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Parental involvement in education summary
Parental involvement in education summary
Parental involvement in education summary
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Our public schools are failing because they are operated under an antiquated system. Most are behemoth, bureaucratic bastions of inefficiency in which no one seems to be held accountable. It’s top-down management at its worst. The people who have the most contact with students in this over-burdened, under-funded system – the teachers – have the least input when it comes to “company” policy.
This makes this system resemble a widget factory in which management has worked out all the kinks, so it thinks, and dictates to production line workers how to pump out a “good” product.
But is our public education product really that good? Are the majority of today’s high school graduates – if graduation is actually in the picture – truly ready for college or possess the necessary skills to succeed in the real world of work and responsibility?
What is needed is a system that is operated like a successful business, and I don’t mean a widget factory either. I mean a business such as a medical or legal practice in which the professionals – the doctors and lawyers – do their professional thing and leave the operation of the office up to hired help.
But who ever heard of teachers being in charge of a school? How could that work and who would oversee them to make sure they were doing a good job?
It might be surprising to know but this is exactly what is occurring in some progressive public schools all across the country. Teachers are in charge of and held responsible for their school’s educational program and the academic and behavioral outcomes of its students.
There are three main factors in this new teaching/learning model that distinguishes it from the traditional public educational system. These factors are: 1) Advisory ...
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...not employ an administrator. Some schools that currently use this model have no administrators. In these schools, the duties of a traditional administrator, such as a principal, are shared among the school’s Advisers on a rotation basis. All other administrative and sometimes office duties are shared equally among the Advisers.
Even though this new public school model is radically different from the traditional public school model and many school districts and teacher organizations are inclined to oppose it, as the public becomes more aware that it is available through the creation of charter schools, parent groups, business professionals and political leaders, among others, are starting to support it. And, who knows, perhaps one day all public schools will be like this while the “traditional” public school as we know it will be but a distant memory of the past.
Gorton, R. A., & Alston, J. A. (2012). School leadership & administration: Important concepts, case studies, & simulations. (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. [Kindle Version] (pp. 1-323).
Goldstein argues a problem with education policy is, “American policy makers require every public school to use the same strategy…” (261) When facing the problem of inequality in education a teacher needs to be fluid with his or her curriculum. In fact, one of the best ways to allow for fluidity is through peer-to-peer help. Goldstein states, “(teaching hospital model) allows best practices tailored to a specific school to be passed from professional to professional.” (255) Peer-to-peer help not only does this allow for constructive feedback, but also it allows teachers to learn from one another. While policy makers might not know a schools demographics and unique situation teachers in the school will. Thus, teachers can help one another on their unique problem through a collaborative process. Peer to peer help allows for the design of, “creative curriculum materials and to lead school turnaround efforts.” (232) The problems associated with inequality can be thought out and explored through teachers working
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
One of the most pressing issues facing the United States today is its failing educational system. While many solutions have been proposed, the idea of charter schools has been both popular and controversial. The topic of charter schools is being debated in as many places as local school board meetings to state supreme courts. Though on the surface, charter schools seem like an exciting and promising step for the future of education in America, they are not the answer to this country’s ever-increasing educational problems. Charters will drain already scarce funding from regular public schools, and many of the supposed “positives” surrounding them are uncertain and unpredictable at best.
In the text, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, author Diane Ravitch explores her ideological shift on school reform and the empirical evidence that caused this shift. Once a proponent and contributor of testing, accountability, choice, and market reforms, Ravitch’s support began to diminish as she realized that these current reforms were not viable options. She came to realize that the new school reforms focused entirely on structural and managerial adjustments and that no focus was given to actual learning.
Back in 2001, before the No Child Left Behind Act was proposed, the United State’s rank in educational performance was 16th. After the act was put into action, that rank moved up to where we now stand at 17th in the nation. Statistics also showed that because of America’s dropping education level, many teachers began to get discouraged in their professions. Although, America has not ever been able to hold the title ...
Only now is evidence emerging testifying to the fact that much of the criticism leveled at public schools is exaggerated and misplaced. It is easy to forget that schools reflect what is happening in society, not cause it. Schools of today have recently shown that they are performing better than ever. Unfortunately, the traditional challenges confronting schools have increased dramatically and broadly as the world and students have changed. Now schools are facing drastic change -- necessary change that must take place quickly so students are able to cope in a dramatically changing world of the future. All of the criticism creates fear in teachers and administrators rather than a desire to embrace change.
