The EI Blog

Obama and Education

2008-11-06T13:28:00.002-05:00

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?

Remaining politically neutral in the classroom?

2008-10-13T14:32:00.002-04:00

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.

Who is the better choice in 2008?

2008-09-08T15:13:00.002-04:00

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?

Drop Out Factories

2008-08-19T14:22:00.002-04:00

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.

Back To The Daily Grind!!!

2008-08-04T18:18:00.003-04:00

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?

Are Low Expectations the Problem???

2008-07-21T10:04:00.002-04:00

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 and the importance of teachers!!!

2008-07-16T12:38:00.003-04:00

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.

Failing once again…

2008-02-13T15:32:00.000-05:00

And I am not talking about kids. I am talking about the educational policies that continue to fail to prepare our kids for the 21st century workplace. The morning call released an article that profiled Pennsylvania employers and their inability to find quality employees. One employer complained that workers today “don’t want to follow rules, and in a workplace there are certain rules. It’s almost like it’s a cultural thing.”

I can’t help but think this is the result of years of over-promoting self-esteem and convincing our kids that the world revolves around them. At some point the notion of tough love has to be instituted. We have to tell our kids that laziness and a general lack of work ethic is not acceptable and it is time students who perform in such a way are held accountable and not just pushed through the system.

Sending The Wrong Message?

2008-01-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

Recently Fulton county schools located in Atlanta, Georgia decided to implement a program called Learn to Earn. The program will pay students $8 an hour to come to after school tutoring. Students who show improvement in their grades will earn bonuses for their achievement. The program will be piloted for 15 weeks and will be offered at one local middle school and one local high school.

My first thought is…. Has education declined so far that we now have to pay students to learn and do their work? What kind of message does this send to our kids?

What happened to hard work, responsibility and long-term goals?

What is wrong with telling a kid that working hard as a child pays off in the form of increased future earnings potential?

The bottom line is we will teach these kids that education should result in immediate rewards. My guess is that grades will improve and the program will be deemed a success. But what happens when money is not offered? What happens when they go to college and must perform for four years without financial reward?

Is this really the right message????

A new community for the 21st century educator!!!

2007-12-20T15:27:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Educate Interactive. This site is the vision of three educators who wanted to build and educational community for the 21st century. To build this community we need your help. If you have a great lesson or idea to use in the class room please post it in the teacher’s exchange. The old saying “You get what you give” will ring true as this community grows.

As educators we have a common mission and belief: All kids can and must receive a quality education. We are all in this together and together we will accomplish this goal.

Teacher Pages

2007-10-12T15:26:00.001-04:00

Make sure you take a few minutes to take a look at our newest feature. Teacher Pages is our attempt at EI to make the teacher/parent/student communication process as easy as possible. We know that most teachers don’t have unlimited time so we designed a personal class website program that is user friendly and one that we think can enhance educational relationships.

As always, please let us know if you would like to see new features you think would enhance this sites value to you as an educator.