What changes would you like to see to improve the public education system?

Question

Sorry but I don't think that stricter discipline would help. Different discipline perhaps.

By way of analogy, while drugs are bad, the 'war on drugs' is a complete abyssmal failure and horribly compounds the problem.

I do agree with more parent involvment.

We have to make students WANT to behave, not force them. Humans throughout the world and throughout history respond poorly to coercion.

While teachers have to be well trained and sensitive to students needs, I don't like the phrase that 'teachers need to be accountable' - thats just one euphamistic step short of saying that the whole mess that is our education system is all their fault. Its not.

Zioncanyon come close to a good answer but education is NOT about vocational instruction. Education is much more than that.

At the most basic level, we need a well-rounded, educated electorate for democracy to function. (have we forgotten that aspect in our rush to get rich?)

Busines thinking has infiltrated all aspects of our lives and this is part of the problem not part of the solution.

The starting time is irrelevant. Its not day-care. Or maybe it is but it shouldn't be.

If you can't break your ideas down into readable paragraphs then nobody is going to read you and you are only displaying poor form.

EvArtD, you bring up a good point but you bash it to death.

I agree that teaching to a test is not good teaching and does not engender 'education' but that must be tempered with the fact that some broad based testing helps to maintain good standards.

Surely there must be other issues out there too.

Tanya: 1 - agreed 2 - agreed 3 - heartily disagree: discipline MUST be flexible. Rigidity only brings about reaction and rebellion. This is NOT to say that anything goes but you must have the courage and wisdom to know when to bend the rules and when not to. Teaching and learning are human things done on human terms and therefore there are always exceptions.

4 - Yes to parental involvment but the way I see it, if you have a good education then you can be happy with ANY job. There is honor in ANY work. The goal of education is NOT to make more money, even though that is often a side benefit.

Cathe you scare me to death! Keep the businesses out of the schools! Please!

I think all of you have forgotten that education is an integral part of democracy and is NECESSARILY connected to government.

Its already been too corrupted by a business model.

Yes improving teacher salaries might attract better teachers but maybe not. Lawyers and bankers make quite a lot of money but I don't want them teaching my kids.

Education is NOT a business.

The government just needs to get its priorities straight. We go around the world fighting for 'democracy' but we're letting it slip away right in front of our eyes.

Blinded by greed...

Answer 1

Less of it.

Answer 2

I'll agree with several points...

1. State testing. No Child Left Behind is total crap! State testing is a load of bunk. Students are not learning anything except for how to read the test and answer questions. All those tests do is test how well students can take a test and LOTS of students don't tells well! It is completely ridiculous to have this type of testing. It should go back to the old system of a test designed to see where students are in relation to each other.

2. Administrator involvement. Administrators need to become more involved in the inner-workings of their school instead of concentrating on things like money and appearances. Principals and other administrators need to participate in workshops along with their teachers to keep up with changes in academics, teaching styles and discipline.

3. Discipline. The discipline needs to be consistent and unchangeable. Students need to be made aware that the TEACHERS are in charge in the classroom, NOT the students. In the current system, students know that it doesn't matter what they do, they'll get a slap on the wrist and be back in the classroom after three days spent listening to music and goofing off in In School Suspension. The school officers need to be stricter and remind students that they aren't there to be the students friends, but an enforcer of the law.

4. Though it isn't really part of the public education system, parents need to become more involved with their child's education. I am a teacher at a low income school in a predominately Hispanic community and my students motto is "I'm only here until I don't have to come anymore" which is what they've been told by their parents. It's really sad because a lot of my students have great potential and could go very far in the future towards changing how the world is run because their ideas are phenomenal but because their parents didn't graduate high school, they don't feel like they need to. That working at HEB and McDonald's for the rest of their lives is perfectly okay. It's sad. So I say that the more parents get involved with their child's education, the better.

Answer 3

THE STATE TESTING!

