Part+7


 * Jennings, Jack and Rentner, Diane S. //The Ten Big Effects of No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools//**

Becca: This article focuses on Not Child Left Behind and its effects on public schools. While the article outlines several ways that this legislation affects public schools systems, three ways stood out to me. NCLB increased standardizes testing, increased government involvement in public education, as a well as attempted to close the achievement gap. With NCLB came an increase in standardized testing to determine AYP for school systems. These tests only measure students’ competence in one way and fail to take into consideration alternative ways that students might demonstrate knowledge. At the same time, due to increased testing, students spend more time outside of the classroom. Between continued testing and make up testing, teachers have much less time to teach and students have much less time to learn. In addition to increased standardized testing, NCLB also gives much more control to the government. Instead of leaving education up to the states, the government now takes an active role in measuring AYP and providing funding to school systems. Lastly, the goal of NCLB is to close the achievement gap and help sub groups like minority students and ELL students achieve at a higher level. While this remains a noble attempt to help all students, legislation does not take into consideration the variables that cause these groups to struggle. For example, ELL students typically perform at a lower level because of the language barrier. While research indicates that it takes student 5-7 years to acquire a language, NCLB only gives these students a one year grace period. Therefore, after that year is up, these students must take the same test as their English speaking peers and perform at the same level. If these students don't meet these requirements then the school does not reach AYP. Pretty extreme I'd say. Overall, while the intentions of NCLB remain noble, the execution of the legislation actually hinders students and schools.

Deanna: This article about the No Child Left Behind Act suggests ten things that have came from the act. One effect that the authors listed was that schools are spending more time on reading and math, sometimes at the expense of subjects not tested. Although I’m glad to have a focus on reading, being an English major and all, I do not think that cutting down time spent on other areas is beneficial. Although reading is important, so are the other subjects if students are to be well rounded individuals ready to live and participate in the “real world.” It did surprise me, however, that in this section the authors stated that physical education time was least affected by this. This surprises me because typically it is the “elective” courses (physical education, music, art, etc.) that get cut down and eliminated first. To see that social studies, a core class, was more affected than physical education, an elective class surprised me considerably. I am afraid that the pressure to achieve well on tests will become more of a stressor than it already is in the years to come.

Lauren:

Jennings and Rentner are right about one thing regarding their article: they describe NCLB’s effects on schools broadly…and it doesn’t do them much justice. I felt this article, which reviewed ten major effects NCLB has had on American education, was too vague to make any true points. They generally discussed points such as “low-performing schools are undergoing makeovers rather than the most radical kinds of restructuring,” and “the federal government is playing a bigger role in education.” I will touch on these topics, because I have seen them in full effect in my placement. Riverside needs some serious restricting, and I wonder if the procedure for that is already underway, but I’m coming in at the beginning stages of it. I have seen the federal and state governments as huge influences in our class, when we were doing MEAP prep and another standardized test for several weeks at the beginning of the school year. All I hear about are standards, and every week my CT throws a new list or booklet at me of the standards we are trying to reach. I feel like I can never fully develop a lesson because the district is always telling us (of course, we’re flying by the seat of our pants) of new standards and procedures, so I have to rework what I’m doing to meet the requirements. I feel like these policies are stifling to teachers.

Dustin: In this article, the authors describe ten major effects that NCLB has had on schools. Some of the effects can be viewed as positive, but the majority of the effects negatively impact schools and education. Apart from the obvious issues of having students taking too many tests and having teachers and administrators worry too much over NCLB tests, problems creep up in regards to the fact that too many school resources are being devoted to the test taking. This misses the mark in my opinion, as test taking isn't a regular occurrence in most professions. The culture that NCLB has created is one where both students and teachers focus on tests as opposed to their actual education.

Luke:
 * 1) 11. NCLB creates alphabet soup! Goodness. Anyway, I think having a reminder that some good can come out of testing is nice- particularly the line “greater attention is being paid to what is being taught and how it is being taught.” I believe that education sometimes fails in that things that are not important are being taught. That being said I think that what the state believes is important to know is wrong. Is it important to know how to write and analyze and interpret and create?Sure. I don't think it is important to be able to do it by filling out a bubble in a classroom though. I also believe that paying closer attention to what is being taught and how is great, but I don't understand why they wouldn't pay attention to the fact that testing shows very little real education- critical thought and application are very hard to judge.

Alex:

This essay makes NCLB seem like somewhat of a positive thing. It mentions that states are paying more attention to instruction and curriculum alignment, test scores are going up, schools are paying more attention to achievement gaps and lower-achieving schools are getting make-overs. While these things seem positive the same problems remain: tests are emphasized, which means real learning is being overshadowed, reading and math are focused on at the expense of other important content and the state is playing much too large of a role in education. Certainly, things need to be managed. There cannot be chaos in the educational system; however, I feel that teachers need much more say. LTT (Let Teachers Teach) is a platform I would like to see more of. Teachers should also be taking part in education legislation. Finally, NCLB mandates without insentive and without funding. This will never work.


