How would you reform the US Education system.

[RitaE]

Think about this practically-2000 students is a GOOD SIZE for a high school.

My son's High School has 160 students. Their graduation rate is for all practical purposes 100% and their college attendance rate is over 90%. The 2000 student High School graduates about 65% of students and that number is falling.

Now it is comparing apples to oranges because a small Private High School obviously doesn't have many of the challenges the large Public School has to deal with. But at the same time, my husband and I decided years ago what type of atmosphere we preferred.

 

[luvmy3]

I'd go back to the basics. English, Math, Science and Social Studies. I'd quit rushing toward every new and improved Math and Reading program that the textbook publishers put out and I'd insist that the schools realize that in the end 8 x 9 = 72 today the same that it did 50 years ago and we really don't need twenty new methods of teaching it. What we need is an insistence that kids learn it.

I'd end Tenure. I'd fire bad teachers and the administrators of failing schools.

I'd quit insisting that schools be parents. Schools shouldn't be responsible for childhood obesity, health care or teaching "values" or any of the other feel good stuff that is a parental responsibility and they have no business doing any of that until they get better at what their job is supposed to be, teaching Reading, Math etc etc

 

[golfgal]

My son's High School has 160 students. Their graduation rate is for all practical purposes 100% and their college attendance rate is over 90%. The 2000 student High School graduates about 65% of students and that number is falling.

Now it is comparing apples to oranges because a small Private High School obviously doesn't have many of the challenges the large Public School has to deal with. But at the same time, my husband and I decided years ago what type of atmosphere we preferred.

I am not saying that small high schools are not good but they just can't offer the course offerings a larger high school can. We have about 2000 students in our high school with a 99% graduation rate and a 94% rate of kids going on to college so it isn't the size of the school that is the issue with your public school, it is the make up of the student body. Our high school offers over 30 AP courses, 20 CIS (college in school classes) as well as a full host of other college prep classes. There is no way a school of 200 kids can offer that which is my point.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I am a teacher and I'm not sure how to change things without affecting some parent's wishes ...

This is one example we deal with EVERY year at this time. Two children have qualified for remedial reading classes (these children REALLY need the services) however, the parents sign a waiver every year stating that they know this, but do not want their child in the class. Their reason, they don't want their child's self esteem affected by being in the "remedial group". I just don't understand this.

When my youngest was in kindergarten, I got a call from the kindergarten teacher telling me that my youngest was having problems with reading and she wanted to put him in the remedial reading class (now I AM a remedial reading teacher and had been working with him, but I was his Mom and he would fight me every night). I told the teacher ... put him in the class because he wasn't learning from me. Was I a little embarrassed, you bet ya! But my child's education comes first. And guess what, he LOVED his remedial reading teacher and worked for her. He is now reading out of grade level in 5th grade.

I don't want this post to turn into teacher/parent bashing ... which it probably will ... but it is such a tough subject to tackle. I really wish there was a quick fix.

 

[Acklander]

Yes, we still need some plumbers, welders, HVAC folks and others in the skilled trades. But our manufacturing base is a shadow of its former self and has been replaced with service jobs that pay very little. You don't need to a trade school to teach somebody to be a cashier at Walmart.

We need trade schools so that they have options beyond being a cashier at Walmart

 

[golfgal]

I'd make schools smaller and put them back into the local community, including the responsibility for making them good schools. Our School District just built a High School that is sized for 2000 students, kids from 4 different towns. Personally I don't consider that a High School - more of a factory. When I send my kid to school I want every single teacher/staff member in the building to be able to call him by name. That is one of my main reasons for not sending my kids to that school.

I'd go back to the basics. English, Math, Science and Social Studies. I'd quit rushing toward every new and improved Math and Reading program that the textbook publishers put out and I'd insist that the schools realize that in the end 8 x 9 = 72 today the same that it did 50 years ago and we really don't need twenty new methods of teaching it. What we need is an insistence that kids learn it.

I'd end Tenure. I'd fire bad teachers and the administrators of failing schools.

