School Choice

At the Republican National Convention, Jeb Bush (former Governor of Florida and younger brother of former President George W. Bush) gave a speech focused on education that I found very interesting.  You can find the transcript of the speech here.  

Bush brought up many interesting points, but I was intrigued by his comments on school choice in particular:

Let’s give every parent in America a choice about where their child attends school.  Everywhere in our lives, we get the chance to choose.  Go down any supermarket aisle – you’ll find an incredible selection of milk.  You can get whole milk, 2% milk, low-fat milk or skim milk. Organic milk, and milk with extra Vitamin D.  There’s flavored milk– chocolate, strawberry or vanilla – and it doesn’t even taste like milk.  They even make milk for people who can’t drink milk.  Shouldn’t parents have that kind of choice in schools?  Governor Romney gets it. He believes parents – regardless of zip code or income – should be able to send their child to the school that fits them best.  That has set him against some entrenched interests.  There are many people who say they support strong schools but draw the line at school choice.  “Sorry, kid. Giving you equal opportunity would be too risky. And it will upset powerful political forces that we need to win elections.”  I have a simple message for these masters of delay and deferral: Choose. You can either help the politically powerful unions. Or you can help the kids.

I agree with Gov. Bush – school choice is something that needs to be embraced for the good of the students – but I’m sure it will be met with opposition from teaching unions in particular.

To me. the milk comparison is brazenly apt — though a bit silly — for understanding school choice.  It takes into account that different students have different needs and there are different schools that can address those needs.  It also hearkens back to good ole’ fashioned competition – if schools were forced to compete for students, then that would force them to raise their standards and levels of achievement.  All in all, variety — in the classrooms and and the schools themselves — will only benefit students.

Yes, there will be issues – but that’s okay.  We can’t refuse to do the right thing because it’s “hard.”

Lives on the Boundary: A Response to Mike Rose

When I first picked up Mike Rose’s book Lives on the Boundary I felt sort of put off about it at first. I thought it was going to be the same sort of stuff that I’ve been reading in my education class last semester. Basically I expected to feel some sort of guilt trip for having grown up on the more privileged side of the school system (because I’ve often felt that way after reading stories of less fortunate children). However, Rose’s book has surprised me.

The way Rose describes his experiences in this book seem so accessible that anyone who reads it can feel a connection; including myself (I think I used that semicolon wrong but we are going to move past that). I particularly enjoyed the chapter “Literate Stirrings”. In this chapter, Rose talks about the first group of students he taught in the projects. What I liked was how the chapter focused on the students more than Rose himself. Through the eyes of the writer the reader gets to experience the lives of multiple children and their individual struggles in the school system.

Obviously majority of these children were labeled as “problem children” or “below average”. Essentially, these were children who had given up on the school system and whom the school system had given up on. The way Rose approaches these children is truly a joy to read (I would say inspiring but I typically don’t like that word). By reaching out and giving these children the sort of attention that they need, it is evident to the reader of a sort of “literate stirring” among them. It just reminds me of why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I believe that to give students (particularly the ones the school system has given up on) a second chance at finding something that speaks to them in school, then we as educators have done our job.

Until next time,

Anna B.

“White mans guilt”?

I have no idea how I feel about this but I found it interesting. I feel like it makes me feel guilty for being a white american… everything seems to be so much easier; sad truth, but truth non-the-less. Maybe thats not how I feel about this article at all! I guess im still trying to figure that out… whatever. It just bothered me.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/mojave-desert-parents-go-to-court-over-charter-school.html

 

Im sorry but you’ll just have to copy and paste the website into your search bar because I can’t get the link thing to work… technology hates me.

Tackling the “Accent Problem”

In the NY Times article, Smoothing the Path from Foreign Lips to American Ears, journalist Richard Perez-Pena discussed how American Universities are dealing with the many students and professors who come to attend schools with little to no English speaking skills. Even the students and professors who do speak English are evaluated and put into classes that work on breaking down the English language sounds and easing the ability for American ears to understand foreign lips. The programs discussed in the article remind me of the Intensive English program that exists here at CSU (it is called something different now). Though I agree that it is important for travelers , students, and educators to learn how to communicate effectively in the English speaking world when they choose to be in it just the same as English speakers should learn how to communicate effectively when they go abroad, the article did make me think a little deeper on the subject. 

