Saturday, November 29, 2008

Brief Comments about the Dual Language Program from Dr. Petrosino

Interested readers of this blog should point their browsers to the following posts where you will find documentation on the discussions centering around the Hoboken Dual Language Program (a.k.a. HoLa).

May 28, 2008
October 1, 2008
October 8, 2008
October 24, 2008
November 1, 2008
November 18, 2008

In these posts, readers should find a reasonable account that documents the evolution of the communications between the district and representatives of the HoLa Partnership. These posts, like all posts on this blog, are intended to inform and document curricula and instructional efforts underway in the Hoboken School District. Discussions with the partnership was a long and vetted process and was brought formally to the Superintendent after months of discussions, e-mails, and meetings on a semi monthly basis.

Addressing some concerns:
The survey that was undertaken: Comments concerning "thesis like quality" at the Board of Education meeting referred to the efforts undertaken by the HoLa partnership in doing a quality stratified sampling of the parents of families of school age children in Hoboken. We were satisfied that the surveys conducted did a very good job of sampling the population along numerous demographic groups in the city. This does not mean every family was asked but by using statistical principles of sampling, a reasonable approximation of public sentiment was obtained. The quality of this sampling was on a par with that for dissertations and publications. 

The expertise of the HoLa Partnership LLP: Concerning the characterization of the members of HoLa and their expertise-- the members of HoLa display a significant degree of specialized skill derived from experience and knowledge about dual language and literacy. They have spent hundreds of hours in conversations with, writing about, reading, and debating the benefits and challenges of dual language literacy. They have conducted an excellent review of the relevant literature and have an solid handle on both the qualitative and quantitative studies done in the area.

Finally, we are a data driven district and becoming more so with each passing day- we would like to believe we have a healthy skepticism about educational reform efforts and new programs that claim to be innovative and/or helpful without clear evidence. Any recommendation for a new or an expansion of existing programs should be done with due diligence.

1 comment:

Dr. Anthony Petrosino said...

Background information will soon be provided but this blog does not publish anonymous posts.