 * ﻿ Darling-Hammond, Linda. //What Matters Most: A Competent Teacher for Every Child//**

Deanna: This article was all about retransforming the education systems that train new teachers so that every child is guaranteed a competent teacher. The author lists five recommendations that are somewhat of a blueprint for developing the teaching profession. The recommendations include: get serious about standards for both students and teachers, reinvent teacher preparation and professional development, overhaul teacher recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroom, encourage and reward knowledge and skill and create schools that are organized for student and teacher success. I really liked the part about making sure that only qualified teachers are teaching by getting assessed by both administration and other teachers. We have all had those teachers who we know should not be teaching any more but are there because they have tenure and because they have been there forever. If teachers are not constantly developing and getting better and changing with the times and research, then students suffer and they are doing the students a disservice. I think that teachers should be accountable for their teaching from day one until they retire. After all, the students are the ones we need to be focused on and if they are suffering from a poor teacher then something should be changed.

Lauren:

As this article states, we obviously need to make sure our schools are a place where not only students can excel, but teachers as well. The article brought up many great points about how competent teachers are the key to a successful school, so I have to wonder why our society doesn’t place as large of an emphasis on education as other countries. In some cultures, teachers are regarded as the most important people, but in the U.S., we scoff at teachers and seem only to lecture them about the problem with schools and complain they are paid too much for their menial work. As we all know, teaching is hard as hell, so I wonder how we can recruit the best of the best. The article talks about recruiting higher level people to teach, and making teaching salaries higher to attract these people. I have to wonder, though, would recruiting people who are masters of their craft but not interested in education or children be as effective as those who are truly passionate? I don’t know. It was also interesting to me to read the stats about how many underqualified teachers there are in schools. There are too many teachers teaching subjects they didn’t even MINOR in, and teachers who weren’t even trained for the profession. In NO other profession is this acceptable. If a town needs a doctor they don’t just say “ok, we couldn’t find one, but this guy has a BA in Communications…close enough…you’re the new doctor.” Why we regard teachers as something EVERYONE can do baffles and offends me.

Luke:

I am so glad that Grand Valley's teachers essentially have their own building, but wouldn't it be great if it wasn't off to the side, or it was treated with respect like the private engineering building or nursing building. The school of education building houses many other classes and conferences, which is somewhat fitting because the activities revolve around education. However, wouldn't it be nice if it was known as the education building and not the Eberhard center? Wouldn't it be nice if instead of a corner of the first floor the entire first floor was dedicated to an ed center, or if we had our own private libraby for collaboration? This article discusses great ideas for making education more of a real profession, and I think that we should start at the universities. Some unis don't even have their own ed building. I would love to be proud to come to the EC and have underclassmen look at me and say, wow, he must be a teacher, instead of- He must have a presentation for some class.

Dustin:

This article was eye-opening for me. The author discusses how many unqualified teachers are teaching currently, and how this need to change so that new teachers are formally trained professionals. In the state of Michigan, every new teacher has to go through a semester or a year of formal training, so this is something that I never really thought about before. Though I do know of one teacher from my high school who is now teaching History even though she is only qualified in English and Psychology - at least to the best of my knowledge. I can also easily imagine how similar situations occur in rural settings where the schools and the staffs are much smaller. And I've seen first hand how new teachers can be hired to inner city schools without any kind of formal experience at teaching (I learned about this while visiting my girlfriend's dad who is a teacher in Philadelphia). So, while some of the stuff that we are currently doing seems like overkill or irrelevant to teaching, I'm thankful to both the state of Michigan and Grand Valley for the preparation that I am receiving.


 * Eisner, Elliot W. //The Kind of Schools We Need//**

Deanna: The author writes about the kind of schools we need and what kinds of schools we should really want. As present in many of the other articles, the author lists reasons such as giving teachers more time to collaborate with one another and more time to watch other teachers during the day. Teaching is something that typically occurs without much outside input. Teachers are left to do their thing from the start of the day to the end of the day, day in and day out. Sure there is the occasional assessment or observation but those happen few and far between. Teachers need time to observe other teachers in order to keep their practice fresh and to make sure they are held accountable for their jobs. As I stated in a previous response, teachers sometimes get too comfortable doing the same old thing and do not try to improve or try out new methods. This needs to change in order for the students to truly benefit. Teachers need to make sure they are changing with the times and constantly trying to find the best ways in order to engage their students in learning. We need to be concerned with our students benefiting from the education they are receiving.

