Monday, March 30 - Early Childhood - 1st Grade

Kalpana Sharma, Brightwood EC

Part 1: Read Aloud: Why Can't I Go to School? (English, Spanish, Chinese)

Part 2: Hands-On Investigation: Sink or Float?

Raphael Bonhomme, a Turner Elementary School teacher, could not be more proud of the six students on the first-ever Flagway team to represent the District of Columbia. Neither could WTU President Elizabeth Davis.

Flagway™ was developed as part of the Algebra Project by Civil Rights icon Dr. Robert Parris Moses (Bob Moses), who won a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award for his work. Flagway is an exciting, action-packed game through which students can learn basic mathematical concepts. Moses developed it especially for elementary and middle school students who, through being neglected by many school systems, have been relegated to the lowest quartile.

Over the past two years, partnering with Young People’s Project (YPP), the WTU has offered DCPS teachers several Flagway^TM training courses.

To learn more Flagway^TM and the WTU's role in supporting this unique learning program, click here.

Read more here.

Due to a series of revelations in DC-area media, the administrators of DCPS have finally pledged to act on what WTU members had been saying for years: there is pressure on DCPS administrators, principals and teachers to change student grades and attendance records in order to present a rosier picture than actually exists.

The revelations were first about the practices and policies at Ballou High School, but it soon became evident that padding grades and allowing students who have poor attendance records to graduate are widespread.