5 Ways to Improve Education
It is difficult to discuss my opinion of reforms in education
without stealing from Ravitch’s suggestions in her final chapter and epilog of
her book. But I am not proud. I am willing to borrow from what I believe to be sound,
well considered directions for reform. So, when I called President Obama last
night to express my regret and concern about the resignation of his Secretary
of Education, I couldn’t help but give my opinion on the direction of education
in the United States. After all, I had just read The Death and Life of the Great American Education. Barack, said he
only had a few minutes because he had to put Sasha to bed, so I limited my
suggestions to five.
·
Societal Issues – Really, this was the only reform I wanted to discuss with Barack
because societal inequities are the largely the reason for the lack of
improvement in the achievement gap. I encouraged him to make this a top
priority for his new Secretary of Education.
I suggested starting with encouraging the Billionaires Club (as many of
them as possible knowing many will not waver from their market driven reform
stance) the importance of reform beyond the classroom in order to reform
success in the classroom.
·
Respect – As I enter this career path, I am baffled by the lack of respect
for teachers, the lack of understanding of how hard teacher’s work and the lack
of recognition of the dedication to this career path by most who choose to
enter. I can only attribute this to the
fact that teachers are still largely females and society’s feeling of the
female position in society. I encouraged Obama to have his Secretary stage an
“all out” campaign starting now, and to be continued over many years, to turn
this Titanic opinion of teachers around…. an advertisement campaign. Now, this
is a way to bring private industry strategies into education. Let those
marketers go crazy with innovative means of projecting teachers in a renew
light.
·
National Curriculum – It is shocking we do not have a National Curriculum and that our
State Curriculum is so weak. While it is seems like a large endeavor, the
success of Ravitch’s history curriculum and the solid examples of State
curriculum (for example, Massachusetts Science curriculum), the process would
be starting from scratch. It simply needs dedication to the cause and consensus
building among educators on the content.
·
Collaboration – My common sense tells me, private and charter schools are not
going away. I do believe, like Ravitch,
that these different means of educating our youth need to come together in a
common cause. But without an
understanding and agreement on the common cause, it would be difficult for the
different institutions and styles to come together. Step one would have to be establishing
a clear-cut understanding of what a good education means (which Ravitch does a
great job of exploring). With that in hand, a means of getting the different
sectors of education moving in concert to achieve the goal. We need to remove
the competition between the different providers, define how each will serve a
portion of the student constituency and assure all are working towards the same
cause, our definition of a good education.
·
Teacher Compensation – Teacher pay is an insult. Support teachers with reasonable pay
and resources. It is ridiculous that teachers have to purchase school supplies.
It is ridiculous they can’t live in the neighborhoods in which they teach.
Appropriate compensation will attract and keep teachers. Sources of money need
to be explored, whether it’s private or public and the real estate tax model
reexamined.
As Barack
tried to end our conversation, I did take a few more minutes of his time to ask
if he read The Death and Life of the
Great American System and offered to send him a copy, if he hadn’t. Also, I told him I would consider the job
opening pending review of the compensation package.
Ravitch
As I read The Death and Life
of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch, my opinion of the
book went for enjoyment to feelings of tedium to absolute love of the book. The
book began with very interesting observations about education, where it’s been,
suggestions of problems and where it might go.
As I moved into the chapters on reform, the
attention to detail and repetition began to wear on me. But as I moved into the
chapter discussions in “What Would Mrs. Ratliff Do?” and “Billionaires Boys
Club” and beyond, I began to greatly appreciate the information and detailed review
of past reformation efforts. The initial
chapters discussing the District 2, San Diego and Bloomberg reforms were
absolutely necessary background for understanding the chapters to come and for
my own knowledge of educational reforms.
Had I
not read this book, I would be ill equipped to understand the industry I have
elected to enter. I learned so much about education from it. I feel incredibly
informed and able to discuss my opinion on educational reform because the book
encouraged my own reflection on the meaning of a good education and where I
believe resources should be utilized. I honestly feel I can “talk the talk”
with the best of them after reading this extremely thorough book and at some
point, “walk the walk”.