“At American universities, one in every six graduate students hails from another country — about 300,000 of them, almost half from China and India, according to the Institute of International Education.” One in every six graduate students is from another country. These students may or may not have had English classes and even if they did, there is a good chance that they were taught to read and write- not speak. For these students, programs such as our own Intensive English program or the ones in this article are a requirement that is to be completed before entering regular classes or teaching class. This raises a couple of questions. The biggest concerning when an accent becomes intelligible. The article goes on to describe different softwares that are available to help these students learn and reinforce the grammar and phonetic structure of English, but it never really goes into what “intelligible” or “comfortable for American ears” means. Do these students and educators need to completely eradicate their accents? No, that would be silly. I think that the goal is to create a smooth flow of communication between teacher and student, colleague and colleague, community member and community member. 

A Degree Does Not Guarantee a Job: A Response to Education Today

This is the original video.

This is the response.

“Collaboration is the stuff of growth.”-Sir Ken Robinson (Original video)

“The age that kids are growing up today is the most stimulating age ever… kids get distracted…teachers are just training students to regurgitate facts.” -Dan Brown (Response video)

Both of these videos really got me thinking about education today. Education of students that we will soon be teaching and my own education, both in high school and college. I agree with Dan Brown that I am merely being “sold an education” that many teachers read from their power points and post them and expect their students to “learn”. I also agree that some of the best classes I have ever had were the classes that a stimulating discussion was fostered, either by the students or the professor/teacher. Students should be given the opportunity, at all levels, to learn from each other.

I am still thinking  and trying to consider both of these videos.

-Kaitlyn

Rice’s Rant on Rose

Found here!

 

Low salary deters men from teaching in elementary schools

The link for my article is right here.

So I guess we’re supposed to sound “blog-ish” in this post, or at least attempt to write how a blogger would. I’ll give it a go.

Reading through this article, or more like commentary, I found some interesting ideas/concepts about men in the elementary teaching world.

 

Daniel Schantz brings up an idea why men do not want to teach elementary school that is not exactly related to money, and it intrigued me. He says:

“I can tell you that in my experience the No. 1 reason men don’t go into elementary school teaching is their fear of being labeled as sexual abusers. Many people persist in viewing men as potential sexual predators, and not without some reason.”

I would like to question my male peers to see if they felt this way or not. It seems so ridiculous, but I can also see it being a legitimate reason in our judgmental society. Seriously..feedback on this would be cool, guys.

For more on the low salary stuff…just read the article. I just wanted to bring up the most riveting point for me. 🙂

Reaction to Arne Duncan’s Change is Hard

It’s no secret that students who come from bad backgrounds can fall behind in their learning and performance skills. It is also common knowledge that some schools are suffering from being underfunded. But as an education student, who is not yet in the field, hearing that some principals are overwhelmed and teachers feel unsupported is sad and surprising news. Everyone in the schooling system is tired of feeling attacked.

 

But despite all of the negatives, teachers are overcoming huge barriers are helping kids learn in remarkable ways.

 

Arne Duncan is pushing for a change in the way that teachers are assessed annually instead of only looking at the test scores of their students. After all, there is a lot more to teaching and learning than the standard bubble test, and teachers deserve to be recognized for more of the work they are doing. According to Duncan:

 

“The goal is to have teachers feel supported instead of isolated and overwhelmed, including earning salaries competitive with professions like medicine and law…many young people won’t even consider teaching because of the low salaries, poor opportunity for advancement and difficult working conditions.”

 

I would agree that more support for teachers is imperative, and including new ways to assess a teacher’s yearly success is a great idea. Teachers are among the hardest working professionals’ in America today, and also some of the most underpaid (dare I say it). Most are devoted to seeing their students succeed in the classroom and they give up much of their time and social life to supporting and ensuring the success of each of their students. While we do get our share of negative feedback, it is wonderful that the U.S Secretary of Education praises teachers across the country within his speech. Here is a man who sees the passion in teacher’s eyes and sees their efforts to see every child succeed.

 

Duncan didn’t eliminate testing outright, because it is an important tool to measure progress, but instead encouraged development of new ways to support and evaluate teachers in all subjects (classroom observation, peer review, parent student feedback). A lot of teachers are on board with this new system and are excited to put it in place. In addition to aiding teachers, the new accountability systems capture more kids at risk than NCLB (No Child Left Behind) as well.

 

In the last 3 years, many states have raised academic standards in effort to prepare children for college and careers.

