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You're Secretary of Ed. (s/o Waiting for Superman)


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1. Qualified well paid teachers who have studied the subject they are teaching, not just classroom management

 

2. Shorten mandatory schooling so students interested in pursuing vocational training or apprenticeship can finish high school with a diploma after 10th grade (instead of dropping out); 11th/12th grade only for students who are actually interested in more education and plan to go to university

 

3. Increase differentiation so that students can learn according to their abilities. Bring tracking back.

 

4. Less testing and more teaching. Higher standards.

I can think of a lot more things, but the above would be the major ones.

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Eliminate standardized testing...one test, too much emphasis...

 

Bring back school vouchers/school choice (if people are leaving/there won't be anyone to teach = change or lose jobs)

 

Hold parents as accountable as the teachers...(is it really possible to get one of the students up to grade level when they rarely come to school/do little to no work)

 

Eliminate the middle man...too much dictating, not enough funding...put the kids first

 

Look at what has worked consistently in other countries...they do so much more with less!

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What would you do if you were the Secretary of Education (and had a cooperative gov't)? How would you change things on a federal level?

 

I've thought about this a lot recently. The details are endless, but in a nutshell.

  • Curriculum: Broad scale Waldorf, minus the anthroposophy. No preschool, no kindergarten. That's what daycare is there to do.
  • Discipline: Problem/violent/bully kids are sent off to alternative schools, which adhere to the same curriculum, but with extra attention to correcting, or at least coralling attitude issues.
  • Health: Quality, healthy, real food breakfasts and lunches provided daily. Structured and unstructured exercise at least twice daily and outdoors as much as possible.

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School would be all year long, go in later, get out the same time, staggared schedules so not everyone was off at once. Children would start at 7 years old. If I controlled the universe, grammar school would be in the Montessori style. It's been proven successful, even for impoverished kids.

 

Trades would be encouraged.

 

University would be paid for in taxes because this bubble they have brewing is going to decimate people, the way underwater mortgages are.

 

One pay for teachers-125,000, no tenure, they pay their ins, and they don't have summers off. Make it the HARDEST career to have. That even if they are teaching 1st grade, they need their masters-NOT in general education classes, but in their specific field.

 

Have the kids in one classroom, and the teachers change classrooms, not the kids. Too much wasted times with all of them switching. But for labs, say.

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Shut it down. Or, if the other powers that be wouldn't allow me to abolish it, I would allocate all money (minus overhead) coming in to go to the school districts, no strings attached, no requirements given, based on student population. X students = X dollars, do what you want with it, effective immediately.

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Ask the last person out the door to turn off the lights...fire myself and everyone else in the department.

:iagree:

Let each state/municipality handle financing and programming in the most efficient, creative, effective ways possible, without a bunch of federal red tape.

Edited by AuntieM
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:iagree: Schools should be run locally.

 

I really disagree with this. There are huge areas that are poverty striken and those children would really suffer. I believe that education should be provided on an equal footing regardless of location or economic status.

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I've thought about this a lot recently. The details are endless, but in a nutshell.

 

  • Curriculum: Broad scale Waldorf, minus the anthroposophy. No preschool, no kindergarten. That's what daycare is there to do.

  • Discipline: Problem/violent/bully kids are sent off to alternative schools, which adhere to the same curriculum, but with extra attention to correcting, or at least coralling attitude issues.

  • Health: Quality, healthy, real food breakfasts and lunches provided daily. Structured and unstructured exercise at least twice daily and outdoors as much as possible.

 

 

this is a wonderful list.

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Not presume that I know better than local teachers, administrators, parents, and communities what works and what doesn't.

:iagree:

 

I wish we could focus more on the localization of our schooling. Meet the needs that you have and make changes as needed. Focus more on ability and need, not age only, to determine classes.

 

And give the kids some down time!

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1. Qualified well paid teachers who have studied the subject they are teaching, not just classroom management

 

2. Shorten mandatory schooling so students interested in pursuing vocational training or apprenticeship can finish high school with a diploma after 10th grade (instead of dropping out); 11th/12th grade only for students who are actually interested in more education and plan to go to university

 

3. Increase differentiation so that students can learn according to their abilities. Bring tracking back.

 

4. Less testing and more teaching. Higher standards.

I can think of a lot more things, but the above would be the major ones.

