Our View: Schools alone can't make educational system work
Horizon Honors graduation
Horizon Honors High graduates wait in the shadows to receive their diploma during their commencement ceremony at Bethany Community Church in Tempe Wednesday evening. June,1, 2011- Darryl Webb/AFN
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Dale Whiting posted at 8:25 am on Sun, Dec 18, 2011.
The editors get to write their own headlines. So when they picked "Schools alone can't make the educational system work" we are drawn into the article looking for what else is needed. Schools include teachers and administration, curriculum and facilities, length of day and length of term. All cost money, much more mney. Finally we read:
"Parents must make education a priority too by taking an active interest in what their kids are doing in school, making sure they do their homework and arrive at school on time each day, encouraging their children to read and do their best, and teaching them to pay attention and respect their teachers in the classroom."
Under various other and parallel topics, we had discussed this topic before. Teachers are unionized. Teachers are not necessarily evaluated and promoted on merit, their ability to be successful. [nor are many others in other occupations]. We do not hire the best people to become educators, our salary ranges being too modest. In our society, we do not honor the teaching profession highly enough.The US has not invested as much as have other countries in education, particulary college and post graduate education. We are poised to cut back on educational financing, yet we permit for profit colleges to do shame jobs teaching higher eduction to the gullible. Our students have too much vacation time, the wrong foods for lunch.
Bottom line, the one factor which appears to have the largest impact, the one which explains best the differences in educational success between the average group and groups having problems, one minority or ethinc group, whatever, is parental involvement. Parents with higher educational achievement naturally value education or they would not have gotten it. Parents who can read, write and speak effectively encourage their children to do the same, etc.
Somewhat disappointingly, our editors conclude: Both China and India "in recent years embarked on huge investments [$$$?] in educating their children and developing a culture of higher expectations and respect for learning." They come close to hitting the mark when they mention, almost in passing "a culture of higher expectations and respect for learning." But what does this mean?
So in trying to fix up our broken educational system, just how do we go about fixing up our parents? For those whose educations are lacking, perhaps we need to offer after school/after work classes where both parent and child can learn together. I'm ready to volunteer! How about you?
Interestingly, one of the states which invests the least amount of money in education but achieves the most is our neighbor to the north, those Mormons! How do they do it! Their church has its own educational system, may campuses being co-located with public campuses. Their church leadership, local, regional, national and international, is drawn from all sectors of the economy. Being a minister is not a profession open to Mormons. They just don't have any ministers. Their educational system teaches all to minister. Their leaders are drawn largely from those who are successful in their qwn professions and success correlates with education, secular education!
My name is Dale Whiting, and I'm a Utah Mormon, too, one who tries to judge not by the cover but by the content, one who looks himself in the mirror each morning, one who offers a contrite heart, but from time to time does mess up on the broken spirit part, one who voted for Barack Obama after reading and pondering his contents, one who for 2-1/2 years at BYU had a Muslim roomate as a best friend.
Let's find a school willing to keep its doors open after hours and allow parents to come to class with their children. We can help the parents learn how to help their children with their homework. Modest, even small starts that achieve success have a way of becoming huge trends. "Lenghen our stride" is the counsel I receive from my faith.
How about it Rich and Cerulean, are you willing to give this a try? I'll cover the math and science, Rich, you cover the history and social studies. Cerulean, what can you contribute? Going to the library on Wednesdays does not sound like a lengthened stride! Unless of course we're using the library study rooms for teaching! We all can do better, much better.
[beam]
Moeman posted at 8:31 am on Sun, Dec 18, 2011.
FINALLY.....the TRUTH. School has fallen further & further down on the priority list for many families/students. Public school is FREE, undervalued & FORCED upon them, and they act accordingly in school. Quite frankly, many students barely try at all. A student told me last week, "Students have figured out that it only matters what you do in COLLEGE; High School doesn't matter. All you need is a diploma and you can go to Community College."
That is an ENORMOUSLY telling statement. No matter how well-trained teachers are, families & students MUST WANT to do more than "get by" in HS. All of the arguments & debates about public schools revolve around the SCHOOLS & TEACHERS failures, but how can we raise test scores, best prepare kids for the future and College if they DON'T WANT TO TRY HARDER? A good teacher can motivate some extra students, but CANNOT overcome a universal feeling of apathy among a majority of student's in the building.
