Educational Reform - what really needs to happen...

[ddeclue]

DISCLAIMER: I'm an engineer not a teacher... :)

Based on my observations, here's what some ideas for what needs to happen to make the American education system more viable:

1) Students need to focus far more on basic skills (reading writing and arithmetic) in earlier grades and be pushed a lot harder and a lot further in the K-5 grades so that more advanced subjects can be taught later on. I believe that kids just spend most of this time repeating the same skill set over and over again without really advancing much after 3rd grade and a lot of low pressure coasting goes on in our system that isn't tolerated in Europe, Japan and Korea.

2) Kids need to be forced to read a lot of books outside of class. They should have to read at least a book a week NOT related to their classes. If they aren't reading they aren't learning.

Parents need to shut off the TV and make their kids read. When the TV is on, it needs to be on something educational, not the reality TV crap that pretends to be programming these days.

3) Students DO need to be tracked into vocational vs. college programs in later years because simply put the classes have been dumbed down so that everybody is getting a general dumbed down high school diploma rather than one that is suitable for attending college OR getting a skilled labor job.

The skills required by most higher end four year colleges are just not being provided and it often is required that the high school graduate spend some time in a community college or the military to get up to speed to the point where they are ready to attend a four year school.

4) Very little advantage is being made of technology to provide distance Learning, internet based study or independent study courses for students who excel at the upper end of academia. These students may want to study subjects that simply aren't available in their school through lack of financial resources but could be taught using the internet and video lectures.

5) Smarter students should be allowed to test out of a subject and receive the same credit (as opposed to GED credit) as they would have by sitting through the class. Making smart kids sit through classes where they already know the material is a waste of time and money that could be spent either working more intensively with the less able students or further advancing those smart students into subject matter where they will actually have to learn something new.

They should be able to test out of subjects and earn college credit (AP/CLEP) as much as possible while still in high school and graduate early if they want to do so.

6) Important LIFE skills need to be taught to students, not just the 3R's for some standardized test (like the FCAT here in FL or GAPPS up in GA):

a) Living a healthy lifestyle - how to cook, how to eat, how to exercise and stay healthy.

b) Financial management skills - common sense financial management skills for managing credit and investments, buying a car, buying a home, insurance, balancing the checkbook, managing a budget.

c) First Aid and Emergencies - how to deal with life threatening emergencies like severe bleeding, respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, choking and how to deal with serious medical problems that are not immediately life threatening like burns, stings, broken bones, etc.

d) DRIVING - how to drive a car safely and look out for the other guy, how to maintain a car economically.

e) Home economics - how to maintain a household, grocery shop, do the laundry, mend clothes, cook a meal.

f) Shop/Mechanics - how to perform simple household repairs.

g) Basic Computer skills - how to use Microsoft Office products in an office environment.

h) Job Hunting/Career Planning - how to hunt for a job, how to interview, how to keep a job, how to plan your education for your career, how to plan for retirement.

i) Spanish (if your first language is English) - 12% of Americans are native Spanish speakers and that number is growing. It is a useful skill for those whose native language is English especially if you live in CA, AZ, TX, NY, NJ, IL or FL.

j) Politics/Voting - not just political science or government but the actual nuts and bolts mechanics of local, state and Federal politics.

k) Marriage/Divorce/Childcare - so many people just aren't ready for this subject either.

l) The Law and the Courts - not to turn them into lawyers but so many people have no understanding of how the law or the courts work until they have to wing it on their first traffic ticket (or worse.)

m) Dealing with Doctors and Insurance companies - like the law most people have no idea how to deal with doctors and insurance companies either until they have to wing it.

n) Basic self defense / crime avoidance / protection - many people don't have basic self defense skills to defend themselves against a would be mugger or a bully, a lot of them don't know some common sense things about how to avoid being the victim of a crime in the first place.

7) Students should be able to choose electives to study subjects they are interested in - their education should have a theme and be a useful lead in to either their college major or their vocational career.

8) Students should be able to study music and the arts, there should be creative outlets for the student.

9) Funding needs to made be per student from a state's general revenues only and property tax as a funding source needs to be banned as it creates the unlevel playing field we have between rich suburban schools and poor rural and poor urban districts.

10) Standardized tests for reading, writing and math DO have a place but should NOT be the sole driver of curriculum. Poor test performance should actually result in INCREASED, not decreased funding for a school as it indicates a lack of resources, not poor teacher performance.

Performance is certainly used as a criteria in promoting and paying bonuses and incentives in every other industry so I don't see why teaching should be exempt from this - BUT I do think that simply using student performance (or even improvement in performance) on a standardized test is not a good way to do this - especially if it is the only tool being used.

11) The biggest way to improve teacher performance is to raise the pay scale so that it is something that the "best and the brightest" aspire to be as opposed to becoming a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer or a stockbroker.

Indeed I saw a report on Dan Rather Reports on HD where Harvard was complaining that about half of its students were NOT going into the fields for which they studied (including the law) so that they could go into Wall Street instead because that was where the real money was. Maybe with the collapse of Wall Street, teaching will look better to some.. of course it would help if we paid teachers about twice what they make now. I could easily be a science teacher but unless I want to live a life of poverty, I'll stick with engineering.

12) Education needs to be free free free from pre-kindergarten through Ph.D. - it needs to be life long and free. People need to be able to go back and get more and more degrees and certificates as much as they want. The investment the government makes in the education of its citizens more than pays for itself in national defense terms and in having a flexible educated workforce and citizenry.

[mia]

1. Great ideas - well thought out.

I'd like to see parenting skills too.

[LWolf]

2. You make some good points.

I AM a teacher.

I have a different set of changes I'd like to see, but yours have some merit. I disagree with some, too.

I'm off to score state writing exams tonight, after teaching all day. If this thread is still viable this weekend, I'll check back in and have more to say.

:hi: