Ineptitude
of Julie Tangemann, Lisa Purcell, Meghan Gasdick, Molly Siebert, and Molly
Vasich >>>>> Meager Academic Qualifications of MPS
Department of Teaching and Learning Staff Members and Cluelessness as to
Development of Reading Skill Results in Abominable Levels of Student
Proficiency
Julie
Tangemann is a K-5 Literacy District Program Facilitator (DPF) in the
Minneapolis Public Schools Department of Teaching and Learning; she also is a K-5 Science DPF.
Meghan
Gasdick is another K-5 Literacy DPF in the department.
Lisa Purcell
is a K-12 Social Studies DPF.
Molly
Siebert is another K-5 Social Studies DPF.
And Molly Vasich is a 6-12 English Language
Arts/Reading DPF.
One would tend to look first to Tangemann, Gasdick,
and Vasich for leadership in the teaching of reading in the district, since
their fields are explicitly in Literacy and Language Arts. But Purcell and Siebert should also be held responsible for
the teaching of reading, since courses in history and government should include
challenging reading material of the kind that should be the driver of reading
development beyond grade 2.
In my book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public
Schools: Current condition, Future
Prospect, I give in Part I (Facts) the brutal data pertinent to student
reading proficiency in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS); in Part II (Analysis) I indicate staff
members in the Davis Center who are responsible for the dismal academic
proficiency rates at the district; and
in Part II (Philosophy) I describe the history and current circumstance of
curriculum design and teacher training that explains how we got in this
academic morass.
At the top
of the leadership hierarchy of the Minneapolis Public Schools, Superintendent
Ed Graff and Interim Senior Academic officer Aimee Fearing bear the
responsibility for low levels of student proficiency; Associate Superintendents
Shawn Harris-Berry, LaShawn Ray, Ron Wagner, and Brian Zambreno also bear
responsibility for their duties to implement curriculum at schools throughout
the district.
None of
these highly paid leaders is a scholar.
All have
been ruined for their training under the intellectually corrupt, anti-knowledge
ideology of education professor
Such
training is pertinent to the cases of Julie Tangemann, Lisa Purcell, Meghan
Gasdick, Molly Siebert, and Molly Vasich.
None of
these staff members have any idea what she or he is doing.
Read that
again and perceive the implications for student academic proficiency at the
Minneapolis Public Schools:
None of
these staff members has any idea what she or he is doing.
……………………………………………………………………………………
For decades
the education establishment represented most saliently by education professors
has been in the throes of an intellectually degraded argument positioning the
explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness against an approach dubbed
whole language learning.
The whole
language approach has been dominant in advocacy by education professors. This is an organic approach whereby the
child picks up such skills through reading engaging literature.
The
impracticality of the whole language approach for very young children has led
many teachers to ignore anti-phonics advocacy and to incorporate considerable
teaching of letter sounds into their instruction. Instruction at the preK-1 level actually
features the best teaching in the district.
For students moving beyond grade 1, though, problems do occur in
spelling, where the lack of explicit instruction in that phonics-associated
skill has in fact been lacking: Student
spelling is typically ragged in the extreme.
The fact
that there has been a phonics versus whole language debate demonstrates the
silliness and incompetence of education professors and their acolytes:
Very young
children should be given explicit instruction in phonics and phonemic
awareness, and they should additionally and as time moves on dominantly apply
these skills to the reading of engaging literature. Students throughout grades preK-5 should be
given regular spelling tests that incorporate the phonics instruction that they
have been given in the early grades and familiarize them with the spelling of
two and three letter combinations, and with homophones, homonyms, synonyms, and
antonyms.
This is not
difficult.
To combine
phonics and spelling with engaging literature, teachers just need to be
persistent and consistent.
They should
love letter combinations in words.
They should
be alive in the world of quality world and ethnic-specific literature.
They should
communicate their love for words and literature to their students.
………………………………………………………………………………………….
Beyond grade
1, the way to become a better reader is to read.
