Think about when you take your child to the first day of kindergarten…leaving our little ones in the capable hands of the teacher who is going to teach them not only “everything [they] need to know” about kindergarten during that foray into their school years, but be there to put a bandage on their scraped knee, and give a hug when they need one, too. Now, flash forward to graduation day, when we are swelling with pride, wondering how time passed so quickly and why analytic geometry seems so complicated (and irrelevant in our day-to-day lives)…teachers have a profound impact on our kids. They spend seven hours a day, five days a week for 13+ years teaching our kids reading, writing, arithmetic, and more. Teaching them how to learn, how to listen, how to think outside the box. It’s a big job! You know it, and she does, too. Teachers have to get little minds ready for some pretty big stuff as they progress through school. Our kids have to hit marks, pass tests, and be ready for the big world when they graduate. When they finish, if they finish, how they finish is critical to their success as people…and our success as a country. Make no mistake; American students are in a race. They are racing against students, not only in their own classrooms, but around the world for the best education. The winners get the best jobs.
The public schools are in trouble. We have crowded classrooms, underpaid good teachers, overpaid bad teachers, budget shortfalls, arts/drama/music/sports programs being cut, etc. Are our students prepared? Can we trust the school system with getting them ready for the workforce of the new millennium? The new workforce rewards innovative thinking, problem solving, and technological prowess. U.S. teenagers rank halfway down the list in Science scores of industrialized nations, just below France, and 23rd from the top in math. In studies of students in grade four and grade eight, the U.S. ranks just below Lithuania and the Russian Federation in Math. The top performers in all of these tests come from Asia. Quite literally, our students will be competing for jobs in all fields that require strong Math and Science backgrounds (can anyone say technology?), and they need to be competitive. Reforming the American public school system has been a “theoretical” top priority for past and present administrations, but as always, the devil has been in the details. How do we measure student’s progress? How do we evaluate teacher performances? How do we ensure that good educational practices are continued and rewarded, and the deadwood is cut out? How do we invest in education and the future of our country?
The current administration is committed to helping the states in a new initiative, America’s “Race to the Top.” States are in a competition for federal dollars to support their schools based on the number of schools that apply, and assessments made of the applicants. The Secretary of Education has allocated up to $350 million in Race to the Top funds to help the states develop these assessments and to design a competition for these funds.
The program promises to improve struggling schools by improving teacher training and compensation. The teachers’ unions, however, are not behind the program because it proposes basing teacher’s compensations on student’s standardized test scores. They say that the test scores should be a factor, but not the whole measure of teacher performance. Other critics say that the program does not deal with current states’ budget shortfalls for this year, or expected shortfalls for the next school year. We need to get on the starting line…or we are going to lose the race.
Fixing education is a race because there are winners and losers. But, we have to remember that we are all on the same team: The racers, the trainers, the coaches, the cheerleaders. We all have a place on the team. Motivating the whole team to go for the gold is a much different prospect than winning one race. It might not be enough to base teacher salaries on test scores alone. Maybe administrators have to go into the classrooms to assess the teacher’s performances. Who evaluates the evaluators? How do you compare teacher performances at schools with tons of resources with those at schools with limited ones? There is also the factor of the children themselves. Maybe the kids need a voice? They are growing, changing, and have developmental clocks and issues, which are all unique and decidedly not systemic in nature. The important thing for the government, parents, teachers, unions, and schools to remember is not to let their own interests and egos get in the way of what is best for the children. When our kids race to the top, we all win.
America’s moms need to be sure our kids “learn something new every day”:
1) Help them to make Math fun by playing games using edible/inexpensive manipulatives like M&Ms or Cheerios.
2) Read for 20 minutes a night with each of your kids.
3) Volunteer your time and work in your child’s classroom.
Regardless of any government initiatives that come down the track in regard to education, America’s moms are responsible for making sure our kids cross the finish line!
“Change begins at home.”
-Michelle & Debbie
http://www.o-mama.com/articles/index/category:education
