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02/14/08
The main points discussed by the class showed that current educational problems have been unfolding for the last twenty-five years, current studies regarding education must do a better job at operationally defining the independent and dependent variables, and more research on training a good teacher needs to be conducted.
A new way of teaching and assessing achievement
We all agreed that a new test needs to be implemented, but what would a resolution look like? It should take facts that are learned in school and relate them to the outside world. It is important for current students to know how to "think outside the box." This would be extremely hard to test because it cannot be standardized. We also learned that a president cannot take the necessary measures to ensure that a new test is made because it cannot be developed on a four year time line. By the president's third year in office, all of the focus is put on collecting money for reelection. Thus, we decided that in order for a new test to be made, the president would have to begin education reform as soon as he or she entered office. We also touched on how proposals drafted by president for education are not easy to obtain, which means that the public is not informed about what is going on.
Defining the constructs
In the studies conducted by the government, we concluded that the independent variable is not defined. There is not set standard for what an ideal student looks like, which presents a huge problem because we cannot form students to fit an undefined standard. Also, presently, there is not enough solid research on how to train a good teacher.
Are they born or made?
The problem that America's education system is faced with is that teachers are learning how to teach from a passive environment, i.e. sitting in a classroom and trying to retain information. From that passive environment, the teacher is placed into an active environment of standing up in front of students and trying to engage them. Most teachers cannot translate what they learned in a passive environment to make it fit an active environment. Furthermore, there needs to be greater financial incentive in the teaching profession. The jobs that offer the best salary (i.e. doctors, lawyers) attract the best and brightest individuals.
Readings:
Nation at risk: Can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html (Introduction, A Nation at risk, Findings and Recommendations).
Goals 2000: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/stw/sw0goals.htm
No Child Left Behind: Department of Education (2002). The no child left behind act of 2001: Executive Summary.
3 comments:
We have spoke of this point before, however I thought I would just mention it. During this day we seemed to have a remotely strong feeling about teachers and only their affects on children’s education. Since this time, and I’m sure some people would agree with me, we brought up new ideas that are affecting the education of children. Teachers have been taking the blame on this issue quit some time. With more of a Broffenbrenner approach we can surly realize that other factors should be taken account. Factor such as home environment, and not to mention economic issues. It is sad that many schools; both inner city and suburb schools do not have enough textbooks. Inner city schools, which are usually vastly under funded are filled with less fortunate students, that may not have a stable home environment. A cycle of degeneration is endless in some city neighborhoods. The child goes to school, and come back to an empty home because their parents work 3 jobs a day just to make it by. Eventually the child falls behind and gets frustrated. It would seem the only option would be to drop out of school and get a job. The child may have followed the footsteps of his/her parents, and may be the footsteps of his/her children.
seth mccann
If, on a sinking ship, there are only enough life rafts for half of the passengers, are we all to drown?
NCLB is the worst thing that has happened to American education since the curricular installment of creationist biology. Having recently passed through the public grade school (now studying at the university level), I am saddened to report that the nation’s future is not what it used to be. We are an ignorant and narrow-minded bunch who fears the prospect of truly learning. Since humans as a species have not devolved by any means, we must blame the system.
The problem with standardized testing is that the tests do not accurately gauge the level of knowledge of the students. If the tests are at a difficulty level 6, then it is impossible to determine whether a perfect score on a test belongs to a level 7 student or an 8, 9, or 10 student. If the difficulty of the tests is raised to level 10, it will be easier to identify how many students of each intelligence level there are. 9’s will score higher than 8’s, and 8’s higher than 7’s. Although 3’s will score lower then before, their results will still be proportionate and meaningful.
The problem with the educators is that they are underpaid and consequently uneducated. My high school “forced” many of the better, older, more expensive teachers to retire by offering an outstanding pension plan if they retired at the end of a specific year. They replaced these well-educated teachers with new, stupid, cheap teachers, with many of whom I could not hold intellectual conversations. The reason for this is that American universities have developed a warped image of what one must learn in order to be an educator. I have spoken with many education majors at my university, and many of them complain about having to take many meaningless gen ed. courses. They learn about “learning theory,” about teaching methods.
