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Could Vouchers Be the Answer?

July 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It’s been shown through history that one reason this country is great is the market system economy. It’s also caused some problems, but it’s what has made our economy strong and our products desired throughout the world. We see it in education as well. Universities and colleges thrive on the market system economy. It forces professors to improve themselves in order to keep jobs and it forces these colleges to spend the money they have well so that they can offer their product for the cheapest price possible.

And yet, for some reason, we think that public education is the best route. Some of the Founding Fathers even promoted the idea of free education for all, even though it wasn’t mentioned in the Constitution. The idea of giving everyone the opportunity of learning is a good one, but public education has shown to not be the best solution. Too many teachers are able to gain tenure (often after only a few years of teaching) and then become lax on teaching. They stop showing they care for their students and even state comments to difficult students such as, “You’re mother should be paying me to babysit you.”

But what is the right solution? If we are purely on the market system, then parents will have to find money to pay for schools and children of lax parents won’t be educated. The solution is school vouchers. With vouchers, parents choose the school (making it a market system) and yet the government provides the funds for the student.

Filed Under: Parental Involvement, Student Rights Tagged With: , ,

Turning Around an Underperforming School

June 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Secretary Spellings speaks at the first of sev...

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Many parents don’t realize that they can have an impact on their children’s school simply by being involved. It does turn into a bit of a political game play, but ultimately the parents have a vested interest in their child’s education. Throwing a hat into the local school council ring can start a poorly performing school on its way back to good scores.

There are any number of reasons as to why a school is doing poorly. It could be that the teachers are having to parent instead of teach, budget cuts has eliminated certain programs, or the administration is just plain incompetent. Parents can do much to ensure that changes are made by exposing the problems.

Employees of any school district are paid by tax dollars. Therefore, they are employed by the public to do a job. And it is a parents right to demand that the job is performed to par, if not better. Start by attending the open school council meetings and obtain any literature that shows the breakdown of where dollars go to. If a school district has a top heavy budget, IE the administrative staff gets paid the most, and the schools test scores are poor, it’s time to demand a change.

The unfortunate part of trying to get a school out of the doldrums is that political games have to be played. Getting anything accomplished may require the assistance of the local government. However, the effort is well worth it when the schools and your children benefit from the work of parents.

Filed Under: Education History Tagged With: , ,

What do Standardized Tests Really Demonstrate?

June 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
De Cito Eindtoets Basisonderwijs. 

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It seems like every year there are more and more tests to determine a child’s intelligence, performance level and understanding of study materials. These tests are used by schools as a form of advertising and as a way to bar entry by all but the most “gifted” of students. Parents eat these scores up as if they are the end all, be all for getting their child into the top schools of the land.

But do they? In reality, not so much. Tests only acknowledge the fact that a student has learned a pattern and how to answer the question correctly. No standardized test can probe the intelligence and reasoning capabilities of an individual. And there are those who understand the material forwards and backwards, but do not test well because of restrictive answers.

Ultimately the problem with standardized testing is that it is inherently unfair. Those who succeed are those whose parents can afford to send them to better schools. Children who live in poverty, have disabilities, or are simply female test much more poorly, usually failing altogether. Unfortunately, the system is set up to punish these children as opposed to uncovering weaknesses and strengthening them.

Parents should start thinking outside the box and start demanding that the educational system stop relying on test scores. Get rid of No Child Left Behind as it has made the schooling system worse than it ever has been. Expectations of performance need to be based on how the individual is progressing according to their age and educational expectations, not a standardized test.

Filed Under: Education History Tagged With: , ,

What is “No Child Left Behind?”

May 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was initially inked by the administration of George W. Bush, shortly after he took office. It is a U.S. Act of Congress that oversees the public education of children. The general goal of this Act is to help all children within the public educational system, reach their full potential by having them meet academic standards.

The Act was co-authored by the late Senator Ted Kennedy and was widely supported and passed by the Congress.

The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is for standards-based reform of the educational system. The basic premise is that if high standards are set, along with measurable goals, it will improve the outcomes for individual all throughout the educational system.

