Now let me tell you about Rafael Cordero, IS 302. It was built in the 70's with a strong vocational training infrastructure. Machine shop, wood shop, cosmetic shop, and more.
Then that damn report was released: A Nation at Risk.
The shops were turned into classrooms and the vocational training programs gutted. You with me?
That's a little quote from a post at Clemsy's Corner. It pretty much stands on its own legs but if you check out the link it'll put it into context. While you're there, check out his post on Common Core. Well worth your time.
I suppose I don't need to concern myself with Common Core or anything else that occurs in the public schools since none of it affects me directly anymore. However, it was my lively-hood for 36 years and I've got two other really good reasons.
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And those reasons would be the grandsons. I don't know what path the boys will take after high school but I hope to hell they will have a decent education that will properly prepare them for whatever path they may choose.
The local paper a week or so back reported on how the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana has basically become just a figure head with no say in anything that matters and a couple of days later it reported that the previous superintendent was fined $5,000.00 for politicking on the people's dime. Big bunch of craziness going on there in Indy. California has shot down teacher tenure, the reasoning being that tenure has prevented students from getting the education they deserve. And all the bozos on the federal gov bus are saying if they just put the good teachers in the bad schools and get rid of the bad teachers, everything will be peaches and cream. I hope they realize that this is the year 2014 and as a result of No Child Left Behind, all of the little scholars are going to be at grade level. Well no, that didn't happen. All it really did was make damn near every school corporation in the country in violation of the law, unless you were granted a waiver by the great and powerful Oz. All that pressure on the schools and the law was doomed from the start.
There was also a real good editorial in the Wall Street Journal last week about the Common Core written by Marina Ratner. Ms. Ratner has the expertise and the credentials to be taken seriously when she says replacing the current standards in California with Common Core is only going to make math education worse. But since she actually knows what's going on, the politicians won't listen to her anymore than they'll listen to me. Since Indiana is going to have their own standards, they won't be able to blame any failure that occurs on Common Core, rather, I'm sure they'll blame it on the superintendent even though they've pretty much shut her out of any decision making.
I realize no-one in a position to change things (meaning policy makers) is going to read this, but just in case they do, let me say a couple of things here. First of all, like it or not, all men are not created equal. It's like the old joke: When the Lord was handing out brains, he thought he said trains, so he's still waiting at the station. There are always going to be those that are more academically gifted than others. There are also many students in the system who are not native English speakers. Smart as a whip or dumb as a post, your at a serious disadvantage if you can't speak the language. There are also those who come from abject poverty, broken homes, the learning disabled, any number of things that put students at a disadvantage, including those students who just don't care. So plain old common sense will tell you you're going to have a pretty big spread from the top to the bottom in your class rankings. If they were all equal you would have the entire graduating class as co-valedictorians.
Because you have such a wide spread of ability and effort levels, you might as well do the best you can to accommodate all of them by offering accelerated classes, vocational classes, remedial classes and special ed classes. If you put students in a class where they're in over their head, they're not going to profit. If they can't meet the benchmark in spite of their best effort, you need to give them as much as you can to prepare them for gainful employment. Square pegs don't fit into round holes. Individualize the instruction as much as possible. Technology is making this easier all the time.
Believe it or not, teachers are people too. Which means they are not all equal either but they're not going to get better if you continue to downgrade them and hold them responsible for all the ills of society. Pay them well, give them autonomy but hold them accountable. If there are bad teachers out there, and I know there are some, at least here in the heartland it's possible to get rid of them. It takes an administrator doing his job, but it can be done. What you don't want is to pit one good teacher against another in some kind of "highly effective" pissing contest. Give the teachers the material they need to teach along with the necessary supplies and facilities to do the job properly, then step back and let them do their job. How they do it should be up to them. The Building Trades instructor is going to have a whole different approach than the History teacher. Why wouldn't he? He's got a completely different clientele with totally different expected outcomes.
