I'd love to hear others weigh in. This has long been my personal feeling, and one of the reasons that, despite my Elementary Education degree, I do not plan to ever hold a classroom teaching job. Researching education in the US and abroad is one of my pet projects, and I feel that the "academic" push is a really misguided one at best. In my experience, kids seem to do best when they are in a loving environment that supports, scaffolds, and nurtures their curiosity and interests. Ellie was not interested in letters and "reading" early on. We didn't push letter recognition or sight words (in fact, we even eschewed alphabet books because she would get irate if we would try to read them to her). When she was ready, the skills came easily. We did read to her a great deal, and tried to provide many opportunities for her to discover what she was interested in. So what does everyone else think?
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I didn't read the article, but I completely agree in general. But I DO have a classroom job and hope to influence policy at some point. It's really frustrating to know that "accountability" isn't the right method, but to have to work within that system.
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@Mrs Green Grass: I love that you are interested in changing policy. My hope is that as the girls get older I can start doing more writing and speaking for public advocacy for education reform and especially for education reform with regards to children with unique needs. I am currently planning to do it from the outside, though. Do you find that you are able to find avenues to express your opinions and be heard?
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My mom says THE SAME!
She is a 10-12th grade teacher with a specialty in ELL (English Learned Language or ESL) and reading (for those who are at risk of illiteracy):
She says, after NCLB, it just seems that all they (the teachers) are, are puppets of the district, which is a puppet of the State.
She is sick and tired of the testing, and the training of how to conduct tests, and she says mostly: she is tired of teaching towards the standardized tests. They don't teach towards a curriculum anymore>>they teach so that the kids do well on the state issued standardized tests. This kills any and all creativity on teachers' part.
I am in training (social worker) to become specialized in assessing children who may be in need of, or in risk of needing special education. I feel that the pressure of standardized testing and the financial pressures of performance is not helping those kids, especially. -
I hear more and more things like this these days. Everyone is teaching for testing, not for curriculum. The ONLY way I got through school was because my teachers made it fun and enjoyable. If it's all geared towards testing now and my daughter learns like I do, I think we may have an issue. We are looking into private and charter schools that don't have to follow state regulations so we can get her into something we are more comfortable with.
Also, I think this is why the push today is on younger kids (like 1 year olds...) to start learning numbers and letters instead of colors and shapes like we started with when I was a kid.
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@CupQuakeWalk: Where we live, much of the curriculum is even essentially "scripted" in that you do the same series of lessons via power-point/smartboard and activities, and the teacher's book tells you what to say. Most teachers don't seem to deviate from this. I think part of it is just general discouragement beating down their energy and initiative-- not that they are poor teachers. I think Ellie's behavior and frustration is more problematic in the public school because the expectations are too rigid and don't take much into account, other than needing to meet these external criteria. We are to the point that we are considering pulling her out next year and for the forseeable future. It makes me so sad and angry because she really does need that socialization. At the same time, her anxiety has gotten her to the point that she is biting her nails until they bleed, and picking at her skin (behaviors that decrease over a long vacation or during the summer). I don't really know what to do, because I do honestly feel the school is doing the best that it can within the system, but to me the system is just so damaging as it stands. And I feel we are killing the very qualities we claim to be attempting to instill.
