46 Responses to Bad Grades: 1960 vs. 2010 [Cartoon]
So true. Schools put way too much effort on self-esteem, without any actual grades to back it up?
All F's? Can't be your fault. Must be the teacher making it too hard. Yeah, you're a good person, you can't do anything wrong. Has to be someone else. Because if it were you, you might have to feel bad about yourself. And the American education system doesn't want that. They want kids with a high self-esteem. Grades come second.
read the text book .. people everywhere have managed to get an education with less access that those in the first world. Take some iniciative. Stop blaming someone else. If you can read, you can figure it out. quit crying , get working!
I actually think it IS the teacher's fault if the students fail. Not in all cases obviously, some students are just dense idiots that refuse to make an effort. But in most cases it is the teacher's fault for not explaining it so the students understand or not making it more interesting for their listeners. The difference between a good and a bad teacher is that a good teacher goes out of his/her way to make the students understand. My math teacher had to explain the same problem for my friend in 12 different ways and when she still didn't understand he asked his colleague to explain it, because chances are that he might explain it in another way. And this time my friend finally understood! THAT is an example of a really good teacher. No one is afraid to ask him for help and in return all of his students respect him and like him. Way too many teacher are power maniacs who scare the sh*t out of their students.
More like a combination of problems. Some students don't care to learn; some students have been promoted when they shouldn't have been and therefore can't comprehend the new material; some teachers have fought the lousy system so long that they may not care anymore and some teachers have more talent at teaching than others.
accessible is different for each child… with 34 kids in a room how do you explain something 8 different ways. you would never get through one months curriculum. Sometimes mom doesn't cook the meal you like, we had to eat it anyway. Education is not an a la carte service.
Oh, goodie, let's play another round of "Blame the Teacher not the Student" bingo! So far, in 4 posts, we have "can't control the kids", "make it more interesting", "not explaining enough times", "teachers are useless" (that's the free square, though), and "power mad dictators". Looks like I need "Only in to for summer vacations", "it's the teacher's unions", and "School doesn't teach anything useful anyway". If I get bingo, will you take the blame for a while?
Nice to see, that in overseas there are the same "bad notes, bad teacher" complaints as here in Germany. So after the last PISA results we don't feel that much alone any more. ;-)
I honestly think in most cases its the students and their parents. I'm a College student, I've had good teachers and have had bad teachers, but I've been able to pull out good grades with the bad ones.. why? Because I do extra work, I figure it out for myself.. in the end its the students who teach themselves, not the teachers. The teachers are there just to introduce the material, we have to do work as well.
The attitude of many people, as represented by the parents on the right, is unfortunately an increasing problem in the public school system today. Obviously, some teachers are going to better than others, but it has gotten to the point where parents and students automatically blame teachers for the problems that stem from the family's lack of involvement and effort in their child's education. Parents expect the public school systems to babysit and raise their children for them while they set the example of less than par effort for their kids. Parents will blame the teachers for the misbehavior of their children in school, meanwhile, the teacher is oftentimes receiving little or no support from the child's parents to enforce the behavior desired. The schools are not meant to raise your spoiled kids. You are! The biggest F's here go to the parents of these kids.
This is all driven by right wing mass media, telling their conservative audience that thinking from the gut is the height of intelligence and how much smarter their barely literate audience is than those nasty elitist intellectuals.
Those conservative parents believe this and when their spawn comes home with poor report cards, well it can't be breeding because Fox not-News continually tells them how smart they are, so it must be, yes, it is those nasty liberal teachers who are failing conservative students on purpose, all except those ones that teach creationism.
With large classes the teacher is mainly there to present material, with small classes the teachers are there to explain the material, you choose how much you are willing to pay and that defines the difference between presenting and explaining.
The real question is how many parents help their children with their homework now that in reality is the real difference between success and failure rates.
