Photo by Lester Smith
On January 6 in the Spaulding School Library at one of several recent forums on Early Release, experienced first grade teacher Heather Goldstein answers, “Yes, we are on the cusp of something great.” She was speaking about the benefits of more collaboration among teachers.
The Suffield Public Schools system has been working toward arranging more time for improved teacher collaboration, and it’s turned out to be a contentious issue, with little consensus. One possibility – releasing students early on one afternoon a week to provide teacher collaboration time – produced a swarm of angry comments from parents concerned mostly about the disruption of family schedules. The school system has organized several forums at which an increase in collaboration time could be discussed and a satisfactory schedule could be worked out.
A meeting on the evening of January 9 in the Suffield High School library was called the “Early Release Day Concept Community Forum,” so named, evidently, to emphasize that the plan was not yet firm and public input was sought. This was the most comprehensive of several recent forums. It was attended by about 80 people, many of them parents deeply engaged in school affairs. Most of the School Board was present. Nine members of the Early Release Day Committee – school teachers, school administrators, and selected parents – sat at a table up front, facing the others.
Master of Ceremonies Brian Hendrickson, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, opened with a short slide show and video in which Suffield Middle School teacher Michelle Killam explained how collaboration promotes better teaching and improved student outcomes. Hendrickson then explained that the new Suffield school leadership following the 2014-2015 purge (not his word) had realized during the following school year that teachers sought more collaboration time, along with fewer mandates and structuring. Members of the committee then re-emphasized teacher Killam’s message about the value of collaboration. Committee member Steve Autieri, 6-12 Science Curriculum Leader, speaking for all four curriculum leaders, said that collaboration, now limited to 45 minutes per week, was very inadequate.
Staffers had distributed papers on which members of the audience could submit questions, which Assistant Superintendent Hendrickson posed to the committee or to other school staffers present. Available options for more time were explored. The effects of early release on classroom instruction time were explained. (There appeared to be no significant effect.) Methods for monitoring and evaluating the quality of collaboration time were described. Possible options for helping families who would need after-school care for their children on early release days were listed. (Nothing firm is in the works yet.)
When the possibility of renegotiating the present union contract with the Suffield Education Association was mentioned, Superintendent of Schools Karen Berasi left her spot on the sideline and fetched SEA President Mark Janik, an SHS math teacher, from the bleachers of the Suffield-Windsor Locks basketball game underway in the nearby gym. He added a warning at the end of the forum on the difficulty of taking such a step.
In general, there seemed little doubt of the value of more collaboration among teachers. But there was certainly no consensus on how to achieve it.
Over in the gym, the outcome was clear: Suffield won, 51 to 38.