Sunday, March 20, 2011
Science
Even though the district is focused on math and communication arts, I make sure to remind administrators that science is a part of the state assessment as well. I also work with my department to identify the standards that we need to focus on. Some opposition that I have come across is the sixth grade teachers who want to do the fun activities with their students even if those activties do not cover any standards. Seventh grade also shows some resistance to change because all three teachers have taught for over fifteen years and see no reason to teach differently. The eighth grade teachers work together to encourage the other grades to embrace change for the benefit of the students.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Keeping up
Keeping up
I do not agree with Friedman, who believes that the United States is spending too much of their resources on world issues like fighting the Al Qaeda (Friedman, 2010). I believe that after 911 the United States has no choice but to spend their resources protecting their citizens from terrorism. I do think that funds spent in education should be spent directly in classrooms instead of being spent on assessments that compare apples to oranges.
The nation created the No Child Left Behind Act to improve education, but it requires students to show progress over the students who took the test the previous year rather than comparing their individual progress from year to year (Research Center: No Child Left Behind, 2004). This creates the national crisis that I see in education which is a shift from how well an individual student is learning to how well a student can do on the state assessments. This has forced schools to concentrate on only mathematics and reading, instead of being able to give their students a well rounded education which includes science and history. The elementary schools are reducing time spent on science and history to add more minutes to mathematics and reading. The money spent on writing, overseeing and grading these assessments would be more beneficial being spent directly in the schools to provide more for the students.
Friedman, T. (2010, January 17). What's our Sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times (Late edition (east Coast)), p. 8. Retrieved from the ProQuest Central database.
Research Center: No Child Left Behind. (2004, September 24). Education Week American Education News Site of Record. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/no-child-left-behind/
I do not agree with Friedman, who believes that the United States is spending too much of their resources on world issues like fighting the Al Qaeda (Friedman, 2010). I believe that after 911 the United States has no choice but to spend their resources protecting their citizens from terrorism. I do think that funds spent in education should be spent directly in classrooms instead of being spent on assessments that compare apples to oranges.
The nation created the No Child Left Behind Act to improve education, but it requires students to show progress over the students who took the test the previous year rather than comparing their individual progress from year to year (Research Center: No Child Left Behind, 2004). This creates the national crisis that I see in education which is a shift from how well an individual student is learning to how well a student can do on the state assessments. This has forced schools to concentrate on only mathematics and reading, instead of being able to give their students a well rounded education which includes science and history. The elementary schools are reducing time spent on science and history to add more minutes to mathematics and reading. The money spent on writing, overseeing and grading these assessments would be more beneficial being spent directly in the schools to provide more for the students.
Friedman, T. (2010, January 17). What's our Sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times (Late edition (east Coast)), p. 8. Retrieved from the ProQuest Central database.
Research Center: No Child Left Behind. (2004, September 24). Education Week American Education News Site of Record. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/no-child-left-behind/
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