For the idiocracy it is always some one else's fault and prayer will provide good grades unless evil teachers try to teach anti-bible knowledge (even when by far majority of them have no idea what is actually written in the various versions of the bible).
when i was a kid i didnt get any help from my parents to do my homework…it was my homework so it was my responsability to get it done on my own…it was the teachers job to explain the assignment in a way i could understand and it was my job to do it…simple enough…all my parents did was yell at me when i didnt do my homework or lock me in my room untill i was done….now days teachers expect parents to do there job for them, by explaing what the assignment was and how to do it in a way they child understands….but im a bad teacher thats why i pay taxes so the school can do that….i raise my daughter to behave and have good morals and to use her head to make her own decisions and not follow the crowd….the schools teach her how to read and write, math, history, and science etc etc…..if i have to teach my daughter those same subjects then why do we have schools in the first place?
when i was a kid i didnt get any help from my parents to do my homework…it was my homework so it was my responsability to get it done on my own…it was the teachers job to explain the assignment in a way i could understand and it was my job to do it…simple enough…all my parents did was yell at me when i didnt do my homework or lock me in my room untill i was done….now days teachers expect parents to do there job for them, by explaing what the assignment was and how to do it in a way they child understands….but im a bad teacher thats why i pay taxes so the school can do that….i raise my daughter to behave and have good morals and to use her head to make her own decisions and not follow the crowd….the schools teach her how to read and write, math, history, and science etc etc…..if i have to teach my daughter those same subjects then why do we have schools in the first place?
More teachers should spent time on teaching real science, not creationism which is not science. According to a survey, 13% of science teachers in US public education science classes have been doing just that – preaching instead of teaching.
I encourage the students of these irresponsible teachers to name them in public so that appropriate actions can be taken.
The thing is in the end the student has to take responsibility for their actions. I've sat in classes where the students didn't learn, because they couldn't be bothered to pay attention. Then, they complained that the teacher didn't do their job. It's not the responsibility of the teacher to put a gun to your head and make you learn. This country has gotten to the point where it's easier to pass the buck and blame others for your failings. Time to suck it up and take the heat for your own screw ups. It's just as bad with our military with little Johnny's mommy complaining to the senators and congressmen about how bad they treat little Johnny in basic. Get a clue people. The whole basis of boot camp is to get recruits ready for the inevitability of war. War ain't all peaches and cream. People die and if you aren't ready for it physically as well as mentally you will die. And if you somehow manage not too, you'll be scarred beyond repair for life. Get off the teet and start taking responsibility for yourselves and stop passing the blame.
EVERYBODY knows who most of the problem kids are disrupting class, bullying, and keeping others from learning. We also know which way their parents and even they will vote (if they live long enough) and it's NOT conservative.
Liberals ARE the ones DEPENDENT on gov. in damn near every aspect of their lives.
My kids AREN"T spoiled, but have been rewarded for good behavior and good grades with new homes, new vehicles, good jobs, and so much more.
The difference? They EARN it!
Refute this. I don't care. It's winter here and my kids, their families, and I are headed to the South Seas.
The ones blaming teachers are the same ones blaming Bush.
It's ALWAYS someone elses fault.
BLAME who you like. It's not going to raise any sat scores or IQs.
I expect more from someone on a "Geek" site.
Problem is, that's all libs have to fall back on now. It's NOT like they'll run on their record or anything.
Like I said before, blame whomever you like for whatever you like. What conceivable difference could it mean to me. Your pathetic lot in life is of no concern to people like me unless you stop blaming and start doing. Then, we take notice and things change.
Best of luck and luck's what you make it.
You know, when a commenter says things like "Fox not-News" and "Faux News" that tells me that their level of intellect is pretty low, that they apparently listen to MSNBC and read DailyKos where they get their marching orders. Obviously the American educational system is failing, and it's not because of lack of money. We've been throwing money at the educational system for 30 years and what have we got? All-powerful teachers' unions and not much else. It's not conservative parents who are telling their "spawn" how smart they are and that it's all the teacher's fault; isn't it liberals who want feel-good education? Isn;t it liberals who have eliminated competition in many areas of education, so the kids at the end of the line won't "feel bad?" The main problem in our schools today is lack of discipline, and who hates discipline? Liberals!