 

I've thought about this a lot recently. The details are endless, but in a nutshell.

 

  • Curriculum: Broad scale Waldorf, minus the anthroposophy. No preschool, no kindergarten. That's what daycare is there to do.

  • Discipline: Problem/violent/bully kids are sent off to alternative schools, which adhere to the same curriculum, but with extra attention to correcting, or at least coralling attitude issues.

  • Health: Quality, healthy, real food breakfasts and lunches provided daily. Structured and unstructured exercise at least twice daily and outdoors as much as possible.

 

 

Both of these sound like an excellent way to proceed. :D

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Before taking any action, making any decision, rearranging any classes, closing or opening any schools, choosing yes or no for a charter, ask the question, "What is best for the children?" and ensure throughout your education culture that the answer to that question trumps everything else.

 

Every bad mess I see in the local public schools happens because no one prioritizes that question.

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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I really disagree with this. There are huge areas that are poverty striken and those children would really suffer. I believe that education should be provided on an equal footing regardless of location or economic status.

 

But running it at the federal level seems to be overkill - that is just very high up for something that really needs local tailoring to be effective at all. I am actually surprised to see that the federal level is involved much at all in the US.

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I think I might actually abolish public schools, and possibly move to a system where all kids get funding to apply to whatever sort of education their parents send them to.

 

If I were going to open a school under those circumstances, I would have a CM style program starting at age 7, I'd pay the teachers pretty well, I'd have an apprenticeship program for teacher training.

 

I'd intend to start kids off faily slowly, in small schools located in the communities they served so kids could generally walk to them. Kids would spend a lot of time outdoors, maybe with a forest school component.

 

I'd probably aim to have kids by grade 10 have a really good basic education, and then spend the next two years streamed: either a solid university prep program with a background in the liberal arts and an good mathematical foundation; a vocational route; and a more business centered route.

 

My goal there would be that kids would have little "background" work to do at the university or vocational level and could jump right into more serious specialized training - I don't know how the post-secondary places would like that but I think it should actually be possible.

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Okay, so imagine you are magically assigned to redesign your county's school system. What would you do?

 

Change the focus from skills, testing, skills, testing to actual content. It's been shown that focusing on content helps the skills improve. Reading and writing are not things to be compartmentalized, but tools to be used.

 

I would focus on discipline, too, as a safe, orderly school makes it easier to learn. The things that are tolerated and seen as "normal" shouldn't be.

 

I would institute uniforms.

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Dept of Education - disbanded, with control thrown back to the states. NEA - disbanded. More parental choice between education options - no more education monopolies.

I think the idea of school is actually outdated and wildly inefficient. Someone said it's one of the last places someone from the past could time machine in and still recognize what was going on, because it is an antiquated model. If the focus and responsibilityis to educate and not just provide care while both parents work, there are so many better options.

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Okay, so imagine you are magically assigned to redesign your county's school system. What would you do?

 

All funding would come from the local level; keep public schools but encourage some healthy, free-market competition through vouchers. Put decision making control back in the parents' lap. I think we would be very surprised at the creative approaches to education that would pop up if the "market" e.g. parents could decide what is best for their children. We would see everything from classical schools that only serve organic, local food in their cafeterias to "un-school" schools.

Edited by ReneTL
typo
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I would close the Department and send the education funding back to the states. Our schools should be managed at the state and local level, not by the federal government.

 

I do believe this too.

 

I just watched Waiting for Superman and started the Lottery.

 

eek that is just sad sad sad.

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School would be all year long, go in later, get out the same time, staggared schedules so not everyone was off at once. Children would start at 7 years old.

 

T.

 

They tried that in our area. It didn't make a difference in the education level of the children.

 

I should look for that book Last Child in the Woods. about our children needing free time.

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I really disagree with this. There are huge areas that are poverty striken and those children would really suffer. I believe that education should be provided on an equal footing regardless of location or economic status.

 

I agree with the money but I do believe the STates and local area/cities know what their children need and how to do it.

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Okay, so imagine you are magically assigned to redesign your county's school system. What would you do?

 

I like the Danish model; every child gets the same $ and the family can choose from a large number of different schools. I long for a country that has as many truly good educational choices as we have crappy fast food joints. I don't trust local government to do a better job. The jokers we have in GA are far worse that any I've seen on the federal level.

