Here’s a meme I can sink my teeth into. “Five things policymakers ought to know!” I have not been formally tagged, as far as I know, but I ran across Cathy Nelson’s and Doug Johnson’s reports this morning and a Google Blog search [rss] revealed five others. A straight Google search found a bunch more, including its launch, which appears to have been Nancy Flanagan of Teacher in a Strang Land (wish I’d though of that one).
For the most part, I’m borrowing pretty heavily from others, but just inserting my 2? worth. [Image ((Verde, Amodiovalerio. “Directions.” Amodiovalerio Verde’s Photostream. 30 May 2005. 10 Aug 2008 <http://flickr.com/photos/amodiovalerioverde/16434738/>. ))]
- Keep politics out of education.
I remember when the 1983 Nation at Risk letter was published by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, stating that our children were attending schools of mediocrity. I had already been teaching for many years, and I remember saying, “This is fantastic. With this, our government has to start investing more in education.” Little did I know that their political interests would not come from paying for better classrooms. Instead it would be in redefining education — and as a result, the institution was taken over by amateurs.
- Accountability can be demonstrated in better and more relevant ways than tests. As we examine any
listing of 21st century skills, we see nothing new. These are skills that have long been valued. What is new, as revealed by the, “Are They Really Ready to Work?” report from The Conference Board and others, ((Casner-Lotto, Jill. “Are They Really Ready to Work?.” The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. 2006. The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, & Society for Human Resource Management. 19 May 2008 <www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF09-29-06.pdf>. )) is that these are entry level skills. Traditionally they were skills gained “on the job,” and they usually led to promotion.
Today, they will best be gained in our classrooms through on-the-job style learning experiences — and these learning experiences will best occur as a result of performance-based assessments that are authentic to 21st century conditions. High-stakes testing is nothing more than an industrial age solution to an information age problem.
- The greatest assets of your schools are in its people.
A vast majority of teachers and administrators are highly educated, experienced, dedicated professionals with a sense of success based on high expectations. It is also crucial that we start to consider the learners in our schools as a critical asset to the learning experience. The greatest gain to education will not come from modernizing our classrooms with projectors and smartboards, though these are necessary refinements.
The greatest gain will come from the collective knowledge and experience of the education community. Infrastructure must be invented and implemented that cultivates an ongoing professional conversation across the entire education landscape where a learning lifestyle is not only taught by teachers, but also modeled throughout the profession.
- We skimp on the creative arts at our own peril.
The STEM subjects are critical to a future of prosperity. However, in the market place, it is the aesthetics that we value, that we shop for, that we choose and buy. For the very same reason that we promote STEM, we need to invest just as much in the creative arts.
It is equally critical that our students become full citizens within their entire physical, cultural, societal, and political environment. This means that greater investment must fall to the entire curriculum, health, physical education, communication, literature, ethics, and the social studies. If you think about the real problems of the world, they are not problems of science and math. They are problems of communication, people, communities, and values.
Anyone who reads this and is inspired to share their list, can consider themselves tagged.
I have to agree 100 % with your article, as a former ICT co ordinator and now as literacy co ordinator I find that it is not ICT that creates enthusiastic and knowledgeable learners. The most powerful program that any school can run is that of excellent teaching……A teacher can be the most tech savvy person on the planet but if they cannot connect with the realities of learners it means nothing. My bug bear regarding ICT is this there are 2 clear areas of contention….the first and the most problematic in my setting and probably in schools across the world is the ability of practioners to actually use the computer and its hardware /software correctly. The second is the ability to use ICT to enhance the learning and create higher order thinking skills. The second for me is almost entirely dependent on the teachers attitude and ability in the first…yet in the UK most teachers get less than 10 hours training in this area a year, there is a distinct need to redress this balance. And all this said I still maintain excellent teaching is the most powerful program a school can run!!!!!
Four Things the Next President Should do for Education:
1. Make Education a Priority
Everyone has their own ideas on what should be top priority for our country…the economy…homeland security… Why does education seem to get pushed to the back burner when many of our problems can be solved by education our people? Do you want a strong economy? Then prepare young people for jobs that will lead to economic prosperity. Do you want a safe country? Then challenge young people to think critically so they will be prepared to make decisions that will benefit all Americans. Within a few years, the students of today will be the decision makers for our future. Do not ignore them, but prepare our children for the huge job that will be before them.
