THE TOP 5 REASONS YOU CAN'T BLAME... teachers for the...

[battleknight24]

Any of you familiar with the ESPN Classic show "Top 5 reasons you can't blame"?

Having once had conservative views and opinions about problems in public education- and now having taught at a public school for 11 weeks, and getting knocked on my ass... I feel these are:

"THE TOP 5 REASONS YOU CAN'T BLAME...

...teachers for the current state of public education"

5. PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLS IN OTHER COUNTRIES ARE NOT ALL THAT GREAT EITHER

- When criticizing American public schools, people usually point to the achievements of foreign schools and private schools. Grades and test scores in other countries may be higher than those in the United States, but not every student in foreign countries has the opportunity to proceed all the way through high school and get a diploma- only the best students with the highest grades and test scores get that chance. The United States sees a higher percentage of students get a high school diploma than almost any other country in the world. Also, many foreign countries have MUCH higher dropout rates than the U.S.
Private schools also seem to be doing a good job, on paper. But many of those schools are wealthy, have mostly wealthy students from wealthy educated families, and private schools can choose which students to admit. When compared to students of similar race, ethnicity, economic background, etc, public school students actually are on par with private school students, and even outperform them in some cases.

4. MONEY

- Tons of schools across the nation are underfunded. No, throwing money at a problem does not magically solve everything, but you do need it... and many schools don't have it.

(This next point is a little off target, but needs to be mentioned)
3. LOW PAY

- If low salaries continued to be offered for teaching, how are you going to attract the best and most talented teachers. Yes, there are a lot of bad teachers in a lot of bad schools... but was there much competition for those particular positions? Were there people beating down the doors to get those jobs?

2. HIGH STAKES TESTING

- I used to be ultra-conservative when it came to the issue of high stakes testing. As a high school teenager, I passed my state's standardized test on my first try, with commendations. I always believed that if a school had many students who couldn't pass the test, that school simply wasn't doing its job.
Now as a teacher, I see the magnitude of the problem that is high stakes standardized testing. Forget about spending time preparing for the next's days lesson, or teaching students information and skills that they will need in college, technical schools, on the job, and in life. Everything is about passing the f*cking test... EVERYTHING!!! What the hell are students learning if you are just teaching to the test?

1. BAD PARENTING

- The hardest lesson I am learning is that (for the most part) students can do no wrong, and parents will (almost) always defend them no matter what they do. How is a kid supposed to behave and learn in school if there is no discipline at home? How much can a teacher do?


Peace,

[longship]

1. #1 - No Child Left Behind

enough said?

[opihimoimoi]

2. We Know WE Can do Better.....BUT..............

We are NOT......WHY?

Let us count the Reasons

[Mythsaje]

3. Schools need to keep up with the times...

Education needs to keep up with the times. In the 19th Century, people needed to learn reading, writing, and math to participate in society and the economy.

But they kept the same standards until at least the 1950s. The "three 'R's."

By the time kids are out of High School, if not sooner, they should know how to read critically, construct a decent sentence, and spell at least moderately well. They should know how to balance a checkbook, work a budget, and calaculate interest rates. They should know how to construct (and deconstruct) a logical argument.

They should at least be familiar with the continents and major countries and capitols. They should know at least the timeline of American history, if not exact dates.

The fundamentals should be things they're will have to know and use on a regular basis. They should know how to seek information on computers AND in books.

Students should have to prove competency in life skills to graduate high school, not prove they can pass some b.s. multiple-choice test or something.

[NMMNG]

4. rAmen

Life and work are not a multiple choice test, but that's all kids are learning how to do these days. It's a grave disservice to them and to everyone they encounter after they get out of school.

[Mythsaje]

5. I thought half the crap they were trying to get me to swallow

back when I was in school was a load of crap.

It can only be much, much worse these days.