Big Education News from President-Elect Obama's Transition Team
Wednesday December 17, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team made two education-related announcements today:
- Arne Duncan, the superintendent of Chicago schools, will be the new administration's Secretary of Education. Mr. Duncan has successfully improved achievement in the country's third-largest school system. Some people think that his appointment signals a middle road on the central issues of Education at this point in time. Mr. Duncan believes in holding teacher's accountable while at the same time investing money in schools' social programs.
- Obama has pledged to devote $10 billion to early child education. This investment would represent the largest commitment to the education of very young children since the creation of Head Start in 1965.
Comments
Hold teachers accountable alone? Where are the other 2/3 of the equation–holding the parents accountable by reducing their welfare checks until their children’s test scores rise? Or holding the children accountable by refusing to bestow educational grants for college on those who have been continually “promoted with considerations” because they fail to meet state standards, year after year after year, in spite of intervention after intervention after intervention?
In the district in which I teach, virtually every school is an improvement school–in fact, the district is an improvement district. We can’t ALL be incompetents! But at no time are the illegal aliens held accountable (in fact, they are graded on separate and LOWER standards) nor are the welfare parents being taken to task for their child’s lack of progress. Instead, they get free breakfast, free lunch, free medical, free dental, free tutoring, free summer school/intersession, free eyeglasses, free before school care, free after school care…the list is endless of their entitlements.
Teachers can only do so much. If the parent or child doesn’t do their part, it doesn’t matter if Alber Einstein is at the podium, the scores will not rise.
Jo Lavender said it all, and quite well, thank you. Accountability rests with all who participate in the system. If those that get all the benefits, squander them and do not improve themselves, then take them away and give them to the students and parents that are struggling because they have to pay for lunches, medical insurance, tutoring, child care, etc. AND study/work their behinds off so that they can improve their situation. It is not a hard concept to understand, USE IT PROPERLY OR LOSE IT!
It doesn’t help to send children to Headstart, etc. early if home is not assisting in their training or staff aren’t child-friendly. Too much is placed, at times, on ABC’s, when more needs to be put on moms and dads reading to their kids, talking with them, raising them! That is not up to the school – we need to hold parents more accountable, not just teachers. Spend quality time with your children, listen to them when they have something to share, start having them be responsible when they are small – pick up all of the red toys, etc – and that will make a big difference! Money is not necessarily the answer!
Illegal aliens and neglectful parents are the cause of our country’s educational problems. I started teaching foty years ago and saw the quality of teaching go down percipitously in that time. I was shocked by the lack of preparation of the teachers I supervised over the last twenty years. Put a kid in a classroom with a competent teacher and miracles happen. End of story. Start kids early and the problems associated with poverty are ameliorated. I hope our new President succeeds in making education in the US what it ought to be instead of the poor imitation it is now.
Too often, educational accountability and oweness are planted squarely at the feet of teachers, as if academic success occurs in isolation. As you all noted, education is a 3-way endeavor: with teachers, parents, and students all doing their parts. As a teacher, I cannot teach effectively if my goals are not in alignment with those of the parents as well as the students. It seems that when a child struggles academically, the teacher is to blame. However, when a child succeeds, most of the credit goes to the parents and the child. Teachers have become the scapegoats for a very flawed education system. I remember Obama taking parents to task for their children’s academic achievement during his campaign. Hopefully, he will not lose sight of that important component of education as he continues to make decisions that will impact us all in the system.
I have little confidence that Mr. Duncan will make a difference nor will holding teachers accountable accomplish more. Duncan’s thoughts on paying students to perform are completely wrong. We broke our education system 40 years ago and headed it in the wrong direction but have failed to recognize the problems or address real solutions. The students I see at the university level are poorly prepared, lack basic skills and knowlege, and can not read or write; but demand 4.0 grades to “feel good.” My daughter, a teacher, has given me permission to start teaching my young grandson math since to graduate he must only take general math, a basic algebra class, and pass a state manadated minimal knowledge test. So much for education standards and requirements. Good luck teachers – buy a big bottle of pain reliever!
I agree with everything everyone else has said.
1) About quality of teacher prep: I just finished my student teaching last June 2008 and, after all that work, I see now that I definitely could have used much more prep in CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, writing full lesson plans, and practice teaching my lesson plans to my college peers. At the time I didn’t appreciate how much more exposure to advance classroom observation I should have had. My advice to anyone considering teaching is: 1) Spend a lot of time observing classes in advance to see what it’s like, and 2) DON’T teach up until the very end of the school year (My university advised us to do this because our principal and fellow faculty would see us in a more favorable light). You need time to reflect and fill out job apps after your internship! I don’t mean to be too hard on universities. Too much time in college spent on theory to the neglect of the practical side, however. My university (as probably all of them do) actually SHORTENED the time required for college teacher prep!!
2) About lack of student motivation and preparation: During my advance observation, I spent time in a sheltered ESL class (minorities and immigrants) in a high poverty middle school in Seattle School District. So many students showed up without their books, paper, pencils, and homework. I also heard a lot of teacher talk about some parents not being there for their children at all. This school is an “improvement school.” I spent my internship in a low poverty high school, but I couldn’t believe the number of students asking me for a PENCIL!! Many also “forgot” their homework. Too much of the blame is on teachers, rather than parents and students taking their share of the blame. That’s all. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
To meet the challenges inherent in today’s rapidly changing demographics, we need to take a closer look at non-traditional approaches to education, long ignored in this country. In the same way politicians pledge now to reach across the aisle to each other, we need as a nation to reach across our borders to educators around the world facing the same kind of challenges. Together, we can bring back the magic of learning that contains within it the seed for world peace instead of revolution. Yes, we can.
WHAT?? Why pick a Super from a city and state with a public education system not exactly in the top national ranking for such a high post? I would rather have seen someone as Sec of Ed with a track record of success.