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Consider establishing "academic" and "vocational" only programs for students.

 

I know this is not always a popular suggestion, but I believe it could work. I used to work in a therapeutic day school. The students I worked with had been kicked out of the Chicago public school system for behavior disorders and emotional issues. Most were in a gang and were on probation. Many could not read or write, and we are talking high school age here.

 

But the school had a vocational track. These kids went to a Habitat worksite every afternoon. I visited the students on site. They worked under the guidance of a firm, but respected teacher. They were so proud of what they were doing. They were successful. They were thriving. And we need individuals to work in the trades. My dh is an electrician and has a good job even in this economy. Some are just not cut out for academics and that is okay. They could go back later if they wanted to. These students were staying in school just because of the vocational program. Most schools don't offer such a track anymore and I think it is a huge mistake not to.

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One pay for teachers-125,000, no tenure, they pay their ins, and they don't have summers off. Make it the HARDEST career to have. That even if they are teaching 1st grade, they need their masters-NOT in general education classes, but in their specific field.

 

 

I agree with some of this, but would go the other direction with regard to "qualifications." When my dh was working on a masters degree, he saw lots of people who couldn't do the work passed with a B or better, because a C was considered failing and would get the professor a complaint. These people now have the exact same piece of paper that he does, which makes all of those papers meaningless IMO.

 

We've seen through experience that people with a highschool education can teach kids to read - people on this board are doing it every day. I'd get rid of the state certification system entirely, and let the building principals hire whoever they think can get the job done. Maybe have a few months of classroom management training before they start, or be apprenticed to a teacher with more experience first - that way they see a good example before we set them loose. Teachers good enough to be used as the examples could get a $ bonus (though I otherwise agree with your flat pay idea).

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Okay, so imagine you are magically assigned to redesign your county's school system. What would you do?

 

No more teaching to the test. I was amazed when I watched the documentary about the Finnish school system how unimportant the testing was. Really just a tool for the teacher to find holes to focus on for individual kids.

 

Group kids by ability instead of age. How to implement is a little bit of a logistical nightmare but there has to be a way.

 

Give teachers more autonomy to research and use the curriculum they like best and let them teach. Get rid of textbook writer monopoly and control. Use those little boxes in the front of the textbook about who used the book from year to year and what condition it was in. There is no need to spend so much money on new books every single year. Let subject experts review the materials and make sure they are up to date.

 

Hire experts with a teaching certificate instead of education school majors, even at the lowest grades.

 

Get rid of anything that is not purely academic. It requires a whole new mindset in communities and families to watch out for and take care of children but I think the social worker role interferes too much with teaching time and the school's purpose to educate.

 

Get rid of busing and other social engineering programs. Give parents total choice over where their kids attend.

 

Start school a little later in the morning and limit home work to lengthy writing assignments or such that can't be finished in class. Give kids free time in the afternoon and evening to be with family or pursue hobbies or just play.

 

Year round school with small breaks sprinkled throughout.

 

School uniforms and a strict and enforced set of expectations for behavior.

 

Put the responsibility to learn back on the parents and students.

 

Get rid of "college prep" mindsets and just give everyone a good solid education. I think that, irrespective of what you are going to do to make money as an adult, you need to be well educated.

 

No teacher tenure. Pay incentives for doing well, just like any other job.

Edited by jcooperetc
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1. Education majors can teach only general elementary school education, and that is what their degrees should focus on. More specialized subjects (e.g. foreign languages), if studied at that age, must be taught by subject majors right away, and from middle school onwards every school subject must be taught by a subject major who has had an additional teacher training - but who is, first and foremost, a subject matter expert.

 

2. Schools are academic institutions, not prolonged daycares. It takes a total mentality shift for most Americans to grasp this, but I think that it is crucial that they do. I would remove non-academic "content" from schools - schools should not be platforms for societal experiments, social workers, health organizations, or even this amount of extracurriculars. Schools should deal with the academics, period. The actual upbringing is a family duty.

 

3. Quit the PC-ing and trying to have everyone attend college. Kids who do not meet the standards of the programs they attend are to be failed. Achievement-based groups wherever applicable. Tracking in forms of multiple various high school programs (vocational tracks, artistic tracks, college-prep with science bent, college-prep with humanities bent, etc.). Have the competitive or skills-based public high schools have entrance exams (e.g. drawing for artistic tracks, general education exams for college-prep schools), and use that to put pressure on elementary & middle schools to actually teach.