Some mistakenly associate conservative with "backward" and "assume" progressives aim for true progress when all they want is to progress is their own agenda.
Well, it's backfired on them. The freebies are going to be few and far between shortly. The Greatest Nation the world has ever known is teetering on the verge.
If we survive these radical so-called progressives, one day YOUR kids will thank a conservative for fighting for THEIR future and they'll just give their lib parents funny looks.
Transnational progressivism is the death knell of our country, once you have leaders in power that put their agenda above the good of the citizenry nothing good will come of it. We need leaders who are willing to do the right thing for the country despite the fact that it may make make their political party suffer at the polls. Right now I'm not impressed with the candidates who've stepped up to the plate. We need a conservative that's actually conservative not a celebrity or a "middle ground" person.
This is so true! now, schools, to make more parents enroll their children, tend to make their grades higher. First, when parents see their kids' grades are F, they go to the teacher. Now, the teacher accepts credit card payments. The parents smile.
Hilarious when the sheep start fighting over which political side is the cause of all this. They're both the same and neither has the interests of the masses at heart.
Move forward?
You neglected to inform us exactly how YOU would transform our edu sys to meet YOUR standards. You do have standards, right? Ideas?
Mine:
Do away with the unions. (get rid of dead weight)
Do away with tenure. (get rid of dead weight)
PAY for performance.
Stop teaching to the TEST.
TEST the teachers. (they have at least three months available each year that can be used for this)
Do away with the Fed. edu. dept.
Three strikes (or ONE violent one) and you’re out for the “heathens” in the classroom.
I could go on.
Our whole system needs to be revamped.
This is obviously a cultural shift from placing responsibility on the student to earn good grades to the school's/teacher's responsibility to keep the students interested. Teachers are on the front lines, per se, and are the natural target for frustration concerning student performance.
There are a few key factors parents, politicians, and school districts fail to realize: 1) kids today do not learn in the same way older generations have (computers & the Internet are light years ahead of the pencil & paper budgets given to schools); 2) socio-economic factors play a large role in a parent's ability to help their children with school work (example: a parent working two jobs to make ends meet may not have that time due to their work schedule-this unfortunately is an increasing reality for many households); and 3) increasing pressure by state & national laws to constantly test students for "results" which are often skewed by less money, increased class sizes, and a growing English Language Learner population make all the complaints voiced on this forum resonate as the schools' or teachers' poor performance to exact good results.
I don't see this as a question of liberal or conservative politics; I see it as trying to fit a new generation into the older generation's concept of educating children. Children and schools cannot function on the current business model placed upon education. It looks great on paper, but so does 100% proficiency by 2014 under NCLB! Students are not products; they are growing human beings. It is impossible to expect all students to perform well when so many social factors impact many students living in generational poverty.
If people are as vehement about education in this country as they claim to be, then investment in education would be of the highest priority. Yet, reality dictates that we are more concerned with our current predicaments, and prison building budgets are based on an area's fourth grade reading level performance. It's tragic that we pay more money per prisoner than we do per pupil in this country.
I also think it's quite sad that highly educated professionals that are, by law, required to pay for continuing their education, PRAXIS exams, and license renewals are treated like menial service industry workers. I can say this because it is my reality. I'm a teacher. Summers are nice, but we don't get paid for it. Teachers are paid nine-month salaries, and most choose to extend that to a 12-month pay schedule.
It's easy for people to be "tough on education" because a public education is not a right, it's a privilege reinforced by law. Yet, we must never forget that laws can and often do change. I foresee all public education being relegated to online classrooms in fifty years, or so. That's how we'll distinguish the wheat (socio-economic stable households) from the chaff (the poor).
As for your sentiment concerning unions and tenure, I would have to disagree. Unions protect teachers from the highly charged political atmosphere surrounding education, and tenure protects teachers from being sacked for making the highest pay scale. This is just fact. Districts would rather pay a new teacher a lower salary than the teacher that has achieved the highest pay step.