I have spoken with many of my retired teachers about their college educations, and they told me that they learned mostly about the subjects they planned to teach. Imagine that! It makes sense, doesn’t it? If I have to teach a course on the customs of ancient Japanese society, I would prefer to know about ancient Japan than to know about how to make the learning process easy for my students, to “soften the blow.” I am a music performance major and I have recently started teaching lessons to younger kids. While I’m quite knowledgeable on the subject, it was difficult to get my point across at first, but after I had some more experience working with students, I became better at teaching. Teachers can only learn so much about teaching by textbooks and essays. The majority will come with experience.
As a result of today’s college curriculums, we have teachers who know a lot about “how” to teach, but not about what to teach. Since they cannot do their jobs well, they get paid a relatively low salary. The brighter high school students look at the low-paying occupation of “educator” and the joke of the “education major” and decide to opt into another field. And while it’s important to have such high-achievers in other fields, we are slowly killing ourselves when so few of them decide to teach tomorrow’s professionals.
I don’t mean to sound so harsh, but I must do so because this is such a pressing matter. America is no longer the superpower it was last year and it will only be weaker one year from now. We must change our country’s education if we want to have any hope for it’s future.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at saxguy@comcast.net.
If, on a sinking ship, there are only enough life rafts for half of the passengers, are we all to drown?
NCLB is the worst thing that has happened to American education since the curricular installment of creationist biology. Having recently passed through the public grade school (now studying at the university level), I am saddened to report that the nation’s future is not what it used to be. We are an ignorant and narrow-minded bunch who fears the prospect of truly learning. Since humans as a species have not devolved by any means, we must blame the system.
The problem with standardized testing is that the tests do not accurately gauge the level of knowledge of the students. If the tests are at a difficulty level 6, then it is impossible to determine whether a perfect score on a test belongs to a level 7 student or an 8, 9, or 10 student. If the difficulty of the tests is raised to level 10, it will be easier to identify how many students of each intelligence level there are. 9’s will score higher than 8’s, and 8’s higher than 7’s. Although 3’s will score lower then before, their results will still be proportionate and meaningful.
The problem with the educators is that they are underpaid and consequently uneducated. My high school “forced” many of the better, older, more expensive teachers to retire by offering an outstanding pension plan if they retired at the end of a specific year. They replaced these well-educated teachers with new, stupid, cheap teachers, with many of whom I could not hold intellectual conversations. The reason for this is that American universities have developed a warped image of what one must learn in order to be an educator. I have spoken with many education majors at my university, and many of them complain about having to take many meaningless gen ed. courses. They learn about “learning theory,” about teaching methods.
I have spoken with many of my retired teachers about their college educations, and they told me that they learned mostly about the subjects they planned to teach. Imagine that! It makes sense, doesn’t it? If I have to teach a course on the customs of ancient Japanese society, I would prefer to know about ancient Japan than to know about how to make the learning process easy for my students, to “soften the blow.” I am a music performance major and I have recently started teaching lessons to younger kids. While I’m quite knowledgeable on the subject, it was difficult to get my point across at first, but after I had some more experience working with students, I became better at teaching. Teachers can only learn so much about teaching by textbooks and essays. The majority will come with experience.
As a result of today’s college curriculums, we have teachers who know a lot about “how” to teach, but not about what to teach. Since they cannot do their jobs well, they get paid a relatively low salary. The brighter high school students look at the low-paying occupation of “educator” and the joke of the “education major” and decide to opt into another field. And while it’s important to have such high-achievers in other fields, we are slowly killing ourselves when so few of them decide to teach tomorrow’s professionals.
I don’t mean to sound so harsh, but I must do so because this is such a pressing matter. America is no longer the superpower it was last year and it will only be weaker one year from now. We must change our country’s education if we want to have any hope for it’s future.
Please, let's change this now!
If you have any questions or comments, my name is Tal. Please contact me at SAXGUY@comcast.net
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