I am probably just as frustrated with schools as parents, teachers, politicians, and anyone else that sees there is a problem. Note: I did not say specifically public school or private school, because usually they are set up the same way and there are just as many private schools that don’t work for students as public schools. I know, as I have seen first hand, that school systems are trying to improve the quality of education by improving quality of teacher relationships with students, the quality of materials provided to students, the quality of a teacher’s ability to teach students, as well as other things that I think are important and should be continued. Unfortunately, those things while they will improve the education of some students are NOT going to solve the overall problem with education.
I teach at a virtual school and while it is considered a public school, it is a school of choice for parents. They are not districted to attend the school that I teach at. Whether they have been attending my school for 5 years or this is their first year, I ask every parent during my welcome call, “Why did you choose this school?” I get so upset by the answers I hear from parents. They range from things like: problems with bullying, the teacher refused to communicate with the parent about issues the child was having in school, the teacher refused to provide services that the child needed as he or she was struggling to read or learn math skills, they weren’t given recess, they never went on field trips, and the list goes on and on. It’s sad! I can’t believe there are schools out there that allow these things to go on! So, YES! I believe the above attempts at quality improvements need to be continued and from my view point at an even more intensive level!
This year, we have new National Standards, Common Core, that are rolling out and have been researched and studied to be presented to students in ways that are developmentally appropriate. From my training of the Common Core, I do think that these standards change the focus from learning how to get answer right to figuring out how to understand concepts. I believe this is another step in the right direction. I especially think that if teachers follow through on the suggestions that are out there for how to teach students math concepts, they will really understand how math works. That said, at the end of one of my trainings, the presenter posted a slide with a quote from Bill McCallum (Math Team Coordinator, Common Core State Standards). “As my colleague Jason Zimba likes to say, you don’t teach standards, you teach mathematics.” I believe they both have it wrong. I have never liked to say, “I teach 2nd grade.” or “I teach math.” or “I teach the standards.” Those are the paths that I take to teach my students… “I teach MY STUDENTS.” Every teacher should be teaching each student individually in a way that engages and challenges that child to learn new things at what ever level that might be. When I taught kindergarten, I taught a range of kids that varied from pre-school to students that read on 6th grade levels. The child that read on a 6th grade level may have been doing math on a 3rd grade level. I did not teach kindergarten. I taught my students what they needed to learn about reading or math. I used the standards to guide me, but I taught my kids!
I feel, that although we are making small strides of improvement, we are not fixing the problem. The problem, in my opinion, is that students are not learning what they need to learn in kindergarten, but they are still being passed on to first grade. The student may never get what he or she missed in kindergarten, falls further behind, and yet is passed on to second grade. The child my receive support services, and while there are many success stories, there are even more students that fall through the cracks, and are continued to be passed on to the next teacher possibly until he or she fails a high stakes test. At which time, the child may be retained at that grade level. Some of these students learn to “play school” and how to get the answer right, they may continue to be passed up the school ladder, but they are NOT educated. Students that continue to fail the test are also often just passed up the school ladder… “Maybe he or she will learn what he or she needs to know next year.”
THIS IS THE PROBLEM WITH EDUCATION!
I propose we revamp the entire school set up. I would like to see grade levels disappear altogether. If we are going to use standards to guide our instruction and we want students to master these standards, why don’t we set up our schools in such a way that this happens? How? You may ask… That is the million dollar (maybe more expensive question.) But we can figure this out. In fact, if we do, my guess is that expensive question will turn out to be a cheap and effective answer in the long run.
I see a school building similar to those fashioned today, if not the same, but once you walk inside, things may look a bit different. There would not be a kindergarten wing, first grade wing, or anything of the sort. Instead, I see lists of standards organized from simple to complex. Teachers would be responsible for not just teaching these standards, but for each student’s learning of these standards. Today’s teachers are responsible for a hundred or more standards to teach in one year. These teachers would be expected to teach maybe 10 standards, plus or minus (we’ll have to figure out what is appropriate) to students without a given timeline. The students will determine their own timeline. If a child can master the standards of the class in 10 days, the child is ready to move on to more complex standards. If a child needs more detailed instruction and opportunities to understand the expected standards, he or she may take 2 months. Instruction should be differentiated, engaging, and challenging. Movement among classrooms should be flexible, where students are progressed as they master standards or returned to certain classrooms to review if needed. This is the biggest difference; students are moved because they know what they need to know, not because it is the end of the school year! While teachers are expected to make sure students master the particular standards being taught, they may incorporate other standards into the learning. They don’t have to teach standards in isolation, in fact, I don’t recommend that anyway. There would still be a need for support teachers (Title I and EIP – Early Intervention Program) to provide additional support to students who struggle learning specific skills. There would still be a need for advanced learning teachers to provide opportunities for students to dive deeper into certain standards.
We need to create schools were every decision is made based on what that child knows or what he or she needs to know as individuals. I’m obviously NOT saying I have it all figured out, but I do think our students would benefit from it if we took the time to figure it out. The steps we’re taking to improve education right now are as effective as putting band aids on a gunshot wound. Let’s do something different!
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