I'd quit insisting that schools be parents. Schools shouldn't be responsible for childhood obesity, health care or teaching "values" or any of the other feel good stuff that is a parental responsibility and they have no business doing any of that until they get better at what their job is supposed to be, teaching Reading, Math etc etc

Do your schools really not teach those? I know a lot of people are stuck with Everyday Math (which is a joke) but other then that, do your schools really not have requirements for math, reading, science, etc.? You also have to realize that the world has changed and some of the basics have changed with them-computers are the biggest example. When we were in elementary school there was no need to learn keyboarding/typing but today there is. I didn't have to turn in a typed paper until my junior year in high school (think manual IBM typewriters). Our kids were turning in typed papers by 2nd grade because computers made that possible. You can't even work at McDonalds now without using a computer.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Allow a way for the students who WANT to learn to separate themselves from those who don't and be placed in an environment where all those there want to learn.

I agree with this. Also separate the kids by ability. I can't believe they have failing kids and A+ students all in the same class. The teachers in our school are supposed to be trained in differentiation. Last year that meant my son got to sit in the hall during math with the other advanced students. They still had to finish the regular math, and then they got to work on challenge math. They had no instruction or supervision. They had no real opportunity to advance with the help of a teacher. Those kids could be so much further ahead if they were instructed and guided.

Math is only one example, but I see it in all subjects.

 

[golfgal]

I am a teacher and I'm not sure how to change things without affecting some parent's wishes ...

This is one example we deal with EVERY year at this time. Two children have qualified for remedial reading classes (these children REALLY need the services) however, the parents sign a waiver every year stating that they know this, but do not want their child in the class. Their reason, they don't want their child's self esteem affected by being in the "remedial group". I just don't understand this.

When my youngest was in kindergarten, I got a call from the kindergarten teacher telling me that my youngest was having problems with reading and she wanted to put him in the remedial reading class (now I AM a remedial reading teacher and had been working with him, but I was his Mom and he would fight me every night). I told the teacher ... put him in the class because he wasn't learning from me. Was I a little embarrassed, you bet ya! But my child's education comes first. And guess what, he LOVED his remedial reading teacher and worked for her. He is now reading out of grade level in 5th grade.

I don't want this post to turn into teacher/parent bashing ... which it probably will ... but it is such a tough subject to tackle. I really wish there was a quick fix.

Cuz you know EVERY child will go to Harvard because that make their parents better parents then the kid that goes to the state school . Same goes with parents that refuse to have their child tested for learning disabilities-they think it is some reflection on their parenting skills. I don't get it either.

 

[golfgal]

I agree with this. Also separate the kids by ability. I can't believe they have failing kids and A+ students all in the same class. The teachers in our school are supposed to be trained in differentiation. Last year that meant my son got to sit in the hall during math with the other advanced students. They still had to finish the regular math, and then they got to work on challenge math. They had no instruction or supervision. They had no real opportunity to advance with the help of a teacher. Those kids could be so much further ahead if they were instructed and guided.

Math is only one example, but I see it in all subjects.

See Mary•Poppins's post for the reason WHY they don't do this any longer.

 

[okeydokey]

Less emphasis on standardized testing. Teachers spend so much time rushing from one skill to another in order to cover it all for the test. Allow teacher creativity to flourish.

Also, if one child is causing such trouble in a classroom that 50% of the teacher's time is spent on that one student thereby shortchanging the other 24 kids in the class, remove that child from the class. Education is a right we give our citizens, but it doesn't need to be in a standard setting if it has a negative effect on the majority of the class.

 

[Nette]

Do your schools really not teach those? I know a lot of people are stuck with Everyday Math (which is a joke) but other then that, do your schools really not have requirements for math, reading, science, etc.? You also have to realize that the world has changed and some of the basics have changed with them-computers are the biggest example. When we were in elementary school there was no need to learn keyboarding/typing but today there is. I didn't have to turn in a typed paper until my junior year in high school (think manual IBM typewriters). Our kids were turning in typed papers by 2nd grade because computers made that possible. You can't even work at McDonalds now without using a computer.

Why do you think Everyday Math is a joke? I love it... it goes about teaching my child math in the exact way I think about math (I have a minor in math and have taken several upper level math classes). She also understands concepts far beyond her grade level... The kid can do simple Algebra!

ETA: DD is 8 and in 3rd grade (a young 8 at that).

 

[golfgal]

Why do you think Everyday Math is a joke? I love it... it goes about teaching my child math in the exact way I think about math (I have a minor in math and have taken several upper level math classes). She also understands concepts far beyond her grade level... The kid can do simple Algebra!

ETA: DD is 8 and in 3rd grade (a young 8 at that).

