“Highly surprised and, quite honestly, confused.”
That was Superintendent Chris Thompson’s response when he found out the Unified School District of De Pere was under investigation by the State Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
The issue on the table is the practice of three-cueing, where kids learn to read words based on meaning, visual signs, and syntax.
The state banned it, effective this year. Other states have also banned the practice, saying it hinders reading proficiency.
“We removed this from the curriculum several years ago,” Thompson said. “We’ve been explicit with our teachers that it cannot be part of a curriculum.”
Thompson is adamant.
“There is no three-cueing in our curriculum,” he said.
But board member Melissa Niffenegger raised the issue with the state, filing a concern in late September.
“The reason why I’m concerned is because there’s some language in graphs and things that I’ve been given, that I’m concerned that they may not have taken it fully out, and they may not be aware of it,” she said.