Post a 300-500 word reflective response to either his presentation, an article that you've read recently (include citation) or any of these education themes:
- Standardized Testing
- Federal Policies
- Charter Schools and Voucher Systems
- Teacher Salaries
- Budget Crisis
- Arts and Humanities in schools
- Rural and Inner City Schools
Last night, our speaker spoke to us on problems and issues with Education here in America. From and being brought up in private schools all my life, there were many issues I was unaware of. For example, in all of my schools, art and PE were the best times of the day. To imagine schools cutting those out of curriculum makes school horrible for children! They would have to much energy to sit still and study all day. However, from a professional stand point it makes sense since they are not tested in those areas, and a schools performance is measured by the results of standardized tests. When I was in school, I remember many kids simply filling in random bubbles on the testing. Testing is not always an accurate measure of intelligence or performance. But how else would a school’s performance be measured? I believe that more funding should be spent on schools for more efficient ways of educating our children. I honestly believe there is nothing comparable to a strong educational back round, and it must start at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteTeachers should always be praised for their work. So many teachers in my life have inspired me to be who I am today. Adolescence is a very crucial part in character building. My younger brother is in 4th grade and everyday he is being influenced for who he will become. I think that all of the education issues we are having in this country must be solved for the hope of generations to come. Dean Rick Ginsberg opened my eyes to so many pressing issues. Last night I got online to nominate one of my teachers for an award because she means so much to me and has helped me to become the student I am today.
I believe that equal input does not always result in equal output. In other words, equal education rights don’t ensure that every child will receive the same test scores. No matter what individual factors play a role in learning or not - socioeconomic status, gender, personality - it is foolish to assume that all children will improve at the same rate. Rick Ginsberg touched on No Child Left Behind and its goal to see improvement for all students, not just the more privileged. The problem I see is that the program’s measure of progress fails to account for situational improvement. Basing measurements of success in the school system solely off of standardized test results severely neglects to acknowledge individual progress. When children start out at a lower level than their peers, it will take more effort for them to catch up. Even after drastic individual progress, many students test scores may not meet the desired state standards. Should we consider these students to be failures of the education system? Of course not. We should not guilt students for pulling down the collective test scores. It is not the students that are the failures but our measure of their growth.The school district, the school and the classroom are all compilations of individual students. If the goal is improvement for an entire school district, every student must individually improve their scores. No Child Left Behind rightfully emphasizes the individual but then fails to support this attitude by measuring success in a one-size-fits-all quota instead of a tailor-made recognition of individual progress. Ideally, individual educational goals should factor in the student’s starting point as well as their environmental advantages and disadvantages although realistically, this would be labor intensive and insanely complicated. In the end, I think it’s important to remember that the purpose of education is not to make everyone equally smart. A teacher’s goal is not to mass produce A+ students. Education is not about balance but about upset, not about meeting expectations but uncovering abnormalities. Education is meant to open possibilities and create ways for people to differentiate and collaborate. In the end, education is not striving for uniform test results and cookie-cutter people but for a dynamic group of people who are better equipped to thrive in the environment they live in.
ReplyDeleteRick Ginsberg presented a talk over education in America with a focus on Kansas education systems. The states are independently responsible for the education of their youth constituents. Kansas is a very rural state especially the farther west you go and that is acknowledged and reflected in our education system. I was really interested in the rural school district problem Ginsberg brought up. He mentioned that rural community’s identities revolved around their school district. The problem is that these small schools have trouble getting enough funding since they have a much smaller student population and district to draw funds from. It makes more sense for these districts to centralize and combine resources but would be at the cost of losing the community pride in represented by the school’s success. This was very true of the small rural town my family moved to while I was in high school. The school district was small, a 4A school that was about to be demoted to a 3A school with roughly 60 or 70 students per grade level. The district had outlying elementary schools and one combined elementary/middle school building along with the city’s pride and joy, the high school. When after my sophomore year a F4 tornado destroyed the high school and the elementary/middle school building the district was faced with many tough choices. The resulting arguments over the design of the new schools and the school bond divided the very community that was connected by the school. Rather than presenting multiple plans or realizing that the district had been in a steady student population decline since the seventies the district decided to build larger building with the idea of “build it and they will come.” The bill was bullied past a vote by declaring anyone against the bill (or more so for being fiscally responsible) as against the whole town. So I leave it to you my fellow students, based on what Dr. Ginsberg stated on rural communities and financially supporting schools such as these do you think larger schools are sustainable in districts with small student populations? If new students do flock to this new, larger school, won’t it detract from the very same “small town” charm they made it beloved? Also, will it not remove students from other nearby small schools that were struggling, forcing them to shut down eventually? It really is a fight for survival these days in the country schools. -Kaitlynn Nelson
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true public education is not a right expressed within the constitution, it should fall within the language since having a quality education will allow for an individual to provide themselves a better life. For this reason we as citizens should demand all children within our borders receive equal opportunities for learning at the public school level.
