It is part of the job, and tests or assessments is one of the tools that allow the teacher to figure it out. I'm talking about specifics. Any teacher should know a child has problems with reading comprehension. But only the better teachers will know that it's because: - the child has a problem using context clues to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words, or - that it's because the child has a tough time making inferences, or - that the child really can make inferences but there were words in the question or phrasing of the question that the assessment or test assumed was general knowledge but the student was lacking the background knowledge to be assessed accurately for that skill or - that the child can generally use context clues but has difficulty when one of the clues is a negative such as "The dog splashed water on the man and he was not amused." The child may understand the man was angry and choose the choice that amused means angry, because they overlooked the word "not". Looking in depth at each and every question on an assessment can help the teacher address the child's specific needs. There is no way a teacher will know the child's needs to that specific of a level without analyzing assessments. As I said before knowing that reading comprehension is an area of needs is one thing, but delving that deep into the needs requires assessments and analyzing assessments question by question.
A diverse range is certainly a great thing, but it comes at a cost. Parents (i.e. voters) have to evaluate diversity of classes vs. tax burden.
Forgive me if this is too long-winded and a bit disjointed. Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, this is my 14th year teaching at the high school level. I've taught quite a wide variety of subjects (special education science and math, ABU (Adaptive Behavior Unit for kids with emotional issues), several science classes from Introduction to Physics and Chemistry to AP Biology), as well as Computer Science and Web Development, and even an SAT prep class. I've had the bright kids, the not so bright kids, and everyone in between. The only caveat being it's all been at this one school with a fairly upper-middle class, predominantly white, demographic. Now, let me tell you a bit about what I see every day, both from students and teachers. A large part of the problem with the current educational system is that being perceived as intelligent, smart, hard-working, or otherwise scholastically inclined is seen a negative, not a positive. This is true not only for other students, but for society as a whole. For whatever reason, we glorify ignorance and belittle those with an education or even a modicum of common sense. Because of this, education is not valued. School is a social area first and an academic one second (if you're lucky). For that reason and others, quite a few students don't care enough to be apathetic. They want every tidbit of information spoon-fed to them and refuse to think for themselves or develop critical thinking skills. If it's not on the test, they don't care about it. Half the time they don't even care when it is going to be on the test. I've actually gone over a quiz, verbatim, right before I gave it, and had kids make a 1. Yes, a 1. That's pitiful. Even when they do bother to learn they are what I call bulimic learners - they binge and purge information. The night before an exam they take in as much as they can and then throw it back up the next day on the exam, never truly learning it. I try to combat this by spiraling back to old material constantly, both in class and on exams. When I first get them they struggle with applying those bits of information they do remember to new situations or synthesizing various bits into a new whole. By the time I get them to hone this skill the year is nearly over. Hopefully most of them retain the skill set to think critically but so much of education rewards the regurgitation of trivia that many probably lose it as it is not reinforced. I have a student this year that begs for points or for me to let her pass. She is personable, outgoing, flutters her eyelashes, plays the poor, pitiful me role, and has even tried to offer gift cards. All of this has evidently worked for her in the past and she has been rewarded for it with passing grades, if not higher. What a shock when she got to me and I actually expected her to learn and understand the material! If she put half as much effort into actually working as she did into trying not to have to learn (heaven forbid!) then she would probably be a solid B student. Alas, that is not how she views education and sadly the same skills she's honed here will probably transfer to the rest of her life. We tend to reward that behavior these days for reasons I can't quite fathom. When I taught computer science, concepts were introduced and the basics worked on for a day or two, then those concepts were applied to real world situations and problems in order to synthesize the concepts learned into a cohesive whole. That could have been as simple as combining two sample programs into one, or refining an older program to take advantage of a new concept to increase efficiency. Most students could do the introductions pretty well by themselves with little help as it was spelled out quite plainly and I like to think that my explanations were good ones. However, when it came time to apply that knowledge, they are totally lost. Excuses range from, "We've never done anything like this before." to "You mean I have to be able to do this by myself and figure it out?" They expect to be shown how to solve every single problem, step by step, without reasoning anything out by themselves. You might argue that it's my job to show them how to do this sort of thing and you'd be right. However, teaching computer science like this would be analogous to teaching creative writing by giving a formula for how each story should be written. It just doesn't work like that. I provide tools for solving problems and in-depth explanations of those tools and how they can be applied, complete with