For as long as any American can remember, education has been a top priority of the majority of the population. The more schooling a child receives, the brighter their future becomes. Everyone wants their child to be successful in and out of the classroom, and the government has been working to make sure of this in schools nationwide. Over the years, a series of programs have been implemented to better the education of elementary and secondary students, including the No Child Left Behind Act, establishing guidelines and requirements that public schools are expected to follow and accomplish in order to provide a quality education to all of their students. But are these plans, policies, and promises working? Are the goals and objections being reached by each school as expected? Although some may argue that the No Child Left Behind Act has some positive aspects, overall, it is not working because some teachers have studied the outline of standardized tests, reworking their curriculums to teach students what they need to know in order to reach the required standards and students’ learning abilities, socioeconomic status’, and native languages are generalized into a single curriculum.
One of the most hotly debated issues in the United States today is the controversial topic of education reform. Since public schools are funded almost entirely by local property taxes and money at the state level, many parents feel that they deserve a greater say in what their children learn in school. However, sometimes the opinions of parents contradict the policies at the federal level, thus causing conflict. Dissatisfaction with the public school system in their districts has led many Americas to seek other options for their children’s educations. In 1992, the first charter school opened in Minnesota, giving parents the option to send their kids to a free public school of their choice (“Charter Schools”).
What could possibly be wrong with current public high school curriculum. Students attend 4 years of high school and receive a well-rounded education. This education allows the students to function as a valuable member of society without necessarily continuing their education beyond high school. What could possibly be wrong with all this? Well, what about the students who do choose to continue their education after high school? Does high school prepare students well? According to the statistics, the answer is no. ACT, a non-profit organization that gathers statistics and researches the education field, states that "31% of students seeking a BA/BS degree at a public college drop out by the end of their second semester
As noted by the graph our standings in education is below average, especially with African Americans and Hispanic children compared to other states. If this is the outcome in elementary school what should we expect by grade 8. With all of the various reforms enacted throughout the 30 years the curriculum in public schools did not improve nor did our standing compared to the rest of the world. Even though in each presidency monitoring tool was developed to ascertain the level of learning based on the test. In states where students passing their test equated to more funding of the school as well as the school remains open, jobs for the educators. So oppose to teaching students the information needed educators taught to the test. This is due to politicians not addressing the core issues that prevent children in low social economic status of of color due to cultural biases. Then there is the political climate of education including ignorance towards the benefit of vocational schools and real world learning.
High school and college dropout rates are at an all time high. Secondary school students are told throughout high school that if they don’t go to college then they will never be successful. Going to college doesn’t always make a difference because many career choices such as teachers and lawyers are highly contested and result in either no job or low salary. Low pay deters teacher’s motivation and they tend to work part time jobs to supplement their income. Public schools standards are comparable to a kangaroo court’s procedure; private schools are known for better teachers, environment, and test grades. The major problems in the public school system include the lack of funding, lack of resources, and lack of standards.
Education reform in the United States has recently come under scrutiny after many recent failed proposals. President George W. Bush implemented one of the most popular choices of education reform with his “No Child Left Behind” system. However, that policy reform in the past five years has faded to nothing more than a mistake. This mistake has haunted the education systems in America, but it is not the only reform proposal to shake up the school systems across the States. One new proposal that has caught the eye of some current state politicians is the idea of school choice. School choice is giving the option to parents to take their children to different schools, which is different from assigning children to schools based on the location of their houses. Does giving the parents of children an option to choose what school their child goes to create a spirit of competition? That is partly the goal with the school choice reform policy proposal along with many other facets that can completely revitalize the education system in the United States. The stipulations of this proposal involve a variety of suggestions to help strengthen the core of our education system.
This is not an educational issue but a political one which needs to be changed as soon as possible. The United States can no longer be falling behind on education or else the percentage of students failing to graduate high school and not attending college will just increase therefore it will create a decline in the economic status of the country as education has become the weapon and power to any society or community’s success. For example if you compare major developed countries such as Singapore and Japan you can see that their main focus is educating their kids and public in order to sustain a strong background.
Less than two centuries ago, our founding fathers laid out our public schools with land grants across the nation. The founders of this nation said that our country would only survive with a proper education. Over generations, schools shape our nation. Thomas Jefferson said that public schools are important to a democratic society. At that time, it was not common for the schools to be accountable for the student’s performance on the tests.