But in the Minneapolis Public Schools,
students from grade 2 forward lack knowledge that they should possess in
mathematics, natural science, history, government, economics, literature, English
usage, and the fine arts. They have poor
vocabulary development Because of the knowledge-deficient, skill-deplete
approach to curriculum and the mediocre teaching in the Minneapolis Public
Schools, MPS students do not gain the necessary knowledge and skill base to
achieve at a high level on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment in Reading,
much less the much more challenging ACT college readiness exam; in particular, students from families facing
dilemmas of finance and functionality tend to record a score in the 9-14 range,
not even reflecting middle school capability.
MPS students do not read broadly and
deeply across a full liberal arts curriculum.
Students move forward from grade 5 having little knowledge of any
subject area. Curriculum and teaching is
not much better in middle school and high school; only students who take Advanced Placement
(AP) courses learn anything of substance, and then only in the off-chance of
getting a teacher qualified to impart college preparatory curriculum.
Early childhood literacy is not a
panacea for low reading proficiency in the Minneapolis Public Schools. And even logical resolution of the phonics
versus whole language debate will not solve the problem:
Only the design and implementation of
knowledge-intensive curriculum that gives student opportunity to read quality
nonfictional and fictional literature across the liberal arts--- and the training of teachers capable of
imparting such curriculum--- will
improve proficiency as students move to grades 5, 7, 10, and on to graduation.
………………………………………………………………………….
Ed Graff, Aimee Fearing, Shawn
Harris-Berry, LaShawn Ray, Ron Wagner, and Brian Zambreno do not comprehend the
importance of knowledge-intensive curriculum to the improvement of student
reading proficiency in the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Neither do Julie
Tangemann, Lisa Purcell, Meghan Gasdick, Molly Siebert, and Molly Vasich.
---
those whose job duties dictate that they design and implement curriculum
that properly develops the reading skills of students.
None of
these Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) staff members has
substantial academic credentials. They
are not scholars. They are not capable
of designing and implementing knowledge-intensive curriculum or understanding
the works that should be read by students.
They will need to be replaced by college, university, and independent
scholars who have such capabilities.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Why do we get the following results
year after year?
Reading
2014
2015 2016 2017 2018
2019
African American
22% 21% 21% 21% 22% 23%
American Indian
21%
20% 21%
23% 24% 25%
Hispanic
23%
25% 26% 26%
27% 29%
Asian
41% 40%
45% 41%
48% 50%
White
78%
77% 77% 78% 80% 78%
Free/ Reduced Lunch
23%
23% 23%
25% 25% 25%
All
42%
42% 43%
43% 45% 47%
For the
answer, perpend the meager academic credentials of these staff members:
Julie
Tangemann, K-5 Literacy DPF
K-5 Science DPF
M.A., Education
(St. Mary’s University of Minnesota)
B.A., Education (University of St. Thomas)
Licensures:
Elementary Education
Lisa Purcell, K-12 Social Studies DPF
M.A.,
Education (University of Utah)
M.A., Education
(Harvard University)
B.S.,
Social Sciences (Hope College)
and History
Licensures:
Social Studies
English as a Second Language
Principal K-12
Meghan
Gasdick, K-5 Literacy DPF
B.A.
Elementary Education (Florida State University)
M. A.,
Educational Leadership (University of Minnesota)
Molly
Siebert, K-5 Social Studies DPF
B. A.,
General Studies (University of Wisconsin)
M.A.,
Education (St. Mary’s of Minnesota)
Licensures:
Social
Studies (5-12)
Molly Vasich, 6-12 English Language Arts/Reading DPF
B.A., World
Languages (Macalester)
M.A.,
Education (University of Minnesota)
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Then
conclude that we get the inevitable dismal results because MPS staff leaders
and MPS Department of Teaching and Learning staff members Julie Tangemann, Lisa
Purcell, Meghan Gasdick, Molly Siebert, and Molly Vasich are academic
lightweights who are not up to the task.
And know
that such staff members should be jettisoned,
that the
academic abuse of MPS students has lasted for decades,
that this
must stop,
and that the time is now.
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