Educational Reform
My mom recently wrote a letter. She then sent it to every congressman, senator, even President obama and his wife. I read it. And got her permission to send it out in whatever ways I could find. So, using this journal seems good too.
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Education 2010
This year is my 25th year teaching in a public high school in New York State. I have seen many educational “bandwagons” blast into the forefront and then fizzle and die quiet deaths. What I have not seen is a functional return to basics and a focus on what is necessary for student success in school.
No Child Left Behind is a ridiculous concept. Not all children are created equal when it comes to learning and not all children will learn at the same rate. The school I am teaching at is currently being scrutinized for a low graduation rate five years ago. Talk about closing the barn door after the horses are out! The other factor to consider here is that many of those children who “did not graduate” did indeed graduate, it just took them five years instead of four.
My first year in education, my department (science) had five teachers, four classrooms and an annual departmental budget of approximately twelve thousand dollars. Now, 25 years later, there are nine members of my department; occupying eight classrooms and we have an annual departmental budget of approximately ten thousand dollars. (Meanwhile, costs of all scientific equipment and supplies have continued to increase, and we can not keep pace with technical advancements.)
Last night on the news, the statement was made that campaign spending for this mid-term election period has reached the three billion dollar mark. Athletes get paid contract salaries in the millions of dollars. Television, music and movie stars get paid generous salaries. Consumerism supports these excesses. Yet teachers rarely if ever hit the six figure mark and are held accountable for all the current educational deficits? I would like to see some of these politicians and celebrities put their money where their mouths are. Parents who pay a hundred dollars for a game or concert ticket should consider that they are funding these entertainment ventures, yet complain if school taxes increase, want to cut teacher salaries and vote down school budgets (meanwhile they will form booster clubs to finance school sports).
The most recent buzz has been a campaign to base teacher salary on student performance. This year I have a class of 9th and 10th graders who have an average reading level of 2.5. Based on their performance, I would be paying to work here. Yet these students need teachers, as do the more capable students.
Political in-fighting would reach an all time high and group morale would reach an all time low if teacher salaries become contingent on student performance because there would be constant competition to get the classes that attract the more capable students.
However, the most important missing piece of the educational puzzle is this: family and student accountability. It does not matter in the least how intelligent, capable or concerned a teacher is, if the students do not do their work and the parents do not require them to, they will fail. There may be a few students who can absorb information after hearing/seeing it one time, but they are the exceptions.
Students have an increased attitude of entitlement. They seem to think they should be able to come to school with their IPods and cell phones and socialize and that we, as teachers, should somehow magically imbue them with knowledge. They have active extra-curricular and social lives. They eschew the very idea that they are somehow responsible for their own educations and do not spend an appropriate amount of time on school work. Then they seem surprised when they do not get a passing grade on an exam or assignment.
The curriculum is being watered down for fear of failing students and government cutbacks for funding based on graduation rates. We are graduating students who should not be graduating. The knowledge base of this generation is frighteningly lacking.
Why is it so wrong to fail students who do not work up to the level of competency required? I would rather see a school that had an increased number of students who took longer to graduate but knew more, or students who had been held back in elementary or middle school and had learned that they need to work to get ahead.
These are the adults of the future who will be entering the work force. Do you want a nurse or doctor who was passed along to make a school’s program look successful? Do you want an electrician who can not read a wiring diagram? Do you want teachers who never learned the material themselves?
Students are graduating who do not know basic math facts, cannot read or write cursive and have extremely limited vocabularies. They speak in text abbreviations (OMG) and can not spell. Spell check on computers helps for typewritten work, but falls short when there are homophones that exist. (Two, to, too…) Grammar and legible penmanship are skills that are lacking.
My recommendations for “educational reform” are simple:
• Take a step back to facilitate a step forward.
• Ban calculators from classrooms until students can add, subtract, multiply and divide without them.
• Teach phonics, spelling, vocabulary and grammar (no more “holistic” grading).
• Teach penmanship. If a teacher can not read a student’s writing, how can the teacher tell if the answer is right or wrong?
• Give students failing grades if they do not know the material. Give them a chance to raise their grades when they do.
• Raise standards instead of lowering them. Compare the curriculum of core classes today to those of the same courses 20 years ago. The material that has been diluted is staggering!