example after example, but when faced with actually doing a task by themselves, they are as lost as can be. These are just a few of the negative examples I could give, but I fear this will turn into a rant of a tone that I don't wish to have or convey if I continue with this particular train of thought. I'll just sum up the negative with this: A disproportionate number of students simply don't care about school, bettering themselves in any way, or seemingly, their future. Now, there are some positives as well. I do have students, both bright and dim, that work with everything they have. They enjoy learning and figuring things out. They come to me on Monday morning telling me they thought about some problem all weekend and think they've finally figured out a good way to do it. They say it with enthusiasm and zeal. They feel, as I do, that any knowledge is good knowledge. It doesn't matter if it has a practical purpose or not. Computer science teaches you how to think logically and concretely about sometimes abstract concepts. Learning how your digestive system works in conjunction with your endocrine system isn't something that you'll use in everyday life unless you pursue a career in the medical field, but being able to see the big picture of digestion as well as all of the parts that combine to make it works is a skill that applies to many other things in life, be it a business deal or a Happy Meal. The love of knowledge and learning for its own sake has all but died, and that saddens me. In my 14 years here, the proportion of those that care to those that don't has worsened at a steady pace. Now, before you start thinking that this is a rant solely about students and their lack of caring and rampant apathy, let me expound a bit on the other side of the coin. There are teachers I see every day that simply phone it in. They are as bad as, if not worse, than the students I mentioned above in their attitude. These are the teachers that simply don't care anymore and maybe never did. These are the teachers that have lost interest in educating students and shifted their educational paradigm to one of propaganda and personal conflicts in order to exercise some semblance of power and control over something in their life, even if it's only in their mind. I have a sneaky suspicion that many of these teachers used to be "the good ones" that you hear about sometimes. Now they are bitter and resentful and they pass those attitudes on to their students in many ways. These are the teachers that teach the same lessons, year after year, refusing to change for anyone or anything. I had one of those teachers in high school. She graded on what she thought kids deserved, not the actual effort given or grades earned. I made her cry in front of class one day when I called her on it. Do I fear I'll have a kid do the same to me some day? No, but simply for the fact that I'll never allow myself to be in the situation she put herself in. I don't care if you're ranked number one in your class or dead last - the grade you get is the grade you earn. These teachers become a poison in many ways, turning kids off to education and learning and spawning many of the stories that I've heard and read from students that hold school in a negative light. The other big part of education that gets kids (and teachers, but more on that later) down on education is the educational system in general. Education theories change in cycles and every point on that cycle has potential for good and bad, depending on the application of those theories on the campus and in the classroom. The problem usually arises when teachers are forced to stop doing things that were effective and replace them with other things that probably won't be effective, at least in the short run, as they are forced to reevaluate and change what was previously working just fine. The "new" (read: recycled) ideas and theories that they are forced to implement will often work just fine, but it's frustrating to have to change things that you felt were fine to begin with or that you were tinkering with and tweaking to get to work. Whether students believe it or not, the same system that affects students, wears on us too. All of the bureaucratic jumping through hoops and CYA things that we're forced to do every day, the mounds upon mounds of pointless and useless paperwork we are required by law and local policy to fill out so that other people can cover their own collective asses is frustrating to no end. The time teachers get to prepare for class and better themselves in order to better their teaching skills is reduced to almost nothing. As a result of all of that, frustrations mount and that same apathy sets in. The zest for teaching and opening new doors for students wanes as time goes on, and teachers get burned out. Not burned out on teaching, but burned out on all of the other things that go along with being a teacher. My biggest fear is that this will one day happen to me, and to be honest, I see it happening bit-by-bit, day-by-day. The constant Herculean efforts, with little to no reward, begin to take a toll. And Buddha forbid you're actually good at what you do in the educational field. For with that comes recognition and with that recognition comes added duties and responsibilities with absolutely no extra benefits or rewards, be they monetary or even something as simple as a pat on the back. You get nothing of the sort typically, just more work. Teachers stop trying quite as hard. I'm sure the same happens to students as well. It's easier that way, and less is expected of you, which makes things even easier. That's a slippery slope though, and a very dangerous one. It's all too easy to sink into that complacency that plagues so many people today and it's something I have vowed to never let happen to me, but this system pecks away at you, slowly but surely. Then there are the common insults heaped upon teachers every day: "Those that can't do, teach.", "Couldn't get a real job, eh?", “You get like a third of the year off, why are you complaining?” and others in a similar vein. It's hard for