 

4. Responsibility to learn back to students and parents. The school is there to spell out standards and provide a platform to learn in a kind of an organized structure, but the kids and their parents should own their successes and failures rather than teachers.

 

5. Dress code and a "we mean business" mindset for everyone. Clearly spelled out expectations in terms of behavior. Clearly spelled out consequences, including the right to kick the student out of the class if he disrupts others learning.

 

6. Academic competitions between schools, deemphasize sports and such. Schools are academic institutions and that should be their trademark.

 

7. Reorganize high schools completely. Make them smaller and more specific in terms of what they teach, based on their bent, without the exact same curriculum and expectations from everyone - but making sure the core areas are there.

 

8. Drastically reduce the time the kids spend at school, especially elementary. In high school, make students own their time completely and quit fussing about absences - their life, their responsibility. If they continuously fail, kick them out. I would totally shift the mentality from "we will not let you fail, dear Johnny" to "you better wish to be here, dear Johnny, because it is quite easy for us to fail you and even kick you out if you do not mean business like we do" on the high school level.

 

9. Put things back to a state / local level, deemphasize huge unimportant testings on national level. Cut the number of tests, quizzes, etc. Comprehensive semester written + oral exams would be suggested rather than wasting so much time on testing and being distracted from actually teaching and learning.

 

10. More autonomy to teachers in HOW they go about their teaching, but with more clearly spelled out standards of final achievement at the end of the course. Emphasize efficient learning, quit trying to cater to everyone but look at what is optimal. Much of the actual learning should be on kids anyway, the school merely provides the structure.

 

11. Office hours like in university, especially for extra help.

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I'd tie grant money to greater oversight, specifically adding at least:

 

1. Federal minimum curriculum standards, similar to or building upon the K-12 Common Core Standards but better fleshed out

 

2. Specific exclusion of creationism/intelligent design from public school science classrooms; this would hopefully avoid state legislative fiascoes that have repeatedly led to litigation

 

3. Federally mandated oversight for homeschooling, requiring teaching to the minimum level of the curriculum standards (keeping in mind that those would be minimums and probably easy for most homeschoolers to meet)

 

4. Some sort of mandate for gifted programming or acceleration; though I'd have to think further about what that'd entail, it would start with a statement that all children need to be taught material at the appropriate level for them

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1. Education majors can teach only general elementary school education, and that is what their degrees should focus on. More specialized subjects (e.g. foreign languages), if studied at that age, must be taught by subject majors right away, and from middle school onwards every school subject must be taught by a subject major who has had an additional teacher training - but who is, first and foremost, a subject matter expert.

 

2. Schools are academic institutions, not prolonged daycares. It takes a total mentality shift for most Americans to grasp this, but I think that it is crucial that they do. I would remove non-academic "content" from schools - schools should not be platforms for societal experiments, social workers, health organizations, or even this amount of extracurriculars. Schools should deal with the academics, period. The actual upbringing is a family duty.

 

3. Quit the PC-ing and trying to have everyone attend college. Kids who do not meet the standards of the programs they attend are to be failed. Achievement-based groups wherever applicable. Tracking in forms of multiple various high school programs (vocational tracks, artistic tracks, college-prep with science bent, college-prep with humanities bent, etc.). Have the competitive or skills-based public high schools have entrance exams (e.g. drawing for artistic tracks, general education exams for college-prep schools), and use that to put pressure on elementary & middle schools to actually teach.

 

4. Responsibility to learn back to students and parents. The school is there to spell out standards and provide a platform to learn in a kind of an organized structure, but the kids and their parents should own their successes and failures rather than teachers.

 

5. Dress code and a "we mean business" mindset for everyone. Clearly spelled out expectations in terms of behavior. Clearly spelled out consequences, including the right to kick the student out of the class if he disrupts others learning.

 

6. Academic competitions between schools, deemphasize sports and such. Schools are academic institutions and that should be their trademark.

 

7. Reorganize high schools completely. Make them smaller and more specific in terms of what they teach, based on their bent, without the exact same curriculum and expectations from everyone - but making sure the core areas are there.