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before i even read the article, the title struck a chord with me. i am from MA and was going to a state school, majoring in elementary education and sociology. i thought i could do great things in the classroom, but there was one defining moment for me when i decided i was done with public schools and knew there was no way i could live off of a private school salary. i came in early to school one morning, i taped off a scaled down mayflower on the floor and the kids were going to try different things in it, like laying down to sleep and we were going to share their journal entries about what they'd choose to bring if they were leaving home to start a new life elsewhere, then i was going to read a picture book about the voyage. the teacher i was working with came in and scoffed at it, she asked if i knew how to read the book to them, i thought she was looking for me to make eye contact with each student to engage them, allow time for them to process before asking for any responses, etc, she laughed, 'no, don't read all the words! we don't have time for this! we have MCAS (MA state tests) coming up and need to do drills to get ready!" i pointed out they could read and would know i was skipping words, she told me they're used to it, no one ever reads all the words because they have other real work to get to. i was done. it was not a place for me. my dad is a teacher, i have nothing but respect for those that are able to work within the rules, but i can't participate in a system that thinks reading age appropriate historical literature is a waste of time, that believes in drills to prep for tests rather than inquiry lessons where authentic learning can take place (and actually STICK, rather than dumping it all after passing the tests). i wish i was strong enough to find a way to meet all the needs of the government and the kids, but i'm not, and i can't pick the governments needs of those of the kids, so i chose not to finish my teaching degree.
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@mediagirl: We struggle because there are, literally, no other options in our area. There is only one private school (which Ellie did actually attend for K, until the fact that they had no special education program and too low staff numbers to be a viable option made us move her). There are no other schools. I've actually considered moving somewhere else so she could attend a more appropriate school, but the only way for that to work would be to try to maybe find a job at that school to offset tuition, and our family would be split. Mr. T was pretty adamnant that it wasn't an option. So all we have is the public schools or homeschooling. I feel a little stuck when I consider it, honestly.
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@mrs. bird: I wish I would have been as smart as you. I graduated with my degree in 2005, while the flux was underway, but not yet finished. By the end, I knew that there was no way I could reconcile my passion and what I believe kids need with the requirements.
So now, like many, I have a degree I won't use.
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@Mrs. Twine: I have always felt that I needed "years in the classroom" in order for people to take me seriously. So now that I have about 10, I'm starting to move beyond my classroom. (Up to this point, I've been very active within my dept and school and have been dept chair. I've also taught Masters of Ed classes to teachers at a local University.) Next year I'm going to spend half the day support other teachers as we implement the Common Core Standards.
I have no idea where I will go after that. It's scary! But I definitely think teachers listen much more to people in the inside. I'm not sure what politicians listen too...eachother? Test prep companies?
So I guess my answer is yes and no and we will see.
Another note: at my school we do not teach a scripted curriculum in any way. There are things we do in common so that we are "on the same page" but we are not told actually what or how to teach. If that were the case, I wouldn't be able to do it.
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I am not an educator, but I am a parent who has seen how children are taught in another country. It couldn't be more different and I think for us, as a country, we need to look outside of our borders to find the answer.
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@looch: I agree. I am working on Mr. T to move to Sweden
Not really, but I do think Ellie would be so much better off in another educational setting.
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@Mrs. Twine: Switzerland is pretty amazing in terms of education, admittedly I don't know much about Sweden. What is very attractive is their concept of multiple paths for kids. There are different paths that can be taken and the main goal is to get everyone through the system with marketable skills, whether it is a trade, college, or general employment.
What they do not do well is special education. Unfortunately, kids that have moderate to severe disabilities are still mainly institutionalized.
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I can really see a lot of points in the article. It is so hard because I know for our state we do allow a fair amount of local control (meaning district control) but a lot of bad gets thrown on the state for pushing standards, data collection, and standardized tests. When in actuality, the state portion of that is mandated is fairly minimal and the district adds their own flavor in addition to it all.
I hope that for us, parent involvement and learning about the system will help my daughter thrive in public education.
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@looch: That's one of the main ways in which I feel we have missed the mark. Of course we all want the best for our kids, but the fact that there is stigmatization still of many different types of work means that, largely, if we want the "best" we want the same thing. And that isn't personally or societally desirable. So I do feel one part of education reform needs to be making more professions compensated, desirable, and valued.
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@Mrs. Twine: haha, so I wrote a whole long comment earlier and mentioned Sweden, but deleted it...
