The Oregonian printed my Op-Ed piece on "accountability."

[Reader Rabbit]

Here's the link:

http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1218151520126860.xml&coll=7

[WheelWalker]

1. Excellent piece. Spot on. Thank you for sharing. nt

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Good job and YAY on you!

:hi:

Quite an extensive LTTE!
(Our local rag won't publish anything more than three paragraphs...or maybe it's just the educational limitations of the locals who write in...am in the heart of CA Freeperville :eyes: )



As a teacher, just want to say you covered some important aspects re: the negative impact of NCLB. One of the other backlash effects of this is that fact that should a school not pass muster, e.g., comes in under the standard assigned percentage points expected/mandated, a school can lose funding for curriculum areas such as Art, PE, and more. When this happens, the school curriculum is pared down to the basic three Rs: Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic. At that point, new publishers swoop in with textbooks that "encompass the extended basics, and contain inherent material and exercises so the student has many opportunities in learning." (my para-quote)
I personally have seen this happen here in CA at the Elementary level, and then the financial burden of including anything beyond the basics falls on the shoulders of the district, county and/or state, meaning that unless the funding can be found, then it ain't gonna happen unless the teacher(s), parent groups, and other civic participants can pony up the money and time.

I HATE the NCLB, and hope that Obama, once becoming President, addresses necessary changes to this law which undermines our nation's public educational needs.

[angstlessk]

3. Great article, it certainly brings perspective to what teachers have

been saying all along...100% responsibility with a fraction of control. Quite succinct!

[liberalmuse]

4. Great job on that!

I have a great admiration for teachers. My dear friend is a school teacher, and an excellent one, at that. I can't believe what she has to go through because of NCLB. This is not to mention all the extra time she has to spend with those few students who are disciplinary problems because their parents are not there for them at home. She has plenty of horror stories, including the one where one of her student's mother killed herself and her student.

And then there's the troublesome fact that many children aren't learning because teachers are under so much pressure to produce good test scores that some end up 'teaching to the test'. I am appalled at what Bush has done to the education system, and what teachers have to put up with and worry about because of that.

Teachers should be paid 3 times what they are now. I cringe whenever I hear someone rant about how teachers have it easy because they get paid for 3 months vacation. If they only witnessed firsthand the long days and the weekends teachers put in their job during those 9 months, I'm sure they would reconsider. And no, they don't get the full 3 months. There are meetings, ESL, cleaning up the classroom after the school year ends, and then getting the classroom ready some weeks before the school year begins.

[LWolf]

5. Thank you,

from another Oregon teacher.

It's a good piece. I particularly like the phrase "armchair educators."

It's dead-on target, using a well-known colloquial expression to make the point clear.

I may borrow that expression, myself. :evilgrin:

Meanwhile, I think this is worth cross-posting in GD; I'll help keep it kicked above the Edwards scandal, if you choose to do so.

[Reader Rabbit]

7. Cross-posting to GD now!

Thanks for suggesting it!

[flashl]

6. Great Op-Ed, like to add ...

NCLB’s Accountability Requirement Feeds Drop-out Rates

[Sunnyshine]

8. K&R&B- Excellent LTTE!

Had to send this on to my teacher friends. Mr.OMomma was a teacher for 12 years. Had to take a corporate job because his meager salary, and eventually his position, were cut at a Catholic HS- now they can only afford to pay for one Phys. Ed./Health Teacher. This particular teaching position is rarely available, at least in our corner of Ohio anyways. Thank you Nikki and everyone here who continues to teach and inspire our children, despite the obvious problems with NCLB.

[freefall]

9. Great letter! Thanks for posting.

:kick:

K&R

[Jim__]

10. Do you see any way to improve the situation?

Accepting the reality the teachers have extremely limited influence over a child's environement, if you were granted the authority to implement your solution, what would you change? Within the time parameters that you've described, is there any change that we can make to the educational system that would improve the system?

[Reader Rabbit]

13. Any improvements need to come at a fundamental societal level.

American society does not value that which is necessary to be a good teacher or a good student. Both teaching and learning are decidedly non-glamorous. They require long hours, hard work, and plodding along day after day for a reward that is, ultimately, intrinsic.

Our culture, on the other hand, just luurrves glamor and drama and extrinsic reward. We're consumers; if we want something, we just go out and buy it. Anything that takes time and effort is disregarded as unworthy. We're all about the instant gratification, and education just doesn't fit into that addiction.

Students in other countries aren't any smarter than students here. They're just fortunate enough to live in countries where education is valued. They understand that a good education requires hard work and serious effort. Their societies listen carefully when their teachers say, "You need to to X, Y, and Z to get the best education you possibly can." They honor intelligent, well-educated people, instead of calling them "elitist" or "geeks" or "nerds." Hell, America isn't just indifferent to intelligence and education; it's downright hostile.

That's the battle teachers fight every day in every school in America. Until our fellow Americans join the battle on other fronts, there's not a heck of a lot more we can do in the small time we have.

[Reader Rabbit]

15. Delete-Wrong spot!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. I read that and thought I should pm it to you.... then I saw you wrote it!

:hug:

It's a good one, too.

[jody]

12. Interesting opinion piece particularly your statement “2 percent of every year is dedicated to

teaching a child a specific subject, such as English or math.”

As an experienced teacher in the 7th and 8th grade, how much time above the 2% you cite do you believe is required to teach an average child a specific subject such as English or math?

[Reader Rabbit]

14. It's not a matter of time; it's a matter of environment/culture.

From what I've seen in my time as a teacher, a student's success or failure depends entirely on their attitude toward education, and/or their parents' attitude.

And student's education depends on three factors: the student, the teacher, and the parents. In order for a student to succeed, at least two of these three factors must be pro-learning. If the student cares, even if the parents don't, then learning will happen. If the parents care and the student does not, they can work with the teacher to counter the student's lack of interest. (It is assumed that the teacher is pro-learning, otherwise she wouldn't be teaching.)

Two years ago I had a crop of kids where an abnormally high percentage of the parents just didn't give a damn. I called home regularly about missing assignments, low grades, suggested extra help, all to no avail. The parents just didn't think it was important and couldn't be bothered to do anything. It shouldn't surprise you that the children of these parents didn't give much of a hoot about school, either.

In contrast, my students last year were great, and the huge numbers of parents who showed up at Back-to-School night and parent conferences explained why. The parents valued education and learning, and consequently, their children valued it, too. The relatively few calls home I made that year always got immediate results.

I know this doesn't help solve the problems we have in public education, but it's some decent anecdotal evidence that teachers don't do their job in a vacuum.

[jody]

17. Makes sense to me. If parents don't care, it's not surprising their children don't care either.

I wish such parents would practice birth control so situations like that don't happen but that won't occur any time soon.

In the meantime, public opinion will falsely continue to blame teachers for the sins of parents.

Thanks for your reply. :hi:

[Reader Rabbit]

16. Oh, the irony!

Apparently, The Oregonian has an Education forum, and the folks there have been discussing the Op-Ed. Several of the individuals who dislike the article could be poster children for the "armchair educators" who "question our professionalism, intelligence, and integrity." I've been tempted to point this out to them, but I suspect it will just be a waste of time and energy. If anyone else wants to give it a shot, here's the link.

http://www.oregonlive.com/forums/education/index.ssf?artid=13391