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Back on topic, I think that saying we have poor schools solely because of apathetic parents is akin to saying Detroit builds shoddy cars because the customers don’t care.
Instead of pointing fingers elsewhere, maybe it’s time to put in a little extra effort and do a better job.
Cars don't have feelings as to whether they want to be built. Please use some sense.
Do you think the Teachers and Principals should get most of the blame for the problems in American Schools?
Let's see, teachers and principals are who are in the schools to do the job of academically educating our children, so who do we blame when teachers and principals don't do their jobs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dez181
Quality of education relies so much on the support that is received by home and the community.
Quality of education relies on the devotion schools have to academically teach our children. THEY are who get paid to do the teaching.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eresh
Of course schools are going to be the scapegoat.
The SCAPEGOAT??? LOL That's so funny. We pay teachers to educate our children, and when our children aren't educated, we are using the school as the SCAPEGOAT???
If teachers would do the job teachers did years ago instead of worrying about every other aspect of a child's life, our kids would know what they need to know academically.
Money isn't really an excuse either. School districts did not have a fraction of what they have now and kids were educated.
MOST of the money that gets poured into our schools go to the teachers and their insurance packages. We should expect a whole lot more from those teachers.
Let's see, teachers and principals are who are in the schools to do the job of academically educating our children, so who do we blame when teachers and principals don't do their jobs?
Quality of education relies on the devotion schools have to academically teach our children. THEY are who get paid to do the teaching.
The SCAPEGOAT??? LOL That's so funny. We pay teachers to educate our children, and when our children aren't educated, we are using the school as the SCAPEGOAT???
If teachers would do the job teachers did years ago instead of worrying about every other aspect of a child's life, our kids would know what they need to know academically.
Money isn't really an excuse either. School districts did not have a fraction of what they have now and kids were educated.
MOST of the money that gets poured into our schools go to the teachers and their insurance packages. We should expect a whole lot more from those teachers.
If a student puts zero effort in, there is NOTHING a teacher etc. can do other than give them poor grades. So yes, it's the teachers job to teach but it's the parents and students job to motivate and learn.
My kids schools are EXCELLENT. In fact, their school system is considered one of the best in the country. My youngest was having a tough time and got C's and D's two years ago. We kept working at it and I had to get tough with him a few times but he is pulling all A's now.
If I just let him plop down on the xbox, go to school when he felt like it, never went to parent-teacher meetings or made sure he knew that grades were a priority....he'd be getting bad grades.
Now some schools are bad, but the #1 determinant of success is that the parents make learning a prioirty and the kid knows that and puts effort in. Teacher\school quality is probably next followed by cultural and peer influences. (Meaning that good grades are frowned upon and that being a good athlete is the height of success.)
If a student puts zero effort in, there is NOTHING a teacher etc. can do other than give them poor grades. So yes, it's the teachers job to teach but it's the parents and students job to motivate and learn.
My kids schools are EXCELLENT. In fact, their school system is considered one of the best in the country. My youngest was having a tough time and got C's and D's two years ago. We kept working at it and I had to get tough with him a few times but he is pulling all A's now.
If I just let him plop down on the xbox, go to school when he felt like it, never went to parent-teacher meetings or made sure he knew that grades were a priority....he'd be getting bad grades.
Now some schools are bad, but the #1 determinant of success is that the parents make learning a prioirty and the kid knows that and puts effort in. Teacher\school quality is probably next followed by cultural and peer influences. (Meaning that good grades are frowned upon and that being a good athlete is the height of success.)
Ok, but what about when kids excell with virtually no parental guidance or motivating encouragment? What about when kids are motivated solely due to the teacher's efforts and devotion to what he or she is doing? There are a lot of very successful people out there who had no parental help in their education. It was all the teachers doing their jobs.
Let's see, teachers and principals are who are in the schools to do the job of academically educating our children, so who do we blame when teachers and principals don't do their jobs?
Quality of education relies on the devotion schools have to academically teach our children. THEY are who get paid to do the teaching.
The SCAPEGOAT??? LOL That's so funny. We pay teachers to educate our children, and when our children aren't educated, we are using the school as the SCAPEGOAT???
If teachers would do the job teachers did years ago instead of worrying about every other aspect of a child's life, our kids would know what they need to know academically.
Money isn't really an excuse either. School districts did not have a fraction of what they have now and kids were educated.
MOST of the money that gets poured into our schools go to the teachers and their insurance packages. We should expect a whole lot more from those teachers.
