Blog Comment of the Week: Parents Need to Take More Responsibility for Student Success
Thursday October 30, 2008
In his 30-minute primetime message to America last night, Senator Barack Obama spoke decisively about a topic that has been bubbling up a lot lately right here on the Elementary Educators blog - the concept that student success or failure depends primarily upon the home environment and parent involvement. To that point, Obama stated:
"Responsibility for our children's success doesn't start in Washington - it starts in our homes. No education policy can replace who is involved in their child's education from day one, who makes that sure children are in school on time, who helps them with their homework and attends those parent-teacher conferences. No government program can turn off the TV set or put away the video games or read to your children." -- Barack ObamaThis echoes reader SRW's passionate blog comment that says:
"I agree that parents need to realize teachers cannot do anything except present concepts, but the concept of practicing at home, or HOMEWORK, is almost extinct in our homes. Only a few DO the homework, kids whine and complain until the parents blame the TEACHERS for the assignments, as though it was a disfavor to the family that we DARE send homework! How do we DARE interfere with video game time?!?..or TV watching at night. Parents need to take FULL responsibility, and USE the trained teachers as resources, and PRAISE the fact we even still have public schools to help them."As much as I agree with these sentiments, I can't help but think that arguing over who is to blame (teachers or parents) does not ultimately improve schools, student performance, or the overall quality of the educational system. I do believe that parents have the most fundamental influence and the most power, but until parents are perfect... educators and guardians will have to work together and do their cooperative best for kids.
Comments
Has this issue of merit pay been addressed regarding our goals of education? To improve communication amongst classroom and special education teachers, parents, etc… I’m wondering if extra duty pay could be provided to teachers who tutor after school, attend meetings and workshops outside of the regular school day hours, meet yearly professional goals, and many more simple things that teachers are already expected to accomplish on top of the daily task of teaching, grading and writing lesson plans!?!
This is a great point. I agree that education does start at an early age in the home; however, it is the teachers responsibility to do their jobs and teach. Teachers can have just as much influence on children’s academic success as parents. Although it should be the parents jobs to help the students at home with their homework and make sure it is completed. By doing this, parents are backing up the teachers and are helping to reinforce what the student learned that day.
I am a Parent and Political Writer, not an Educator. As a Parent of a now High School Student I have atttempted to support my Daughter’s schools as much as possible. I have been PTA President, School Site Council Chair, and all-around active Parent. I am also a single Mom. I know very thoroughly the type of issues that Teachers are confronted with these days. Overcrowded classrooms, stupid NCLB tying the hands of creative Educators, and uninvolved Parents. But some of those uninvolved Parents have little choice–until this Country values Parenting there will be increasing problems. No one is at home to track homework the way they used to, and it is difficult to fit it in with everything else going on. Why can’t our students learn enough in the classroom? Teachers could get creative and “stagger” homework for each course (algebra MWF, English TTH, etc.) but it seems nobody wants to be creative and think of ways to take growing academic burdens off of Students and their Parents.
I know how stretched our Educators are. Parents though are in the same boat and what is sometimes seen as complacency on our part is actually not. Some Parents simply can’t be there to guide their children, and it’s getting worse with more people taking night jobs,etc. to make ends meet. We need to be more innovative in how lessons are taught and look at the realities of what Parents can truly do.
I think most Teachers are great, but this new practice at pointing toward the Parents for everything is simply wrong and will never solve the problem.
Thanks to all you Teachers for all that you do. I know you all are under lots of pressure, too. This Parent does appreciate your long hours and little pay…
What I would like to see, perhaps more than anything in the realm of education, is permanent cessation of the absurd hostilities between public/private school educators and homeschool educators. Both sides can learn much from each other, if they are willing. It is flatly wrong for either group to despise and disdain the other group. The shared goal is to educate children effectively and fruitfully. I have one foot solidly in each “camp”, and have for many years. Everybody put the job first (educating children), and jettison all snobbery and stereotypes about those who follow a different path toward the same goal. Please ! ! !
After being in education for 32 years, I have observed the trend of homework in many forms and in many educational arenas. Homework, after a long day of instruction, can counteract the goals of education for many students. Instruction in the classroom is the teachers job. Assignments that reinforce the concepts should be able to be completed by the student without parent support. Research suggests that homework does not improve learning, but only supports and maintains learning.
