Why Schools Stink: It's You!

[PoliticalChic]

Let's stipulate that American students are no longer the finest in the world.
Blame teachers, unions, not enough money being spent on education, Americans don't care....
Which is the culprit?

None of the above.




1. " Compared to those hard-studying kids in China, Korea or Finland, U.S. students appear to be chronic underachievers. The average kid in the U.S. does less than one hour of homework on average at all grade levels,....




2. The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, gives tests to high school kids across a range of countries..

3....the US ranks behind sixteen other economies including Poland, Estonia and South Korea in terms of student literacy –the ability to read, integrate and evaluate texts. U.S. student rankings on mathematics are even lower — dropping under countries including Slovenia, Hungary and Taiwan. The United States also produces some of the biggest gaps in test scores between stronger and weaker students.





4. So, where’s the group in the U.S. that could try harder?
Is it the teachers, more concerned with their tenure and pension rights than actually teaching kids?
Is it miserly federal and state lawmakers, starving their educators of resources?
Or maybe it is the lackadaisical students, too addicted to questing with their avatar through World of Warcraft to think about algebra?

a. If there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: parents..... Around the world, the catch-all measure used to proxy for parental commitment to education is the number of books in a child‘s household.

5. This measure predicts student educational outcomes better than class sizes, or expenditures per student, the length of the school day or better class monitoring..... one of the strongest relationships between parental book ownership and child learning outcomes.





6. In the U.S., kids from homes where there are more than two full bookcases score two and a half grade levels higher than kids from homes with very few books.


7. How do you help parents ensure that their kids can learn? First off, they need tools to judge if any learning is going on. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law a decade ago, provided for annual state-wide testing for all students...


8. ... we know what works –ensure parents are close enough to education decision makers that their voices can be heard. "
The Real Reason America's Schools Stink - Businessweek

Most of these kids aren't going to use algebra so why is it so important? It seems like U.S. businesses will tap the brainpower of the foreign students either by offshoring or visas to lower the earning power of the really smart American kids anyway which should delight race to the bottom right wingers.

'Cause if 'education' were restricted to only those specifics that result in employment, we'd have a nation as dumb as asphalt.....like you.


I still study every single day, and would be despondent if my kids thought the way you do.

Stick to the assembly line.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Too many parents view schools as daycares.

You just hit on one of the major problems with school, especially high school. It is mandatory that kids attend school. Kids that would rather not be at school know that will have to be at school anyway from start time to dismissal whether they try or not.

If school were structured such that students would get out early once assignments for the day are complete and correct more kids would have an incentive to try and learn. Also, once the quicker students are gone for the day, teachers would be able to give more attention to those that remain.

Individualization is he very opposite of Liberalism, the lock-step, collective view of humans as worker bees.

Perhaps you've heard of ObamaCare, and 'you didn't build that.'

The next incarnation of collectivization is Common Core....
Check that out and be very afraid.


Remember that when you vote.

 

[editec]

This isn't rocket science, kiddies

What is going wrong in American schools?

The exact same things that are going wrong in American families.

 

[Mr. H.]

Too many parents view schools as daycares.

You just hit on one of the major problems with school, especially high school. It is mandatory that kids attend school. Kids that would rather not be at school know that will have to be at school anyway from start time to dismissal whether they try or not.

If school were structured such that students would get out early once assignments for the day are complete and correct more kids would have an incentive to try and learn. Also, once the quicker students are gone for the day, teachers would be able to give more attention to those that remain.

Individualization is he very opposite of Liberalism, the lock-step, collective view of humans as worker bees.

Perhaps you've heard of ObamaCare, and 'you didn't build that.'

The next incarnation of collectivization is Common Core....
Check that out and be very afraid.


Remember that when you vote.

I moderate an annual conference that draws about 50 grade/high school educators from around the state. In talking with them individually, I've learned that "common core" is a much dreaded concept to the teachers themselves.

 

[jasonnfree]

Let's stipulate that American students are no longer the finest in the world.
Blame teachers, unions, not enough money being spent on education, Americans don't care....
Which is the culprit?

None of the above.




1. " Compared to those hard-studying kids in China, Korea or Finland, U.S. students appear to be chronic underachievers. The average kid in the U.S. does less than one hour of homework on average at all grade levels,....