You seem to think that if a child is "uneducated," then that student's teachers are responsible. However, as others have pointed out, there is a lot more going on in students' lives that can have a negative effect on their grades.
For teachers and/or schools to shoulder all of the responsibility isn't fair, nor is it going to improve a student's education.
As someone who has been in the [public school] classroom, I can tell you that, based on what I saw, the major factors that contribute to students' failure are:
1. Family values that do not value education;
2. Large class sizes;
3. Student rights that impede rather than further their education (i.e. students can use the restroom whenever they want--this right is often abused; and, allowing cell phones to be brought to school--students aren't supposed to use them in class but they always manage to);
4. Antagonistic/dysfunctional relationships between admin, teachers, parents and students;
5. No Child Left Behind and all other legislation formulated and passed by people who are not educators--I will include standardized tests and curriculum under this category, or what I just call the antithesis of individualized instruction.
Now, if you are talking about private schools, then I think that schools and teachers should be responsible if a student is uneducated or failing.
As a teacher for 25 years and the daughter of a teacher, I think the reason our schools are failing is society itself. Many of the children I teach come from broken homes, low income homes, or they were born to mother's addicted to crack or alcohol. No one can compare the kids of today to the kids my mother taught. When I have a kid whose mother doesn't want him, who is living in poverty, who is raising his/her younger siblings, how can I possibly expect him or her to care about punctuating sentences? I do not teach in a urban school, and we still have the problems I mentioned above. The children who come from a home where the parents are still together and they help their children with homework is not the norm. Even in our local private schools many kids are being raised by their nannies with way too much money and free time. Our busy lives are hurting our children. Children are also told that it is the teachers job to teach them, and that their parents are paying our salaries. Maybe indirectly that is true, but kids do not need to feel that they hold power over the person in authority over them. As far as respect, I think the people on this thread that are saying we need to respect the kids just mean to treat them with decency. I think most teachers do, however, when a child raises his/her voice to me they have lost my respect. Some parents expect teachers to all be positive and light at all times. They get upset when teachers tell their children to hush. Have you ever tried to teach with 30 people talking? Yes, sometimes our voices will raise a decibel or two.
No Child Left Behind is horrible in my state. I teach 30 children in a class period. In that class I have children that cannot read and write along with gifted children. It does not work. Only politicians who have never been in a classroom could be naive enough to think everyone learns on the same level. If your IQ is 85, you are not capable of completing the work that someone with an IQ of 140 can complete. Teachers are not miracle workers. Everyone needs to be realistic.
As a parent I have a child that has repeatedly been asked to be a peer helper because of the issues I mentioned in the above paragraph. He hates it. Why should he have to move slower and wait on students who can't keep up? He also hates cooperative learning because he thinks everyone should do their own work, like it is in the real world. I agree with him. We are setting these children up for failure. Jobs do not give you helpers, nor accomodate your special needs. I love children, but I wish we would give them all the opportunity to learn at their own speed and level.
i am so glad of this OP. lots of gangbangers dressed up like children being warehoused in K12.
discipline is the key to learning, there isnt any, at home or in the class. we have hog tied authority yet still expect good results. neither the military nor the police force could ever function in this manner. we did not like the way our grandparents did things so we did our own version, we have failed. btw dr b spock, time out works with rats not apes. teachers of today are vastly more qualified than 50 years ago, yet we get pathetic results. stop ignoring the elephant in the living room. disruptive elements in our K12 are destroying our children.
The news is full of stories recently about how terrible the schools are in America and how we are slipping behind the rest of the world. Of course the group that gets the most blame is the teachers. The second amount of blame goes to the Principal and the rest of the blame goes towards the school administrators and bureaucrats.
If a failing school in the worst neighborhood in the City does not do as well as the school in a rich suburb with parents who are doctors, lawyers, and scientists with high IQ's and PHD's, then the failing school's Teachers and Principal are fired.
Why won't the media admit the problem with American schools are: uninterested parents, a messed up popular culture and students who are more interested in acting out than learning?
Do you think the Teachers and Principals should get most of the blame for the problems in American Schools?
Somehow, you have a point. But not all the blame should be pointed to them. It's either the student failed or the school.
The question is, if the schools are powerless to educate our children because of the overwhelming family and societal problems then why are we spending so much money on Government run schools? By their own admission the teachers are not able to overcome these problems so shouldn't we just fire them all?
The question is, if the schools are powerless to educate our children because of the overwhelming family and societal problems then why are we spending so much money on Government run schools? By their own admission the teachers are not able to overcome these problems so shouldn't we just fire them all?
How bout fire all the parents.
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