The Act calls for requirements that will assess student progress in basic skills. All students will be given these tests or assessments at certain grade levels. If schools are receiving federal educational funding, these assessments are a requirement for continued funding. While this is a federal Act, the education standards are set by the individual states.

The Act also gives parents more options as to the schools their children can attend. It also promotes a more focused approach to math and reading skills that children must attain.

There are four main parts that addresses items such as programs for disadvantaged students, neglected and delinquent youth, additional resources for principals and teachers, and the use of technology in schools. It also addresses providing resources for drug-free and safe environment for students.

Filed Under: Student Rights Tagged With: , ,

Understanding Standardized Tests

May 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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It seems that the educational system is in a constant state of flux, We’ve seen the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, to the recent announcements of changes that will be made to that Act.

One thing that does seem to remain is the standardized test as a way to gauge both student and educational institution performances. In addition, how do we go about determining or interpreting the results of our students test scores?

It’s important to, first, realize that not every student will test at an above average level. And it is also important to be able to use those test scores to improve student performance.

Know which tests are being given at what times. For instances, some tests are standardized and given across the nation at the third, fifth and eight grades. Next, make sure you understand the norms of the test. An individual students performance is measured against the “normed” or baseline group. Your individual student’s scores can be interpreted differently depending on which norm the results are compared with.

Identify the reporting methods of the scores. These can be stanine, grade equivalents or percentile rankings.

Make sure you understand how the results will be used. Some school districts use the data as a measurement of academic policy or effectiveness. Scores of individual students should not be used to make decisions on remedial programs or other such programs.

Finally, understand that these test scores measure performance, not your student’s potential. The test basically determines how much a student knows on a particular date, but not about future learning potential.

Filed Under: Government Rulings Tagged With: , ,

Educational Activities Students Enjoy

May 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Planning activities for students is a complex process. Activities must have a learning objective, and they must teach the children something. In order to teach them, the activity needs to interest the children, and get them thinking. For this reason, the activities also need to be fun. Finally, they need to be safe, comply with school regulations and be easy to arrange. Teachers and student teachers spend a large portion of time planning activities that combine all of these aspects, and this can be very difficult.

One challenge teachers often come up against is getting their students involved in the lesson. To give each child a comprehensive understanding of a learning objective, the children need to be intrigued, and interested. They need to challenge ideas, ask questions and develop problem-solving techniques, which can be very difficult in a standard lesson setting. A possible answer to this problem is the introduction of kid’s costumes in the classroom.

Kids costumes come in a variety of forms, from historical figures to celebration outfits. For example, having male and female colonial kids costumes when teaching about Thanksgiving will change the dynamics of the classroom; remove anything from the room that wouldn’t have been available back then, or use a different, empty room, and allow the children to take it in turns to try on the costumes. Discuss why they are different to clothes now, and why they dressed like that.

Kid’s costumes will capture a child’s imagination, which makes teaching them much easier. A child who is already interested in learning will absorb and question information, and develop a well-rounded understanding.

Filed Under: Student Rights Tagged With: , ,

How Different Teaching Methods Work

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are many different teaching styles that individual teachers use and incorporate into their classrooms. There are many things that help educators determine which type of strategy is going to work best in their classroom. These indicators include skill and age level of the students. Another fact that comes into play is that not every student learns the same way. Many teachers, therefore, use several different teaching methods in the classroom. Here is a look at some of the different teaching methods.

Arts and Crafts
Those teaching younger students such as those under the second grade often use arts and crafts as a method because younger children are better able to focus when doing creative things.

Lecturers
As students get older and advance through the grades, teachers may start to use the lecture method. This type of teaching requires that the students have the ability pay attention and take notes.

Speakers
Using guest speakers can help students engage in the material being presented. These speakers can be professionals such as firefighters or physicians who will speak on their professions. An added bonus to using guest speakers is that these speakers can also provide a hands on look at different professions.

Group Discussions
The teacher or instructor basically leads the discussion, allowing for student interaction and input. This is an effective method because it allows for communication between the students.