It's really hard for me to discuss this. There is just so much to it. Sweden is so very different from our country is so many ways. They don't have a lot of the same challenges that we do. That said, there's no excuse for the state of our education system in this country. It's a mess.
If we could afford it, we'd send our kids to private school, but I don't think public school will damage them. School is such a small part of a child's education.
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@Mrs. Twine: yes, exactly.
As an example, my husband is the only one of his siblings that has attended university. His other siblings chose the "middle" path of trade skills and are all very well employed.
But, they're a country of 8 million or so people with tightly controlled borders. There are more people living in the tiny island of Manhattan, so to compare is pointless.
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@Mrs. Twine: Haven't read the article yet, but...although much of the reason I left teaching was because of my health, the other reason was this stuff. The incident that led to me quitting was when one day the principal (who hated me for not doing exactly as she said) decided to observe me on a day when instead of following the script I decided the kids needed to know how to write an essay. She was irate that I hadn't done the activities outlined by the district for that day, and asked me to show her exactly which district standards I was following for the week. And I was like, "Who cares? These kids are in sixth grade and can't structure a paragraph." I'd taught more proficient first graders in schools that gave teachers flexibility to design their own lessons. It made me mad that they were missing the big picture so completely by micromanaging every tiny detail.
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@looch: YES! Thank you. We just cannot compare the US to those other countries like Sweden.
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This stuff really freaks me out. We are very pro public education, and my mom is an elementary teacher. But because of the way standards are being implemented at kindergarten level, our plan at this point is to likely have our daughter in waldorf school until 1st grade, maybe 2nd. I want to protect her childhood. Even my mom, who is the biggest public school advocate ever, thinks its a good plan (that shocked me). It may mean a 45 minute commute to school, depending on where we are, but it's our plan for now.
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The article is spot on. I hadn't even considered the amount of teacher time out of the classroom to "learn" these new assessments. At this point I'm thinking of having my little one skip Kindergarten or find a suitable alternative to public school. Let kids be kids. The point about the behavioral issues is also a good one. The kids get pushed and pressured so they act out. Play is so important. It's all a little sad to think about.
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Yeah, this is why DH and I keep talking about homeschooling our kids because I feel like any kid that doesn't fit the "mold" gets overlooked or made to feel terrible because they don't pass a test or whatever. Its so sad.
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Like you, I can't imagine going back to teaching. I wanted to be a teacher so that I could make learning fun & engaging and I purposely chose an environment where I could work with struggling learners with behavioral/emotional issues. The pressure and politics to teach to the test were far beyond what I could handle. I had 13-year-olds who could not spell their names, yet I was not "allowed" to deviate from the curriculum to focus on their individual strengths and needs. These kids are being pushed along with no regard given to those who are slipping through the cracks. It is a sad state of affairs. Our district is losing talented, caring teachers in hoards.
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@mrs. tictactoe: @looch: We can't do a one to one comparison, no, but I firmly believe that some of the strategies that make their educational systems work can and should be applied in the US.
@Silva: We chose a Catholic school for K because it had more unstructured time. The nearest Waldorf to us is in the Cities (about three hours) though I would have loved that for her.
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I teach second and found myself nodding along with almost everything in the article. My kids are being tested constantly, sometimes twice in the same subject in the same week because we have to have monthly tests in addition to unit tests. We also have a variety of individual assessments that take up tons of class time. I know the K students at my school take both paper/pencil tests and the individual assessments that the author mentioned in the article. Like the author mentioned, the needs of the students are scarcely considered at all. I've always been a huge proponent of public education, but I'm so depressed about the way things are going.
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@Mrs. Twine: yes, I do agree. The problem is that it would involve extending the school year and forcing the US to look outside the country and collaborate.
I've yet to meet a teacher in the US that wants to extend the school year, so I'd love to hear from some of the members of this board about their thoughts on it.
So now, like many, I have a degree I won't use.
Not really, but I do think Ellie would be so much better off in another educational setting.
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