Archive: Around Town

One of the biggest surprises every new parent encounters is how much they have forgotten since they went to elementary school.  On top of that it is hard to figure out exactly what their children are expected to know at the end of each school year.  Sure, grades are helpful, but what, exactly do they mean? 

Elementary school teacher Cindy VanDuren presented a new resource to the Lansing Board of Education Monday that will help parents and educators alike to clear up that mystery with a detailed yet accessible portion of the school Web site called 'What Your Child Should Know by the End of the Year in ELA'.

"My first experience of the elementary school here was as a parent," she said.  "What was expected of my child was kind of shrouded in mystery.  At that point I really didn't know.  So I tried to take that viewpoint.  For a community member or a parent -- a non-educator person -- even if they are only half interested they would have an amazing time of it.  That was the goal.  It's lifting the veil off and letting everyone in on the information."


The project came about as a summer curriculum project to address a request the school board had made to Superintendent Chris Pettograsso.  She, in turn, passed the idea on to VanDuren, telling her it should be simple to write down learning expectations for each elementary grade level, since teachers, after all, already know what they are.  But VanDuren wanted the project to be more than that -- she wanted it to be a truly accessible and useful resource.

"I gathered my lit team together and presented it to them," VanDuren said.  "They thought I was a little bit crazy.  When Chris mentioned it to me I immediately knew what I thought we had to do.  What I didn't want to do was another one of those summer curriculum projects that collects dust and no one ever looks at them.  The audience for this is the non-educator.  Community people, parents."

The resource is broken down by grade level from Kindergarten to 4th grade.  It includes a glossary, a list of books according to expected reading levels, and benchmarks children are expected to achieve for each reading level.  As the site catalogs the various ELA (English Language Arts) reading and writing skills, it strives to be easily understood without making you feel stupid if you can't remember what a 'consonant digraph' is -- simply put the mouse cursor over the term and a definition pops up.

Parents can delve into the site as deeply as they choose -- or not deeply at all -- and get a good idea of what the expectation is for that child at a particular grade level.

VanDuren says the site can be helpful for teachers as well.  Not just new teachers joining the elementary school team, but for established teachers honing their lessons for the year.

"On our literacy team we have a special ed representative," she said.  "She said now for the first time I actually know what they are supposed to know at the end of the year.  It's so helpful for her and for her team, as well."


School Board President Christine Iacobucci said she envisions 'ESL (English as a Second Language) applications for the site, and asked whether a similar resource is in the works for math.  VanDuren said she has been approaching that subject with her colleagues, and added that she is exploring special education applications.

"As an elementary school parent, I love the Web site," School Board member Susan Tabrizi told VanDuren.  "I encourage you to promote this.  I am sure parents are going to find this to be extremely valuable.  It's going to be a great resource."

Pettograsso says that there are no specific plans to expand the resource to the middle and high schools, but she would like to see that happen.  She gave high marks to VanDuren for her creativity and tenacity in creating the resource.

"I just gave Cindy one little five minute schpiel, and she really took this," she said.  "Truly, not many schools have this.  This is what makes a school go from a good school to great school.  This is the difference between good and great."

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