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How would you improve schools?
If you could change schools in any way, how would you?
On a related subject, Diane Ravitch has a fascinating new book on the subject.Death and Life of the Great American School system.
Education right now is in a state of flux. I do not like how everything is coming down the pike at once, in my view to try to hurt teachers and undermine the public education system. I'm referring to the unholy trinity of increased difficulty of tests, online testing when schools don't even have the technology for daily lessons, and teacher evaluation and pay linked to test scores. In our state, the test will account for 50%. That's half an evaluation for a test that takes kids an hour and a half. The testing time is 2 and a half hours, but realistically, most of our kids are done in an hour and a half.
Common Core is fine on its own, but not when it makes test-taking high stakes for teachers, while kids get off on the fact that they are basically dictating teachers' livelihoods. (Our students currently have no incentive for performance on the test. Nothing happens one way or another.)
Re: How would you improve schools?
I think there should be less focus on standardized tests in general and more focus on teaching students (especially children) how to manage stress/coping skills/empathy. For this reason, I feel that cutting things like art, drama and music are dangerous. It takes creativity to imagine yourself in another person's shoes and imagine how they would want to be treated.
I also came across this article which I found to be interesting and informative:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/the-coming-revolution-in-public-education/275163/
In a fantasy world? I would make them smaller overall. This is probably a logistical nightmare to implement in some areas but I really believe that having less students in one place is a good start.This is not just smaller class size but smaller schools in general. I remember going to big schools and smaller schools. At smaller schools, even in you didn't have a particular teacher or class everyone pretty much knew where everyone was supposed to be and there was a certain accountability and not just among students. If there is a good likelihood that everyone in the school knows most if not all of the parents and vice versa you are less likely to have things fall through the cracks. I know this is very simplistic but I really believe that creating a community environment could help combat some of the issues that currently seem so hopeless- low income, low resources, apathy, etc.
I think we have to give authority back to the teachers and compel their administration to support them. My older kids went to both public and private school. A the private school the 3rd grade teacher was replaced 3 times in one year due to parent pressures. Say what?! While parents lack that type of authority in the public schools you can be sure that they still bring the pressure on to bear every time they don't like every little grade or discipline that little Sally receives. Except when something comes down to an urgent safety concern or evidence of serious teacher malfeasance, the schools should be allowed to operate with more boldness and firmness. I just can never get over some of the bureaucratic b.s. I see and hear that are dealt with at the expense of actual education and tax dollars.
#2 is so right. We have a policy at our school that zeros aren't permitted. We have to accept late work. It's such a pain and gives the wrong message. I have a handful of kids that have F's for 160 of the 180 school days. They just turn in work at the last minute and squeak by. It's wrong, but it's our school policy. There's even a program to have them do their missing work after they eat lunch.
I SO AGREE WITH YOU! I would also add...
Go back to the basic education and cut out learning via movies, TV and too much computer time. These are all passive ways of learning. I think kids get enough screen time and computer skills in their private lives, they don't need a ton at school too.
More projects, experiments, diaramas (sp?), etc., less testing.
Re unions, there's nothing that shows correlation between weak unions and better achievement from students. In fact, if you look at some of the non-union states vs. those who historically have strong unions, it's just the opposite. (certain southern states vs. Massachusetts)
I also feel that if unions didn't exist, you wouldn't see some panacea where "bad teachers" are fired. Instead, you'd see older teachers fired because they're more willing to question authority and the new "cure of the month" that comes down the pike. They're also more expensive and less likely to want to be the kids' buddies.
Without unions, you'd see good teachers fired to hire coaches. Even as it is now, the only way you get a teaching job around here is if you are a coach or are willing to do two or three extracurriculars like newspaper or yearbook gratis..
I feel that it's a fallacy to say that without unions, bad teachers would be fired. What would happen is that anyone who wasn't in the principal's harem or good old boys club (we have both at our school) would be gone.
I hate to be argumentative, but MommyLiberty, doing away with the technology is the last thing that teachers will be doing. Beginning in 2014-2015, our tests will be given online. The tests are the only thing that matters in terms of judging our particular school, and with our evaluation it's 50%.
We'd have to be idiots not to have the kids on the computer learning how to take the assessments. Otherwise, they'd be blindsided. It's not just filling in bubbles. With the new Common Core, kids have to type full pieces of writing, like an essay and a story, as well as move information around, cut and paste, highlight, open multiple windows, and so forth.
