Why Education K-5 Is Fail
Education is important for a vibrant economy and society. Yet for too many students, the current system is failing them. It costs too much and foments needless cultural strife.
EL Education seeks to solve this problem by focusing on skills like creativity, innovation and free-thinking in a diverse learning community. They do this through module lessons, Labs, the ALL Block and a critical Skills Block.
English Language Arts
Language arts teaches students to use language to gain information, discover meaning, understand logical relationships and make judgments through critical listening, reading and viewing; express ideas creatively; and communicate emotions, opinions, values, experiences and knowledge. These skills are necessary for learning in all academic disciplines, and are essential for career and life success.
Our balanced literacy program focuses on developing students as readers and writers through a variety of learning experiences in literature, writing, foundational skills, fluency, vocabulary development, comprehension strategies and content knowledge. Students read a wide range of text types, authors, genres and cultures while meeting the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.
Becoming fully literate depends on students internalizing predictably patterned words in context so they can effortlessly and automatically recognize them, spell them correctly and understand their meaning. Word study instruction supports this goal by examining orthographic patterns, including letter names and sounds, phonics, morphology (how prefixes, suffixes and roots work together to form words), and word analysis.
Social Studies
The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people make informed and reasonable decisions as citizens in a culturally diverse democratic society. This mission can be accomplished only if students’ learning is meaningful, integrative, value-based, and active.
To achieve this, elementary teachers need adequate preparation and professional development, daily instructional time, ample resources, and assistance at the local, state, and national levels. Educators also must embrace the multidisciplinary nature of social studies and the need to position inquiry at the heart of instruction.
Today’s classrooms must reflect the multicultural, global environment of our society and the world. To meet this challenge, schools must support the civic mission of social studies by embracing diversity in racial and ethnic identity, language, religion, sexual orientation, exceptional learning needs, and more.
Science
Science, engineering and technology permeate every aspect of modern life and hold the key to meeting humanity’s most pressing challenges. Yet research indicates many students from low-income communities do not have strong backgrounds in these subjects. Moreover, they may never see themselves as scientists because of the disconnection between their everyday experiences and their classroom learning (NRC 2014).
Effective elementary science instruction capitalizes on children’s innate curiosity about the world around them and helps them develop rudimentary forms of scientific inquiry and engineering design skills. It also provides an educational environment that allows these initial concepts and strategies to expand and deepen, thereby helping students become scientifically literate (NSTA 2012).
Northwestern University leads a developer consortium — BSCS Science Learning, Carolina Biological Supply Company, Horizon Research Inc., Michigan State University and Oakland University — to create, field-test and revise CKSci. Its units and lessons promote a three-dimensional learning approach that offers teachers flexibility in how they teach the NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts. Units begin with real-world anchor phenomena and revisit them throughout the unit, allowing students to construct science knowledge through observing, asking questions and exploring through hands-on activities. Lesson planning, differentiation, progress monitoring and professional growth opportunities are built into each unit.
Math
Students need to master math skills because they are used in science, engineering, law, and many other areas. But, the math curriculum being taught in schools often has no coherence or deep meaning. In the 1990s, parents created a group called Mathematically Correct to demand a better system.
IM K-5 Math provides teachers with the resources they need to create powerful lessons and activities that align with the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. This is the first time that most states have agreed on what students should know and be able to do in the classroom. This has allowed publishers to write curricula that are both standards-aligned and coherent.
The conceptual framework and focus on math in everyday life and careers of this new curriculum inspires passionate learners engaged in their own learning journey. In addition to the rigor and deep understanding that this program delivers, it also includes a range of instructional routines designed to affirm students as they build positive mathematical identities.