At this time, my faculty members are asked to assign students work that will be able to be completed independent of the parents support, and should only take the student 10-15 minutes per subject. Our parents are asked, instead of hammering their children with more academic assignments, to enroll their children in activities in their community. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Basketball, music lessons, dance lessons, bowling leagues, pottery classes are a sample of activities that will provide a child a well rounded view of their community, activities they may enjoy into adulthood and can often be done as a family.
Parents who are concerned about this concept are asked this question:
At the end of your work day, does your boss assign YOU 2-4 hours of additional work to complete without an increase in pay? Are you willing to give up family and leisure time to accommodate your boss in this request? Why are we asking children, who have been at their job for 6-7 hours a day, to conduct more “work” after hours?
Children need social activities to learn to communicate in varied age and interest level groups, which permits them to become well developed adults. Little time is spent in school developing social abilities, or social cognition and yet that is one of the cornerstones of adulthood and success in business.
Jacky, your comment was exactly what I what I meant. Too bad you aren’t in charge. Just like in so many parts of our lives it seems Common Sense is absent when it comes to Education policy. I love the question you posed about doing homework from your job. I’m going to use that at some appropriate point as I continue to work on Education policy. Thanks Jacky (and many others) for being a voice of reason. Maybe soon others will catch up…
On the subject of homework, I very rarely assign it anymore. Too often it’s forgotten at home, the parent/sibling/friend does it for them, or minimal effort is put forth by the student. A lot of that has to do with the fact that kids are simply burned out by the time 3:00 rolls around, just as I am. Although I often take home work to finish/prepare, I do that of my own accord in order to have everything ready for my students. Students do need time to go home and socialize with their peers and family, rest, and play; they are, after all, just kids.
As far as merit pay is concerned, I feel that many teachers would be left out of that benefit despite their best efforts. Our school ability-groups, and often the “low” group includes special ed students who must take the regular state test regardless of their IEP’s. Also, how can teachers be responsible for a student’s level of effort, whether that’s based on overall motivation or if a student was feeling ill that particular day? I have plenty of students this year who are very capable of blowing the top off the test in March, but they are the first to admit, along with their parents, that they simply don’t want to do the work. Teachers can be great inspriations and motivators, but we can’t force a kid to do anything he doesn’t want to do.
I guess I’m in a unique situation as I have parents who request homework for their children, and who genuinely work with the students to master concepts that are included in the work assigned. I teach fourth grade in a “high-stakes-testing” state, but I don’t think the test is the impetus for the parents’ requests. Additionally, 75% of my students are from single parent families or families where grandparents are raising the children. My school is located in THE poorest county in our state, and 97+% of the students are on a free meal program.
Yes, I do have a few students who struggle to remember to do or return their homework on occasion, but I can deal with that without placing blame. Our campus has an after-school homework help program as does the housing project in which most of my students live. My teaching partner and I spell each other at the learning center at the “project”, visit the students’ games and extra-curricular activities to help lend support to their lives, coach Academic Olympics, etc. To us, that’s part of what we consider teaching to be. I’m in my 50s and he’s in his late 20s, each with active lives outside school, but providing this type of support to children who don’t have it from home has paid off in respect from students for themselves, us, and the school; and in respect and support from their guardians.
Am I the only teacher, who doesn’t feel she has enough minutes in the day to teach all that I’m being asked to teach. I have 5 hrs and 10 minutes for academics and I have at least 6 and 1/2 hours of content a day. I assign 20-35 minutes of homework a day. It provides practice time for things that we don’t have enough time to do in class. The only grade they get is did you do it and turn it in. They have to learn to work independently sometime in their life. This is their chance to learn to assess where they are not understanding concepts. If they have problems, it is their job to come to class and bring up problems as we go over the work.
I ask them to take responsibility for theit own learning and start identifying where they are getting confused. It takes a while, but they learn and go to 5th grade much more independent and self-reliant. Homework shouldn’t be about parents. It should be about
students learning responsibilty. No one gives you a break in college, They need to learn to cope and use it to learn now.
Personally I feel if a teacher is good at what they do students shouldn’t need to have homework assignments. Yes there will always be those students who need extra time or help and depending on their grade should be responsible to do assigned extra. I think one of the reasons some parents decide to homeschool is the amount of homework assigned. They don’t have time to be kids anymore.