REALITY BASED CURRICULUM
A school's curriculum is a school's course of study and for students it is the education and training they receive. I attended a college preparatory high school in Baltimore, Loyola High School, which is a Jesuit institution. There were no shop classes or art and music classes. All classes were academic with one goal in mind and that was to prepare students for college. There were schools that were even more specialized in their course offerings, like Baltimore's Polytechnic High School which prepared its students for continuing education and careers in engineering. Eastern High School offered business and secretarial skills to its female student body and Mergenthaler Vocational and Technical High School prepared it students for immediate employment in the trades. Yes, I suppose this was a form of institutional tracking; but it was also an understanding and acceptance that one size did not fit all. The reality was that not all students were college bound. It is that narrow minded one size will fit all concept which now manifests itself in the current educational philosophy that all students will be college bound and is in fact so out of step with reality.
This country's high school student drop-out rates are alarmingly high. Over the last decade roughly 70% of all high school seniors graduated and of that number roughly 34% possess the skills and qualifications necessary to enter college. With these statistics smacking us in the face why then are so many schools modifying their curricula in deference to the college bound and at the expense of all other students? Many years ago I attended one of the few in-service/staff development training sessions that was not a mind numbing experience. The guest lecturer offered that America's schools are set up so that all students are expected to be kindergarten ready at around age 5 and ready to graduate from high school at age 18. Yet every year tens of thousands of students demonstrate that they are not ready to begin at age 5 and not ready to leave at age 18. This guest lecturer also offered that the two American institutions that are very much alike in the manner in which they operate are the educational system and the prison system. However; unlike this country's educational system the prison system is slowly changing. It seems this country's prison population fares better than its student population.
Just as the five year olds and the 18year olds continually demonstrate that readiness to begin school and readiness to exit is somewhat fluid, so does a significant part of our student population continue to demonstrate that they are not college bound and that what is currently be offered in the form of course work and career training is not relevant to their lives and their futures.
I have a friend who is a plumber by trade. After high school he joined the US Navy and specialized in being a pipefitter/steamfitter. After his tour of duty he gained employment with a bay area plumbing contractor. After several years he got his own plumbing contractor's license and now operates his own plumbing business. His earnings are excellent. He is married and owns a home and he is not a college graduate.
On a recent visit to my home the subject of schools came up and he expressed some rather strong negative opinions about his son's education. Apparently the boy would someday like to follow in his father's footsteps and become a plumber. What my friend objected to was the fact that his son's education was devoid of any exposure to the trades. Regardless of his son's interests his education is structured on the college preparatory track. My friend feels that his son is being blatantly discriminated against because the schools have decided that it is best for everyone to be educated as if they are going to college. To paraphrase my friend, some students should be learning how to read a tape measure and instead are being taught algebra. He pointed out that he doesn't use algebra as a plumber but being able to correctly read a tape measure is crucial.
If schools are to ever see a decrease in the drop-out rate and an increase in the graduation rate than schools must once again offer a reality-base curriculum. Students who plan on joining the family restaurant business, retail store, various trades and service jobs must have meaningful courses from which to choose. It is a disservice to these students and their families to force all of them into the college preparatory track when so many have plans that do not include college. Not all students are interested in Racing to the Top. Some have been Left Behind because their destination was different and just as Failure is Not an Option to the educational decision makers, college is not an option for those with other plans and interests.
Next Post: FOCUS ON SUBJECT MATTER
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
FIXING OUR SCHOOLS FOR DUMMIES - III
TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Using a model that would offer scholarships or reduction of student loans we need to attract college graduates into education and keep them. Unfortunately, today's future teachers not only need a degree in their subject area; but they also must have the equivalent of a Master's Degree to satisfy the numerous course requirements dealing methodology, teaching techniques, strategies and countless other courses to become credentialed. Not long ago California required all its credentialed teachers to obtain the CLAD (Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development) credential and then the B-CLAD. I have yet to find one teacher who feels the credential was needed or worthwhile for success in the classroom. Acquiring that CLAD credential however was necessary to keep ones teaching job. With California's diverse population it seems the CLAD was more politically motivated than educationally necessary.
Once a college graduate has been recruited it would be very beneficial if that new hire got meaningful guidance and support in the classroom. Unfortunately classroom management skills have become increasing more important for teacher survival and retention. What we teach has taken a back seat to how we teach, whom we teach and more importantly the test scores of those being taught. Schools with students from poor families, with limited financial means, and missing the family and community support that more well off families and communities enjoy must compete against these schools and are judged with these schools. Neither the players nor the playing field is level. In this Race to the Top where No Child is supposed to be Left Behind the teachers are under tremendous pressure to see that their students achieve and become winners. If students do not achieve then the teachers are to blame and become the losers. Some of this countries educational leaders now proclaim that Failure is Not an Option ! And these are the same political and educational leaders who mandate programs and expect results; but provide little if any financial support.
Of course even though the classroom teacher has no control over attendance, frequency of absenteeism, homework completion and parental cooperation he/she is still held accountable for all students' successes and failures. In most schools new teachers get as much assistance and guidance as a non swimmer who is thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to swim! Of course there are programs where a posse of educational experts will suddenly appear in a new teachers room and offer constructive criticism on everything from the content of the bulletin boards to the way the desks are arranged. New teachers I have talked to find these classroom visits by the alleged mentoring experts most disturbing and not the least bit helpful. Is it any wonder that so many new teachers leave before reaching their fifth year of teaching?
