What is Education all about?

Premise

We all know education is a good thing. We believe we have a “right” to education. We hear about how the “system is broken”, how America is lagging in the global market. There is something inside us that compels us to ask “What is wrong?”

 

One perspective of where we are today

There seems to be a popular belief that the US is trailing a number of major players in the Global Education map. This idea is reinforced when we are treated to articles, charts and live coverage. On the topic of reform, Michele Rhee is really shaking things up with StudentsFirst.org, as demonstrated in the 2010 documentary “Waiting for Superman”. We have Federal initiatives like “No Child Left Behind” that attempts to spur us on towards higher standards. As a nation, we have been concerned about the education of our children and young adults for a long, long time. I hear lots of talk of reform, of blaming parents, teachers, administrators, etc. Locally, I am hearing the word “rigor” pop up a lot. Personally, I am not 100% clear what “rigor” means in the context of education, but there seems to be a sense that we need more of it, we need to produce people that are more ready for the workplace to help us compete internationally.

 

I have to ask, are things really that bad? Is this what we really need?

More about Standardized Tests

The StudentsFirst blog features an article about Michael Loeb lauding the advantages of a good Standardized Test. I am not going to spend much time talking about that particular blog post; it is an interesting read that gives a fairly balanced, if personal, account from one teacher’s perspective. However, I do want to focus a little more on one of the main subjects of the article, Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

 

CCSS at least makes for a good sell; the site is attractive enough, got some flashy things going on, talks in generalized, “who wouldn’t want this” kind of air. The “Key Points” sound great, like this quote from the Mathematics page:

The standards stress not only procedural skill but also conceptual understanding, to make sure students are learning and absorbing the critical information they need to succeed at higher levels – rather than the current practices by which many students learn enough to get by on the next test, but forget it shortly thereafter, only to review again the following year.

 

So where does the rubber meet the road? How exactly are they going to do this through “standards”?

 

What raised the red flag for me was from the FAQ (you do read those, right? *grin*):

Q. Why is the Common Core State Standards Initiative important?

A. We want to make sure that every child across the country is given the tools they need to succeed. High standards that are consistent across states provide teachers, parents, and students with a set of clear expectations that everyone can work toward together. This will ensure that we maintain America’s competitive edge, so that all of our students are well prepared with the skills and knowledge necessary to compete with not only their peers here at home, but with students from around the world.

[emphasis mine]

 

The first part of that Answer is dead on, I love it! Give people high, clearly-defined expectations and get ready to be amazed. But then the author(s) completely threw away any good sentiment with that last sentence. Instead of going through every word of that statement and ripping it apart, let me summarize by saying that I am utterly saddened that our leaders want us (and our children) to focus on beating everyone else, being the top dog, the Big Kahuna. Why?!? Not only am I not convinced that the price is worth it, I am rather convinced that the price is not worth it. Why would we want to turn our society into mathematic wizards?

 

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I personally would want to see us focus on life skills that allow people (not merely individuals, but individuals who function in a way that benefits the whole) to flourish in society as a part of society. So now we have Johnny TwoShoes who can bring home 6-digit bacon but doesn’t have a clue why the poor get poorer, nor could he care less. All he cares about is getting what he “deserves” and taking care of his own.

 

Is that really what you want?

Busy busy busy

For the past couple of weeks, I have been stumbling upon various initiatives, groups and “works in progress”. A whole lot of good things going on. And it leaves my head spinning – who can possibly keep track of all this?

[Warning, the following is link-heavy]

In previous posts, I mentioned the ACCESS Initiative, CUSF, IIRC and StudentsFirst. Recently, I have come across some more.