As for not teaching to the test, I'd say sack the test itself. Politicians have placed schools in this pickle. Politicians have made school all about the test. Administrations are obsessed with the tests.
Paying for performance is just plain not fair. Why? Because there is a marked difference between school performance in wealthier districts to those in inner-cities and rural areas. It's ludicrous to expect a student living in poverty to exact high achievement levels to one that has a stable home environment. I can say this with certainty because I have taught in both poor and wealthy districts before. That concept, in my opinion, is ill conceived with no basis in reality.
MORE excuses and bullshit rhetoric.
I imagine you want US to THROW MORE money at a FAILING edu sys.
WE don't HAVE the MONEY genius.
Enjoy your summer "off".
Ho-hum.
You DO realize others have things TO DO "this time of year"?
I'll not invest my time in the second chapter of your fictitious, probably never ending novel, rant, thesis, or whatever you'd call this.
Im not sure why It won't let me reply to below postings, but GaCowboy… I gotta say, you are pretty ignorant. If you have so much "to do", why in the hell are you in forums? Why are you commenting on comics? I mean, if so much "to do" means Bill Oriely, or Glenn Beck is on, and you gotta watch him, well, then I guess that pretty much explains everything. You don't have so much "to do". You would be "working" so hard like you claim, instead of being on these forums slinging ignorant, uninformed crap around. You really don't have any basis to go off of except Fox News.
Yeah,
I'm an idiot when one can't figure out how to reply and the other genius doesn't know the difference between a comment section and a forum.
Yeah,
I’m an idiot when one can’t figure out how to reply and the other genius doesn’t know the difference between a comment section and a forum.
Move forward?
You neglected to inform us exactly how YOU would transform our edu sys to meet YOUR standards. You do have standards, right? Ideas?
Mine:
Do away with the unions. (get rid of dead weight)
Do away with tenure. (get rid of dead weight)
PAY for performance.
Stop teaching to the TEST.
TEST the teachers. (they have at least three months available each year that can be used for this)
Do away with the Fed. edu. dept.
Three strikes (or ONE violent one) and you're out for the "heathens" in the classroom.
I could go on.
Our whole system needs to be revamped.
This is very important for me because reminds me a s a father of how big is the shift that occurred in dealing with children from my times (I'm 39 so not so long ago) and now.
I think that the good stands between the two situations, because yelling every time at children is not educating them, but also is not educational to protect them when they are wrong.
Today living in a hurry and focusing on work and career and materialism doesn't help in educating children and make easier to yell at those who, with their actions and judgments, oblige the parents to assume their responsibilities.
Which is the best way to behave as parents? For me is "the old one", leaving some flexibility in order not to frustrate children. But transmitting to our children some respect for rules and education.
Oh how true, There was just a cheating scandal here in the Balto.City Public Sch. Syst. where in 2 schools whole classes had their grades changed by teachers and administrators to improve ratings on Md. State progress and achievement tests..(MSPAP). And now certain school districts across the country are basing teacher pay and ratings on test scores and improvements too. I'm all for 'merit based' based pay and promotion programs, but only when there is a reality based yardstick on which to measure it! not 'apples to oranges'. Forget the fixation on 'numbers', (except for math teachers…lol), and "Let Teachers Teach". I really don't want half my kid's school year wasted prepping for a damn standardized test!
So true. Schools put way too much effort on self-esteem, without any actual grades to back it up?
All F's? Can't be your fault. Must be the teacher making it too hard. Yeah, you're a good person, you can't do anything wrong. Has to be someone else. Because if it were you, you might have to feel bad about yourself. And the American education system doesn't want that. They want kids with a high self-esteem. Grades come second.
sometimes it is the teachers though, i have some that are useless and cant control the class at all which means that the rest of us cant learn
How about just getting on with it and ignoring everyone else. They're the only ones who'll be failing. I managed it
How are you supposed to get on with it when the teacher hasn't taught you anything because they are too busy trying to control everyone else?
read the text book .. people everywhere have managed to get an education with less access that those in the first world. Take some iniciative. Stop blaming someone else. If you can read, you can figure it out. quit crying , get working!