 

8. Drastically reduce the time the kids spend at school, especially elementary. In high school, make students own their time completely and quit fussing about absences - their life, their responsibility. If they continuously fail, kick them out. I would totally shift the mentality from "we will not let you fail, dear Johnny" to "you better wish to be here, dear Johnny, because it is quite easy for us to fail you and even kick you out if you do not mean business like we do" on the high school level.

 

9. Put things back to a state / local level, deemphasize huge unimportant testings on national level. Cut the number of tests, quizzes, etc. Comprehensive semester written + oral exams would be suggested rather than wasting so much time on testing and being distracted from actually teaching and learning.

 

10. More autonomy to teachers in HOW they go about their teaching, but with more clearly spelled out standards of final achievement at the end of the course. Emphasize efficient learning, quit trying to cater to everyone but look at what is optimal. Much of the actual learning should be on kids anyway, the school merely provides the structure.

 

11. Office hours like in university, especially for extra help.

 

:iagree:

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1. Smaller, community based schools, no more mega high schools.

2. In order to have community based schools, we have to stop bussing kids all over the place in order to desegregate. It didn't work, although everyone has a great story about someone they love who they never would have met with out it. Kids desegregate themselves.

3. No more teachers' unions.

4. Vouchers.

5. No more requirements for teachers to have a degree in education or a teaching certification. A degree in a subject area should suffice.

6. Outside monitoring of teacher performance and administration performance. Private companies are run infinitely better than schools and a private company would create a great checks and balance system in the public schools if they were paid to monitor.

 

It's New Years Day, I'm still getting my brain in gear. I'm sure I will think of more. What a fantastic topic!

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1. Education majors can teach only general elementary school education, and that is what their degrees should focus on. More specialized subjects (e.g. foreign languages), if studied at that age, must be taught by subject majors right away, and from middle school onwards every school subject must be taught by a subject major who has had an additional teacher training - but who is, first and foremost, a subject matter expert.

 

2. Schools are academic institutions, not prolonged daycares. It takes a total mentality shift for most Americans to grasp this, but I think that it is crucial that they do. I would remove non-academic "content" from schools - schools should not be platforms for societal experiments, social workers, health organizations, or even this amount of extracurriculars. Schools should deal with the academics, period. The actual upbringing is a family duty.

 

3. Quit the PC-ing and trying to have everyone attend college. Kids who do not meet the standards of the programs they attend are to be failed. Achievement-based groups wherever applicable. Tracking in forms of multiple various high school programs (vocational tracks, artistic tracks, college-prep with science bent, college-prep with humanities bent, etc.). Have the competitive or skills-based public high schools have entrance exams (e.g. drawing for artistic tracks, general education exams for college-prep schools), and use that to put pressure on elementary & middle schools to actually teach.

 

4. Responsibility to learn back to students and parents. The school is there to spell out standards and provide a platform to learn in a kind of an organized structure, but the kids and their parents should own their successes and failures rather than teachers.

 

5. Dress code and a "we mean business" mindset for everyone. Clearly spelled out expectations in terms of behavior. Clearly spelled out consequences, including the right to kick the student out of the class if he disrupts others learning.

 

6. Academic competitions between schools, deemphasize sports and such. Schools are academic institutions and that should be their trademark.

 

7. Reorganize high schools completely. Make them smaller and more specific in terms of what they teach, based on their bent, without the exact same curriculum and expectations from everyone - but making sure the core areas are there.

 

8. Drastically reduce the time the kids spend at school, especially elementary. In high school, make students own their time completely and quit fussing about absences - their life, their responsibility. If they continuously fail, kick them out. I would totally shift the mentality from "we will not let you fail, dear Johnny" to "you better wish to be here, dear Johnny, because it is quite easy for us to fail you and even kick you out if you do not mean business like we do" on the high school level.

 

9. Put things back to a state / local level, deemphasize huge unimportant testings on national level. Cut the number of tests, quizzes, etc. Comprehensive semester written + oral exams would be suggested rather than wasting so much time on testing and being distracted from actually teaching and learning.

 

10. More autonomy to teachers in HOW they go about their teaching, but with more clearly spelled out standards of final achievement at the end of the course. Emphasize efficient learning, quit trying to cater to everyone but look at what is optimal. Much of the actual learning should be on kids anyway, the school merely provides the structure.

 

11. Office hours like in university, especially for extra help.

 

:iagree:completely!