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If you wish to pass this on to anyone else, just credit Jill Phaneuf.
Also: Holy crap I'm back!
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Education 2010
This year is my 25th year teaching in a public high school in New York State. I have seen many educational “bandwagons” blast into the forefront and then fizzle and die quiet deaths. What I have not seen is a functional return to basics and a focus on what is necessary for student success in school.
No Child Left Behind is a ridiculous concept. Not all children are created equal when it comes to learning and not all children will learn at the same rate. The school I am teaching at is currently being scrutinized for a low graduation rate five years ago. Talk about closing the barn door after the horses are out! The other factor to consider here is that many of those children who “did not graduate” did indeed graduate, it just took them five years instead of four.
My first year in education, my department (science) had five teachers, four classrooms and an annual departmental budget of approximately twelve thousand dollars. Now, 25 years later, there are nine members of my department; occupying eight classrooms and we have an annual departmental budget of approximately ten thousand dollars. (Meanwhile, costs of all scientific equipment and supplies have continued to increase, and we can not keep pace with technical advancements.)
Last night on the news, the statement was made that campaign spending for this mid-term election period has reached the three billion dollar mark. Athletes get paid contract salaries in the millions of dollars. Television, music and movie stars get paid generous salaries. Consumerism supports these excesses. Yet teachers rarely if ever hit the six figure mark and are held accountable for all the current educational deficits? I would like to see some of these politicians and celebrities put their money where their mouths are. Parents who pay a hundred dollars for a game or concert ticket should consider that they are funding these entertainment ventures, yet complain if school taxes increase, want to cut teacher salaries and vote down school budgets (meanwhile they will form booster clubs to finance school sports).
The most recent buzz has been a campaign to base teacher salary on student performance. This year I have a class of 9th and 10th graders who have an average reading level of 2.5. Based on their performance, I would be paying to work here. Yet these students need teachers, as do the more capable students.
Political in-fighting would reach an all time high and group morale would reach an all time low if teacher salaries become contingent on student performance because there would be constant competition to get the classes that attract the more capable students.
However, the most important missing piece of the educational puzzle is this: family and student accountability. It does not matter in the least how intelligent, capable or concerned a teacher is, if the students do not do their work and the parents do not require them to, they will fail. There may be a few students who can absorb information after hearing/seeing it one time, but they are the exceptions.
Students have an increased attitude of entitlement. They seem to think they should be able to come to school with their IPods and cell phones and socialize and that we, as teachers, should somehow magically imbue them with knowledge. They have active extra-curricular and social lives. They eschew the very idea that they are somehow responsible for their own educations and do not spend an appropriate amount of time on school work. Then they seem surprised when they do not get a passing grade on an exam or assignment.
The curriculum is being watered down for fear of failing students and government cutbacks for funding based on graduation rates. We are graduating students who should not be graduating. The knowledge base of this generation is frighteningly lacking.
Why is it so wrong to fail students who do not work up to the level of competency required? I would rather see a school that had an increased number of students who took longer to graduate but knew more, or students who had been held back in elementary or middle school and had learned that they need to work to get ahead.
These are the adults of the future who will be entering the work force. Do you want a nurse or doctor who was passed along to make a school’s program look successful? Do you want an electrician who can not read a wiring diagram? Do you want teachers who never learned the material themselves?
Students are graduating who do not know basic math facts, cannot read or write cursive and have extremely limited vocabularies. They speak in text abbreviations (OMG) and can not spell. Spell check on computers helps for typewritten work, but falls short when there are homophones that exist. (Two, to, too…) Grammar and legible penmanship are skills that are lacking.
My recommendations for “educational reform” are simple:
• Take a step back to facilitate a step forward.
• Ban calculators from classrooms until students can add, subtract, multiply and divide without them.
• Teach phonics, spelling, vocabulary and grammar (no more “holistic” grading).
• Teach penmanship. If a teacher can not read a student’s writing, how can the teacher tell if the answer is right or wrong?
• Give students failing grades if they do not know the material. Give them a chance to raise their grades when they do.
• Raise standards instead of lowering them. Compare the curriculum of core classes today to those of the same courses 20 years ago. The material that has been diluted is staggering!
===
If you wish to pass this on to anyone else, just credit Jill Phaneuf.
Also: Holy crap I'm back!