I actually think it IS the teacher's fault if the students fail. Not in all cases obviously, some students are just dense idiots that refuse to make an effort. But in most cases it is the teacher's fault for not explaining it so the students understand or not making it more interesting for their listeners. The difference between a good and a bad teacher is that a good teacher goes out of his/her way to make the students understand. My math teacher had to explain the same problem for my friend in 12 different ways and when she still didn't understand he asked his colleague to explain it, because chances are that he might explain it in another way. And this time my friend finally understood! THAT is an example of a really good teacher. No one is afraid to ask him for help and in return all of his students respect him and like him. Way too many teacher are power maniacs who scare the sh*t out of their students.
More like a combination of problems. Some students don't care to learn; some students have been promoted when they shouldn't have been and therefore can't comprehend the new material; some teachers have fought the lousy system so long that they may not care anymore and some teachers have more talent at teaching than others.
So, education has now become edutainment?
That is not what I'm saying. I just think it is important for any kind of lecturer to present their information in an accessible and interesting way.
accessible is different for each child… with 34 kids in a room how do you explain something 8 different ways. you would never get through one months curriculum. Sometimes mom doesn't cook the meal you like, we had to eat it anyway. Education is not an a la carte service.
Oh, goodie, let's play another round of "Blame the Teacher not the Student" bingo! So far, in 4 posts, we have "can't control the kids", "make it more interesting", "not explaining enough times", "teachers are useless" (that's the free square, though), and "power mad dictators". Looks like I need "Only in to for summer vacations", "it's the teacher's unions", and "School doesn't teach anything useful anyway". If I get bingo, will you take the blame for a while?
Excellent statement.
Excellent statement.
Nice to see, that in overseas there are the same "bad notes, bad teacher" complaints as here in Germany. So after the last PISA results we don't feel that much alone any more. ;-)
I honestly think in most cases its the students and their parents. I'm a College student, I've had good teachers and have had bad teachers, but I've been able to pull out good grades with the bad ones.. why? Because I do extra work, I figure it out for myself.. in the end its the students who teach themselves, not the teachers. The teachers are there just to introduce the material, we have to do work as well.
The attitude of many people, as represented by the parents on the right, is unfortunately an increasing problem in the public school system today. Obviously, some teachers are going to better than others, but it has gotten to the point where parents and students automatically blame teachers for the problems that stem from the family's lack of involvement and effort in their child's education. Parents expect the public school systems to babysit and raise their children for them while they set the example of less than par effort for their kids. Parents will blame the teachers for the misbehavior of their children in school, meanwhile, the teacher is oftentimes receiving little or no support from the child's parents to enforce the behavior desired. The schools are not meant to raise your spoiled kids. You are! The biggest F's here go to the parents of these kids.
This is all driven by right wing mass media, telling their conservative audience that thinking from the gut is the height of intelligence and how much smarter their barely literate audience is than those nasty elitist intellectuals.
Those conservative parents believe this and when their spawn comes home with poor report cards, well it can't be breeding because Fox not-News continually tells them how smart they are, so it must be, yes, it is those nasty liberal teachers who are failing conservative students on purpose, all except those ones that teach creationism.
With large classes the teacher is mainly there to present material, with small classes the teachers are there to explain the material, you choose how much you are willing to pay and that defines the difference between presenting and explaining.
The real question is how many parents help their children with their homework now that in reality is the real difference between success and failure rates.