Sheesh, I've been working in the schools here in California for the past ten years, and I tell you the state testing is getting absolutely ridiculous! Our students are not learning anything at all EXCEPT for the info on the tests.
Here in California the kids are having to come INTO Kinder reading and writing. 1st graders are doing basic algebra.

I tell anyone I can that they have the right to excuse their child from the state testing (an unspoken privledge by school officials) and I encourage them to do so. And if they do excuse their child from the testing the school has to make allowances for that at school or the parent can request a school packet for their student to do at home for that week of testing.

The state testing is litterally all that we teachers are allowed to teach. And that means your students are not getting the education that they need and deserve. We have fifth graders moving on the Jr. High unable to read and write. The schedule for the day is mandated by the school district, so many minutes on each subject, And what makes that bad is that if a teacher feels they need to take extra time for a subject so that all the students get it, they can't. They have to move on.

The only way state testing will be changed is if the parents start getting more vocal about their students education. That means that you start at a very basic level - say a few parents excuse their kids from testing this year - then next year it's most students excused from testing - then a whole school rebels and says no, then a district....it has to be a pyrimid thing that trickles through the school sytems that says that we as parents are fed up with the lousy education our students are recieving just so some beurocrate gets the info they need to justify the schools funding.

Our teachers and our students need to be taken back to the time when teachers were allowed to actually teach the material and the students were actually able to learn what was taught. Kinder needs to be back to where kids are able to learn basics and socialization; First graders need to be allowed to start learning to read and write; Third graders should not be doing algebra before they learn their multiplication facts.

It is so bad in the school district that I work in that our teachers are being told that they can not add any material outside of the allowed books to teach from. that means that if two or three of the students didn't "get it" in the main lesson that the teacher can not bring in extra material in that might better reach those three students. And if a student does not fully comprehend the math lesson taught today, too bad, we move onto another concept tomorrow wether you mastered this or not.

PARENTS: Educate yourselves about your State testing. Be an active partner in your students education, speak up and let the polticians know that they need to stay out of the education system!!

Answer 4

I would like to see people be held accountable. Both parents and teachers. We have moved to a systems where tests are how the education system is judged.

Instead I think there needs to be parent involvement. I think a couple parent teacher conferences are not enough. Parents need to know what their children are learning and be a part of the school community.

Also, teachers should have the freedom to teach beyond the test. Their should be time for discovery and exploration. They should also be able to have control of the class room.

I think all of these areas would help improve the communication between families and faculty. I also believe these changes would help hold the children accountable for their own education. After all, that's why they go to school right?

Answer 5

I would like the school administrators especially those who make all the decisions for the special needs kids to look at each kids individual needs and place them in an appropriate setting, instead of grouping them all in one class and calling it a "special ed class", principals need adequate training in IEP ( Individualized Education Program) especially if they are the ones mostly in charge of running the IEP meetings. They need to know the proper procedures, proper channels to go through and should be educated about the basic laws (IDEA) and guidelines in the state so they do not become non compliant with the child's IEP and or do anything against the laws. I think that they should actually meet the child and their parents before making any education placements decisions verses just reading the child's file and making their decision on what is on the paper. Because nine times out of ten what they are reading is outdated. I also think that every public school should have a autism program put in. Also really do a thorough interview with each potential teacher make sure they like working with kids and they understand that all kids are different in learning, in personality and disorders. Make sure they do not give out unsolicited parenting advice especially if they do not have kids at home of their very own, teaching kids and watching kids is totally a different ballgame then having your own child. The school staff needs to do their job as I am so friggin tired of doing it for them.

Answer 6

I would love to see the government get out of it. I am so frustrated by unfunded mandates. If education became a true profession instead of a goverment sub-agency, we would truly begin to see some improvements.

I honestly believe that the wave of the future is the charter school. I feel that once the government (state, local, and federal) loses control over salary, curriculum, etc, we will truly see some remarkable changes in education. Talented teachers will be paid what they're worth, mediocre teachers will be forced out, and poor teachers will not even stand a chance of collecting a paycheck. Teachers will be afforded the status of "professional" with the ability to design a program that truly teaches children. Kids won't be left behind or lost in the shuffle. Tests won't be the end-all, be-all of education. Every child in every school will learn in a way that makes sense to them because the person teaching them will be a true professional.

