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Originally Posted by EdwardA
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Very sad for this city. The most jarring part of the article to me is that the students said that their main concerns were safety and that teachers had low expectations of them.
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Originally Posted by katygirl68
Vouchers could help, but the problem is the parents. If there is no parental involvement, no amount of spending or reducing teacher/student ratios is going to help. And some of these kids' parents never had an education, or maybe don't even speak English, or they work long hours and can't get involved. It's a vicious cycle.
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Vouchers do help.
I am also center left and get sick of people trying to blame race and parents especially for issues with kids. I do think some parents are crappy parents, but if you get these kids in school for a long day starting at 3 years old they will do better with good quality teachers who expect them to be on target academically and ensure this.
These education threads keep coming up. Another one was here last week (or the week before, can't remember) about the PISA test and Shanghai kids scoring well. I looked into this after seeing a snippet at a restaurant of CNN where there was a panel discussing the educational system in Shanghai.
They stated that kids go to school 230 days out of the year versus our 180 so by the time they take the PISA they are on the same level as our 12th graders academically even though they are only 10th graders because those days equate to 3 additional years of school.
Also in Shanghai teacher quality is especially high and the teachers (please take note) DO NOT LET THE CHILDREN FAIL!!! Kids are required to pass exams, if they don't they are required to stay after school and go to school on weekends until they catch up. Teachers ensure that those kids learn what they need to learn.
Also, the teachers did contact the parents regularly, most 5 days a week, but at a minimum of 3 days per week. All of the contacts were not in person, usually by text or email and just a brief synopsis of what the child was doing in school and an update. Teacher by and large in this country do not do this. Many working parents do care about their kids educations. But they have to work, many long hours or two jobs and don't have time to "get involved" in school. And FWIW, I have kids, I am not all that involved in school at all. I don't have time right now to do so. My kid gets all As because his school is like those in Shanghai - they don't let kids fail. They have to get at least an 85% in major subjects unit lessons (reading - my son is advanced in this so has to write reports now, math, science, and writing - they write an essay every week, sometimes 2). My son is 11 and I barely check his homework because he is responsible enough to do it himself IMO. My mom never checked my work and I was a TAG kid and got all As in school too. FWIW, my son is not gifted academically. His teachers also text/email me and if I get notice that he isn't doing something he should be doing, he will be punished (mostly just a stern speaking to by me about how he isn't being mature, he responds really well to this - no spanking or craziness needed, since like most kids, he's a decent, good kid, every once in a while I make him "cinder-fellow" where he has to do endless chores along with additional reports I assign, he likes to be lackadaisical in his writing mostly).
FWIW, my son goes to a charter school where they are not confined by the board of education of our district so are free to do the things that studies and research and current trends show works to educate kids - high expectations, not allowing children to fall behind (mandatory additional help if needed), and constant parent updates.
Our school is 88% black and over 70% low income and we have never had a kid held back, all the kids score either proficient or advanced on standardized test, including NWEA's MAP assessment.
If all schools did what they need to do, all the kids, including those in Camden would be doing well. But people want to do the following:
- Be cheap with their money and not invest in public education (and by investing, I mean pay teachers what they should get paid, have teacher aids/apprentices and support services for mandatory after school/Saturday school, update technology, create true "community" schools where schools are allowed to change teaching methods as needed and provide funding for non-athletic or strictly academic based extra curriculars - like a sewing club or a knitting group or a rocket building group for kids that actually do teach specific skills but where the kids aren't tested on having fun - oh and bring back recess. My kid gets recess every day. That is the main reason, other than low class sizes, why I sent him to his school).
- Blame parents
- Blame teachers
- Blame blacks
- blame poor people
Etc.etc.etc.
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