergarten students are moved from teacher to teacher for different classes rather than staying in one room with one teacher.
When classes resume for the new school year Thursday, departmentalization will be extended to children as young as kindergarten, including Wyandotte Elementary, where children only as young second grade were involved in the changes last year.
“The decision to departmentalize grades K-5 was a district decision that was fully implemented in the 2018-2019 school year," According to St. Mary Parish Superintenden Theresa Bagwell. "Prior to that term, several schools had already elected to pilot this type of schedule, however.”
Some teachers and parents want to talk about the new system. A flyer began circulating on social media sites offering those with concerns a chance to meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the Central Office Complex in Centerville.
Departmentalization at an elementary level means that students in kindergarten through fifth grade have at least two separate teachers during the day to teach math, English, science and social studies.
“Primarily, the format offers a student the ability to be instructed by teachers who have a greater depth of knowledge and training in a limited number of content areas,” Bagwell said in an email. “Although it is common for all elementary students to be instructed by 3-4 teachers during a school day as they move through a schedule of content, physical education, library, and possibly art or music, this type of format divides content areas as well.”.
Wyandotte Elementary was the exception to the departmentalization change in the parish last year.
Wyandotte was already departmentalized in third through fifth and when the policy presented itself last year, the teachers and administrators decided it would be best to only add second grade, keeping kindergarten and first grade self-contained.
This year there has been push-back from Wyandotte over whether the principal authority and responsibility for “coordinating and directing ALL activities of the school.”(Louisiana Administrative Code, March 2019 p. 3).
According to an article concerning departmentalization in early grades by Catherine Gewertz on edweek.org, “departmentalization in earlier grades grew in popularity after the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act increased the pressure to raise test scores.” Before, this idea of asking teachers to drop their traditional roles as generalists and serve now as experts in one or two content areas was left more to middle schools and high schools.
The Louisiana school accountability system has become stricter, too.
“Over the last few years, the state has significantly revised learning standards and the assessment measures of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies,” Bagwell said. “With these changes it has become necessary that children ‘master’ content that requires them to develop a deeper level of understanding and application of knowledge.
“To accomplish this task, the district has invested in new curriculum resources and training for teachers to meet these updated standards at an increased level of proficiency,” Bagwell said.
Departmentalization isn’t the only change for kindergarten students. Recent changes have included the loss of nap time and play centers.
The time that was previous allotted for that is now given to a program called FastForword.
FastForword has already proven itself successful for the parish in later grades. According to an article written by Hallie Smith, who is the director of marketing for Scientific Learning Corp., the makers of FastForword,
“Since 2006, St. Mary Parish students have achieved steady gains on state tests and the district has made significant progress closing achievement gaps for student subgroups, including students from poverty who comprise nearly 80 percent of the student population,” Smith said on the company’s website.
“In 2016, St. Mary Parish came within 0.8 points of receiving the distinction of an ‘A’ district, and it continued to outpace the State Performance Score. The 2006-2007 school year was the year the St. Mary Parish School Board began using the FastForword program.”
In 2017, St. Mary Parish began shifting their focus for the FastForword program, which previously was used district-wide in grades 1-12, to targeting all K-2 students and only struggling learning in grades 3-5.
Daphna Bassok, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, co-wrote a paper exploring the increasing academic emphasis in kindergarten.
“Kids are capable of a lot, and they’re curious, and more flexible, than we give them credit for,” Bassok said. “But all of it comes down to how it’s done.
“There isn’t a problem with more of an academic focus if it’s handled in a way that keeps in mind what 5-year-olds are like and how they function. You have to be sure to preserve play, exploration, and social interaction.”
The instructional minute breakdown given by Bagwell is: “Kindergarten is divided into segments wherein teachers have time for whole class instruction and tiered interventions.
"It is entirety, the English language arts instructional segment is approximately 120 minutes, math 80 minutes, and science and social studies 40 minutes. These two subjects alternate every 4½ weeks. Beyond the instructional segment, kindergarten students also spend time in English language arts and math tiered interventions for both remediation and advancement based on a child’s unique needs.”