Education in Stamford

Stamford's school system faces three great challenges:

The No Child Left Behind Act mandates have scrambled everyone to produce competent scores while creating a more rigid and sequential curriculum to meet the imposed criteria.

It’s training our students to perform, but not stretching them to think creatively. This is foolish. There is a better way to get good scores without loosing creativity.

Solutions for N.C.L.B: Start very early to develop a strong parent outreach program to new mothers and enroll the parents in preschool training. Scholastic success starts at home.

Reinstitution of arts and music programs especially at all scholastic levels Creative programs prove to make better students.

Special Ed children are very sensitive and creative. They are particularly hurt by the sequential N.C.L.B. curriculum because many are gifted in seeing the big picture instead of detail.

Our current special-ed program is assessing and helping students with the most established methods, but is still coming under increasingly scrutiny by parents. Many don’t see the system helping their children enough, and some are even opting out for placement elsewhere.

Solutions for Special Ed: I am working with Dr. Mark Goldenberg director of the Pathways to Learning Center in Norwalk, to create interest in a pilot study using the Stamford School system to evaluate the benefits of brain Synchronization, a research based approach that improves brain function in children. Children gained a 2 grade equivalent level increase in reading and math fluency based upon standardized tests, with significant improvement in attention and speed.

To learn of this dynamic new technology please visit Interactive Metronome.

Widen the citywide pre-K program: The greatest investment in our children education is when the child is 5 years old. It’s at that time that the brain actually grows in power of sequencing mathematics language tasks. This will give the child a tremendous advantage.

I am planning on funding the expanded pre-K, with savings from the success in the special Ed program, due to the new technology. This is why I am pushing for the pilot study as a top priority.