Experiments
These teaching methods provide a platform that allows students to learn about a subject for themselves. Teachers using this method will provide needed information and instructions for the experiment. During the experiment, students discover findings and results, followed by a conclusion.

Filed Under: Teacher Rights Tagged With: , ,

Good Teaching Methods: What’s your function?

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When entering the classroom on the first day of school, the teacher has a plethora of responsibilities. In addition to ensuring that students respect one another in behavioral practices, teachers must also find ways to engage the class with the lesson plan that they have planned for the day. Although the traditional lecture with open discussion appears to be the only way to spark involvement in the classroom, there are many other methods of teaching that educators may use in the classroom.

As aforementioned, lecture is the standard tool that educators use to convey an idea. In the lecture setting, teachers present factual information to students in a logical order. A history lecture, for instance, will begin at the beginning of time instead of in the middle of time. While lectures typically presents the teacher as an expert in the field, they do not always encourage discussion for a number of reasons. First, experts are not always the best motivational speakers. The ability to convey information in a logical manner does not make a teacher interesting, and a boring classroom renders uninterested students. There is also a lot of preparation time involved with lecture that some teachers may not be able to cope with.

An alternative to the classic lecture setting is brainstorming. Although this method can prove ineffective without proper supervision, a good brainstorming session will engage the minds of students and prepare them to actually take part in the lecture. A five to seven minute sharing of ideas before lecture can do wonders for any classroom.

Filed Under: Teacher Rights Tagged With: , ,

Standardized Tests: What are they good for?

March 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Every year students in the United States of America and all over the world are subjected to at least one standardized test. If it’s not taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for college admittance, it’s engaging in the Exit Exam to graduate from high school. Although many Americans are accustomed to standardized testing, very few have questioned the purpose of such tests. What are standardized tests really for?

While the list of answers may be endless for the majority of society, the very elite and professionals say testing is used for curriculum decisions. According to education administrators the performance of students on standardized tests in one year determines the type of lesson plans that will be presented the next year. If a fourth grade class scores in the fortieth percentile in algebra in 2011, then the incoming class will more than likely be taught less difficult equations the following school year.

Regardless of an individual’s opinion about standardized testing, one has to admit that solely basing curriculum on a single test is both biased and irresponsible. It is unfair to students for administrators to dismiss all of effort contributed because of one bad test. What is the purpose in sending children to school everyday if big decisions concerning curriculum will be determined by a standardized test? Although standardized testing is an excellent tool that may be used in conjunction with other factors, it should not be the sole benefactor that decides if an eleventh grade class will be taught trigonometry next year.

Filed Under: Government Rulings Tagged With: , ,

No Child Left Behind: Title Change

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Obama administration has authorized a title change in the No Child Left Behind Act. Instead of having a dull title, one of the sections will specifically be named “Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged.” The Obama administration hopes that the new title change will ensure that all children are given an equal opportunity to receive high quality education. According to the administration, such education may be achieved in a number of ways; one being the closing of the achievement gap.

The achievement gap is a concept that haunts all educators and parents alike. While educators are working hard to beat the statistic that says wealthy children reach higher heights in academia than impoverished children, parents with lower incomes are constantly encouraging their children to not take part in such statistic. Many problems with the education system would be solved of the achievement gap were closed or at least minimized. The Obama administration is showing parents and educators their concern for children by changing the title of a section in the No Child Left Behind Act.

Although the change is optimistic, it is hardly believable that such action will close an entire achievement gap. For decades disparities in education have stemmed from the attitude that some children are privileged over others. While low income students living in the ghetto may be more intellectually inclined than the child living in a mansion, the child of luxury is given more opportunity because his or her parents can afford to pay more in taxes for better schools. Americans must come away from the mind frame of self-gratification and into the concept of sharing the wealth in order to substantially minimize the achievement gap. Impoverished children should be given the same opportunities as wealthy children and should not be punished with poor education practices just because they live on the other side of the train tracks.

Filed Under: Parental Involvement Tagged With: , ,
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