Students are different, teachers are different, local needs are different. Stop trying to cram a one size fits all approach down the throats of everyone. If you've never taught in a classroom, you're certainly welcome to your opinion (but you know what they say about opinions) but you should never be making policy decisions until you know what goes on. The answers are out there. Take the time to find them - here is a good place to start. I should be able to get you plumbed up in no time. If I can't, I know a lot of people who can.
The local paper a week or so back reported on how the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana has basically become just a figure head with no say in anything that matters and a couple of days later it reported that the previous superintendent was fined $5,000.00 for politicking on the people's dime. Big bunch of craziness going on there in Indy. California has shot down teacher tenure, the reasoning being that tenure has prevented students from getting the education they deserve. And all the bozos on the federal gov bus are saying if they just put the good teachers in the bad schools and get rid of the bad teachers, everything will be peaches and cream. I hope they realize that this is the year 2014 and as a result of No Child Left Behind, all of the little scholars are going to be at grade level. Well no, that didn't happen. All it really did was make damn near every school corporation in the country in violation of the law, unless you were granted a waiver by the great and powerful Oz. All that pressure on the schools and the law was doomed from the start.
There was also a real good editorial in the Wall Street Journal last week about the Common Core written by Marina Ratner. Ms. Ratner has the expertise and the credentials to be taken seriously when she says replacing the current standards in California with Common Core is only going to make math education worse. But since she actually knows what's going on, the politicians won't listen to her anymore than they'll listen to me. Since Indiana is going to have their own standards, they won't be able to blame any failure that occurs on Common Core, rather, I'm sure they'll blame it on the superintendent even though they've pretty much shut her out of any decision making.
I realize no-one in a position to change things (meaning policy makers) is going to read this, but just in case they do, let me say a couple of things here. First of all, like it or not, all men are not created equal. It's like the old joke: When the Lord was handing out brains, he thought he said trains, so he's still waiting at the station. There are always going to be those that are more academically gifted than others. There are also many students in the system who are not native English speakers. Smart as a whip or dumb as a post, your at a serious disadvantage if you can't speak the language. There are also those who come from abject poverty, broken homes, the learning disabled, any number of things that put students at a disadvantage, including those students who just don't care. So plain old common sense will tell you you're going to have a pretty big spread from the top to the bottom in your class rankings. If they were all equal you would have the entire graduating class as co-valedictorians.
Because you have such a wide spread of ability and effort levels, you might as well do the best you can to accommodate all of them by offering accelerated classes, vocational classes, remedial classes and special ed classes. If you put students in a class where they're in over their head, they're not going to profit. If they can't meet the benchmark in spite of their best effort, you need to give them as much as you can to prepare them for gainful employment. Square pegs don't fit into round holes. Individualize the instruction as much as possible. Technology is making this easier all the time.
Believe it or not, teachers are people too. Which means they are not all equal either but they're not going to get better if you continue to downgrade them and hold them responsible for all the ills of society. Pay them well, give them autonomy but hold them accountable. If there are bad teachers out there, and I know there are some, at least here in the heartland it's possible to get rid of them. It takes an administrator doing his job, but it can be done. What you don't want is to pit one good teacher against another in some kind of "highly effective" pissing contest. Give the teachers the material they need to teach along with the necessary supplies and facilities to do the job properly, then step back and let them do their job. How they do it should be up to them. The Building Trades instructor is going to have a whole different approach than the History teacher. Why wouldn't he? He's got a completely different clientele with totally different expected outcomes.
Students are different, teachers are different, local needs are different. Stop trying to cram a one size fits all approach down the throats of everyone. If you've never taught in a classroom, you're certainly welcome to your opinion (but you know what they say about opinions) but you should never be making policy decisions until you know what goes on. The answers are out there. Take the time to find them - here is a good place to start. I should be able to get you plumbed up in no time. If I can't, I know a lot of people who can.
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