Voices for Illinois Children: I forgot who mentioned this to me (maybe papaathome?). I really like what I read on the website so I subscribed to the RSS feed. They recently published “Great at 8“, and again, am really impressed by what these folks are putting out. The focus of this particular paper is to highlight how important it is to build a solid foundation for a child’s education future. This foundation is not merely the ability to take a standardized test well, but moreoever having the tools and skillsets trained from an early age to deal with many of life’s issues. I recently emailed several of the folks involved with this project, and the Director responded with a thoughtful summary of what Voices does; in particular, they raise awareness and encourage citizens to become involved by contacting all forms of elected officials and representatives in an effort to persuade them to lobby on behalf of our children. While I agree that this is probably one of the most direct forms of active participation we can take, some times it feels like a no-win situation, given our national tendency to dump (waste) money in pork-barrel projects, paying off a billion+ interest charges on our debt and a crazy Defense budget.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: This was a tricky one to include. Let me say that I am using this as a segue to two other somethings more local and currently in-use.

My wife and I caught this on TV a couple days ago. As some of the reviewers have stated, this show might be sliding down a slippery slope with their recent inability to connect to school systems and attract large crowds. But what I took away from this idea is very similar to messages I have heard from documentaries like “Food, Inc” – basically, we are feeding ourselves absolute CRAP! Worse, some of it is federally subsidized crap. So this got me looking around to see what Unit 4 is doing about food….

CATCH: (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) This is not new at all, but my questions led me to how Unit 4, and especially Carrie Busey, has embraced CATCH. Our family has learned about foods that fall into three buckets; “Go”, “Slow” and “Whoa”. When talking with the CATCH coordinator at Carrie Busey (Ms. Wendy Starwalt), I was impressed by her passion for the program, but also her realism and honesty as she admitted various challenges. For instance, the economy and lack of state funding is making it impossible to implement all the CATCH ideas fully. I also made contact with the District Food Coordinator (Ms. Mary Davis) – she will be getting back to me later as this is an extremely busy time for them, but she seems very upbeat and excited. Ms. Starwalt had a lot of good things to say about Ms. Davis and all she has done in our district; for example, “She has consistently changed us to whole grains, fresh fruit, and vegtables as much as possible”.

Ready. Set. Grow!: While this did not directly come from my Jamie Oliver search, it did catch my eye from a recent Chambanamoms.com post about snacking (loving the RSS feed). This is very much in line with the “Great at 8″ idea, focusing on early childhood development.

PTA Council (no website?): As I become more involved in the school system, as I read more blogs and whitepapers, as I talk with more parents, teachers and administrators, I cannot help but want to make a positive impact on our society, specifically upon our children. When talking recently with a PTA Council member whom I have seen at many Unit 4 functions, I was impressed by her dipiction of what the PTA Council does. Believe you me, the last thing I want is yet another meeting! But I am now exploring this as a possible way to invest my time and energy. I like how the PTA Council represents all the district PTAs, and how they play a big role in keeping the Board and the Administration accountable to various promises and issues.

In light of the the last election, I really did not like character assassinations that went on (the NG’s treatment of Lynn Stuckey and even the UC-IMC, which I respect and like, did some dirt-digging on Chalifoux). I do not like the highly political nature of how the Board turned out, and as much as I want to become involved, I have a hard seeing myself sitting in all those meetings. If anything, I would want to totally reform how the Board interacts with the community and the Administration, but I simply cannot carve the necessary time away from family right now. So my next option is two-fold; 1) maintain my contacts and keep badgering (*sly grin*) the members individually and as a group, 2) join the PTA Council.

In some ways, all that you read above is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other efforts, both at the individual level and at a larger, coordinated group level, going on in our school district that it is staggering. I chatted with the District’s Community Relations Coordinator (Ms. Lynn Peisker) about how it would be a full-time job simple to maintain an index of it all. She has been doing an excellent job of highlighting various schools, staff, students and programs, and I look forward to seeing how she continues to put a bright face on Unit 4.

PS – Also, I realize that I only use two wordpress “categories” for all my posts. I have thought about using many more and retrofitting past posts, but…. I simply have not done it yet.