History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
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Past Educational Opportunity Reports
In a standardized era, a creative school is forced to be more so
- 10-31-2011
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By Michael Winerip/New York Times
Every spring, Linda Rief, who is in her 25th year of teaching English at Oyster River Middle School, has eighth graders do a semesterlong “genre” project. They pick a subject area like mysteries, read masters like Agatha Christie, study the writer’s craftsmanship (“Explain how the author foreshadows doom”), then draft their own. The school’s science students spend two weeks building an underwater robotic vessel. Social studies classes re-enact the Boston Massacre. They have had time for these things at Oyster River. Students here do so well on state standardized tests — about 85 percent of them rate proficient — there has been little need for test preparation. Ms. Rief said she did 45 minutes — a year. “The attitude was if we did good teaching and we were passionate and energetic, kids would learn and that would be enough,” said Ms. Rief, who is 67. No more. Last year, the No Child Left Behind law, which calls for 100 percent proficiency by 2014, caught up with Oyster River. (more...)
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