{"id":5074,"date":"2020-09-15T14:48:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T14:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teanecktoday.com\/blog\/?p=5074"},"modified":"2020-09-15T15:17:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T15:17:02","slug":"teaneck-schools-admin-remember-the-rubric-forget-the-rationale-mandating-chaos-in-pre-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teanecktoday.com\/blog\/board-of-education\/teaneck-schools-admin-remember-the-rubric-forget-the-rationale-mandating-chaos-in-pre-k\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaneck Schools Admin: Remember the Rubric, Forget the Rationale – “Mandating” Chaos in Pre-K"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Teaneck School system is blindly applying Pre-COVID regulations designed specifically for “in-class instruction”, to “virtual classrooms” — and it’s actively harming education.<\/p>\n

Teachers are being told to limit instruction time to 15 minutes<\/strong> based on a rule that’s meant to ensure that teachers don’t plop kids in front of a screen in a center or large child care facility<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was written before the days of COVID (in 2012) and has nothing<\/strong> <\/span>at all to do with distance learning.<\/p>\n

Mandating 15 minute intervals, especially as parents struggle with a constant stream of links, creates chaos for the virtual classroom.<\/p>\n

Teachers need to be given the opportunity to design their lesson times and breaks, as fits the situation.<\/p>\n

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It’s September and schools have started up here in Teaneck.\u00a0 As most families are acutely aware, this year will be like no other that preceded it.<\/p>\n

For families with Kindergarten and Pre-K students, like mine, it’s far more difficult.<\/p>\n

We received an email from our daughter’s Teacher at Bryant school.<\/p>\n

It reads:<\/p>\n

“We are mandated<\/strong> to stick to 15 min. intervals<\/strong> of screen time\/ live instruction.” (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Bryant School Remote Learning Plan contains similar language:<\/p>\n

“In accordance with NJ DOE guidelines<\/strong>, children between 2 and 5 years old shall be exposed to no more than 15 minutes of screen time<\/strong>, and no more than 60 total minutes of combined home and school screen time.” (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Misinformation and Obfuscation<\/h2>\n

All class instruction is virtual.\u00a0 If there is no “school screen time”, is there merely an hour max of instruction per day (in the home)?<\/p>\n

I made an inquiry to the district as to to the source of this “mandate” and I also emailed the principal.<\/p>\n

Principal Davidman provided the information rather quickly and we spoke for about half an hour yesterday.<\/p>\n

The “mandate” doesn’t exist<\/span> and it’s certainly not new or related to virtual education.<\/p>\n

This requirement is created by Teaneck and stems from the CFOC<\/a> Guidelines (Caring for Our Children, (CFOC)<\/em> is a collection of national standards that represent the best practices, based on evidence, expertise, and experience, for quality health and safety policies and practices for today’s early care and education settings)<\/p>\n

Her email in response to my querry can be found here:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It reads:<\/p>\n

\n
Children between 2 and 5 years old shall be exposed to no more than 15 consecutive minutes of screen time, and no more than 60 total minutes per day of combined home and school screen time.<\/div>\n
– Caring for Our Children, includes the recommendations for early care and education facilities of three national organizations, the\u00a0American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education,https:\/\/nrckids.org\/CFOC<\/a>. P. 67\u00a0<\/span>third edition (CFOC3)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Does the CFOC actually say this?<\/h2>\n
Indeed, the words appear (it’s up to CFOC4 now, so if you click the link, it’s on page 70) in section 2.2.0.3.<\/div>\n

But here’s the rub – this is not the scenario the recommendation applies to<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

After each section, the CFOC lists the following:<\/p>\n