This
Education Week Teacher post by Anthony Cody is one that is worth the read for staff at the building level. It is a memo received by a Chicago elementary school teacher this past week outlining two bathroom policy changes. The first requires teachers to take their class to the restroom at a scheduled time and the second provides two restroom passes per student for the remainder of the quarter.
The title suggesting that bathroom passes and timed restroom visits is to preserve time for common core test preparation may be Cody's assumption as there is no reason given in the memo for the policy changes. If accurate, it troubles me that someone in a leadership position is placed in a situation where he or she believes this is a positive and necessary step to take. It makes me wonder what, if any, focus has been created on supporting change in instructional practice. It also makes me wonder what support, materials, and guidance are available to this building administrator from the district and state to support common core implementation.
The tension being felt by this building level administrator is beyond what we call creative tension and is leading to policies that will not influence instructional practice, the vehicle for preparing young people for the common core assessments in their future. I believe that the common core authors did not envision restroom policies as a byproduct of their work. What about the education reformers, how would they respond to these policies?
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