2 analogies: First, some sick patients go to the doctor. The doctor is EXCELLENT, & tells them exactly what medicines to take, exactly what foods to eat, & EXACTLY the exercise required to get better. If the patient REFUSES (like many students), he will get sicker or DIE. CAN'T BLAME THE DOCTOR!
Second: If teachers were chefs and wanted to get better, they could go to Europe & study with the best. However, if this MASTER CHEF is forced to use INFERIOR INGREDIENTS by the owner (govt., districts), he can only do so much with the dish, as the best chefs/restaurants will send back the bad ingredients OR throw them away. Teachers don't have that luxury, and YES, a student who doesn't care or try is a BAD INGREDIENT (just spend some time in a classroom & you will see). Something must be done at the highest level to force parents/students to care or try harder; it is a SYSTEMATIC failure, when the public doesn't value a FORCED requirement, that is not properly preparing students for the future.
Any businessman who came into the Public School System will quickly see that the PERVERSE incentives, disincentives, and competing rules, values, and goals of all involved (Fed, State, Districts, Administration, Teachers, Parents, Students) DON'T MATCH! The laws placed on public high schools are such that all we do is try to fulfill our obligations in HIGH SCHOOL; we are NOT SET UP to deal with futures......we can't even perfect the PRESENT! Schools are a socialistic experiment that will ALWAYS be inefficient; socialistic/monopolistic entities always were & always will be inefficient BY DEFINITION.
One thing is for SURE......keep blaming teachers & things will only get worse. You NEED your teachers to be in a good frame-of-mind in order to be successful at all in the classroom. If we are unhappy, it SHOWS, no matter how hard we try to ignore it; we're only human. So, if you want 21 yr. old teachers with ZERO life experience.....stay the course! but, if you want respectable people with experience in the areas that they are teaching, something had better change QUICKLY, because many of us can't take it anymore. Why continue to work for 1/2 of what we are worth, in one of the WORST systems in the country, for people who don't care, all while being blamed for EVERYTHING wrong with today's student? Education is a strange product; YES, teachers are salespeople of the curriculum, but if students refuse to enter the marketplace..........NOBODY IS BUYING.
Moeman posted at 9:02 am on Sun, Dec 18, 2011.
The teachers in Arizona are NOT highly unionized. Quite frankly, the AZ Teachers Union is a TOOTHLESS TIGER. Many don't even belong. Don't confuse us with those of other states; it is apples vs. oranges & the union in AZ does NOT have that type of impact. If it did, AZ would NOT be at the bottom of EVERY educational list.
JMJ posted at 8:26 pm on Sun, Dec 18, 2011.
Idiots in charge. Parents who don't make education a priority in their homes, who say things like, "Well, I was never 'good' at math, either..." to excuse their children's lack of effort. Worst pay in the country. Students who could care less because teachers are free babysitters, and their parents don't enforce having their children do their homework. Or, parents can't even help their children with elementary homework.
Duh.
The teachers' union is an association, not a union, and the majority tyranny in the Arizona legislature will never concede to the largely Democratic, rather than Republican, teachers' associations which can do little to help any educators.
Arizona's educational system only 'works' if you have competent teachers, engaged students, and interested parents. For those of us who raised children and sent them to public schools in Arizona, ours went very far, professionally.
So, what else is new? You get out of it what you put into it. I have had a range of students, from the most impoverished to the wealthiest socio-economic status--and, rich or poor, students whose families cared and provided for them--meaning encouragement, moral support, and goal-setting, did well. Those who didn't care fared poorly. They learned what they needed to say: "Would you like fries with that?"
Arizona Willie posted at 8:01 am on Mon, Dec 19, 2011.
Education is and has been the lowest priority for Arizona Republican Legislatures, and it will continue to be. Their kids go to private schools so they don't want to pay taxes for public schools.
A college degree is highly over-rated. Companies these days require a bachelors degree for a receptionist. Totally unnecessary.
There has been a severe eruption of degree infatuation.
