On Mon, Mar 10, 2003 at 06:08:10PM -0600, Reggie Bautista wrote: > Have you read much about "No Child Left Behind?" Info on it is > available at http://www.nclb.gov/next/overview/index.html
Yes, that is an awful program. Standardized tests are not a good way to handle education. You might have noticed I didn't mention anything like that. > I'm a supporter of standards. I'm in favor of teachers using more > and different kinds of resources. But the problem isn't that these > resources aren't available. It's that many teachers don't have time > to utilize the resources they have. They spend 40 hours or more at > work, plus hours each night grading homework and making lesson plans. Making lesson plans is surely something that could benefit from shared effort and economies of scale. Obviously we wouldn't want cookie-cutter curricula, but a lot could be done there to help teachers when they need to make a new lesson plan. > Many teachers also have to attend "voluntary" additional meetings at > school, sometimes on weekends. Oh, the horror! > And in many states, in order to continue to be certified, teachers > must also at the same time take graduate classes. Maybe the teachers could instead spend time exchanging ideas with other teachers and education experts around the country, at their leisure, through internet forums and the like. > And for "professional development," many teachers are required to > serve on various other committees, taking up yet more time. A lot of committee work should be able to be centralized, with economies of scale kicking in. And it benefits from greater diversity that way, as well. > And these teachers also have lives. They have husbands and wives. > They have kids of their own. They have inadequate time for the amount > of work they are doing. Sounds like finding a more efficient way to accomplish educational goals would be helpful, huh? > The key is not to give the teachers more to do. Work smarter, not harder! > The biggest key is to get parents more involved in the education No, I don't think so. Changing people's ideas and behavior, especially when it comes to something as personal as parenting, is HARD! If you make that you main goal, I don't think you will accomplish very much. > More unfunded or underfunded federal mandates and state standards > aren't going to do squat towards fixing that. True. And little else will either. Work on problems that you have a chance of solving! -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