2. The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, gives tests to high school kids across a range of countries..

3....the US ranks behind sixteen other economies including Poland, Estonia and South Korea in terms of student literacy –the ability to read, integrate and evaluate texts. U.S. student rankings on mathematics are even lower — dropping under countries including Slovenia, Hungary and Taiwan. The United States also produces some of the biggest gaps in test scores between stronger and weaker students.





4. So, where’s the group in the U.S. that could try harder?
Is it the teachers, more concerned with their tenure and pension rights than actually teaching kids?
Is it miserly federal and state lawmakers, starving their educators of resources?
Or maybe it is the lackadaisical students, too addicted to questing with their avatar through World of Warcraft to think about algebra?

a. If there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: parents..... Around the world, the catch-all measure used to proxy for parental commitment to education is the number of books in a child‘s household.

5. This measure predicts student educational outcomes better than class sizes, or expenditures per student, the length of the school day or better class monitoring..... one of the strongest relationships between parental book ownership and child learning outcomes.





6. In the U.S., kids from homes where there are more than two full bookcases score two and a half grade levels higher than kids from homes with very few books.


7. How do you help parents ensure that their kids can learn? First off, they need tools to judge if any learning is going on. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law a decade ago, provided for annual state-wide testing for all students...


8. ... we know what works –ensure parents are close enough to education decision makers that their voices can be heard. "
The Real Reason America's Schools Stink - Businessweek

Most of these kids aren't going to use algebra so why is it so important? It seems like U.S. businesses will tap the brainpower of the foreign students either by offshoring or visas to lower the earning power of the really smart American kids anyway which should delight race to the bottom right wingers.

'Cause if 'education' were restricted to only those specifics that result in employment, we'd have a nation as dumb as asphalt.....like you.


I still study every single day, and would be despondent if my kids thought the way you do.

Stick to the assembly line.

This is what schools are PC. Preparing (obedient or go to jail) students for the work force. Don't show up for school or you or your parents go to jail.
Why make algebra 2 a requirement for graduation when most students will never use it? If kids are to be required to be in school till they're of age, why can't studies be a little more realistic? More vocational classes for, one because most students will be in vocations. Classes for the right brained ones like more art, languages etc. that still develop the mind.
Maybe If there were alternatives for troublemakers that don't like being incarcerated in school six or seven hours a day there wouldn't be so many cops on duty in the schools. Maybe even less prisons for these less obedient students to go to after they're eighteen?

How about the hb-1 visas that I mentioned? Those will accelerate if obama gets his immigration bill passed. Big companies will get what they want, being more tech workers that are afraid they will be deported. Also, more competition (lower wages) for american kids that walked the chalk line k-12 and four to six years college or more afterwards.

 

[squeeze berry]

Parental teaching is the core to learning.
Without that motivation kids don't care.
The OP fails to mention that the liberal curriculum pushed by teachers unions involves undermining parental teaching an a massive scale.
When parents tell their teens that abstinence is a good thing, for example, the teachers instruct kids to sleep with as many people as they want and that their parents cannot stop them.
Unionized teachers bully kids into following liberal ideas.
They encourage the other kids to bully those who show signs of not being liberal enough.
The public school system is designed to indoctrinate.
Kids are unable to read or write but they can spout off the party line when it comes to any of the social engineering programmes of the liberal movement.
Public politicized schools should be closed down, parents should home school their kids or provide quality education free from government indoctrination.

I'm a teacher and have never done any of those things, nor do I ever intend to

 

[SayMyName]

What is wrong with American schools?

1. Many students don't see school as valuable.

2. Many parents, especially those that do not pay property taxes to support the school and are on welfare, see schools as a storage facility for their kids while they do what they do during the day.

3. Teachers are not drawn from the best and the brightest, and thus often tend to curry favor with whatever direction the wind is blowing. Many teachers are "nurturers" not teachers. Thus, so many classrooms that are behaviorally out of control.

4. Administrators and district officials tend to be drawn from those who might curry favor well, but weren't the best teachers in the classroom. In many areas, especially in the south, parochialism reigns. It isn't unusual to see people in positions with no more than 3 years of teaching experience, and in many cases, no classroom time at all, especially among those involved in special education.