For the idiocracy it is always some one else's fault and prayer will provide good grades unless evil teachers try to teach anti-bible knowledge (even when by far majority of them have no idea what is actually written in the various versions of the bible).
when i was a kid i didnt get any help from my parents to do my homework…it was my homework so it was my responsability to get it done on my own…it was the teachers job to explain the assignment in a way i could understand and it was my job to do it…simple enough…all my parents did was yell at me when i didnt do my homework or lock me in my room untill i was done….now days teachers expect parents to do there job for them, by explaing what the assignment was and how to do it in a way they child understands….but im a bad teacher thats why i pay taxes so the school can do that….i raise my daughter to behave and have good morals and to use her head to make her own decisions and not follow the crowd….the schools teach her how to read and write, math, history, and science etc etc…..if i have to teach my daughter those same subjects then why do we have schools in the first place?
when i was a kid i didnt get any help from my parents to do my homework…it was my homework so it was my responsability to get it done on my own…it was the teachers job to explain the assignment in a way i could understand and it was my job to do it…simple enough…all my parents did was yell at me when i didnt do my homework or lock me in my room untill i was done….now days teachers expect parents to do there job for them, by explaing what the assignment was and how to do it in a way they child understands….but im a bad teacher thats why i pay taxes so the school can do that….i raise my daughter to behave and have good morals and to use her head to make her own decisions and not follow the crowd….the schools teach her how to read and write, math, history, and science etc etc…..if i have to teach my daughter those same subjects then why do we have schools in the first place?
More teachers should spent time on teaching real science, not creationism which is not science. According to a survey, 13% of science teachers in US public education science classes have been doing just that – preaching instead of teaching.
I encourage the students of these irresponsible teachers to name them in public so that appropriate actions can be taken.
The thing is in the end the student has to take responsibility for their actions. I've sat in classes where the students didn't learn, because they couldn't be bothered to pay attention. Then, they complained that the teacher didn't do their job. It's not the responsibility of the teacher to put a gun to your head and make you learn. This country has gotten to the point where it's easier to pass the buck and blame others for your failings. Time to suck it up and take the heat for your own screw ups. It's just as bad with our military with little Johnny's mommy complaining to the senators and congressmen about how bad they treat little Johnny in basic. Get a clue people. The whole basis of boot camp is to get recruits ready for the inevitability of war. War ain't all peaches and cream. People die and if you aren't ready for it physically as well as mentally you will die. And if you somehow manage not too, you'll be scarred beyond repair for life. Get off the teet and start taking responsibility for yourselves and stop passing the blame.
which means the kids have no disciple at home otherwise they would know they have to behave and conduct themselves well in school.
which means the kids have no disciple at home otherwise they would know they have to behave and conduct themselves well in school.
which means the kids have no disciple at home otherwise they would know they have to behave and conduct themselves well in school.
which means the kids have no disciple at home otherwise they would know they have to behave and conduct themselves well in school.
EVERYBODY knows who most of the problem kids are disrupting class, bullying, and keeping others from learning. We also know which way their parents and even they will vote (if they live long enough) and it's NOT conservative.
Liberals ARE the ones DEPENDENT on gov. in damn near every aspect of their lives.
My kids AREN"T spoiled, but have been rewarded for good behavior and good grades with new homes, new vehicles, good jobs, and so much more.
The difference? They EARN it!
Refute this. I don't care. It's winter here and my kids, their families, and I are headed to the South Seas.
The ones blaming teachers are the same ones blaming Bush.
It's ALWAYS someone elses fault.
BLAME who you like. It's not going to raise any sat scores or IQs.
You must have brown eyes… you're so full of $^#&.
I expect more from someone on a "Geek" site.
Problem is, that's all libs have to fall back on now. It's NOT like they'll run on their record or anything.
Like I said before, blame whomever you like for whatever you like. What conceivable difference could it mean to me. Your pathetic lot in life is of no concern to people like me unless you stop blaming and start doing. Then, we take notice and things change.
Best of luck and luck's what you make it.
You know, when a commenter says things like "Fox not-News" and "Faux News" that tells me that their level of intellect is pretty low, that they apparently listen to MSNBC and read DailyKos where they get their marching orders. Obviously the American educational system is failing, and it's not because of lack of money. We've been throwing money at the educational system for 30 years and what have we got? All-powerful teachers' unions and not much else. It's not conservative parents who are telling their "spawn" how smart they are and that it's all the teacher's fault; isn't it liberals who want feel-good education? Isn;t it liberals who have eliminated competition in many areas of education, so the kids at the end of the line won't "feel bad?" The main problem in our schools today is lack of discipline, and who hates discipline? Liberals!