 

“When children are assessed against new, higher standards, how will parents, teachers and schools react?  If scores drop, will everyone feel deflated and beaten down?  Or will we all be inspired to work harder?”

 

This new system may prove to be a roller coaster ride, and there will be many new adjustments to be made among parents, students, and teachers. But ultimately this system should work to help everyone succeed.

 

There will definitely be some obstacles, mishaps and wrong turns in the making of this new system of evaluation; but Duncan believes the transition to higher standards it will be worth it in the end. This new system needs to transform as quickly as possible. But in order for that to happen, everyone needs to jump on board – school boards, principals, administrators, students, parents, and teachers. Even President Obama realizes the dire need of this new change, authorizing wavers and admitting “we can’t wait”. This change needs to happen quickly because change is what it takes to get better. We need to do better for our students, for our profession, and for ourselves as teachers.

 

-Emma Steward

Art in Education – Not Just an Elective?

I was reading the post from MARGOTGIRERD and followed her link to the article. I am sorry to discuss this article again, but I found it too interesting to resist. 

I am interested in teaching English in high schools. But English isn’t my only interest, especially not while I was in high school. I was really involved in my school’s theatre program and the classes – yes I was (and still sort of am) a theatre nerd. I loved the stress of the theatre, but also the creations it would bring to life on a simple stage. I loved the break I got from my life by being a spectator for other characters. I got involved and by my senior year I was the stage manager for our school musical. The thrill of putting together something so great and large was my driving force, but it was also a lot of stress. I spent long hours working with actors, my director, and the other techies backstage. Then, when opening night came and went, I was so proud and felt extremely accomplished. 

Later for a college class I had to observe a classroom, and I chose to go back and watch my past theatre teacher in her IB Theatre class. I interviewed her afterwards and I heard some answers that I wasn’t happy to hear. She told me that state funding was cutting back on the arts budgeting and the administration for our school wasn’t backing her or the other teachers up. She told me, to her, the administration was basically tell her that her passion and interest wasn’t important enough. “It is like a giant slap in the face,” she said. 

When I came across this article, I wanted to send it to her immediately, as well as my school district’s head honchos. It shows that all areas of interest are important to learning. But more recently, research shows that art education is linked to “almost everything that we as a nation say we want for our children and demand from our schools.” This article explains our demands as: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. 

If this is what we want for our students and future citizens, why wouldn’t we appreciate it more? By being involved in the arts (music, theatre, visual arts, etc.) students are also associated with math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills. “Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.” There are so many benefits from art education that are overlooked, and honestly, it’s disappointing. For something that seems so important to growing brains, it isn’t being treated so.

In many schools today, the areas of focus are mainly English, math, sciences, and reading/writing. All of these are subjects that we see on the SAT and ACT. So teachers are forced to focus more on these subjects because students’ test scores and acceptance into colleges depends on it! (I’m being sarcastic…) Students who are interested in the arts should not have the administration telling them it isn’t as important as math. 

As someone who is still interested and passionate about art, I think that studying and researching the benefit of art education is very important for our students’ futures. By having students stretch their minds and become well practiced in logical areas as well as creative areas, they will be better rounded and more experienced in their areas of interest/possible passions to pursue. 

Forcing Electronic Reading on Students

Colleges, such as Indiana University and Cornell have adopted programs that force students to use e-book versions of their text books. The USA Today article “Some Universities Require Students to Use e-Textbook” , explains how universities are justifying this choice, much to the student’s dismay. I for one am against reading text electronically. It’s harder for me to focus on the material, and it hurts my eyes. Call me old fashioned, but there’s something helpful in the ability to just hold a book and scan the text. Though you can “mark” the text on an e-reader, it is more of a hassle than just using a highlighter or jotting a note in the margins.

I understand that the universities are trying to cut down on book costs. Colleges can work with publishing companies and receive great deals digital texts. If the price is reduced by 15 dollars for every 100 you spend on text books, you’ll save a lot of money in the long term. But do the advantages really outweigh the disadvantages?

Lower-end e-books cost around 100 dollars, and have no defined life ( see here). The software will need to be upgraded, and you run the risk of losing saved books with program patches/upgrades or viruses. You have to worry about battery life, which would be worrisome in a lecture. If your e-book dies in the middle of a lecture, you’ll be screwed. To add insult to injury, some e-books don’t accept some file types. If you want to download “Lives On the Boundary”, but it uses a weird file format, you won’t be able to read it. 

I would love to hear everyone’s opinions on this.

~Nick Bonnet