5. Money from the Federal government. It now influences the decisions on anything wherever it pops its ugly head.

 

[jasonnfree]

What is wrong with American schools?

1. Many students don't see school as valuable.

2. Many parents, especially those that do not pay property taxes to support the school and are on welfare, see schools as a storage facility for their kids while they do what they do during the day.

3. Teachers are not drawn from the best and the brightest, and thus often tend to curry favor with whatever direction the wind is blowing. Many teachers are "nurturers" not teachers. Thus, so many classrooms that are behaviorally out of control.

4. Administrators and district officials tend to be drawn from those who might curry favor well, but weren't the best teachers in the classroom. In many areas, especially in the south, parochialism reigns. It isn't unusual to see people in positions with no more than 3 years of teaching experience, and in many cases, no classroom time at all, especially among those involved in special education.

5. Money from the Federal government. It now influences the decisions on anything wherever it pops its ugly head.

If the parents aren't living in their cars then they are paying property taxes. It they rent, they pay property taxes. The landlord gets the write off of course, but without tenants the property taxes wouldn't get paid.

 

[DGS49]

I have always wondered about how some parents motivate their kids. I have seen examples of parents who were (apparently) indifferent while the kids were highly motivated (a rare case, to be sure), and many many times I've seen parents who did everything conceivable to help their kids along, to no avail.

In my own household (I am 64 and the youngest of 5 kids), my parents were both constant readers, they WANTED us to succeed in school, but we were always more focused on earning money (part time jobs, odd jobs), than we were with being the best students we could be. Since we were relatively poor, this made life easier for my parents, but we were all mediocre students. I didn't get my degree until I was 28 and out on my own for many years, and my only other sibling with a degree got his when he was 55.

In my vast and undeducated experience, I think the most important factor in motivating kids is parental expectations. When the parents EXPECT the kids to do well, and won't accept less than excellence, the kids most often pick up on it, and WANT to be excellent, sometimes even more than the parents.

When raising my son and sending him to a "good" suburban school for 13 years, our program was hurt by horrible grade inflation. He would be rewarded with A's for mediocre work and minimal effort in grade school, and by the time he got to HS, he was just bored with it. He did OK and was satisfied with OK. Like his father (me), he didn't really get his ass in gear until grad school, long after he left home.

Bottom line: Parents can't guarantee a childs success, but if they don't take an interest, and don't make demands independent of what the schools do, it is not likely that the child will make much of his years of free public education.

 

[DGS49]

It drives me nuts when I hear teachers complaining about standardized tests, and how they distract from teaching the "more important stuff."

Who the fuck is writing these standardized tests? There are a gazillion members of the National 'Education' Association, and if the teachers are unhappy with the tests, the NEA should commission the creation of better tests that the teachers think are relevant. It would be a much better use of those Union Dues than sending them to Barry Fucking O'Bama!

Their failure to do so is proof that they (the teachers' unions) really don't give a shit about teaching, but simply about avoiding any blame for the sorry state of the test scores.

So there.

 

[BobPlumb]

Grade inflation is a problem. In some cases it reminds me of the story of two guys and a bear. One guy says "Let's make a run for it". The second guy says "The bear can out run us". The second guy says "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you.

If a class has a bunch of slackers, the grades of the non-slacking students benefit by comparison. As such, the same effort and knowledge that would result in a grade of C in an 8th grade algebra 1 class may very well be enough to get an A in a 10 grade algebra 1 class.

 

[BobPlumb]

It drives me nuts when I hear teachers complaining about standardized tests, and how they distract from teaching the "more important stuff."

Who the fuck is writing these standardized tests? There are a gazillion members of the National 'Education' Association, and if the teachers are unhappy with the tests, the NEA should commission the creation of better tests that the teachers think are relevant. It would be a much better use of those Union Dues than sending them to Barry Fucking O'Bama!

Their failure to do so is proof that they (the teachers' unions) really don't give a shit about teaching, but simply about avoiding any blame for the sorry state of the test scores.

So there.

"Teaching to the test" can be a good thing if the test is well designed and covers the concepts that are taught that the students need to learn. However, standardized tests can be overused.