Of course, the companies don't want to pay enough to pay off the student loans to get those un-needed degrees, but they demand everyone have one.
And colleges are cranking them out like a potato chip factory.
People are graduating with degrees that couldn't read a map to find the college they graduated from. It's questionable whether or not they can actually read the sheepskin.
soricobob posted at 4:57 am on Tue, Dec 20, 2011.
I agree with the article, and I agree with Renzulli. However, it started with Vietnam. Yes, when students questioned everything, and parents ignored their protestations, and teachers became factions within a school, and demonstrations were weekly methods of showing your pride. We, as a culture, decided at that time that we had the right to not actively participate, to allow independent growth, and to foster freedom by not creating too much structure. The children of "then" are the parents of "now", and we are suffering. Parents feel they are owed something by schools, and it is not their responsibility.
VofReason posted at 1:28 pm on Thu, Dec 22, 2011.
Yes, everyone knows that Republicans hate education. I mean why wouldn't they, you have to be a 1% to be Republican and everyone knows that is bad. Back to reality, yes if parents don't make education important, young minds won't likely get their themselves. Teachers have a tough job, but pouring more money into it won't solve anything. Inflation adjusted, we spend more now then ever and have worse results. Fact is, no one gets elected by telling people that they need to take more responsibility for their kids or anything else.
k33j88 posted at 5:13 am on Fri, Dec 23, 2011.
Public education is not a "right" nor is it constitutionally mandated. It is, and always have been, a liberal(progressive) agenda rife with all the distortions associated with it. "No child left behind" is an excuse to promote the leviathans(big gov't) ideals and intsill into young, impressionable minds, the virtues of liberalism(collectivism). If a local community desires a formal education for its citizentry, then the tools necessary to achieve such goals should accessable and implemented accordingly. Public education isn't a federal or state issue, but a fruition of the local community to spend its' tax dollars as they see fit.
sockratties posted at 7:33 pm on Fri, Dec 30, 2011.
The editorial refers to panels of professional educators who are more than willing to push their own agendas. Unfortunately the problem has developed on their watch. The assertion that schools can’t do it on their own is correct, but the schools must provide a tasty buffet or the kids won’t eat. Technology has made much of classroom learning obsolete. Unfortunately technology is also making a lot of the teachers and teaching styles obsolete.
Today’s kids, like it or not, have a short attention span, little discipline, little parental guidance (for many reasons), few realistic role models and access to more distractions than any previous generation. But kids love to learn and will, given incentive and direction. The education system holds on to the “go to classroom, sit in a chair and listen, then get tested” pattern that is the comfort zone for teachers. It’s not the comfort zone for students who get bored out of their skulls. It’s also not preparing them for the world in which they must succeed.
Most academic topics can be learned on line. The new Shakespeare is a streaming movie and books are e-readers. Classrooms can provide access to computers and related materials. Students who have their own can do the work from anywhere they please. Criteria structured teaching is a tested, efficient method of getting the basics out of the way. Lab classes can provide practice for those things that are learned by doing once the lecture and supporting information has been learned and the performance criterion has been met at the school’s web site.
Apprentice courses should be available for those that choose careers which do not require college degrees but are becoming more technical, nonetheless. Welding, carpentry, auto repair, machinist and the list goes on; all are more technically demanding than ever, yet ignored by the current system.
Teachers are still needed to fill in the blanks, monitor progress and challenge the gifted. They must be stern educators when needed and in turn they must encourage and counsel. They shouldn’t be baby-sitters and parents should defer to their judgment; not berate them for giving poor marks that mean little Johnny can’t play basketball until his grades improve. And keep the lawyers out of the classroom.
When the system isn’t working, don’t look to the purveyors of the system to fix it. Find out from the customer why it’s not working; that’s the kids, the parents and the would-be future employers. This isn’t a political problem, but it is used as a political football.
hamguy posted at 8:43 am on Tue, Feb 14, 2012.
How many parents show up at the local PTA meetings? There is a gauge to parental interest and until the Parents (Both) get interested and involved, nothing will change. I'll also say that as a retiree, I object to my property taxes being used in such a wasteful manner as they are today. I don't mind paying for value received but that is not happening today.