You've hit on one of my soapbox topics, but I don't want to take up pages on here, so I'll cut it short.

Answer 7

Stricter discipline allowed from teachers, more parental involvement in the child's education and home lives. Also, dress codes should be mandatory in all schools like they were years and years ago. I had a much better education growing up with a dress code--it puts every child on an even playing field, if you will. No competition for new/better clothing, and no worries about kids being at school in provocative or inappropriate clothing.

Answer 8

Schools should reward the students who excel more than the students who meet the minimum requirements. Students should not be rewarded for finally doing what they were supposed to be doing in the first place. If you give rewards to students who are just barely passing, they will begin to expect rewards and think that it's okay to do the bare minimum. Instead of telling students who are failing "Oh look, you passed that class!", tell them "Okay, you're on the right track, at least you're not failing, but you need to step it up another notch."

At my school, we have a rewards system of gold cards, blue cards, and white cards. Gold card= A average, blue card= B, white card= C. I am a gold card student, and the benefits I get from it, I don't even use. They are all discounts at certain area stores and restaurants that nobody really goes to. One example is a free hot dog at the Lil' Cricket. Like I'm going to use that. However, students who receive white cards get some of those benefits in addition to getting a free pizza party. I don't think it's helpful to celebrate being mediocre. It may sound harsh, but there's nothing good about being a D or C student. Schools need to set higher standards for their students. They may think that some students can't handle it, but setting high standards for students means that students will want to score higher and be more behaved when they know that they can get away with doing the minimum.

I agree that parents need to get involved more. There are so many parents that never see the report cards of their children in high school. Yes, many kids are responsible enough to handle not having to show their parents their grades, but others think that they can fail a class because their parents will never find out. Some schools have adopted an "InTouch" program, where parents can look online at their child's grades in their classes, homework, tests, and everything in between. By seeing those grades, they understand whether their child is doing their homework without having to watch over them like they're 5. I think schools should make it mandatory for each parent to know about this service, and try to get every parent to participate. Parent involvement is a big part of some students' education. If they see that their parents don't care about their schooling, the student won't care either.

Another big thing is letting teachers do it their way. If you give a teacher a set of rules and guidelines for their classes, it takes the fun and excitement out of going to school. Students cannot sit through an hour and a half of hearing a teacher just talk. The teachers must be able to engage the students.
Teachers also must make sure that their students are "getting" it. I had a teacher that would make us take notes all day and do 1 lab a week, that's all. We didn't do any fun activities, or anything like that. We were all afraid to ask her questions, because she would get mad and condescending toward us, and tell us we should know it already. She and the teacher next door would always observe us during our labs and laugh at us if we didn't know how to do something or asked a question about something. They made it seem like we should know everything about chemistry, when it was their job to teach us chemistry, not watch us fail at it. It came as no surprise to see that most of the students rarely got As on labs (or tests), myself included. I believe that the grades students make on tests is in part a reflection on the teacher's abilities.
I think the school system needs to replace teachers like that with teachers who constantly involve the students in activities and make it fun to be in the classroom, as well as challenging the students. Teachers should not be the ones to set students up to fail, but rather be the ones to ensure that the students know what they're supposed to know in order to excel in that subject.

Answer 9

Smaller Class Sizes and More Options... Plus a Computer for each student!

Answer 10

get rid of the discipline problem kids are they disrupt the learning for the others and drain the system

dont force so much academincs on those that cannot handle it

bring back vocational studies...this may help to resolve my first two points. not everyone is into the academics. we need to excite them ito other fields as well

start school at 9:00 instead of the 8-830

Answer 11

I want to know the same thing. I have a yahoo group to explore that question:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Goodschools/?yguid=124590217