Lessons from Iran

A few postings ago, I expressed my disappointment about the low turnout in our last School Board election. Watching the protests that followed the Iran presidential election against alleged electoral fraud makes me wonder if there is a lesson we can teach our kids. We have seen thousands of people marching on the streets of Tehran, some of them losing their lives, for their right to a fair election. It was only 44 years ago that the United States went through similar events, during the peak of the American Civil Rights Movement, marked by the Selma to Montgomery marches. The events culminated with the passing of the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, ensuring the voting rights for African Americans and other minorities.

Fast forward to 2009, and the United States has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the World (less than 65%, according to the "US Election Project" by George Mason University). We should take the example of our fellow citizens of Iran to teach our kids about our past struggles to grant everyone the right to vote. We have the right to choose our local, state and national leaders, who set policy on education, healthcare, finance, national defense and other critical issues in our country. Many nations around the Globe do not have that privilege. Let's teach our kids that voting is an important right that should not be taken for granted.

If you want to read more information about the "US Election Project", please visit elections.gmu.edu.

My visit to the Dyslexia Center at Scottish Rite

A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to visit the Lukes Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. I requested a meeting with their staff as part of my research in this area, trying to learn best practices in terms of diagnosis and treatment from the experts in the field. During my visit, I met with Dr. Jeffrey Black (Medical Director), Ms. Gladys Kolenovsky (Administrative Director), Dr. Monte Davenport (Diagnostics Services Coordinator), Dr. E. Vennecia Jackson, Ms. Tricia Quisenberry (Outreach Coordinator) and Ms. Evelyn Madu (Dyslexia therapist instructor). We had a very informative 90-minute meeting, where we discussed the TEA Dyslexia Handbook, different diagnosis and treatment methods and the importance of continuous monitoring after the kids leave a Dyslexia program.

The staff at Scottish Rite indicated that implementation of an effective assessment and treatment program is closely tied to the right and continuous training and level of experience of the staff making the assessments and treating the condition. It is important that the staff working to diagnose and treat the students keeps up with the latest research findings, as many changes in the field have occurred in the last 20 years. Dr. Black provided to me a list of great sources of information in the area of reading intervention, including www.fcrr.org and www.centeroninstruction.org.

The staff at Scottish Rite is very interested in partnering with school districts in DFW to make sure we provide effective programs to all our kids. They are a great resource for training and staff support. Also, since the hospital’s inception in 1921, no patient family has been charged for services. The hospital operates solely on voluntary gifts from generous individuals, corporations and foundations. We are extremely lucky to have Dr. Black and his staff in our backyard.

GCISD 2009 Elections

I want to welcome Mrs. Becky St. John to the GCISD School Board! I am very excited to have her on the Board. Becky won the election on May 9th, with 1095 out of 2082 votes (52.59%). 2082 votes make only 4.5% of the registered voters in GCISD. The low voter turnout for local elections in GCISD is normal, but disappointing. The quality of education in our school district is one of the key factors that makes these communities attractive to live in. The School Board sets the goals and priorities for the district, monitors district performance, adopts the annual budget and sets the property tax rate. Also, the Board ensures the community is kept informed about the district actions. Board members represent the community within the district. Don't you want to make sure we elect Board members that truly care about the quality of education in the district, for all our kids? Aren't you interested in electing members that want to challenge the district to improve in order to fulfill its mission to be the best? Voters have several opportunities to ask questions to Board candidates, during various candidate forums held a few weeks before the election. Also, you can usually contact candidates by email, to ask questions on issues you feel are important.

Now that we start a new year for the School Board, I would like to invite you to attend one of our monthly meetings and speak to us in the Open Forum. The Board is here to represent you. We take the needs of our community very seriously. If there are issues in the district you feel are not being properly addressed, we would love to hear from you. Improving our district is the responsibility of all of us. So please, get involved. Let your voice be heard!

Dyslexia Program at GCISD

The School Board had the opportunity to discuss the Dyslexia program at GCISD during the April 27th Board meeting. We heard from 5 parents that faced many difficulties to get the School District to correctly diagnose and treat their children. We also heard from the GCISD Administration, where they stated their success in their reading intervention and Dyslexia programs, based on the performance of the students in the Reading TASK. The administration mentioned there are currently 44 students in their Dyslexia program, and over 1000 students receiving assistance through the reading intervention program.

I have to admit I am no expert in Dyslexia or Special Needs education. However, I love to analyze statistics, in order to compare our District performance with other districts, state and national levels. Many studies on this subject suggest the incidence of Dyslexia within school age children in the United States is between 5 - 10%, while other studies state a wider rate, falling in between 1% and 20%. This suggests the number of GCISD students in our Dyslexia program is too small (0.3% rate). This becomes more obvious when you look at other districts in DFW, like HEB, where they have 600 students in their program (3% incidence rate). HEB has a total of 20,000 students, while GCISD has close to 13,900. Using the incidence rate at HEB of 3%, our Dyslexia program should have over 400 students.

At the end of the discussion, the Board requested a review of this program, suggesting that we need to look at both its effectiveness and the process we use to diagnose our kids. I am looking forward to discussing the improvement plan for this program in the near future.

Welcome to my GCISD Blog!

I am a member of the GCISD School Board and would like to give the opportunity to teachers, parents and all citizens to give their feedback about our District. I understand that some of you might feel more comfortable giving anonymous feedback about issues in our schools, and here is your opportunity.

If you ever wanted to ask a question to a Board member, well, here is your chance! If you want to discuss school finance or the work environment at your school, we can do it right here.

The purpose of this Blog is to work together to improve our district. The more ideas we exchange, the more issues we bring to the table, the better off our district will be. If you have any topics you would like to discuss, please let me know.

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If you have any questions about this Blog, please post a comment or contact me by email at jorge@jorgerodriguez.org.