2. Take a Look from the Inside Out
Everyone has something to say about education; everyone “knows” how to fix the public school system. As an outsider, it’s easy to say that everything is wrong; it’s easy to claim there is a quick fix. But, why don’t you take a look from the inside? Spend some time in schools around our country. Get to know the people who are devoted to the lives of young Americans. Many critics have only experienced school as students or parents. Of course that will give you a perspective on education, but it will be a narrow view. As an educator myself, I couldn’t have imagined what life in the school system was like until I entered it. Unless you experience it, you cannot appreciate the challenges and limitations that educators must face, and you cannot comprehend the precious rewards that inspire educators to continually give their all. Despite public opinion, teachers genuinely care about education and the success of their students. Listen to these professionals. Who else would have a better understanding of our schools’ needs?
3. Equal Opportunities for All Students in the 21st Century
What does equal opportunity really mean? Does it simply mean that every student has access to a highly qualified teacher? Of course that is extremely important, but in our modern world it should mean so much more. How about equal access to current learning materials? State of the art athletic facilities? Up to date technology? Enter a school in any average middle-class neighborhood. Will the students be given all of these opportunities? Probably not. If we want to prepare our students to be successful in the 21st century, we must give them access to the tools they will need.
4. Actions Speak Louder than Words
So, do you want an improved education system in the United States? Do you want our students to compete with those in the highly educated nations around the world? Here is the solution: Invest in our schools. Pay to modernize classrooms and to give student experiences that will enhance their learning. If you expect change, you must support it. Money speaks volumes. Invest in quality education for all students.
Four things the next President should do about education:
1. Realistic Standards and Textbooks:
Teachers are amongst the most educated professionals in the United States. I believe that they should have more say when it comes to curriculum and standards. For example, there are very few well-structured textbooks and in the end we have to create our own assignments. Another problem is that not all students are reading at grade level, so their textbooks become less of a resource. Every year every school decides on the main standards to focus on for the year. How realistic is the amount of standards that teachers are required to cover in a year? When there is pressure to teach all the standards with not enough time, it leaves teachers with very little room for creativity.
2. Standardized testing time at end of year (June vs. May):
Standardized testing should be moved from May to June. When May comes around there are standards that teachers have not yet covered before testing. On behalf of the teachers this creates stress, because there are standards on the test that students are required to know that their teachers have not had the opportunity to cover. The rush of getting through all the standards would only encourage poor quality of teaching standards. Why not move the testing dates from May to June?
3. Technology and Learning:
It is evident that the U.S. education performance of students has decreased. According to the recent National Assessment of Education Progress reports, less than one-third of eighth-grade students and fewer than one out of four seniors now test as proficient or better for math. Something needs to be done, why not start with using technology in the classrooms. Using technology will not only give another instructional approach it will get the attention of the students. One of the factors to the poor performance of students is motivation. Students are bored out of their minds sitting in rows without change in instruction. Technology is the way to the future and if it is not accepted and implemented into our classrooms, then we would be doing a poor job at keeping up with today’s generation. There are teachers like my self who are willing to do something different for the benefit of the students and work with what we have, but it limits us. We are limited due the lack of funds in the school budget in order for teachers to use the advantages that technology offers in the enhancement of student learning. If NCLB is to be enforced why is there lack of money for education?
4. Programs for Students at risk:
Now a day’s student are not only having to deal with learning standards, but also find them selves leading and living grown up lives. Given this situation, what is being done to help these students be successful in school? For the programs that are in place by what measures are they considered effective? In the past some would argue that the process in which data was collected for research regarding the effectiveness of bilingual programs was not measured correctly, which resulted in the passing of proposition 227, now known as Educational Code 300. As a result English language learners were no longer able to begin reading and learning subject matter in their native language. What criteria do programs need to meet in order to continue to receive funds to assistance the at risk students before being cut from funds?