Marcy as a Teacher and Citizen
You know
when you decide to do something for all the wrong reasons on paper but in
reality, it is the right reasons. Well, this is what I just did. By all financial accounts, I should not be
leaving my current career. I have the utmost flexibility in my workday, determining
my own workload, time and more. Yet, I am doing it because of what I can do as
a teacher and a citizen especially in light of my life experiences to date.
My first
goal is to gain experience in the classroom. I feel this is a necessary step before
I can truly advocate for a cause or causes.
It seems important to have a good understanding of the public school
system from hands-on experience of day-to-day work and immersion with others in
the industry. Without this experience and knowledge, I feel ill-equipped to
speak out, lead and advocate for educational reform. Full immersion, I am certain, will change
this and likely, in short order.
The one
thing we learned from Ravitch is educational reform is not a sweeping act. It
can’t change with a keen idea. I liken it to landscaping a yard. It isn’t easy.
It’s a lot of hard work. You get dirty. Without the right tools, the work will
take much longer or possibly can’t be done. It costs money. You are worn out in
the end. And it takes a long time for the plantings to mature and the fruits of
your work recognized. So, with that, what I have to offer is the patience and
understanding that I must stand on the sidelines of reform until I am equipped
to help and initiate. This will require evaluating where my abilities can best be
utilized to enact change, knowing it may simply be in my little corner of the
world of education.
Just one
more note, I am all for jumping on the bandwagon, as evidenced by my
discussions with President Obama above.
If someone has a great idea, direction or reform, I am all about being a
helper bee. But for the time being, I will be the best teacher I can, dedicate
myself to my students and the community in which they live. Peace out!
2 Associations
I joined this national organization a
year ago, at the suggestion of Gemma Niermann. It is a great resource for news
and events, conferences and workshops, and has an abundance of free resources
for teachers. Additionally, the site has
a blog that allows teachers to share ideas.
I
recently joined this state association designed to support K-12 science
teachers. It is California centric and is a great means of staying in tune with
educational legislative matters. The
organization advocates on behalf of teachers at the State level. The organization publishes a monthly
e-newsletter and a semi-annual journal. The organization has many references
and programs to support teachers: grants, awards, jobs, field trip
opportunities, and more.
3-year game plan
1. Bay Area Experiential Resource
a. Chabot Space Center – While I have been to this museum numerous
times with my children, I have never gone to the planetarium to view space
through the telescope.
b. Oakland Museum – Natural Science Collection due to reopen
(following remodel) June 2013.
c. Angel Island – The main reason visit this location is to see the
immigration museum. The last time I hiked on the island, it was under
construction. This isn’t related necessarily to my content knowledge and
capstone project, although I certainly will find related information.
d. Golden Gate Headlands to learn and visit the geology of this area.
The National Park Service has an excellent Field Trip Guide describing
faulting, rock types, fossils, wildlife and more.
e. Robert Sibley Volcanic Preserve located on the Orinda/Berkeley/Oakland
border is a great example of a round top volcano. I would like to revisit this site since it
has been years since I hiked in the park.
2. Books in Subject Area
a. The Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics and the
Human Genome by John Sulston & Georgina Ferry.
b. A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawkins.
c. Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet by Daniel Botkin.
d. The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of Its
Greatest Inventors by John Gribbon and Adam Hook.
e. Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species by David Quammen.
3. Investigation
a. Planetary Science lesson plans using models and manipulates
(Science Activities: Classroom Projects and Curriculum Ideas)
b. Discussion of inquiry learning methods. There are so many different
opinions and approaches. I need to do more research and develop my own
understanding and approach to incorporating inquiry learning in my classroom (International
Journal of Science and Mathematics Education).
4. Conferences or Events
a. Take an introduction to physiology class for increasing my content
knowledge for a human body system unit in the spring, likely through UC
Berkeley Extension.
b. Because of its convenient location this year, I will be attending
the 2012 California Science Education Conference October 20th and 21st
in San Jose.
5. Wish List to Visit
a. Return to Africa (Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa) to go on
safaris. I didn’t get my fill of animal
viewing while in Uganda and there are species I have yet to see, for example,
cheetahs.
b. Iceland or North Pole – I have an intense desire to see polar bears
in nature before they are extinct or only in captivity.
c. Galapagos Islands – what biology teacher doesn’t want to take this trip?
d. An active volcano, anywhere in the world.
e. Raft the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
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