Some mistakenly associate conservative with "backward" and "assume" progressives aim for true progress when all they want is to progress is their own agenda.
Well, it's backfired on them. The freebies are going to be few and far between shortly. The Greatest Nation the world has ever known is teetering on the verge.
If we survive these radical so-called progressives, one day YOUR kids will thank a conservative for fighting for THEIR future and they'll just give their lib parents funny looks.
Transnational progressivism is the death knell of our country, once you have leaders in power that put their agenda above the good of the citizenry nothing good will come of it. We need leaders who are willing to do the right thing for the country despite the fact that it may make make their political party suffer at the polls. Right now I'm not impressed with the candidates who've stepped up to the plate. We need a conservative that's actually conservative not a celebrity or a "middle ground" person.
This reminds me of the book "Bad Students, Not Bad Schools."
This is so true! now, schools, to make more parents enroll their children, tend to make their grades higher. First, when parents see their kids' grades are F, they go to the teacher. Now, the teacher accepts credit card payments. The parents smile.
Hilarious when the sheep start fighting over which political side is the cause of all this. They're both the same and neither has the interests of the masses at heart.
Accept it and move forward.
Move forward?
You neglected to inform us exactly how YOU would transform our edu sys to meet YOUR standards. You do have standards, right? Ideas?
Mine:
Do away with the unions. (get rid of dead weight)
Do away with tenure. (get rid of dead weight)
PAY for performance.
Stop teaching to the TEST.
TEST the teachers. (they have at least three months available each year that can be used for this)
Do away with the Fed. edu. dept.
Three strikes (or ONE violent one) and you’re out for the “heathens” in the classroom.
I could go on.
Our whole system needs to be revamped.
I could go on.
Sorry about the one repeated line.
Thought I'd mention this before a lib gets hysterical.
I was rushing. "I" have WORK to do.
This is obviously a cultural shift from placing responsibility on the student to earn good grades to the school's/teacher's responsibility to keep the students interested. Teachers are on the front lines, per se, and are the natural target for frustration concerning student performance.
There are a few key factors parents, politicians, and school districts fail to realize: 1) kids today do not learn in the same way older generations have (computers & the Internet are light years ahead of the pencil & paper budgets given to schools); 2) socio-economic factors play a large role in a parent's ability to help their children with school work (example: a parent working two jobs to make ends meet may not have that time due to their work schedule-this unfortunately is an increasing reality for many households); and 3) increasing pressure by state & national laws to constantly test students for "results" which are often skewed by less money, increased class sizes, and a growing English Language Learner population make all the complaints voiced on this forum resonate as the schools' or teachers' poor performance to exact good results.
I don't see this as a question of liberal or conservative politics; I see it as trying to fit a new generation into the older generation's concept of educating children. Children and schools cannot function on the current business model placed upon education. It looks great on paper, but so does 100% proficiency by 2014 under NCLB! Students are not products; they are growing human beings. It is impossible to expect all students to perform well when so many social factors impact many students living in generational poverty.
If people are as vehement about education in this country as they claim to be, then investment in education would be of the highest priority. Yet, reality dictates that we are more concerned with our current predicaments, and prison building budgets are based on an area's fourth grade reading level performance. It's tragic that we pay more money per prisoner than we do per pupil in this country.
I also think it's quite sad that highly educated professionals that are, by law, required to pay for continuing their education, PRAXIS exams, and license renewals are treated like menial service industry workers. I can say this because it is my reality. I'm a teacher. Summers are nice, but we don't get paid for it. Teachers are paid nine-month salaries, and most choose to extend that to a 12-month pay schedule.
