Something to think about. . .

Well, it's that time of year.  We are all headed back to school.  As usual I've been reading. . .

If you have email and belong to any organizations, you get notifications, newsletters, right?  Well, I have received an email that is really more than a notification, it is a newsletter.  I don't always read the entire newsletter, but really pick out the articles that interest me.  So, a "hot" topic mentioned in the title to one of the articles piqued my interest.  I am including a link:


http://neatoday.org/2012/05/16/bullying-of-teachers-pervasive-in-many-schools/?utm_source=neatodayexpress&utm_medium=email&utm_content=bully&utm_campaign=1207

While reading the article, I kept questioning myself, have I experienced this?  The answer is yes, at all levels.   I have witnessed examples of this between others and aimed at myself.  New teachers are much more "attractive" targets for the bully, because they don't have tenure and are afraid to speak up.  Teachers with experience and multiple degrees are becoming targets, due to the cost of employing teachers with experience.  In this situation, no one wins.

Value added evalutions

The more that I read about "value added" evaluations, as promoted through Race to the Top, the more concerned I become about the welfare of the quality of education in America.

I am concerned that Race To The Top is more about money and political clout than quality education for our children.  There are too many questions for us to implement these "innovations" across the board.  There are too many instances where abuse and mishandling of funds could exist.  There are too many instances of political partnerships with philanthropic organizations and the possible existence of graft and control for profit.  There are just too many questions.

Do we need some reforms?  Yes, but we need to be cautious.  Lack of funding is straining our schools to support our students.  As I said in my last post, one proven method of improving student learning is student teacher ratios.  The lower the ratio, the more success and learning for the student.  It is pretty easy, and no "for profit" organizations would be involved.

Please read the articles at these links and see what you think.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/the_gates_foundations_leverage.html

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/the_gates_foundations_educatio.html


On a more positive note, I have recently read an article about schools extending their day.  This makes sense, and I will follow their progress.

http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2012/07/16/40526-dps-launches-extended-learning-pilot

I am familiar with PEBC (Public Education and Business Coalition).  I have attended professional development with PEBC  consultants.  I have found PEBC to have sound practices which engender rigor in learning for students.

Conversations need to re-focus. . .

I had some data brought to my attention today.  Since I was not sure who had compiled the data, I decided to go to the one source that would be most accurate, the US Census.  This is the report I found.  I think we need to change the conversation in eduction to "what we can do" rather than "what we can't do."  It is a paradigm shift.  It changes how we approach our issues.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p20-566.pdf

I also think we should start talking about the success we have had over the last decade.  Is all this uproar (i.e. teacher effectiveness, test scores, accountability) about who can have the largest part of the money pie?  I have witnessed personally a lot of waste in finances.  With the advent of Bill Gates and Race To The Top, is the uproar over who gets the cash?  I have seen many people paid many dollars for "new" educational practices that are not all successful, and some that are just not practical.

Again, when are they going to ask the people who do the job what is best to help the students succeed?  Research for many years, and practical experience have given us the answer over and over again.  Smaller classes, more teachers.  Done.  Hmmm, that didn't cost much.

Effectiveness of teachers. . .

I have been involved in discussions on measuring teacher effectiveness.  I am still not convinced on the best way to measure the effectiveness of teachers.  There are a tremendous amount of variables, it would have to be an extensive amount of work.  Basing effectiveness on one facet such as test scores is not viable.  You will never get the whole picture from one measurement.

I just read an article, that yes, and yet again, my profession is compared to other professions. . . hmm.  Apples and oranges?  Although this article did make some valid points, the most major one is that of teamwork.

It is worth reading and thinking about.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hunter-gehlbach/teachers-should-be-evaluated_b_1643211.html