What does an Obama presidency mean for all of us in the education field?
This is a question I began pondering immediately following the election. Education slipped through the cracks in the 2008 debate as the economy took center stage. The state of the economy, however, is going to be a big factor in how Obama approaches education.
In the campaign, Obama called for more funding and a bigger role for the Federal Government. With staggering deficits and a national debt over 10 trillion dollars can the government really spend more in education? Even if they did would it make a difference? Some of the worst performing schools in the US receive the most funding.
How do you see it?
How important is it to remain completely objective from a political viewpoint in the classroom? My political views are quite strong and I work with teenagers on a daily basis. One of my main goals is to present both sides of all political issues. This often means explaining positions that I am very much opposed to. If anything, I sometimes find myself overcompensating and favoring positions that I personally disagree with.
I read an interesting story today about the teacher's union in New York and the argument over a teacher's right to where political buttons at school. They argue that their 1st amendment rights have been violated. They probably have a good argument and if the case were to go to trial they would probably win. It does, however, make me wonder how a student can view a teacher as objective when they openly campaign at school for one candidate over the other.
OBAMA or MCCAIN?
Whose administration will do a better job of improving education in the United States? AZCentral has an interesting breakdown of each candidates stance on education policy.
The way you view each candidate probably boils down to your view on government's roll on education. If you believe that the government and teacher unions should continue to play a large roll in education then you might side with Obama. McCain, although not completely opposed to a government roll does tend to move some of the responsibility to the private sector.
What do you think? Who will do a better job?
What do you do with schools that have a 50% drop out rate?
This is the question that perplexes many in education today. A recent column by Christina Hoag relays the complexity of the "drop out " issue. How does a school convince a kid that a diploma is worth the hassle?
One solution by a school district in the Los Angelos area was a a $200,000 multi-media campaign that aimed to convince kids to stay in school. According to the article the program seems to have produced some results. One local high school achieved a 23% increase in the number of 12 graders that passed the graduation exam.
Although a 23% increase in achievement is impressive, I am skeptical about the future success of a drop out programs. My reasoning is simple. The drop out problem is not an "education" problem. Kids who drop out are symptomatic of a culture that does not value education. I am a firm believer that school officials can enact policies that go a long way to improving the values and opinions of their students. The problem, however, is the influence (or lack there of) that many of today's children get from home.
We can not simply take a problem that is caused by many different groups of people and lay it at the feet of educators. So far that is the solution that has been presented and I believe it will fail.
The alarm went off early today for me and thousands of other educators who head back for another year in the class room. There will be no more sleeping in or days at the swimming pool and to be honest I am not all that upset. Like many of you, I am rested and ready to get back to what I do best. At my school we celebrated another year of making AYP but as we looked at the data it is obvious that we have our work cut out for us. Like many schools, we made AYP by the skin of our teeth and if we do not improve next year's first day will not be a celebration.
How did your school do? Did you make AYP or are you on "THE LIST"? What is your schools plan going forward to achieve 100% achievement by 2014?
As a teacher of high school seniors I am constantly perplexed by the number of students who make it to their senior year with skills that are well below the level they should be to successfully perform in my class. I am sure this is a problem that many teachers encounter. Usually, in high school, teachers blame the middle school teachers and in middle school the teachers blame the elementary school teachers.
Thomas Sowell (a well respected economist) wrote a column a couple of years back entitled Education: Then and Now. He profiles his experiences as a child moving from North Carolina, where he was a top student, to New York, where he fell in to the bottom of his class. His argument is that standards and expectations make the difference.
Recent developments in education have me quite worried about our childrens' future. In the name of "ALL KIDS MUST PASS" the "Bar" seems to have been lowered. In the name of "Teaching the Standards" many important skills such as hard work, accountability and responsibility seem to be going out the window so long as the student masters the standard.
- Student doesn't do his homework? Let him do it again because to assign a zero doesn't allow the opportunity to master the standard.
- Student fails a test? Let them take it again.
- Student skips a test? Let them make it up.
I could go on and on with examples and in the end my point is this. Johnny might learn the standard. He might bring in the homework on the third chance and he might show up to take that test given the second opportunity. He might perform well on these assignments and might learn all the standards.
Johnny, however, is not learning many of life's important lessons. He is not learning accountability. He is not learning responsibility. He is not learning about hard work. In the name of "Learning the Standards" Johnny is being handicapped and ill prepared to enter the work force. A lack of accountability, hard work and responsibility in the real world equates to a pink slip.
Don't we as educators have more responsibility than just "Teaching the Standards"?
Barack Obama recently made a speech to the American Federation of Teachers. We will save the debate for the government's roll in education for another post but one thing in the speech really caught my eye. The following is a quote from Obama that to me is a major problem this country is experiencing.
"the single most important factor in determining a child's achievement is not the color of their skin or where they come from; it's not who their parents are or how much money they have. It's who their teacher is."
WOW!!!
As a teacher, I do believe that I play a huge roll in the outcome of my students lives. However, to argue that I am more important than a child's parent is ridiculous. Children will/should spend far more time and have much more interaction with their parents than they will ever have with their teacher.
This leads me to my point. It seems that as the years go on parents/politicians are every more eager to turn over all child raising duties to the school. This is a dangerous path we are taking. Parental accountablility is slowly receding and I fear that a new title may need to be added to my job resume..... Babysitter.