Posted on 09/12/2010 12:28:21 PM PDT by reaganaut1
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Since the 1960s, waves of "reform" haven't produced meaningful achievement gains. The most reliable tests are given by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The reading and math tests, graded on a 0-500 scale, measure 9-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 17-year-olds. In 1971, the initial year for the reading test, the average score for 17-year-olds was 285; in 2008, the average score was 286. The math test started in 1973, when 17-year-olds averaged 304; in 2008, the average was 306.
To be sure, some improvements have occurred in elementary schools. But what good are they if they're erased by high school? There has also been a modest narrowing in the high school achievement gaps among whites, blacks and Hispanics; unfortunately, the narrowing generally stopped in the late 1980s. (Average test scores have remained stable because, although the scores of blacks and Hispanics have risen slightly, the size of these minority groups also expanded. This means that their still-low scores exert a bigger drag on the average. The two factors offset each other.)
Standard theories don't explain this meager progress. Too few teachers? Not really. From 1970 to 2008, the student population increased 8 percent and the number of teachers rose 61 percent. The student-teacher ratio has fallen sharply, from 27-to-1 in 1955 to 15-to-1 in 2007. Are teachers paid too little? Perhaps, but that's not obvious. In 2008, the average teacher earned $53,230; two full-time teachers married to each other and making average pay would belong in the richest 20 percent of households (2008 qualifying income: $100,240). Maybe more preschool would help. Yet, the share of 3- and 4-year-olds in preschool has rocketed from 11 percent in 1965 to 53 percent in 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
special education’s large share has much to do with this.
There have been many school reforms, the first reform occuring back during World War I. The more we put money and time into public education, the more we’ll get what public education has always given us.
School reform is POINTLESS without removing the garbage teachers we have that are simply teaching for the MONEY and not for the KIDS! =.=
“Motivation is weak because more students (of all races and economic classes, let it be added) don’t like school, don’t work hard and don’t do well.”
I teach high school, and some community college. I find this one to be one of the biggest factors in students not succeeding- they don’t try to, as it is 1. not necessary in their perception and 2. they are not forced to. Teens have this odd perception of adult life- they somehow imagine that cars, clothes, food, and pretty much anything else are theirs just as soon as this pesky school thing is over. It is a tremendous disconnect from reality and it makes the transition to adulthood d**n difficult, if indeed it gets made at all.
“Against these realities, school “reform” rhetoric is blissfully evasive. It is often an exercise in extravagant expectations.”
A lot of school reform is only rhetoric. Grad students getting degrees in education, publishing their “research” and getting the Ed.D. (not a phD) and making extravagant claims for it. All of them are looking for a holy grail that will cause all students to magically learn at the highest possible level, and they are all doomed to failure. The problem is that a lot of this rhetoric actually becomes public policy.
“Too few teachers? Not really. From 1970 to 2008, the student population increased 8 percent and the number of teachers rose 61 percent. The student-teacher ratio has fallen sharply, from 27-to-1 in 1955 to 15-to-1 in 2007.”
My opinion is that most of this is accounted for by the increase in special education teachers, who typically have small classes or work in regular classrooms alongside a regular ed teacher. I still see 30 students per class pretty regularly, give or take a couple, and I teach in a modest-sized school of 1700.
I teach high school, and some community college. I find this one to be one of the biggest factors in students not succeeding- they don’t try to, as it is 1. not necessary in their perception and 2. they are not forced to. Teens have this odd perception of adult life- they somehow imagine that cars, clothes, food, and pretty much anything else are theirs just as soon as this pesky school thing is over. It is a tremendous disconnect from reality and it makes the transition to adulthood d**n difficult, if indeed it gets made at all.
Parents should teach their children--incrementally--about what it means to be an adult and how to become an adult. It should NOT wait until some artificial deadline such as graduation from high school.
Do your chores. If you don't do them, they won't get done.
Learn basic household tasks because someday you'll have your own apartment or house. Learn cleaning, laundry, cooking, and household budgeting.
Get a job--even a paper route, yard work, babysitting. Learn how to be a responsible and trustworthy employee. Learn how to market yourself and your skills.
With that earned money open a bank account. Learn how to save. Open a checking account if you are old enough. Learn how to set up a budget and save up for things you want.
Have a pet. Learn how to be responsible for your dog or cat: its care, feeding, trips to the vet, etc. It is helpful preparation for learning how to care for another helpless living thing (a child).
Learn how to obtain and operate a vehicle. Start with a bicycle. Register it with the local police and fire station. Learn safety and rules of the road. Want a car? Get driving lessons, get a learner's permit, earn up enough money for your own car, learn basic repairs.
Learn how to take care of your own health and hygiene. Be responsible for your body.
Learn how to take care of your own appearance. Buy your own clothes, even if they're from a thrift store.
Learn what's going on in your community. Read the news (local and national) and understand the issues even if you're not old enough to vote yet. Try to attend a city council meeting or two.
These things can ALL be started in high school.
That's part of it, to be sure. However, having just sent my 13 year-old son to high school after homeschooling him for the first 8 years, I'm seeing first hand how little actual teaching goes on in class. He's pulling straight "A"s so far, but I am spending the better part of my evening "afterschooling" him in Algebra 1 as the teacher is working on re-teaching math skills the other students should have learned in 8th grade. This is a college prep alternative high school in our district and there is a pre-requisite 2.75 gpa to get into the school and to stay in this school. Homeschool, private school or public school, if parents aren't seeing to it that their students are learning, learning may not take place.
We're in a similar situation to yours. We homeschooled both our guys through 8th grade. Our older son arrived at the local Catholic high school two years ago. He was stunned almost to the point of dementia to discover just how bureaucratic traditional schools are. After a couple of weeks, he commented on how inefficient a traditional school is at actually teaching. He'd never understood why folks need seven hours a day, and then a couple or three hours at night to learn what he would learn in 3 - 5 hours a day.
Fortunately, his high school is pretty good academically, and large enough to handle young men (it's an all-boys school) with a wide range of ability. So, for the most part, he's been able to obtain challenging education for the last couple of years.
With regard to remediating that which should have been learned in elementary school, I was pretty taken aback when we went to “back-to-school night” in his freshman year. I was talking to the primary freshman English teacher and he told me that they get kids from many different elementary schools (and some homeschoolers) and the skill levels vary almost unbelievably.
He told me that the first educational goal he has in the first quarter is to make sure that every student can write one, grammatical, coherent sentence. The second quarter is spent getting everyone to the level of being able to produce one grammatically-correct, coherent paragraph that functions as a paragraph: with an initial sentence that makes some statement or assertion, a couple or three sentences to support the first sentence, and a final sentence or two to summarize and transition to the next point.
The goal for the end of the year is to be able to write a short essay of at least five such paragraphs.
One of the strengths of this school, in my view, is that writing is emphasized in most of the classes, not just English. As an example, in the freshman history class, if you can't write your quiz and test answers in complete, grammatical sentences, you can lose as much as 25% of your grade.
“Homeschool, private school or public school, if parents aren't seeing to it that their students are learning, learning may not take place.”
Yep. This is part of the reason why homeschooling is so successful. Almost by definition, it optimizes parental involvement, which, in my view, is the single biggest determinant of academic success for a child.
sitetest
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