ReplyDeletePublic school systems should have the support needed to provide a base level of curriculum for our youth. That doesn’t mean all schools will have exactly the same courses but ensuring each student is able to compete with their peers is vital for our success as a nation. Something that struck me while listening to Professor Ginsburg was when he mentioned the variations between school systems even within a single city. I understood there were charter and private schools, but was surprised to realize there was not a true standard of education across the nation for the public school system. I had heard there were poorer regions where education was challenging but attributed that to size and economy of the town, not on the content of its curriculum. I assume that legislation concerning education would fall under state’s rights, which is why the federal government has not been more involved. However, it may be time for the federal government to take a more hands on approach to address this issue. Other nations are leaving us behind and while it may look good on paper to compare socially equal education results, the facts are that the majority of our youth are struggling. My public education was full of opportunities and I had always assumed that was due to the State of Michigan applying standards for their schools, now I'm find I was perhaps extremely fortunate to have lived in a small town that valued our future. Our youth deserve to be receiving the necessary education that will help them take on the challenges of tomorrow.
-Karen Lewis
I thoroughly enjoyed Dean Rick Ginsberg’s presentation about educational issues. Dean Ginsberg talked about how he believes standardized tests are not everything. He said that he believes that schools should look at more than just a student’s standardized test score, and instead look at the whole picture, such as GPA, extra curricular activities, and essays. I completely agree, because I believe that just a standardized test score alone is not a good judgment of a student. He also mentioned that charter schools are not any better than public schools, which I never knew before. School funding is another topic he mentioned. I believe that funding for education should increase because a person’s education is the building block for the rest of their future in my opinion. Therefore it is very important to not only make sure that there is plenty of funding in education, but also equal opportunity for all kids across America. It is also important that teachers are properly rewarded because without teachers to guide us, we would be nowhere. I therefore believe that salaries for teachers should definitely be raised.
ReplyDeleteIt was unfortunate to hear Dean Ginsberg say that most people do not want to teach in small towns, because that is very unfair to those children in rural communities. I believe we should work on paying teachers who are willing to teach there even more, as an incentive and also in order to deliver a great education to those kids in smaller communities as well. I definitely learned a lot through his presentation, and even did not know about how many different education systems there really were because every school basically has its own system. This was surprising to me because although I knew that it was governed by the state, I did not realize how different each school was from another even within the same areas. Overall I was very interested in Dean Ginsberg’s presentation because I believe he addressed a lot of very important topics regarding education.
-Janani Ganta
Rick Ginsburg came to speak about the current state of education today. He briefly mentioned Teach For America but didn't dig in very deep with the subject. Since I am going on the TFA Chicago trip, I decided to research the topic a little more. First, I started off with the official Teach For America website. TFA corps members teach for 2 years in one of the 39 underpriviledged areas around the country. This is supposed to improve the state of public education in these areas. Sounds great right? Well then I decided to look up criticisms of the program. Not everyone goes into the program with the good intentions of improving things. Often times, it’s to make some money in between jobs or before grad school, etc. The environments can also be hard to get used to. How exactly do you prepare for that? In addition, TFA is extremely competitive and usually people from more impressive schools are the ones who make the cut (schools such as the Ivy League ones). Just because you come from a more recognized school, does that make you more fit to teach in the program? Probably not. TFA retention rates are not so high. People usually just finish their two years and then quit. It’s very difficult to be thrown into poverty inflicted areas and then expected to teach with little education background. In summary, I think the idea of Teach For America is a good one but could be improved. For example, maybe people going to harder areas could receive a little more training so they would have more experience and be more prepared. That can only be beneficial. I’m excited to go on the TFA trip. I think it can be a good experience that can only benefit me and open my eyes to educational issues in this country.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Arenholz
ReplyDeleteAlternative Spring Break Blog 2
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of problems with standardized testing. In my Music Therapy course Human Development and learning we have discussed assessment and backward design of educational tasks and goals. The principle is you want to know what is important and then you can build your curriculum to get there. Assessing is a part of teaching, what do they need to know? The problem is if you take the test as the whole picture.