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I admit I'm surprised to see this on a homeschooling board, as presumably you do not believe it is necessary for home educators to be subject matter experts in order to effectively teach different subjects.

 

There's a large difference between teaching one student many subjects and teaching many students one subject.

 

We've seen here that people who are stuck on how to explain something will post asking for more resources, etc.

 

A high school teacher doesn't have the time to go looking for extra explanations in their subject if they don't understand something the first time. They need to have THEIR subject knowledge at the tips of their fingers so that they can explain in multiple ways when the student is confused.

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I admit I'm surprised to see this on a homeschooling board, as presumably you do not believe it is necessary for home educators to be subject matter experts in order to effectively teach different subjects.

 

It would be my preference for a public school setting, too. If teachers can't have total familiarity with their students (homeschooling's main advantage) then they should have total familiarity with their subject.

 

Knowing 'where the student went wrong' is such a critical part of teaching! I approach that question from my understanding of my child's way of thinking, and my experience with the kind of mistakes he usually makes. A teacher doesn't have that advantage, but if he is an expert on the material he will still be able to bridge the gap.

 

We had a very memorable experience on a field trip once. We were at a Children's Museum, and in the Science section a volunteer was manning a tabletop exhibit designed to introduce children to alternative energy. The volunteer was an electrical engineer who had never taught school but had decades of experience in his field. My son had just finished Sonlight Science 4 (Electricity and Magnetism) so he walked right up and introduced himself.

 

He had so many questions beyond the scope of the exhibit, but the engineer was able and willing to answer them all. They had a very awesome conversation! At one point my son wasn't sure of some terminology, so he used some hand motions that demonstrated his understanding of the concept. I had no idea what he was thinking of, but the engineer clapped his hands, laughed, and pointed at my son and said, "You've got it! That's called _____ and it's used in such-and-such a way."

 

If school could be like that, my son would be in school.

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I admit I'm surprised to see this on a homeschooling board, as presumably you do not believe it is necessary for home educators to be subject matter experts in order to effectively teach different subjects.

 

There is a *huge* difference between subjecting our own children to our incompetence and subjecting entire classrooms of children to it.

 

I've found that my ability to teach subjects that I am an expert is so vastly superior that it scares me about how the rest of my kids' education is going. A key difference is that someone who is an expert in the field will know what the real endpoints are--where we are going with all of this and what is truly important. An expert is not simply keeping pace with her students or one step ahead, she is many, many steps ahead of them.

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There's a large difference between teaching one student many subjects and teaching many students one subject.

 

We've seen here that people who are stuck on how to explain something will post asking for more resources, etc.

 

A high school teacher doesn't have the time to go looking for extra explanations in their subject if they don't understand something the first time. They need to have THEIR subject knowledge at the tips of their fingers so that they can explain in multiple ways when the student is confused.

 

Exactly right. This is why I got help with foreign languages. I can learn the stuff in the book, but can't teach from broad knowledge in those areas. And my ability to teach from broad knowledge has totally saved math for my math-hating DD.

 

I think that it is very important as homeschoolers to be realistic about what we can and cannot teach effectively, and to admit it when a child would benefit from some sort of broader exposure, even in an area in which we are competent. And SWB's advice about studying on our own is crucial.

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.

 

 

Have the kids in one classroom, and the teachers change classrooms, not the kids. Too much wasted times with all of them switching. But for labs, say.

 

I agree with most of your points. However, as a language teacher, I disagree with this one. I don't know what age students you meant, but having one's own classroom that one can make a mini-oasis of language immersion is extremely helpful in foreign languages. Plus, hopefully, the teacher has good technology and transferring it from room to room would be difficult. Teachers need the time between classes to clean up/prepare for the next class, not to travel from room to room. Otherwise they will have to take away from instructional time to do so.

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1) Fully funded optional pre-K programs for all children starting at age 3.

---------------------------------

2) Vouchers available for every child. However,

a) The voucher can only be redeemed at an accredited school. If my tax dollars are paying for a child's education, I want to make sure that we get our money's worth.

And

b) I would hire people smarter than me to create a formula to make sure that local public schools are still funded appropriately.

 

Why?

 

The Charter school can say, "We have openings for 20 students on September 1. If you want to apply, you must submit your paperwork before the deadline May 1. If 20 unregistered students showed up on September 1 to the public school, the public school must find a classroom, teacher, desk, textbooks, and other supplies today and right now, with no planning and no notice and no prior funding.

