Title
Authorizing the Committee on Education to hold hearings concerning the practice of "leveling" and its impact on students and teachers in the School District of Philadelphia, especially following the learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Body
WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant learning loss among young people in the School District of Philadelphia. According to the School District of Philadelphia's scorecard, 34% of students in grades 3-8 met state standards for English last year, a 2% decrease from 2018-19. Math outcomes were worse with only 17% of students meeting the proficiency standard in 2021-22, down from 22% in 2018-19; and
WHERAS, Student attendance saw a staggering decline with only 37% of students attending at least 95% of instructional days in 2021-22, and 20% of students attending fewer than 80% of instructional days. This is a 10% percent difference in both categories from 2018-2019; and
WHEARAS, In early October, the School District of Philadelphia announced enrollment-driven resource review or "leveling" which disrupts classroom instruction and forces school communities to grapple with major changes on very short notice; and
WHEREAS, Leveling requires teachers to move to new positions with only a week of notice and results in some classes doubling in size overnight, requiring twice the effort from instructors who remain to manage these considerably larger classes; and
WHEREAS, Leveling occurs after the school year has already begun, requiring educators to retool their lesson plans to accommodate the needs of new students on short notice or move to entirely different school communities, fully disrupting their daily lives; and
WHEREAS, Leveling actively interrupts the relationships teachers have developed with their students, leading to decreased student engagement in classrooms, and it takes away the opportunity for one-on-one instruction for classes that see significant increases in size; and
WHEREAS, Smal...
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