With a Federal policy like no child left behind the testing becomes the entire focus of the educational process. Teachers should be held accountable for what they do in their classrooms. The question is how we judge what is going on in the classroom?
Charter schools are a hot topic these days. The interesting thing to me is it is not a new concept. I have a report card of my Grandmothers from 1916. She grew up in Higginsville Missouri. The report card shows the school to be research medical center. When I first looked at the document I thought it might be related to her nurse’s aide training. But when I looked at the subjects there was, English, math, history, piano so it was a high school report card. We have consolidated, bused and fought over education probably since the days of Socrates.
Teacher Salaries are like many things difficult to balance. On the whole there are many athletes, singers or CEOs making far too much money. While social workers, general health care providers and teachers are not paid for the years of education and stress and risk. Even when you look at un-skilled workers, like those lucky enough to get a job in automotive manufacturing, because of strong unions they have built a job paying well. I believe that just as we don’t know how to define our needs and maybe even because of it teachers will never be paid what they should.
There are 2 things about the budget crises. The first is that money is not the answer to all educational problems. Historically Kansas City, Missouri spends more money per child then any other school district in the area. It has not improved ther test scores or school rankings. Yet justice would compel us to pay a fair living wage for the education, work and time that teachers put out for us.
There are research studies on the benefits of the arts in education. I believe that they are essential and we need to encourage funding of these programs.
I learned when I moved to Chicago for a job that my grandma Hootz lived in Wisconsin for a time. She explained that living on the farm there is why she never went to high school. In order for her to go to high school she would have had to leave home and board at the school. So while it is difficult and costly at least today children do have the capability of getting an education. As modes of teaching continue to evolve with the internet and skipe we will hopefully overcome some of the costs and help to equalize the opportunities for good teaching and learning.
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ReplyDeleteEducation is no doubt one of the most pressing issues facing our nation today. A variety of problems face this sensitive system as our guest speaker, Dean of the School of Education, Dean Ginsberg explained Thursday night. One of the most current problems facing the state of Kansas in particular is the funding of arts and humanities within our schools.
ReplyDeleteRecently, the Daily Kansan reported that Governor Sam Brownback signed an order to eliminate the Kansas Arts Commission. This organization is vital to funding various public art sources and school programs in the state that will likely suffer because of this cut. Arts deserve a spot within education as much as science, math or writing. If we as nation want to better our children’s education, the inclusion of arts and humanities is an important element of the process. The positive aspects of the arts can be seen in many ways. For example, it’s shown that children who play an instrument, and read music are likely to perform better in math. Arts also stress the imagination and originality of young minds.
While some children may have art related experiences outside the classroom—many families cannot afford the added cost of afterschool programs. I was personally very fortunate to have parents that could put me through ballet classes and piano lessons during my childhood. Without such opportunities, I would have a background lacking in the arts. Today and even in my public education, schools really lack art programs. Through the abolishment of KAC, Kansas is robbing students of a vital part of their education and development.
Obviously, education is in need of serious reform. However, by removing key education learning experiences from children’s education is not how we solve these issues. Unfortunately many politicians believe that cuts to the “unnecessary” aspects of education are the only solution. Hopefully, we can come to a realization that this is a flaw in our educational system, and alter this mistake.
