Apr 03 2007
Conversation with a Public School Teacher
GUEST: Leonard Isenberg, public school teacher
Despite already lagging test scores, newly released data showed that LA Unified High School students scored even lower in the past year, dropping 20 points below compared to the previous year. The new LAUSD superintendent David Brewer III said the high-school scores are attributed to a stubborn gap between white and minority students. The data were released by the California Department of Education last week and revealed that although some progress had been made on math and english skills tests, overall scores were still well below state-wide averages. A spokesperson for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose administration has made education reform its top priority, said that the lagging scores simply affirm the need for change. The Los Angeles Unified School District is one of the richest school districts in the country, whose budget outweighs that of the entire city of Los Angeles. Despite this, the school district has been rattled with problems such as low performing students, high drop-out rates, and a bloated bureaucracy.
Today we spend the hour with Leonard Isenberg, a teacher who was himself schooled in the public school system in LA, and today teaches within LAUSD. Leonard shared some of his ideas for improving LAUSD schools with me over email. Many of his ideas were commonsense, and some were learned from teaching experiences in other parts of the world. So I invited him to share them on the air with us.
If you would like to contact Leonard directly, send us an email at mail@uprisingradio.org.
2 Responses to “Conversation with a Public School Teacher”
Mr. Isenberg touched briefly on the issue of providing for individual differences when he spoke of the young man who learned best when using his hands and doing something as it related to the subject area.
That I would say is the primary issue in our schools today, Not recognizing individual differences nor providing for those unique differences.
I have done years of research and study on “how students learn” and how the brain is wired for each students’ uniqueness. I have discovered that if the brain is not engaged in a manner that matches the student’s learning style, the student will not pay attention nor will the brain absorb the information. The result is chaos in the schools; inattentive students and frustrated teachers.
I would love to discuss this further on the air and invite you to take a look at my website to gain more insight about my research and about me as an educator. My website is http://www.literacydynamics.com You may need to go to yahoo first.
Thank you for your indulgence.
Carol Tucker, Founder of Literacy Dynamics. (323) 934-2273
How can I contact Leonard Isenberg?