Most 3rd graders can do simple Algebra-heck, our kids were doing simple algebra in 1st grade-like a lot of kids. Math is about the facts, yes you need some reasoning skills but if you don't learn that 2+2=4, the whole concept of math is lost. I don't know of a single math teacher that likes Everyday Math.

 

[Acklander]

The changes I would make:

I'd start foreign languages right from the beginning. Young kids pick it up so easily yet we wait until they are older before introducing 2nd or 3rd languages. It's common in other countries to know more than one language, why not here?

Get rid of "the test". I think everyone is in agreement on that one.

Accept the fact that not everyone learns at the same pace. There will always be those who learn faster, and those who learn slower. And in most cases some will learn faster in some classes yet slower in others. Divide the classes accordingly, so that everyone gets the most out of their time in the class.

Another one who votes for bring back Trade schools. Not everyone is college material, not everyone wants to be college material.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

See Mary•Poppins's post for the reason WHY they don't do this any longer.

I understand the why, I just wish there was a better solution.

I happen to really like my son's teacher last year. I know there was nothing he could do about it.

 

[Acklander]

Why do you think Everyday Math is a joke? I love it... it goes about teaching my child math in the exact way I think about math (I have a minor in math and have taken several upper level math classes). She also understands concepts far beyond her grade level... The kid can do simple Algebra!

ETA: DD is 8 and in 3rd grade (a young 8 at that).

I thought all the kids were doing simple algebra in 2nd or 3rd grade. They are here anyway, and where my sister's kids are half way across the country they are as well.

 

[dejr_8]

Pay teachers more! Bottom line! Teachers don't make enough. We need more teachers in public schools to reduce the size of the classrooms.
Stop cutting school budgets. It seems to be on the news every week that when a city or town is in financial difficulty they go right to the school budget.

I'm not sure we need to hire more teachers. I think we need to have more people in the school system actually teaching. Too many administrators!

 

[golfgal]

I'm not sure we need to hire more teachers. I think we need to have more people in the school system actually teaching. Too many administrators!

I disagree with this--if you cut the administration then the teachers end up doing administrative tasks vs teaching. I am sure there are some schools that might be able to cut one or two but for the most part, at least around here, the administration is the size it needs to be to be effective. Administrators do a LOT more then people think.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Eliminate the ACT test. There only should be one test for college.

Make PE an optional class starting in middle school. Let the jocks excel and the nerds take computer, writing, or whatever they are excellent at.

All high schools should offer the same classes.

Find a different system for funding schools. It does not work. Relying on property values, test scores and class attendance is stupid. It is a failing system.

Allow kids the freedom to take a higher level class even though they are not on "the track". Here in MO some of the schools do not allow "regular kids" to take biology their freshman yr in HS. Only kids on the gifted track get to take it.

Conversely my 13dd is gifted in English and she is going to try and get into the honors english this yr. The honors teacher would take her in 1 second because she belongs there. However she has to go through the system to try and get into her class.

Those are my main complaints.

 

[Nette]

Most 3rd graders can do simple Algebra-heck, our kids were doing simple algebra in 1st grade-like a lot of kids. Math is about the facts, yes you need some reasoning skills but if you don't learn that 2+2=4, the whole concept of math is lost. I don't know of a single math teacher that likes Everyday Math.

I thought all the kids were doing simple algebra in 2nd or 3rd grade. They are here anyway, and where my sister's kids are half way across the country they are as well.

Ok, well my idea of simple algebra and yours may be vastly different... What I mean is she can do things like re-factoring polynomials. (Granted she doesn't know that she is doing that). And I have to disagree about teachers liking Everyday Math. We go to a small private school, and the teachers love it. And if they didn't they would be able to vote in a new system.

Math is NOT about facts. Math is about understanding theorems and applying them to solve problems. Yes there are some "facts" that must be assumed such as when two (specific) numbers are added together the result is consistently the same. And those must be memorized, but all in all math is about reasoning NOT about rote memorization.

 

[cabanafrau]

Allow a way for the students who WANT to learn to separate themselves from those who don't and be placed in an environment where all those there want to learn.

Amen!

We need to start treating education like a privilege, not a right. Not that the opportunity shouldn't be open to everyone, however the student should have responsibilities to shoulder in order to insure their continued right to receive an education, i.e., you don't behave and cooperate, you don't belong.