http://www.kansan.com/news/2011/feb/09/brownback-signs-bill-abolish-kansas-arts-commissio/?news
Dean of the School of Education Rick Ginsberg presented several issues during our last class of which I was greatly unaware. One that primarily interested me was the condition of small rural schools. These small school districts cannot run as efficiently as large ones, due to operating costs, small number of attending children and faculty, and dwindling financial support from the community. Staffing is also a problem in these districts, due to very few educators wishing to isolate themselves in a rural environment. However, in rural communities, the school is often the focus; sporting events, academic achievements, and other activities serve almost as a social life for citizens of small towns; thus, their success is important to more than just the students. Being from a school in Topeka where resources and funding were never an issue, I was surprised to learn of these problems.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting point was the use of standardized testing in education. The government, as well as educators in higher education, fail to realize that while these tests provides a standard measurement of progress, they should not be used to measure intelligence or academic worth. Some children simply do not test well, and the high importance placed on standardized testing is an immense disadvantage in their education. In some cases, the score one achieves on a test like the ACT is the judge for whether or not they will be able to afford their education; in truth, this test is generally unreliable in determining how well a student will perform in the college environment. Instead, Dean Ginsberg recommends looking at past grades achieved and how rigorous of a curriculum a student experienced.
As a person who hadn’t thought much about the problems in our education system, this lecture did much to inform me on the issue, as well as wonder which of these problems may affect me. While my educational experience has been stable and satisfactory, I began to think of the state of other’s opportunities and what could be
done to better education for all students in America.
Dean Ginsberg spoke about the development of the education system on Thursday. One of the topics he mentioned was standardized testing. Ever since I took the ITBS test (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) in third grade, my education became centered around standardized testing and how to get the best or most improved scores. Some of that results from George Bush's No Child Left Behind act that encouraged proficiency and higher test scores. Teachers are forced to focus on what will be on the tests. Learning must fit what these tests will ask and sometimes it is unable to go further than the test questions. Though test scores may go up, students are limited to the knowledge contained in the tests and aren't motivated to learn anything further that that.
ReplyDeleteNot only is learning focused specifically on tests, but it is becoming more limited in subject matter as well. With the troubled economy comes even less funding for education than it has received in the past. Less money means more budget cuts, and different programs or even schools can be cut from the education system. In 2009, $39 million was cut from the Kansas Education system. Districts have been forced to condense two schools into one, cut music and art programs, and lessen the number of sports teams that schools can sponsor. I believe that valuable education results from athletics, art, and the performing arts. Students who don't perform well academically can exceed in other forms of education or athleticism, allowing them to get scholarships for higher education. Programs like these also encourage brain development, teamwork skills, and the appreciation for diversity. Since these activities are being cut across the nation, students are less likely to learn these life skills and have experiences in teamwork and creativity. Overcrowding can also limit education and development, as teachers have limited time to spend with each student. The budget crisis and standardized testing are limiting education and development and need to be high priority in the government's agenda.
Growing up on the south side of Chicago gave me a unique education experience. When I was young I was fortunate to attend a Montessori pre-school, which is self-directed method of learning where the teach is more of a guide than an instructor. For grammar school I continued with this method of learning at my local public school which was one of the only Chicago public schools to offer montessori. I was involved in Montessori until sixth grade. I personally loved the Montessori method because I thought it really let's children be creative and learn in their own way. I think this can be great because not everyone can learn in the typical school environment where this is one teacher teaching in front of 30 kids sitting at their desks all day. The average child does not have the patience to sit at desk all day and listen to their teaching lecturing to them. I think that we need to implement this method of teaching into more of our public schools.
ReplyDeleteFor junior high I attended public high school that offered a special gifted program for seventh and eighth graders and the goal was to start them early with their high school credits and get them to graduate by their sophomore year of high school. I did not stay in this program because the school had way to many issues with gangs and violence, which in part lead to low graduation rates and even lower amount of people continuing their education. I think a major issue that a lot of these impoverished children had was that they received virtually no help outside of school. I think it takes a village to raise a child and give them a good education. It's not only up to our government to improve our school systems but we need to get the families of the children involved with their child's education.