people to understand that some might actually enjoy this sort of thing. We might be masochistic, sure, but seeing some kid excited about learning something, or telling us that they pondered our problem in their sleep the previous night and came up with a solution with a beaming smile of satisfaction and self-worth make it all worth the pain and put-downs most of the time. As for the time off issue, most of us either work another job, go to trainings, plan ahead for the next year, or find other work-related ways to fill that so-called time off. Here I am, on spring break, working on revising lessons from the year, developing student-targeted remediation lessons to appease the almighty TAKS gods, disaggregating benchmark data, and researching ways to do certain things better. As far as "real" jobs go, I've had them and didn't care for most of them. I've done everything from research in biology to waiting tables to network administration to construction and none of them gave me anywhere near the satisfaction that teaching does on its worst day. Teaching is different every day. You never get bored, and if you do, you're doing it wrong. It's also the hardest job I've ever had. It would be nice to have all of those purveyors of anti-pedagogical dialog teach for just one year (with the caveat that you must try to do the very best job you can - perform at least at the same level you do at your current job). Most couldn't make it. Don't believe it? Try it. So, where does all of this stem from, this frustration seen by both students and teachers alike? Most of it comes from similar sources, bureaucrats determined to make changes in areas that they know little to nothing about. Mandates sent down from on high to make changes that make little to no sense to anyone outside of those ivory towers of government. Administrators that have forgotten what it was like in the classroom enforcing these policies because it makes their lives easier or makes them feel important. There are exceptions to that of course, but few that I've seen. And of course the administrators themselves have many of the same issues the teachers and students do as well. At the Assistant principal level, you only get to deal with the problem kids 90% of the time, which is draining and frustrating with no end in sight. And they have their own bureaucratic issues to deal with as well, handed down by those above them in the never-ending chain of management that is sucking and bleeding the system dry from the top down. Even the superintendent himself must appease the school board via various bureaucratic procedures. We teachers get this frustration handed down to us from all of these levels though, and many of us hand it right off to the students in turn, which isn't fair to anyone, much less those we are here to educate. Next year, in an effort to cut costs, all administrators (from the superintendent to the assistant principals) are going to be required to be substitute teachers for 3 days out of the year. I think it should go farther than that - they should have to teach one class every other year, even if it's just a semester class. This would hopefully insure that they don't lose sight of what's truly happening on the front lines. A fair chunk of the frustration comes from parents and community members as well. It seems nobody wants to accept responsibility for their own actions anymore (I realize fully the irony of my placing partial blame in this manner, but read on), be they teachers, parents, or community members. The parents tell teachers that we see their children more than they do so we are more responsible for their upbringing. Yes, I've actually heard that on more than a few occasions. Parents like that should step back a bit and really think about what they said. I know there are extenuating circumstances out there, but often there are not. We are expected to raise these kids as surrogate parents by all too many people. Community members actually blame teachers for student behavior when the students are employed in the community ("Don't they teach you how to act in that school of yours?"). And yes, teachers are to blame as well for all of the reasons listed above. The real onus of responsibility, however, falls directly on the students themselves. Nobody can make you something that you're not. You make your own choices in life; especially by the time you reach the levels that I teach. Now, the big question here is how to fix this big mess. There are a few ways that come to mind immediately, but I doubt most will happen any time soon unfortunately. Money is a pretty big one, and no, I'm not just saying that because I'm a teacher making <$50k/year after 14 years of doing it. Higher salaries would attract a few more qualified people to the field, but I doubt that would be enough to make most of them put up with most of the things they have to put up with as teachers. A lighter load of red tape would help tremendously, but it goes against everything going on in America today. The trend is certainly towards more paperwork to prevent litigation, even though people litigate over that paperwork just as readily, if not more so, than the issues the paperwork is designed to document and prevent litigation over, which of course just leads to more litigation. A true paradigm shift in how education is viewed in this country would have to occur before anything else could truly help and even then I'm afraid things will call for drastic measures of a sweeping nature, but I don't see that happening either. Even though schools are diversifying a bit, they are still tuned for the most part to turn out students like a factory. Not every child is meant to go to college, so let's stop pretending they are with useless legislation like NCLB. Tracks for trades should be just as emphasized at those for post-secondary education. I wish I had a grand plan to fix it all, but it's such a cumbersome mess that I just don't see how it can be easily fixed at this point. If you’ve made it to the end of this, thank you for reading it all. Then thank a teacher for the ability to do so.
