The Wonderful Blog Which You ve Never Seen

Since I choose to primarily home school my children, I often feel reluctant to condemn even a small part of the public school system. However, this year, my youngest daughter has chosen to enter the Public School system for a few class periods a day. Her experience there has been both positive and negative.

An algebra teacher instills a sense of humor and joy in her students as she portrays equations and mathematical problems as fun and exciting to complete. Her energy in class brings a smile to the students. Her enthusiasm for teaching has resulted in many hours of energetic participation on the part of my student at least, who comes home each day chattering away about her class, and asking for help to ‘get’ a new method of math, that we chose not to study at home. Sets, geometric forms, and systemic orientations will probably not be part of her useful information as she sets about her chosen career of homemaker, but learning about them may instill a sense of curiosity that she never forgets.

On the other hand; an English teacher sharing fine literature and writing skills should have an extreme positive affect on my daughter’s life. Her example of stilted, demanding instruction, unbending to the students who attempt to take her classes, is deterring my daughter’s natural interest in literature. Her abilities are being discouraged. An instructor overwhelmed by the educational demands of political gain, corporate structure, and extreme limitations of educational authorities limits her choices. The issue here is not the topic; it’s the enthusiasm of the instructor. A teacher should want her students to learn because that is their opportunity to gather information and glow in the process of gathering knowledge. This teacher, at some point was good at her job; I remember hearing other students comment on her abilities. However, she’s lost her exuberance for teaching.

CSAP’s may have a purpose in our system, but when the purpose our teachers have for teaching is to get a good grade on CSAP’s - they’ve missed the reality. Students need to learn for the sake of learning, because knowledge is a powerful and wonderful tool for living. Encouraging students to learn is a bonus to getting a paycheck. When we forget the purpose of education and begin to teach children for the wrong reasons, we loose ground. Our children suffer.

Copyright © 2005 - Jan Verhoeff

A Home school mom for life, Jan believes education is a life long pattern of living. Join her in discussion on her blog at http://homeschool101.blogspot.com

Tags: CSAPS, education, home schooling, Jan Verhoeff, learning, life long learning, limitations, school, teachersCSAPS, education, home schooling, Jan Verhoeff, learning, life long learning, limitations, school, teachers

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As much as I loathe standardized testing, I have to admit that I’m relieved by the California State Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate the high school exit exam. For those of you who may not have heard, yesterday the high court suspended an Alameda County Superior Court Judge’s prior ruling which prohibited schools from withholding diplomas of students that failed the exit exam. I’m saddened to think that the 46,000 high school seniors who haven’t passed the test yet won’t be donning caps and gowns with their classmates next month; however, I’m frightened that this signifies that 46,000 students from the class of ‘06 can’t do 8th grade math or read at a 10th grade level. How can we, as educators and as citizens, send someone to college or into the workplace without these basic skills? What value does a diploma have if it doesn’t represent any actual learning?

Critics of the exit exam have pointed out that underpriveleged and minority students are disporportionately affected by it. I whole-heartedly agree that this represents a social problem that needs to be dealt with, but I don’t think dismissing the test is the answer. There are reasons that these kids aren’t passing - lack of proficiency with the English language, underfunded schools, problems at home - we ought to get to the root of the problem and fight for more and better ESL programs, more money for education and more support services for at-risk students. We need to stop fighting the test and starting fighting for the poor and minority students it hurts.

Tags: blogging, blogs, education, life, publicschools, schools, standardized, students, teachers, testingblogging, blogs, education, life, publicschools, schools, standardized, students, teachers, testing

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Americans have long taken it for granted that the nation can out produce, out think, and out compete the world market simply because it is America. But consider these historical facts:

The U.S. only became a world power after the First World War

The U.S. became a superpower during the Second World War

The U.S. became the richest nation after WW II, largely because the other plausible competitors for the positionJapan, Germany, and Britainhad been bombed into near oblivion

With help from the Marshal Plan, the U.S. funded reconstruction of its major competitors. While “made in Japan” was a derogatory comment in the 1950s, it has been a sign of quality since the 1980s

Many contributors that led the U.S. to global prominence during the post-war years came from the war-ravaged nations: for example, the nuclear and space programs and their spin-off benefits are products of former Italian/German/Nazi scientists (Fermi, Einstein, von Braun)

The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that lacks a united and cohesive k-12 education plan, leaving curriculum, certification, and standards decisions in the hands of state or local school boards. American teachers are so overwhelmed with non-teaching responsibilities (from coaching and CPR classes to monitoring signs of possible abuse and handling disinterested parents) that many jokingly tell friends “oh, and I also teach a little history.”

Throwing money at schools is not a solution. The schools that have elevated Japan and Germany from dust to second and third richest industrialized countries in less than forty years spent far less per pupil than many, if not most, schools in America. Most people who enter the teaching field do so because they actually believe they can make a difference of the sort that the nation is begging for. As novices, teachers are typically assigned the most difficult classes (in terms of size, discipline problems, and expectations for students), face indifferent or hostile parents, work without collegial help, at laughably low pay that often leads them to taking second jobs. At the very least, teachers should be paid at a rate that allows them to live in the community they serve. And yes, the tenure system should be either greatly revised or discarded. Eliminating higher-paid “deadwood” teachers (those who have ceased caring, or teach outdated materials) would free up funds to pay dedicated teachers without the need to pour more money into an expensive system that could work if it were repaired.

Demographics aren’t destiny. One place to make a course correction is to allow education professionals establish school curricula and standards for passing. In a nation without a central education directive, there is no such thing as an “education president.” Step one, then, is to accept that teachers are professional people, not baby-sitters. Community oversight boards do not tell physicians how to diagnose and treat patients, nor do they tell lawyers how to prepare a case for court. Even Austrian Emperor Josef couldn’t tell Mozart that his opera had “too many notes.” It is time that the lay public stop telling professional educators how to teach.

Alternatively, the U.S. can proceed as it is now doing. In a few more years, China, India, and Japan will need a place to outsource work, to a country with poorly-educated and thus low-paid workers. While that might ensure high employment levels for the next generation of Americans, is that really what we want for the future of our children?

Dr. Sprackland has taught at all grade levels, from first grade to university levels. He has taught in both public and private schools, mainly at the high school level. His article on evolution in the schools appeared in the November 2005 issue of the American School Board Journal.

Tags: curricula, education, Nation Left Behind, schools, teachers, testingcurricula, education, Nation Left Behind, schools, teachers, testing

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