The Dean of education, Rick Ginsberg, came to speak to us last week. There are many issues with the U.S. education system that are very important to today’s society. The education system is a lot more complicated than I ever thought. They are run state and locally. So they are not uniform and regulated by the federal government. A big issue of course is the No Child Left Behind Act. This program is very unreasonable to ask teachers to meet performance levels measured through standardized testing. I personally don’t do well with testing and it’s a very harsh way to judge teachers. The only upside is probably that it is cheap compared to seeing if/how students are actually learning. My major issue with standardized tests is that they only optimize certain subjects in school. I personally, in elementary and high school, excelled in other areas such as art and working on a more creative level. And many schools can no longer fund these ‘extra’ programs. I think getting rid of these kinds of programs are detrimental to students’ early learning. Not all students will grow up to be mathematicians or scientists; therefore I believe it is a huge mistake to test students in just a few core areas.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I wanted to mention was teacher retention. There are plenty of teachers but they leave the field within a few years after gaining their certification. When Dean Ginsberg was speaking a question was brought up about teaching abroad and if he thought that draws teachers away from shortage areas. He said he didn’t think it had a large effect but I am from a rural area in South, central Kansas and just this year two of my high school teacher and their spouses, whom are elementary teachers, are moving abroad to teach next year. This maybe just coincidental but I would say teaching abroad does draw teachers away from shortage areas.
-Christine Van Allen
The Dean of Education came in this week to talk about the issues that are holding schools back from improvement. I was amazed to hear that over 50% of kids are in public schools and about 20% in private, with the average graduation rate from high school being 74%!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, I switched schools a lot and have been a student in both a public and private school. From personal experience, I would say that in a private school you receive a better education, or you are at least encouraged to strive for a better one more often. Obviously money is a huge issue which comes into play within the boarder line between public and private schools. Teacher shortages come from an issue of retention is what the dean says, specifically from the Government. I believe that we should be focusing more of our money in schools than other things such as retirement checks. I think this because the future of our world rests upon the hands of the millennium generation and without proper education skills developed at a young age, all these kids are only going to know how to use the computer to find answers rather than knowing where this information came from and how they can use that for improvement.
Another thing talked about was the issue of schools being tested with the “no child left behind” test. This, along with the ACT is something that I personally do not support. Yes, it is important to know this information, but a standardized test is not going to allow people to see full potential of these students. They exclude art and history, something that a creative mind endures and could be able to create a new step towards the future. This test would not measure that.
I was very interested listening to Dean Rick Ginsberg about the education system in the United States. Although I was raised in white suburbia of St. Louis, I have attended public schools since Kindergarten and went to a school that participated in the desegregation act. They bused kids from the inner city to the public county schools to help desegregate in St. Louis. As a result of budget cuts in education funding though, the act was recently retracted and they are trying to increase funding for the city public schools. Hearing the Dean Ginsberg talk about funding really made me think of how fortunate I was to go to a very privileged public school. Not many kids are able to go on multiple field trips or after school programs because of the current lack in funding.
ReplyDeleteI never realized that majority of public school funding actually comes from the individual communities and states rather than federal government. I understand why it is set up that way, but to me it kind of shows that the federal government does not think that we should have strong public education. Many other countries are set up with a set education system, but we have approximately 41,000 (if I recall correctly) different education systems. The fact that our parents have options on where to send us to school is nice, but I think it allows for school systems and children to end up being left behind. The state evaluates each student by taking a standardize test, but is that really the best way to test someone's intelligence or ability to learn? Probably not, but unfortunately it is the easiest and most efficient way to test such a large number of students in each state. I think our federal government should start stepping up to plate in providing more guidelines on what should be taught in school at each level and so forth. The kids in school right now are going to eventually be running this country and they should all be well educated enough to do so. If we start making cuts for public education now, what will that show our kids in the future? The United States government and fellow citizens need to step up to plate and realize how important education is to our country. Changes and updates need to be made to provide our countries youth with proper education that will help them be successful not only in their own future, but also for the future of this country.
It was very interesting to learn about education in the U.S, especially in Kansas. I agree with professor Dean Rick Ginsberg regarding standardized tests. Some people are very good at taking exams and can easily be accepted in schools. However, other students are very smart but unfortunately don't do well on standardized exams. I think it is wrong to judge students by the exams. The purpose of the school is not only to educate its students, but also to learn social skills, communication, moral teamwork, etc. I think looking at students' insights are also important. For example, what they have done in the past, or what kind of activities or clubs they were involved.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the professor talked about Teach For America during the lecture. I think it is a great program for children and teachers. Teachers are willing to help and educate children and I think we need people like that in the educational field. Moreover, he briefy talked about teaching English overseas and being paid a decent salary. I have seen some people come to Japan to teach English just for money. They have lived in Japan for more than 10 years but they have no interest in Japan's country or the culture. I think teachers play an important role for students and they need to be responsible and be willing to educate students.