It's easy for people to be "tough on education" because a public education is not a right, it's a privilege reinforced by law. Yet, we must never forget that laws can and often do change. I foresee all public education being relegated to online classrooms in fifty years, or so. That's how we'll distinguish the wheat (socio-economic stable households) from the chaff (the poor).
As for your sentiment concerning unions and tenure, I would have to disagree. Unions protect teachers from the highly charged political atmosphere surrounding education, and tenure protects teachers from being sacked for making the highest pay scale. This is just fact. Districts would rather pay a new teacher a lower salary than the teacher that has achieved the highest pay step.
As for not teaching to the test, I'd say sack the test itself. Politicians have placed schools in this pickle. Politicians have made school all about the test. Administrations are obsessed with the tests.
Paying for performance is just plain not fair. Why? Because there is a marked difference between school performance in wealthier districts to those in inner-cities and rural areas. It's ludicrous to expect a student living in poverty to exact high achievement levels to one that has a stable home environment. I can say this with certainty because I have taught in both poor and wealthy districts before. That concept, in my opinion, is ill conceived with no basis in reality.
MORE excuses and bullshit rhetoric.
I imagine you want US to THROW MORE money at a FAILING edu sys.
WE don't HAVE the MONEY genius.
Enjoy your summer "off".
Ho-hum.
You DO realize others have things TO DO "this time of year"?
I'll not invest my time in the second chapter of your fictitious, probably never ending novel, rant, thesis, or whatever you'd call this.
Im not sure why It won't let me reply to below postings, but GaCowboy… I gotta say, you are pretty ignorant. If you have so much "to do", why in the hell are you in forums? Why are you commenting on comics? I mean, if so much "to do" means Bill Oriely, or Glenn Beck is on, and you gotta watch him, well, then I guess that pretty much explains everything. You don't have so much "to do". You would be "working" so hard like you claim, instead of being on these forums slinging ignorant, uninformed crap around. You really don't have any basis to go off of except Fox News.
Yeah,
I'm an idiot when one can't figure out how to reply and the other genius doesn't know the difference between a comment section and a forum.
Yeah,
I’m an idiot when one can’t figure out how to reply and the other genius doesn’t know the difference between a comment section and a forum.
Move forward?
You neglected to inform us exactly how YOU would transform our edu sys to meet YOUR standards. You do have standards, right? Ideas?
Mine:
Do away with the unions. (get rid of dead weight)
Do away with tenure. (get rid of dead weight)
PAY for performance.
Stop teaching to the TEST.
TEST the teachers. (they have at least three months available each year that can be used for this)
Do away with the Fed. edu. dept.
Three strikes (or ONE violent one) and you're out for the "heathens" in the classroom.
I could go on.
Our whole system needs to be revamped.
I could go on.
This is very important for me because reminds me a s a father of how big is the shift that occurred in dealing with children from my times (I'm 39 so not so long ago) and now.
I think that the good stands between the two situations, because yelling every time at children is not educating them, but also is not educational to protect them when they are wrong.
Today living in a hurry and focusing on work and career and materialism doesn't help in educating children and make easier to yell at those who, with their actions and judgments, oblige the parents to assume their responsibilities.
Which is the best way to behave as parents? For me is "the old one", leaving some flexibility in order not to frustrate children. But transmitting to our children some respect for rules and education.
The cartoon is not about "who's fault the "F" is, its about:
PARENTAL ATTITUDE SHIFT.
The cartoon is not about “who’s fault the “F” is, its about:
PARENTAL ATTITUDE SHIFT.
Oh how true, There was just a cheating scandal here in the Balto.City Public Sch. Syst. where in 2 schools whole classes had their grades changed by teachers and administrators to improve ratings on Md. State progress and achievement tests..(MSPAP). And now certain school districts across the country are basing teacher pay and ratings on test scores and improvements too. I'm all for 'merit based' based pay and promotion programs, but only when there is a reality based yardstick on which to measure it! not 'apples to oranges'. Forget the fixation on 'numbers', (except for math teachers…lol), and "Let Teachers Teach". I really don't want half my kid's school year wasted prepping for a damn standardized test!