Lauren:

This article summarizes the way I’ve been feeling recently: I have no idea what I’m doing! By that I mean overall, as an educator, I have no idea what I want my students to walk away with. I thought those feelings were me being incompetent and unsure, but really I’m realizing our school systems don’t know what kinds of students they are hoping to create. Take GVSU’s mission statement for example: educating students to shape their lives, their professions, and their societies. Cool. But HOW are they doing that? With what principles are they hoping to guide students into doing these things? I know many schools have mission statements, but they are so vague, we really have no idea as a staff, or even society, of what kinds of students/people we want to formulate. I wonder if public schools would be able to be run by different schools of thought. I don’t know how it would work, or if it’s even worth investigating, but this article made me realize there are so many options of the ideal school/principles taught that I wonder if it would be more effective to create schools based around these principles than trying to streamline everything?

I like how the article addresses teaching as an art that has to be perfected and crafted. I agree teachers need time DURING SCHOOL to plan together, because most concepts should be interdisciplinary. I don’t see why everything is so segregated, because when our students get into the real world, they will see (hopefully) how interconnected everything is. I thought the principal spending 1/3 of their time in the classroom was a very interesting concept as well, and it’s something I would really like to see. The quotes about helping children become who they are/are not really intrigued me, and I’m not sure which camp I associate with (even though on has been labeled as fascist, I have some arguments/questions for that).

Luke:

I think one of the biggest weaknesses with teaching, especially at my school, is what the article describes as a sink or swim situation. Teachers are placed in the classroom with little support or help and are expected to do everything perfectly with no peer review. My CT said that he has only had the principle in his room once in his 4 years of teaching, and no other teachers. He can make time to watch other teachers by sacrificing his prep hour, but oftentimes that is when he meets with parents or admins, on top of running the yearbook class. This is ridiculous. If teachers could be together, work together, share together, so much more could be accomplished. But then again, the schools of ed need to have the depressed teachers so that there is more room to fit all the teachers they train. They would have to have higher standards with the people they train and would make less money, but ed. Would probably benefit so much from it!

Dustin:

As teacher assistants, I think it is safe to say that we have all seen firsthand just how important it can be to watch other staff go about their classroom days in order to help us generate ideas. It is also important because a second set of eyes can often times catching something that a first set of eyes couldn't. This article is about the fact that too many schools seem to ignore this idea, and thus don't professionally develop their teachers in the most beneficial manner. The school I'm currently at actually did have a professional development day where the middle school teachers got to go observe classes at a nearby high school and then talk with the high school teachers about what they're seeing from incoming middle schoolers that needs to be improved. This was a great opportunity, as teachers got to observe two different teachers, and two to four different classes being taught. I know that my CT and I got many different ideas from the CT that we observed and I really hope that more and more schools begin to have professional development days like this.

**Rothsein, Richard. //Class and The Classroom//**

Becca: I really enjoyed this article because it was very eye opening for me. This article argues that often, student achievement is based upon race and class. While this is not always the case and there are plenty of situations that prove the contrary, on average, race and class impact student success in school. The article focuses on the different upbringings of students and how this effects their educational development. For example, most middle class parents read to their children on a regular basis, exposing them to literacy. At the same time, most students in middle class homes have parents that help them with homework or provide them with educated role models. Even more pressing is the diverse living conditions of students. While middle class student often enjoy a stable home and attend the same school for most of their school years, low income students often move homes and schools. At the same time, they don't enjoy the same health benefits as middle class students. Typically, low income students don't have the money or insurance to see a physician regularly and often have poorer oral hygiene, nutrition, and vision as a result. After reading this article I began to recognize the diversity that will be in my classroom. I might have students who are high functioning readers and others who struggle to meet grade level. I must recognize students’ diverse backgrounds and experiences and strive to understand where they come from. At the same time, I must accommodate to the individual needs of students as best I can and remember that my classroom is filled with a diverse group of individuals, each bringing different life experiences to the classroom.

Deanna: This article focused on the different “gaps” that can be found from classroom to classroom. When one think about different gaps that are present in society and in schools the first to come to mind for most would be the achievement gap. However, the author does not specifically list this gap in the article however he does mention it. Examples listed by the author are the reading gap, the conversation gap, the role model gap and the health and housing gap. The author makes the comment that if these gaps were lowered then the result would be a closing up of the achievement gap. The one that got to me the most was the role model gap because it is true, even more so in today’s society, that some kids just do not have any decent role models to look up to and especially ones to interact with on a daily basis. Another statement that hit me was that students may want to go to college or further their education but they end up not doing that because they do not see the high expectations placed on them compared to some of their peers. This is especially true with minority students because they are placed at a disadvantage sometimes just because of their race. If these students see their qualifications and skills being pushed aside just because of their race, then they have no reason to try to better themselves anyways. This is why it is important for teachers to have high expectations for all students regardless of race or economic status.