Last semester, I wrote an English paper about the faults of present-day education systems. As a recent high school graduate, I ranted about how grades are not a measure of intelligence, teachers are impossible to relate to, listening to lectures inhibits creativity, etc. While I still believe this to an extent, I have come to realize that grades and standardized tests are important. I know everyone hates standardized tests--they seem pointless, they are nerve-wracking, and they make students feel like they are just a number, not an individual. But when you think about it, there is no other way to measure the levels of where students are and where they need to be. By having these tests we are able to assess which schools are well-off and which ones need help. While these scores tell us what needs to be done, the real problem is finding ways to resolve these issues. It is extremely difficult to fix schools that are already in dire need, like those in rural and inner-city areas. The inner-city schools tend to have students who don’t care about school due to the lack of interest shown by their peers, lack of support from their parents and lack of guidance from anyone capable of giving it. Rural schools are in need too, but in different ways. Students from rural schools probably receive more support, but as Dean Rick Ginsberg said, these schools often have few students and live in undesirable areas, thus limiting the number of teachers willing to work in these locations. In theory, teachers should get paid more to work in such adverse areas, but the reality is that they don’t get any extra compensation for the extra effort and stress. These issues are intolerable, as every child deserves a decent education, but it is more difficult than it seems to find solutions that will produce positive results.
ReplyDeleteBy Julia Nehring
Dean Ginsberg gave an outstanding and educational presentation this week. Presenting on the public education system something that I have only participated it not analyzed, he really gave some fantastic information and perspectives that I have never considered.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that standardized testing is not an appropriate means to test and evaluate schools and students really peaked my interest. I have always considered standardized tests as an appropriate means of assessing the progress that students have made in school. His point of view that the tests do not provide an appropriate judgment of the student’s progress. Justifying this with the fact that some students are very good test takers while others who are very intelligent have difficulties with test taking. Also that students should be assessed on more than just their ability to take a test. Students should be evaluated on the classes they take and their overall performance in school rather that just focusing on standardized tests. The problem then arises though as to how to take all of this into account while assessing all students equally. It is a big issue with many different possibilities of evolving into a more comprehensive means of evaluation.
The point that Dean Ginsberg made about there being an exuberant amount of different systems that each district in each state runs on just brings to focus the immense confusion that the public school systems cause. Having so many different ideologies and systems to educated the population of the United States makes the testing so much more difficult. If one school systems teaches with a different focus than another it makes it very hard to assess each district accordingly.
Overall Dean Ginsberg provided me with some fantastic information and point of views that I have never considered. He gave me the opportunity to expand in thinking and understanding of our society today.
On Thursday, the Dean of Education came and spoke to our class about everything happening to the schools now-a-days. He mentioned Kansas specifically. As a Texan, born and raised, some of the statistics were not interesting or relevant-seeming to me. I did feel, however, very intrigued by his statistics of national-level issues. He talked about the percentage of students that graduated from high school being at 74%... quite shocking to me! My grade started out at over 800 people freshman year. By my senior year we only graduated approximately 650 people. It does seem to be a growing issue with high school students dropping out of school. As a music therapy student, it makes me wonder if some of the students dropping out are the at-risk individuals or students with disabilities that could have been helped with proper instruction and music therapy.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to learn the issues happening against school funding at the state and national level. With all of the funding cuts that have been happening, especially to the arts programs (hello, music education and music therapy!) it can affect all aspects of my future career.
I thought it was interesting that he mentioned the problem of teacher distribution and retention rates as well. He discussed the differences between teachers wanting to work in certain areas (rural cities and inter cities teachers have the least desire to teach). The other important aspect of his talk on Thursday was about academic yearly progress and standardized testing. It was interesting hearing about how schools get their funding based on the test scores of their students. I also thought it was a little foolish when I was told about NCLB’s plan to say that by 2014 100% of students would get perfect scores on their tests. That is a ridiculous claim! Overall I found this talk semi-interesting. I don’t plan on teaching in Kansas or staying in Kansas once I graduate. I plan to go back to Texas, and we have different requirements and expectations and statistics down there that were not mentioned at all during this class. I didn’t find it interesting when he talked about specific school districts in Kansas, as I didn’t know of any of them or really care… However, I see why it was important to know about and now have that extra knowledge to keep in the back of my mind whenever I hear about more funding issues for schools.
