Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First thing tbat comes to mind is 'parent involvement'. Something's got to give here in regard to the parents taking responsibility. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist.
First thing tbat comes to mind is 'parent involvement'. Something's got to give here in regard to the parents taking responsibility. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist.
That's an important one. Although, I (as a principal) sometimes found it difficult to balance over-involvement by one group of parents with under-involvement by other groups of parents. Striking that balance is tough. But parent involvement certainly has the potential to help a community respect a school, as well as improve the achievement of individual children. I hadn't really thought about, but one of my early schools to teach at was a rural school in western NYS, and it was a very community-involved high school...and what a wonderful school it was -- Midlakes High School.
Well obviously three things is a very simplified solution to a complex problem, but here goes.
1. Be willing to differentiate and provide different education to the top 25% from the middle 50% and the bottom 25% of students. We have to be willing to acknowledge that not all students are the same and that typical one size fits all education moves at the pace of the slowest person in the classroom. That does no one any good. It doesn't really help the bottom students, but frustrates them and hurts the top students. I'm not advocating the top students jump ahead but that they get more depth and breadth to both challenge them and build that foundation for the next class. We have no problem distinguishing between top athletic performers from average athletes and non athletes. Why is this concept so hard to accept academically?
2. Elevate teaching from a trade to a profession commensurate in pay and status to professions like engineering. This will require some big changes in the expectations on teachers and the training program. Not just pay for performance, but pay for teaching the more challenging courses. Yes, pay the math, physics, and chemistry teachers more than the biology teacher and the bio teacher more than social studies. I know, doesn't fit the education model, but we need to consider what it will take to get top STEM performers to go into teaching. To effect this change the profession will need to demonstrate why the higher pay brings results.
3. Teach students how to study and how to learn. Learning good study techniques pays off not just in school, but especially in college and even life as people become lifelong learners.
Well obviously three things is a very simplified solution to a complex problem, but here goes.
1. Be willing to differentiate and provide different education to the top 25% from the middle 50% and the bottom 25% of students. We have to be willing to acknowledge that not all students are the same and that typical one size fits all education moves at the pace of the slowest person in the classroom. That does no one any good. It doesn't really help the bottom students, but frustrates them and hurts the top students. I'm not advocating the top students jump ahead but that they get more depth and breadth to both challenge them and build that foundation for the next class. We have no problem distinguishing between top athletic performers from average athletes and non athletes. Why is this concept so hard to accept academically?
2. Elevate teaching from a trade to a profession commensurate in pay and status to professions like engineering. This will require some big changes in the expectations on teachers and the training program. Not just pay for performance, but pay for teaching the more challenging courses. Yes, pay the math, physics, and chemistry teachers more than the biology teacher and the bio teacher more than social studies. I know, doesn't fit the education model, but we need to consider what it will take to get top STEM performers to go into teaching. To effect this change the profession will need to demonstrate why the higher pay brings results.
3. Teach students how to study and how to learn. Learning good study techniques pays off not just in school, but especially in college and even life as people become lifelong learners.
Parent and STEM material provider.
I like the way you stated # 1, particularly the part I bolded.
I find your # 2 interesting, and will be anxious to see if it gets any feedback.
# 3 -- a definite yes. Long before the internet, when I was in college, I was pretty good at researching, and had learned to use the ERIC system (anyone still remember that?). Almost any time I was in the library working, I would have students I didn't even know come up and ask for my help in how to use ERIC and other research materials. I think we assume students know how to study and learn...but they often don't.
Roles at various times: Parent, Teacher, Administrator, Affiliated Education Professional
1) Bring back meaningful Vocational Education and stop the nonsense that every child should go to college. We do kids a huge disservice that ends up making them feel like failures and denies them a meaningful, dignified career.
2) Sorry, know it's not popular to say so, but tracking needs to make a come back. And while I am making myself unpopular and a subject of scorn for being an awful human, let's throw in the granddaddy, we need to have a very serious national discussion about the purpose and meaning of "free appropriate education and "least restrictive environment." The needs of the few have to be balanced with the needs of the many, right now they are superseding them.
3) Put the bulk of the responsibility for learning and behavior back where it belongs, on students and parents. No, teachers should not get a free pass but right now we are teaching kids that others owe them success and that is not reality. Students whose behavior is a detriment to others need to be removed from regular classes much sooner and put in smaller classes that focus on successful behavior.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Roles at various times: Parent, Teacher, Administrator, Affiliated Education Professional
1) Bring back meaningful Vocational Education and stop the nonsense that every child should go to college. We do kids a huge disservice that ends up making them feel like failures and denies them a meaningful, dignified career.
2) Sorry, know it's not popular to say so, but tracking needs to make a come back. And while I am making myself unpopular and a subject of scorn for being an awful human, let's throw in the granddaddy, we need to have a very serious national discussion about the purpose and meaning of "free appropriate education and "least restrictive environment." The needs of the few have to be balanced with the needs of the many, right now they are superseding them.
3) Put the bulk of the responsibility for learning and behavior back where it belongs, on students and parents. No, teachers should not get a free pass but right now we are teaching kids that others owe them success and that is not reality. Students whose behavior is a detriment to others need to be removed from regular classes much sooner and put in smaller classes that focus on successful behavior.
I agree very much with your # 1. I think there are kids who "should" aim for college, depending on their career desires, and then I think there are kids who probably need a community college or trade school post-high-school education.
I also pretty much agree with your # 2. As long as kids don't get "locked" into a track, I think tracking can be a good thing. I think my junior high overdid it -- we had 5 tracks. We just have to be aware that some kids are late-bloomers like me. I nearly flunked out of high school, turned it around in college and was always on the Deans List and have multiple degrees. A discussion about "least restrictive environment" would be interesting; I just know we also shouldn't go back to the days when sped was usually found in dead-end hallways in deserted parts of a school, as if they were quarantined.
Fairfax seems to have quite a few programs for alternative education. Not sure how they are now. At one time, years ago, we had a couple of students who were sent to an alternative middle school. It seemed to work quite well, but as I recall got cut due to budget issues.
I agree very much with your # 1. I think there are kids who "should" aim for college, depending on their career desires, and then I think there are kids who probably need a community college or trade school post-high-school education.
I also pretty much agree with your # 2. As long as kids don't get "locked" into a track, I think tracking can be a good thing. I think my junior high overdid it -- we had 5 tracks. We just have to be aware that some kids are late-bloomers like me. I nearly flunked out of high school, turned it around in college and was always on the Deans List and have multiple degrees. A discussion about "least restrictive environment" would be interesting; I just know we also shouldn't go back to the days when sped was usually found in dead-end hallways in deserted parts of a school, as if they were quarantined.
I totally agree but there has to be a middle ground between that and a child who can't reliably count to 10 in an 8th grade Algebra class. Inclusion has gotten out of hand. As have some of the services parents demand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phetaroi
Fairfax seems to have quite a few programs for alternative education. Not sure how they are now. At one time, years ago, we had a couple of students who were sent to an alternative middle school. It seemed to work quite well, but as I recall got cut due to budget issues.
Thanks for your input.
Fairfax has quite the robust alternative school program and they are pretty dang proactive about using it. They also have meaningful tracking, no matter how much they like to whitewash it there really is no other way to describe it. Fairfax County always is among the top ranked school systems in the nation, maybe other systems ought to take note.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Fairfax has quite the robust alternative school program and they are pretty dang proactive about using it. They also have meaningful tracking, no matter how much they like to whitewash it there really is no other way to describe it. Fairfax County always is among the top ranked school systems in the nation, maybe other systems ought to take note.
I totally agree. Best thing I ever did was move to FCPS. However, most communities won't put forth the $$$$ to have that good a school system.
My impression from my colleagues is that the middle school gifted program is now open to most students. Not sure how true that is. When I was there, we had GT-Center, where a student would be in gifted classes in all 4 core areas; we also had GT_Base, where a student would in gifted classes in eighth math and science OR English and history. I thought it was a very good program.
I'm a parent of two boys, 10 and 14, living in Sthn CA. My list would be:
1 Spend more money on education!
Money doesn't solve everything - but lack of adequate funding severely restricts the ability to provide a decent education. California spends about $9000 per annum per student and everyone squeals. And yet we think nothing of incarcerating staggering numbers of people at $60,000 pa.
Excuse the language, but that's a$&@ about face. All those men (because that's mostly who it is) rotting in jail - imagine if they'd had $15,000 or $20,000pa spent on their education between the ages of 5-12? How much better off (in every sense of the word) would we all be?
2. Stop testing so much
My 10 yo 5th grader has sat statewide tests every year since 2nd grade. That is ridiculous! It's very stressful for the child, teachers end up having to teach to the test, and the results don't seem to feed back into how they are taught in any meaningful way.
3. More teaching of critical thinking, less worksheets
I can only talk about Los Angeles specifically, but generally I find the method of instruction, in public schools at least, so old fashioned, with a lot of emphasis on rote work, memorization, worksheets,etc. I grew up in New Zealand and I was taught in the same way 40 years ago, but you wouldn't find that approach to be prevalent now. There is a place for those things, but I think it should be very limited. It seems like a slow death to curiosity by a thousand worksheets.
For the same reason, I'd like to see less homework at elementary level. There's pretty strong research that homework doesn't start to change educational outcomes until around the high school level. It does however kill a lot of the enthusiasm of younger children for school and introduce a lot of stress into families. In third grade, every night my younger child's class was getting 30 minutes of homework (yes, you guessed it, worksheets) plus another 30 minutes of reading. That's close to another 20% of their school day! It leaves little time for all the other things that are just as essential to child development - free play, sports, music, etc.
Re the other posters' points, I do agree about the need for vocational training and a recognition that college is by no means the only path to success as an adult. So many kids that struggle with more academic classes and then are saddled with huge debt from pursuing degrees for which they have neither interest nor aptitude.
In terms of special Ed, maybe we've been lucky, but my kids have only found benefit from the kids mainstreamed in their classes. Empathy, an understanding that everyone is a bit different in their own way, learning how to help others, and so on. I can see, though, how it makes it tougher for teachers.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