---------------------------------------------------

3) I would get rid of sports teams. If you want to coach sports, do it after hours, in a private setting, or be a gym teacher. I don't want you to be my teacher's history teacher as a vehicle for what you really want to do.

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4) I would let teachers choose their own curriculum. (At least in Iowa), it is a cruel trick to send Ed majors to student teach and become excited about teaching their subject...then to tie their hands by having someone else run their classroom. Curriculum must of course encompass state or national standards.

 

a) Example #1: One of the best math teachers I had was 7th grade Mr. Craun. We had a standard boring math textbook with the standard required 25-30 problems/concept. Every Friday, he took the first 10 minutes of class to give us timed tests of the basic +,-, *, / operations, with less time each week. By the end of the year, I had a good and confident grasp of 7th grade math, and could whip out a page of math facts in less than 3 minutes.

 

A decade later, my cousin Robin had the same teacher and was hating and failing math. I looked at her book and talked to the teacher. The new style was "constructivism" (~1992) with a focus on word problems. A standard assignment had a maximum of 3-5 problems. I don't know about you, but if I am learning a new concept, I'd like to practice it more than 3 times. The teacher had been forbidden to do the timed tests because of the new emphasis on constructionism. Mr. Craun lamented that he was not able to teach in the style that he knew was effective.

 

b) Example #2: Our local middle school is in crisis, and at risk for being closed and re-vamped. A discussion with one of the math teachers revealed that she was not able to choose a curriculum which focused on basics. Instead, someone else chose the textbook and style. She and the other experienced teachers had made a recommendation for new textbooks at buying time, but no one listened to the teachers.:confused: Imagine being asked to put out a fire, but being forbidden to use hoses or buckets. How effective could you be?

 

Side rant: This is one of many reasons why I homeschool. I want to choose effective curriculum for my children.

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5) State or National standards. Hopefully a bigger plan or vision, beyond one class or one year, too.

 

a) Example: When I was in community college, one of my friends from China ran rings around the rest of us in Chemistry class. For us, one year (or maybe one semester?) of Chemistry was optional in high school. (And I went to a pretty good high school education-wise.)

 

Wentao shared that in China (in the 80s), their national standards required 3 years of chemistry in high school.

 

b) These standards would hopefully be set by people with a background in education; not politicians; not those with potential financial gain. Input from teachers (the people actually doing the teaching work) would be a part of the process.

 

c) These standards would provide a guideline for what textbooks a teacher could request.

 

d) Example: I choose the classical method for my children for Science and History. No explanation necessary.

 

e) In Iowa, we do not currently have this standardization. (Other states, I understand, do). The problem is that student may live in one community in 6th grade, and move to a different community in 7th grade, and a third community in 8th grade. Consider that this student may learn about the French Revolution in every grade...but not learn about the American Revolution at all. This is because some schools teach topic X in 6th, some in 7th, some in 8th. Our poor example student learned about topic Y in 6th, 7th, and 8th...but kept being in the wrong place at the wrong time to learn about the American Revolution.

 

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6) Full day (8-5), year round school. Teachers will be paid appropriately for an increased work day and work year. Optional enrichment opportunities would be available for students in the weeks of vacation. This would work well for students whose families still need childcare at that time.

 

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7) Teacher testing -- Every 5 years, I would test teachers in their fields to prove their competence in what they are teaching. If the teacher fails the test, they would not lose employment, but they would need to remedy the situation within 2 years by re-taking college classes or retaking the test. Teachers would also be evaluated annually by other teachers/parents/administrators who have sat in on their class.

 

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8) Student testing -- Yes, I would require the dreaded student testing; ITBS or ITEDs or whatever. I wouldn't close schools or fire teachers over it, but I would use is as a tool to evaluate where we need to improve. If students are not performing well on tests, we would take a closer look at the student's classroom experience.

 

I would also pay students who do well on the test. Over a decade ago, I read about a school that improved their test scores simply by offering a financial incentive to students concerning the test. I can't remember if the reward was $20 or $50, but it eliminated a lot of students screwing around on the test.

 

Also, a couple years ago, a study of money and students found money as a motivator. Especially in minority (low-income) schools, the students could claim, "I'm not trying to be white....I'm saving for an XBOX!!!"

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