Lauren:

Rothstein discusses many gaps in education in this article, and sheds light on many shocking reasons for the large disparity between black and white achievement. It kills me to hear people say people in poverty need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and work hard to achieve. I had a lengthy argument about this with a WASP this summer—since he grew up “poor” with parents who “didn’t care,” he has no sympathy for black students who struggle. “If I could do it, so can they.” What he didn’t understand is that coming from a white, middle-class family (and being male), he already had a huge advantage against anyone of color. Reading the stats about the low levels of books in the home and children who are read to in low-class homes is upsetting, and it explains a lot about achievement in school. I identified with the TV watching in low-classes (which is obviously a problem in any class) and how it sets kids up for reading failure due to untrained eyes. I had never thought of this before. I LOVE the point Rothstein makes about parents bringing home reading material from work to show reading is not isolated to assignments in school. This, coupled with other factors like feeling like you’re able to control your environment make me realize what a lot of my students are going through and why they think the way they do.

Dustin:

This article really hit home with me. After having students write short little autobiographies for a little lesson in a class, I realized that there is a significant different between my current inner city students - most of whom are living in or close to poverty - and the students that I went to school with. When students don't see their parents often, or when their parents don't have an education, or can't speak English, it really hurts the relationship. It creates the role model and the health and housing gaps that the author Richard Rothstein discusses in the article. As he explains, this also leads to a significant reading gap. These gaps make it really difficult to expect the same things from an inner city student that I would from a student from a suburb. I didn't agree with all of Rothstein's thoughts on how to narrow these gaps, but I did agree with the idea that these students need schooling in the summer to help narrow the gap. It's almost a shame that students don't go away to school, as they might have a better chance for success if they weren't constantly dealing with their home lives.

**Miles, Karen H. //Putting Money Where it Matters//** Becca: This article focuses on school spending and where finances should go. The article offers some great ideas like spending money on professional development for teachers as well as putting more money into teacher literacy in early elementary school. While the article makes several great suggestions, some of Miles' ideas make me a bit apprehensive. For example, Miles writes, "For this investment to make sense for students, both teaching experience and accumulated credits would have to be clearly linked to student achievement." When I hear people mention that teachers pay should be based on student performance, this scares me. Often when people suggest this they fail to take into consideration the diverse group of students that teachers teach. For example, a teacher teaching mostly ELL students are going to have lower achieving students than a teacher teaching middle class English speaking students. At the same time, a teacher teaching in a poor neighborhood might have students who rarely get food and lack safely at home. According to Maslow, when a students' basic needs are not met, then they can't begin to learn. And really how can we expect students to achieve academically when their only goal in life is to survive and protect themselves? Still, with performance based pay, teacher pay is based upon student achievement without taking into consideration the adversities facing the students. This form of assessment suggests that a teacher for East Grand Rapids can go into a school like Ottawa hills and have all high achieving students. On the other hand, a teacher from Ottawa hills will go to a school like East Grand Rapids and have all failing students. Sometimes the performance of students is not based on teacher instruction but rather outside variables. Merit based pay fails to recognize these variables and is impractical and unrealistic.

Deanna: In this article, the author describes five things that schools and school districts need to do in order to place money where it should be in order to better the school, school district, and education of the students. While I agree with most of what the author writes about, there is one thing that angered me upon reading. She states that funds should be put towards more core subject teachers, even at the expense of the “elective” teachers. While I do believe that core subjects are very important in the lives of students, I do not believe that the elective classes should be cut out. Far too often we hear of music, art, physical education, technology, etc. getting cut out of schools because funds are too low. How are students suppose to get a truly rounded education if they do not get the opportunity to take these classes? That being said, I do love the focus on the importance of literacy. Literacy is something that needs to be taken seriously because it affects people on a daily basis. Therefore, the success of students is directly related to his or her literacy level which is why all subjects should take the time to focus on teaching good literacy strategies related to their fields.

Dustin: In this article, author Karen Hawley Miles had some interesting things to say about school spending. She suggested that teachers need more competitive salaries, and that teachers need to be able to move up in terms of their salary for reasons other than experience and education as these only show benefits for the first five years. She suggests that teacher salaries should possibly be based on the subject that the teacher teaches, which has potential, but is also a slippery slope in my opinion. She also points out that professionals shouldn't have to cover so many schools and gives an example of where nine different professionals monitor 30 schools for various things, with the end effect being that the professionals can't give in depth reports. She also suggests investing wisely for professional development as it can make a significant impact on teachers, though she says that this spending needs to better organized too. A final suggestion was that schools reduce spending on nonacademic teaching staff in secondary schools - an interesting idea that I once again think is a slippery slope. After all, are electives such as, "American Classics," "Environmental Science," and "Creative Writing" non-academic? They seem to fit in with other recognized academic subjects fairly well.