~Rebecca Faulkner
LGBTQ Blog --
ReplyDeleteIn class on Thursday Rachel Gadd-Nelson gave a presentation on LGBTQ terminology and issues in the media. As an individual with two gay brothers, this issue is very close to my heart. However, I did not know as much of the terminology that I thought I would. Pansexual was a new word, along with intersex. Pansexual means any person who is attracted to a member of either sex or gender however does not see gender as an important aspect. Intersex is somebody whose biological sex is ambiguous. I still do not really understand what that means… how is a biological sex ambiguous?
I have heard Rachel speak before, and I find her way of communicating very pleasant and comforting. She is a very approachable individual. I noticed, while looking around the room as she spoke, that many people were very uncomfortable during the discussion, especially when she threw around words like “Queer,” “Faggot,” and “Dike.” As the media and social norms have portrayed for many years, these words are considered taboo and make people uncomfortable when hearing or saying them. It was interesting to hear that some individuals actually call themselves by these names and prefer them to other terms.
The final aspect of the class talked about “adultism.” I never really thought of this as an issue before Thursday’s class, but I do take note of it more now. As a teenager in the past, I do remember being treated unjustly by older individuals I met, whether that was by being called a “hooligan” just because I was a teenager or people assuming that I slept around or was into illegal activities due to my age. I know to not treat others in this way and hope to continue the path of educating other generations about the same pressing issue.
~Rebecca Faulkner
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ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the Dean of Education's presentation on the present state of education. His remarks were fair, unbiased and incredibly intelligent, which is unsurprising considering his status as Dean of Education for KU. His presentation made me realize that there truly is not one right answer for America's various education issues that would satisfy everyone. The problems are so varied and complicated that untangling the mess and truly improving the public education system will be a long and messy process. Some problems will be difficult, if not impossible, to fix by changing policies and passing laws. For instance, only a small percentage of teachers want to teach in rural and inner city schools; most prefer to teach in suburban areas. How can this preference be shifted? What can be done to change the minds of teachers who have decided that they would like to raise their children in a safe suburban environment? There is not a clear answer to this because it is not a matter of policy but of simple teacher preference of suburbia over rural and inner city areas.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of judging children and teachers almost exclusively from standardized testing intrigued me as well. I have always been fairly good at taking standardized tests and thus have never minded them, so it was interesting to think about them from the viewpoint of a teacher being judged based on her students' scores. The Dean of Education seemed to believe that it is a fairly inaccurate measure of a teacher's ability to teach and a student's ability to learn, and I completely agree. However, as one student pointed out, it is difficult to pinpoint a more effective measure that is as cost-effective and easy to implement. The things that make a teacher excellent or horrible are not so easy to quantify, such as the ability to inspire and motivate. Such things cannot be given numbers or statistics and compared and contrasted, so things like test scores are used instead. It is another problem with no easy solution.
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ReplyDeleteI learned a lot during Dean Rick Gingberg’s lecture on Thursday night but one aspect of his lecture made a big influence on me. Coming from a background of being an awful test taker, I agree that standardized tests are not a reliable and accurate way to judge a person’s intelligence. I feel like I do not succeed on many standardized tests because they are only tailored toward a certain type of intelligence. People can do poorly on a standardized test and still do well in college. I understand that the United States tests this way because it is time and cost efficient but it is biased toward a specific type of intelligence. For example, just because of the way my brain works, I have never done well in math and science. I automatically can predict that I will not do so well on half of the material on a standardized test. While others who succeed at those topics have an advantage over me. I do not have an answer to what the United States should do instead of standardize testing but I do think that they need to find a way to measure more then one type of intelligence. The other day I was talking to my roommate about her upcoming LSAT test and as she explained it to me, it seemed that the test measures your logical ability more then other tests. I think this might be a better way test intelligence because logic is at the base of all other subjects. You need logic to solve an algebra problem as well as formulate an argument for a paper. I believe it would give a more rounded idea of how a person will succeed in the future and judge a wider range of intelligence.