 

[DGS49]

Of course, standardized tests can be overused. But unfortunately, the ONLY WAY TO MEASURE THE PROGRESS OF THE STUDENTS is by a test of some sort. If the test is not relevant, if it is not reliable, if it does not focus on the most important subject matter, then change the test. It's not magic; it can be done.

I personally believe that one of the main reasons Teachers are dismissive of standardized tests is because they themselves don't do well on them, as proven by their compiled SAT scores over the past several generations. "Education" majors have traditionally been the lowest of the low when it comes to SAT's.

 

[Jackson]

Let's get the straight dope on standardized tests. There is a general curriculum every publisher follows. Is shows the skills that are taught in each grade and mastery is expected at some general level.

The standardized tests test those skills at those levels. They don't randomly make up questions of different topics and skills that are not generally taught in the schools! They follow the general curricula that are taught in each grade.

So, if your child does not perform well in the standardized test, he didn't master the skills taught in that grade that year. Put the blame where ever you want, but the end result was the child failed to master the skills supposedly presented.

The teacher taught to the test? Sure shootin' should have if they followed their basic manuals!

 

[Agit8r]

Perhaps people have seen so much of individuals growing wealthy without producing any value to society, that hard work seems like the path for schmucks.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Perhaps people have seen so much of individuals growing wealthy without producing any value to society, that hard work seems like the path for schmucks.

Oh, no....another "You didn't build that" robot.

 

[DGS49]

Unfortunately, some kids do not react well to standardized testing (my wife is such a person). For some reason, they are not able to recall things quickly or completely when under the gun of a time constraint and monitoring. So those kids score lower on standardized tests than their actual knowledge would indicate. A different type of test might work for those kids.

Teachers tend to be over-sympathetic to those kids (many teachers were like that when they were students), and because of that, they are over-critical of standardized testing.

My cousin is a retired teacher who once told me, "Some kids just do better on standardized tests." I was astounded that she would make such a stupid remark. Because while it is possible that some kids react badly to standardized testing and do poorly, the converse of that is preposterous. You CAN'T DO BETTER on the tests because you are comfortable with them. You can't simply dream up more knowledge than you had when you walked in the door to the testing facility!

Here she was - a TEACHER - being dismissive of high test scores because "some kids just do better." Good God, she was actually teaching kids for 35 years.

 

[aplcr0331]

What's great about the PISA scores is that if you take out NAM's scores the US scores shoot right to the top with the Scandinavian and Oriental countries.

 

[Agit8r]

Perhaps people have seen so much of individuals growing wealthy without producing any value to society, that hard work seems like the path for schmucks.

Oh, no....another "You didn't build that" robot.

Sure. Look at Donald Trump. All the guy did was ruin skylines, force Scottish people off their property and exploited our bankruptcy courts six times. Worthless to all humanity, but he still has a fortune. And this to say nothing of the useless robot that ran on "you DID build that!" All these people do is show kids growing up that the system is broken, so if you want to success, forget hard work, and get corrupt instead. And people have the nerve to say that those of us with a 9-5 are lazy? No, we just have a moral compass

 

[Annie]

It drives me nuts when I hear teachers complaining about standardized tests, and how they distract from teaching the "more important stuff."

Who the fuck is writing these standardized tests? There are a gazillion members of the National 'Education' Association, and if the teachers are unhappy with the tests, the NEA should commission the creation of better tests that the teachers think are relevant. It would be a much better use of those Union Dues than sending them to Barry Fucking O'Bama!

Their failure to do so is proof that they (the teachers' unions) really don't give a shit about teaching, but simply about avoiding any blame for the sorry state of the test scores.

So there.

"Teaching to the test" can be a good thing if the test is well designed and covers the concepts that are taught that the students need to learn. However, standardized tests can be overused.

Actually there is no need to 'teaching to the test' if the teachers are teaching to the standards. Get rid of the non-essential and place children in the tracts they belong in. If students are less than 18 months below grade level, adjust the materials to cover the required materials, while tutoring in reading. If a greater deficit, demote to lower year, while providing intensive remedial tutoring and perhaps special ed services.

Allow those at grade level and above to move forward at a reasonable pace. We hold too many back, due to not wanting to leave 'anyone' behind.