[Just Joan]

Heard this interview on NPR this morning. Really good! Education

[Beck]

Thank you for sharing this. I can tell you first hand that standardized testing is simply there to appease the masses and give the media something to criticize.

As a teacher, there is so much more to education than testing. I'm not saying that we shouldn't test, I'm simply saying that education involves learning that goes well beyond testing.

Schools are being measured by test scores, hence teachers are pressured to teach to the test. It's absurd and ineffective to teach this way.

Another thought - No Child Left Behind came into existence with a great deal of hoopla and fanfare, but was never fully funded. So schools were provided the "blueprint" for this so-called vision, but were never given the tools to implement it.

Just another way for our former president and legislature to pat themselves on their collective back for a lot of talk that was not followed by the walk.

[myra]

IMHO there's a lot wrong with NCLB. I personally can't see that it's done any good at all, and it's a key reason we started homeschooling.

IMO there are a lot of things that could be done at schools to improve education that would likely be much more effective than NCLB. But there are also things that need to be done at home. Education (learning in general) needs to become much more valued at home. I know way too many families who value performance in sports more than performance in school. Kids need to see their parents actively learning and enjoying it on a regular basis. Kids need to understand that learning can occur anytime, anywhere and be fun, that it's not something that just happens passively in a classroom. They need to understand that they can actively take charge of learning on their own. And that's something parents have to model. Thankfully, the Internet makes it easier than it's ever been before. Now if parents would just do it.

This post has been edited by myra: 02 March 2010 - 03:44 PM

[Just Joan]

Oh - thank you both for you comments! DH sees the 'other end' of the NCLB and in the last 3 years he has noticed an absence of critical reasoning in his students at undergraduate level. They want to memorize and be told what is on the exam but can not analyze and conceptualize. In geology, being able to conceptualize is crucial! Very few kids have a love of learning. He used to have whole classes that would be engaged and excited about his power-point lectures. He is an excellent teacher and has traveled and experienced so many incredible activities that kids would be in awe of his knowledge. That percentage of engaged kids has fallen precipitously and he comments on how kids seem bored with life, let alone learning.

He also has students who come to class exhausted. Sometimes it is because they are working long hours as well as attending uni. Other times, it is because the kids are drinking way too much and just not engaged in learning. He is convinced that universities and colleges are dumbing down their coursework. He even notices a difference in what he taught decades ago to what is being taught now.

I worry that teachers are getting much of the blame and Myra - I so agree that the mind-set for learning begins at home. Yes, teachers should make subjects interesting, accessible and age-appropriate but they should not have to entertain, sugar-coat and bribe students to learn.

I am interested in reading her book - should be good.

[Circejane]

Critical thinking is absolutely essential in nursing, too, and it's the hardest thing to teach. I see people flunking out right and left not because they aren't trying, but because they cannot critically reason. I've thanked my mother more than once for teaching me both critical thinking and problem-solving skills from an early age, because 20-50 years of age is not the best time to try to start learning them.

[Erin_JO]

Thanks - As a parent who's oldest will be starting Kindergarten next school year this really put me at ease that I'm doing right by Jolie. (can you believe she'll be in K this FALL!) We decided to put her in a Private School and it was not an easy decision... Class size played a big part in it as well as some things I'm not comfortable with in our public school system - Arkansas has the Body Mass Index Initiative and while I think they're trying to help keep our kids healthy I find it very wrong.

Even though it's in Jo's best interest I fell like I'm letting down my public school system down (That I should have faith in their ability and I feel kinda guilty that I don't). After reading that and all y'all's comments...that guilt feeling is diminished .

[Just Joan]

I am a firm proponent of public education but I am a firmer proponent of doing the right thing for one's kids. My DS and DIL also have a public school system that isn't working and they are sending their kids to private schools. You do what you have to for your kids!

[Just Joan]

Well - what do you know! Another interview on improving education! Very good, too as it involves...................teachers! (My what a brilliant idea!)

TOTN