I do believe that every child in our country is entitled to an appropriate education. I do not believe that our current educational system is designed in a manner to provide an appropriate education to all children. I do not have all of the answers, but I can point out some of the problems to you.
First of all, let me address social promotion. As a parent of a child who has an IEP, this topic hits close to home. It was clear in first grade that something was not quite right with the way my daughter learns. Unfortunately, lots of testing was done and came to no conclusion. At her lowest, my daughter only read in the 9th percentile of children her age in the nation. I asked at every IEP meeting in elementary school, "Would it be beneficial to my child if we retained her? It would give her some time to not only mature socially, but give her time to catch up." When my daughter was young, I was told, "No, she is too young to retain, it wouldn't do any good." Suddenly in 4th grade the answer changed to, "No, she is too old, it will hurt her self esteem." While I am not a classroom teacher or a special education teacher, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that some children mature at different rates than others. My child is among the youngest in her class. I now wish I had demanded that my daughter be retained. As my daughter progressed, she fell further behind in basic math skills. Thankfully, we had an excellent remedial reading program that was exactly what my daughter needed. I now have a high schooler that can read on grade level, but who must use a calculator for basic math. We work on math at home. It is my personal goal that my daughter be able to make change in her head before she graduates.
No Child Left Behind was so popular at the onset because of social promotion. I have seen many parents who are told after pre-kinder testing that their children are not mature enough for school yet. Waiting for one year would make a huge difference for these kids. The parents typically throw a fit and demand that their child start kindergarten. Of course, they are surprised when it becomes apparent very quickly that their child simply is not mature enough to handle the demands made of them and they are quickly falling behind. Unfortunately, we only retain a portion of these children.
When a child hasn't grasped addition, they have no hope of understanding how multiplication works. Instead of giving these children more time to master their most basic skills, they are promoted to a more advanced class where they are hopelessly lost. While many IEPs require that assignments be modified to provide the student with success, our special education teachers in my building are overwhelmed to the point that they do not have time to address the basic math skills that our kids may be missing.
Every year I see children in EACH class that are struggling. They are miserable because they know they are falling behind. These are wonderful kids who have a variety of reasons why they aren't working at the same level as their peers. If our country could realize that every child is different and a school is not a factory, these children could be retained and instead of having "harmed" self esteem, they would have the TIME they need to catch up on vital skills they will use in the years ahead.
Unfortunately, the only way to stop social promotion is legislation. Requiring that we not promote children who read more than two grade levels below what grade they are in is a start. Unfortunately, there are huge loopholes that are being used to continue to socially promote these children.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Why I started this blog
I am a teacher working in an award winning school in an award winning school district. While listening to the pundits on television drives me crazy, it is usually because they are talking around the real issues of why education is in trouble. Yes, they make good points, but when you get to the heart of the problem, the future of this country will truly scare you. (BTW, you will notice, I am NOT an english teacher.)
First of all, let's clear the air about a couple of things that people will target right away. Yes, there are bad teachers out there. What gets left out of the conversation is the fact that there IS a way to fire a tenured teacher who is not doing a good job. The administration (principal/superintendent) simply has to fill out the proper paperwork to prove the teacher is doing a poor job and have the guts to follow through with the actions. Why doesn't this happen? Yes, it can be a pain in the butt when the teacher challenges the decision and has the union go to bat for them. But it is this process that also protects good teachers from being fired for the wrong reasons. I have honestly found that either administrators either don't want to mess with the hassle or that the teacher in question has worked their way into the "in crowd". Remember high school? The same cliques happen amongst educators. It is wrong, but it unfortunately happens.
Most of the people I work with in my building are good teachers. How do I define a good teacher? These people care about the children, work very hard to help every child succeed and most importantly, good teachers will speak the truth, which will unfortunately, not make everyone happy. I have seen many very good teachers truthfully tell parents how their child is doing and what needs to change for more success. Some parents really appreciate this input. Some parents become very resentful. There is a fine teacher in my building who teaches young children. She often has the most difficult students in the grade level. Word has gotten around that she is tough. She pushes every single kid to do their best and demands good behavior from them. The children figure out much sooner than the parents that she loves them and has their best interests in mind. Now that it is her third year, her first batch of parents is beginning to realize how good she is.
To wrap up this first post, the first thing wrong with education is that we are dealing with people. The children are not products, they are people. The teachers are people, the parents are people and the administrators are people. I have found all people to be flawed. Education is a high stakes field. If an educator makes a mistake, it may cause a minor event with drama and hard feelings. Unfortunately, educators can also make mistakes that affect a child for their entire life. But then again, that opens up another can of worms for another post.
First of all, let's clear the air about a couple of things that people will target right away. Yes, there are bad teachers out there. What gets left out of the conversation is the fact that there IS a way to fire a tenured teacher who is not doing a good job. The administration (principal/superintendent) simply has to fill out the proper paperwork to prove the teacher is doing a poor job and have the guts to follow through with the actions. Why doesn't this happen? Yes, it can be a pain in the butt when the teacher challenges the decision and has the union go to bat for them. But it is this process that also protects good teachers from being fired for the wrong reasons. I have honestly found that either administrators either don't want to mess with the hassle or that the teacher in question has worked their way into the "in crowd". Remember high school? The same cliques happen amongst educators. It is wrong, but it unfortunately happens.
Most of the people I work with in my building are good teachers. How do I define a good teacher? These people care about the children, work very hard to help every child succeed and most importantly, good teachers will speak the truth, which will unfortunately, not make everyone happy. I have seen many very good teachers truthfully tell parents how their child is doing and what needs to change for more success. Some parents really appreciate this input. Some parents become very resentful. There is a fine teacher in my building who teaches young children. She often has the most difficult students in the grade level. Word has gotten around that she is tough. She pushes every single kid to do their best and demands good behavior from them. The children figure out much sooner than the parents that she loves them and has their best interests in mind. Now that it is her third year, her first batch of parents is beginning to realize how good she is.
To wrap up this first post, the first thing wrong with education is that we are dealing with people. The children are not products, they are people. The teachers are people, the parents are people and the administrators are people. I have found all people to be flawed. Education is a high stakes field. If an educator makes a mistake, it may cause a minor event with drama and hard feelings. Unfortunately, educators can also make mistakes that affect a child for their entire life. But then again, that opens up another can of worms for another post.
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