I would recommend that new teachers be given assignments where they would be teaching the best and the brightest students in any school. Unfortunately new teachers (like the non-swimmer being thrown into the deep end of the pool) are usually given the worst classes containing the most difficult students. Teaching these classes with difficult students requires the skills of experienced teachers possessing not only a command of the subject matter; but also expert classroom management skills.
Fresh out of college I worked as an intake counselor at the Maryland Reception Classification & Diagnostic Center housed at the maximum security Maryland Penitentiary. Later I worked as a classroom teacher for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services at both the Maryland Children's Center and the Maryland Training School for Boys. During this time I attended Loyola College Evening Graduate School and earned my Masters in Education in the area of the Emotionally Disturbed Child. Concurrently, I earned my Maryland Standard Teaching Credential. Before relocating to California I taught for two years for the Methodist Board of Child Care at their residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed teenagers. I believe the years I spent teaching in the institutional setting allowed me to hone my classroom management skills that allowed me to survive the next 35 years of teaching in the public school system. I survived the deep end of the pool.
New teachers may be skilled in their respective subject matter; but in today's classroom where concern for student self-esteem is more important than any expectation of student self-control these new teachers are at a very serious disadvantage. Maybe veteran teachers should be offered bonus or incentive (I am not talking about merit pay) pay to voluntarily take the more difficult or challenging classes and students and allow the new teachers to hone their skills with the more well behaved and academically interested students. Becoming an excellent classroom teacher should be a process not a trial by fire or a situation where the new teacher either sinks or swims as his administrators and colleagues stand by and watch.
Next Post:REALITY BASED CURRICULUM
Using a model that would offer scholarships or reduction of student loans we need to attract college graduates into education and keep them. Unfortunately, today's future teachers not only need a degree in their subject area; but they also must have the equivalent of a Master's Degree to satisfy the numerous course requirements dealing methodology, teaching techniques, strategies and countless other courses to become credentialed. Not long ago California required all its credentialed teachers to obtain the CLAD (Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development) credential and then the B-CLAD. I have yet to find one teacher who feels the credential was needed or worthwhile for success in the classroom. Acquiring that CLAD credential however was necessary to keep ones teaching job. With California's diverse population it seems the CLAD was more politically motivated than educationally necessary.
Once a college graduate has been recruited it would be very beneficial if that new hire got meaningful guidance and support in the classroom. Unfortunately classroom management skills have become increasing more important for teacher survival and retention. What we teach has taken a back seat to how we teach, whom we teach and more importantly the test scores of those being taught. Schools with students from poor families, with limited financial means, and missing the family and community support that more well off families and communities enjoy must compete against these schools and are judged with these schools. Neither the players nor the playing field is level. In this Race to the Top where No Child is supposed to be Left Behind the teachers are under tremendous pressure to see that their students achieve and become winners. If students do not achieve then the teachers are to blame and become the losers. Some of this countries educational leaders now proclaim that Failure is Not an Option ! And these are the same political and educational leaders who mandate programs and expect results; but provide little if any financial support.
Of course even though the classroom teacher has no control over attendance, frequency of absenteeism, homework completion and parental cooperation he/she is still held accountable for all students' successes and failures. In most schools new teachers get as much assistance and guidance as a non swimmer who is thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to swim! Of course there are programs where a posse of educational experts will suddenly appear in a new teachers room and offer constructive criticism on everything from the content of the bulletin boards to the way the desks are arranged. New teachers I have talked to find these classroom visits by the alleged mentoring experts most disturbing and not the least bit helpful. Is it any wonder that so many new teachers leave before reaching their fifth year of teaching?
I would recommend that new teachers be given assignments where they would be teaching the best and the brightest students in any school. Unfortunately new teachers (like the non-swimmer being thrown into the deep end of the pool) are usually given the worst classes containing the most difficult students. Teaching these classes with difficult students requires the skills of experienced teachers possessing not only a command of the subject matter; but also expert classroom management skills.
Fresh out of college I worked as an intake counselor at the Maryland Reception Classification & Diagnostic Center housed at the maximum security Maryland Penitentiary. Later I worked as a classroom teacher for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services at both the Maryland Children's Center and the Maryland Training School for Boys. During this time I attended Loyola College Evening Graduate School and earned my Masters in Education in the area of the Emotionally Disturbed Child. Concurrently, I earned my Maryland Standard Teaching Credential. Before relocating to California I taught for two years for the Methodist Board of Child Care at their residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed teenagers. I believe the years I spent teaching in the institutional setting allowed me to hone my classroom management skills that allowed me to survive the next 35 years of teaching in the public school system. I survived the deep end of the pool.
New teachers may be skilled in their respective subject matter; but in today's classroom where concern for student self-esteem is more important than any expectation of student self-control these new teachers are at a very serious disadvantage. Maybe veteran teachers should be offered bonus or incentive (I am not talking about merit pay) pay to voluntarily take the more difficult or challenging classes and students and allow the new teachers to hone their skills with the more well behaved and academically interested students. Becoming an excellent classroom teacher should be a process not a trial by fire or a situation where the new teacher either sinks or swims as his administrators and colleagues stand by and watch.
Next Post:REALITY BASED CURRICULUM
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