There are strategies we have taught for years and years that will no longer be needed due to the way the tests will be administered. For example, we've taught to eliminate wrong answers, underline key words in questions and highlight using a highlighter or colored pencil. None of these are applicable after 2014-2015, at least regarding the almighty test. There are way fewer multiple choice questions and more writing and performance tasks.
I know that someone will say "but that's just one test," yeah, but that's one test that will determine my career, my livelihood, my pension, my health care insurance, yes, my very life is on the line for a two-hour test given in April or early May when kids are burned out and ready to be done. Did I add that currently at least in our grade level there is not one single incentive to do well on the test? There's no difference to the kids whether they top out at Advanced or bottom out at Limited.
(I say "my very life" because I carry the health insurance that allows my husband to go to the number one hospital in the US for the specialty he needs, and if you get "ineffective" on the test, you get an improvement plan and can be dismissed if you don't improve in a certain time period.)
You are not being argumentative.
I think I said, "too much computer time." I know that technology will stay in the classroom, and it should.
I guess my question is, is the goal to make the kids as technologically savvy as possible (knowing they will get this a ton at home on personal time) or is the goal to actually teach them substance and how to think critically? I'm not asking you directly, KB, it's more of a general thought/question.
Maybe I'm dating myself too, but I'd take the critical thinking/problem solving/creative learning above testing taking via computer any day. I do think the schools are too focused on the latest gadget.
I guess I'm just tired of looking around my world and seeing every young person's head buried in their Smart Phone versus observing their world, paying attention, and relating to actual live human beings.
I guess I'm just tired of looking around my world and seeing every young person's head buried in their Smart Phone versus observing their world, paying attention, and relating to actual live human beings.
This is so true. I notice this quite frequently at family gatherings. Even when DH and I go out to eat at a restaurant, people are texting and looking at their devices. It couldn't wait until after the meal?
The issue I have with the current school system (or at least where I live, which has one of the worst school districts in the nation) is the lack of accountability of the student. First it started with passing students that actually failed, then it continued and blew up like a giant game of academic telephone. In some of the schools here in my city, a student cannot get an F. The lowest grade that a student can "earn" is a D. The system in place enables students to underperform (or not perform at all) becaue they will pass anyway. Currently, if a student does not come to school, and doesn't turn in any work, 60% is the lowest percentage they earn. The schools consider absences, not turning in homework, excessive tardies, and refusing to do classwork as behavioral issues. I can understand their logic, however, no corrective action is taken against the student to "fix" these behavioral issues. More pressure is placed upon the teacher for being ineffective at their jobs. I know a high school Algebra and Autocad Instructor, and she is constantly being grilled for why she has so many D students. One of the main issues she has is that the students placed by the district into her classroom have yet to learn how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and on some occassions can't even read. The fact that these students are being passed along from teacher to teacher, from grade to grade, with the district expecting a teacher teaching upper level mathematics in a classroom with 60 students to teach reading and basic math skills, along with teaching them Algebra (again, when they can't even add) and perform miracles is just ridiculous. To make matters even worse, who is being held accountable for this student's poor performance? The current teacher., and they are the one's disciplined for it. The student has no incentive, because they are not held accountable for their performance, someone else always is. When this teacher has contacted parent's they have cussed her out, or come into the school and attempted to physically assault her - all for informing these parents that their children are not meeting minimal requirements.
To make matters worse, we have a huge technology issue here. Our budget is constantly shrinking, yet the district heeps issuing pay freezes, and pay reductions to the teachers, all whil increasing their workload. Yet, the district has implemented a partnership with Apple to introduce laptops and iPads to EVERY student in the district. Sure this can be a very effective learning tool in optimal situations, but when the district cannot pay their teachers, then why are we spending unneccessarily? The teachers I know still have to deal with students not turning in their work, but there's the added bonus of constantly having to compete for the students' attention because they are gooding off on their free iPads and laptops.
Sorry for the rant. It just amazes me how we want student's to value their education, yet the system does not value its educators. They are not provided with the means necessary to do their jobs, they are constantly undermined by the school district itself, and they are not offered any support. Students see this, amd their respect for their teachers (if they ever even had any) completely disappears because they are no longer an authority figure, they're just some powerless individual trying to teach them skills that they don't even want to know - dance monkey, dance.
I think discipline needs to be reinstated within the schools, students WILL be held accountable for their behavior and for their performance. More resources for the classrooms, smaller class sizes, and more support for our educators.