Battle for the Young American Mind

[Rob Sullivan]

 

Kids across the nation started back to school last week. My two boys started on Monday with my 5 year old starting kindergarten.  Fun times!!  While we all have fond memories of friends, teachers, and recess, the academic experience and how effectively our country prepares future generations remains under constant scrutiny.  Inner city school performance is the key battlefield.  

 

Educational policy and public schools consistently yield partisan and non-partisan scuffles.  Critics, or educational reformers as they like to be called, quickly note that we are spending more money every year to teach children while American chi...  Their response?? Transform the teaching career into a merit based enterprise where successful teachers can earn more.  How do you measure whether a teacher is successful?  Test scores of course.

 

 

Conversely, anti-reformists argue that the reform crown cooks the books and students have indeed achieved higher scores and increased level of learning.  Additionally, they strenuously challenge utilizing test scores as the sole measure of teacher effe...

 

Who is right?  The stakes loom large.  The best approach for large-scale policy typically remains an incremental approach where small gains create a multiplier effect that yields transformational change.  However, education policy remains an elusive target as much research that leads to reform relies on anecdotal data as opposed to borad data subject to rigid analysis.

 

 

 

[Pamela Ann Cameron]

I worked as a high school teacher in a private school for 7 years.  I actually had a principal tell me that if a student failed my class, it was my fault.  While I agree that some teachers do not do their jobs well, there are many that work at teaching students with all their being.  If, however, a student puts forth no effort, never reads, never works, and doesn't try, I submit that the teacher is NOT THE CULPRIT.  You can lead a horse to water, and encourage and nudge him all you want, but you can't MAKE him drink...Personal responsibility, where have you gone?