That is one of biggest reason no one ever talk about when they talk about the problems in education. Everyone talk about education like it is so important, but to many if not most Americans education is not as important as sports.
I wish I could comment on any of this. My public high school experience was an aberration in comparison to the average HISD school. (Bellaire High School) I was lucky enough to have great teachers (for the most part), a good and competitive (often hyper competitive) student body, and great extra-curricular opportunities. But there are maybe 3 or 4 high schools in HISD that I would even consider sending a child to. Although as for schooling in general. I find the universal complaint from anyone I've known who moved from the US to other countries is our poor math education. Additionally we teach foreign languages the wrong way. Foreign language education is mandatory in high school but the prime time to learn something like Spanish is elementary school. My parents both took THREE foreign languages each while in elementary and middle school in addition to having the school taught in English (so basically 4 languages for them). They have no misgivings about learning foreign languages yet so many people find disdain for the notion of learning something like spanish
The bureaucracy and politics you mention reminds me of The Wire. Thanks for putting everything wrong into words.
Coherent post is coherent. Well said. I only taught HS for a couple years-- at a small private overseas American school so likely much less red tape than what you dealt but my experience has much in common with what you describe. (If you can, I would recommend the overseas American school teaching experience to any public school teacher. Great opportunity to see a different part of the world, typically small, independently run schools, and (in some places) tax free income). In particular, it is absolutely a joy when a student shows curiousity and a desire to gain knowledge/skill and to help that student in the learning process. My lament is that there aren't enough of such students-- even some of the "high achieving" students don't really have any curiousity but instead just want to get into a college that enables them to gain social status and get a white collar job. It is often frustrating, both for students and teacher who really do want to, you know, do this "education" thing, to feel like they are a minority in an environment where genuine curiosity and learning is not valued.
I don't teach reading, but good for you. Your parents must be very proud of the vainglorious child they helped raise.
Let me summarize this for people: Public schools in the northeast are better than public schools in the south and midwest
Good post but you could have stopped right here. For whatever reason there is a huge pushback against the elitists err educated. Want proof? Just look who's leading the anti-elitist charge. College droputs like Limbaugh and Beck.
I think they just have a different set of criteria for elitism. Is there a bigger racket going than higher education?
I'd say the wall street investment banks that sent the world economy plunging, including their own governments but were bailed out by the government. Higher Education hasn't done that yet.
I beleeave you. By the way, most private schools are run by liberals, who will always recruit and subsidize some minorities to reinforce their values and keep the sports teams up to par for the alumni. And after a long week of second year latin, third year french, evensong hymn practice and scoring five touchdowns against Choate Rosemary, mandingo gonna have him some vanilla pound cake.
Sure tax cuts for the rich. http://www.cbpp.org/files/6-25-10inc.pdf The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007, according to data the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued last week. Taken together with prior research, the new data suggest greater income concentration at the top of the income scale than at any time since 1928. In 1979, when the data begin, the average after-tax incomes of the top 1 percent of households were 7.9 times higher than those of the middle fifth of households. By 2007, top incomes were 23.9 times higher than those of the middle fifth — a more than tripling of the income gap. The gap between the top 1 percent and the poorest fifth of Americans widened even more sharply. In 1979, the incomes of the top 1 percent were 22.7 times higher than those of the bottom fifth. By 2007, top incomes were 74.6 times higher than those at the bottom — more than tripling the richpoor gap in 28 years. The average after-tax income of the top 1 percent of the population nearly quadrupled, from $347,000 to over $1.3 million. As noted, this represented an increase of $973,100, or 281 percent, per household. By contrast, the average after-tax income of the middle fifth of the population rose from $44,100 in 1979 to $55,300 in 2007 — a relatively modest gain of $11,200 or 25 percent. The average after-tax income of the poorest fifth of the population rose from $15,300 to $17,700, an increase of $2,400 or 16 percent.
Line up the major culprits of the wall street swindle and try to pick out the ones that weren't graduates of major Northeastern business schools. Higher Education was a conspirator.
So, you are saying that folks like Dick Fuld, Ken Lewis, Bernie Madoff, etc. screwed up because their profs brainwashed them back when they were in college or business school a few decades ago? And are you indicting just the business schools or the entire higher education system? Is, say, Neil DeGrasse Tyson a culprit as well?
