Colleagues and friends:
The 2023-24 school year is off and running. In Maine, we get a later start than many – my girls kicked off third and fifth grade just two weeks ago. As a parent, I started the year with a feeling of trepidation. The last academic year wasn’t the greatest for my oldest daughter. Amongst the youngest in her grade and, like me, a student with learning and processing differences, she struggled with behavioral expectations and her environment, the chaos of pre-teen social life, and academic pacing that was out of sync with her own mastery and interest levels. By the spring semester, we were careening off track. With advocacy from me and partnership with her school, we found some partial solutions (including the permission to skip math class), but it felt like we survived fourth grade by the skin of our teeth.
Reports home from the first week of fifth grade indicated we’d lucked out: “Mom, I get to choose where to sit, and I can take off my shoes!” and, “I get to practice math on my computer to work on harder stuff if I want!” Hopeful glimmers turned to relief when her new teacher called me out of the blue to report a terrific week, including a class award. Yes, we have areas to problem-solve together (e.g., she’ll be skipping required quiet reading time provided books are devoured at home). But working in partnership with a veteran teacher who was willing to truly see my child and offer meaningful flexibility alongside high expectations felt like winning the lottery.
As a parent in a Title 1 school with a diverse array of student differences and needs, I don’t take this for granted. As an educator, I know that one student “winning the lottery” isn’t a good thing at all in the broader context of equity. Every kid deserves to be fully seen, accessing personalized learning experiences that flex to who and where they are, that orient to mastery rather than time or process, and that enable them to develop into their full human selves – whatever diverse version of person they happen to be.
We already know so much about how to do this. Personally and professionally, I feel even more clearly the urgency to ensure every child has the education they need to reach their full potential. This is the work we’re doing at TLA, building an education sector where practitioners, leaders, and policymakers can learn together to change systems and the experiences of learners more quickly. As a parent and collaborator, thank you for being a partner in this movement.
With gratitude for your partnership,
Beth Rabbitt, Chief Executive Officer
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