ReplyDelete-Anne Salvato
Two of the problems he mentioned that I think need to also be changed are Standardized Testing and the No Child Left Behind Act. Ever since I was in High School my teachers would talk to me about how poorly written the No Child Left Behind Act was. The reason why its a very scary rule to abide by is because if the school falls below the score expected for that year they get a warning, if they fail a second time they lose more of their funding from the government. This act relates to me through a personal experience because my High School is well known for high success in the majority of students, Shawnee Mission Northwest always gets awards for their academics. Yet, my freshman year their we had to take the test for No Child Left Behind and we had to be above the 78 percentile marking and all of our students scored well above it besides two students in our Special Education Program. By no means should any child with special needs be left out but they should not be expected to eventually score 100 percents by 2014 on standardized test, that is not what they need to be working on bettering. Our junior year we would have to take the test again and if we scored below the 80 percentile mark we would lose a lot of funding from the government. My question is how does taking money away from schools that are below the mark help promote a stronger education? For my school scoring below the mark only took efficient learning time away for our subjects to better our way of being able to choose the right answers for Government Standardized Testing. The ACT was no longer the huge test we had to worry about, but now it was 3 test that would determine how much funding we got, which puts pressure on the students because the first courses to go would be the ones that students enjoy like music, art, social sciences. Students should not be receiving any pressure from teachers and teachers should not be receiving pressure to get their students to progress in test taking skills. That is not what students need to survive in the business world, or in college. Especially people with special needs, they need to work on social skills, being able to adapt to different environments, and seeing what talents they can progress in for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteIn this week’s class, Dean Rick Ginsberg from the school of Education made a speech of education issues in the country. He talked about several aspects of education and some problems existing in today’s system, including multiple different systems cooperating in the country, main source of school funding, no child left behind policy, advantages and disadvantages of standard tests, shortage and distribution of teachers, etc. Due to my strong interest in nowadays education, the speech of Dean Rick Ginsberg attracted me and brought some issues to my awareness. What’s more, because of my special status as an international student here, the remarkable similarities and differences I have found between China and America also deserve much attention. In the following paragraphs, I will compare and contrast the education in these two countries.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the most apparent difference is that China has a single education system while America has more than fifty systems, which means here the systems not only vary from state to state, but also differ among states. The single education system in China is made by the chief government aiming to give every student fair access to education and manage education over the country in an easier way. However, Chinese government has not take provinces’ distinctions into consideration, so that sometime resource cannot be used in the most efficient way. Compared to China, America is more flexible in system enaction, but this causes another problem that it’s more complicated for federal government to manage.
Another point I cannot neglect is the shortage and distribution in China and America. The shortage of teachers is not a problem for China, because of the substantial amount of students graduating from normal universities each year, which could cause a surplus some time. In comparison this is a big deal for America now, but the situation will be alleviated after the recession, because the increase in salaries for teachers will attract more people back to education field. When it comes to uneven distribution of teachers, China and America are both confronted with the problem now. In my perspective, one practical way to overcome the difficulty is to improve welfare of teachers who are willing to work at rural area.
Reading through the posts of other students I find it interesting how different the types of education people grew up with are in this class. I myself grew up in a suburban Michigan town during my elementary school years and then in a suburban Kansas City town for my teenage years. School has always been something I have been very passionate about as well as something I have always done well with so being challenged by my school has never been an issue for me. However now that I work at an Elementary school and see the issues with funding the whole concept of education on a national level is something that is much more important to me. Making a nationwide standard for how well each student should be doing, while in theory is wonderful, is not practical in reality. The reality of a the situation is that certain areas are going to thrive better than others on a general level and penalizing students who do not live up to those expectations by letting them “slip through the cracks” is doing a disservice to our nation and especially to that student. By forcing schools to lower their standards of passing students in order to receive funding is doing just that. Education has long followed the utilitarian approach to appeasing the masses even if it means leaving the minority behind. If the world was always sunny, snow was made of cotton candy, and lakes were full of jello there would be IEP’s for all students throughout there entire academic life to ensure that they reach their full academic potential. Obviously this is something that would take far more funding and time than what can be offered. But as an educator working with children, while we must accept not being able to individualize every activity, being able to acknowledge the different types of learning styles each child possesses may help us push that child a little further than he/she would have gone.
ReplyDeleteI found the topics Dean Ginsberg discussed in his presentation to be extremely relevant to students, especially those in the public school system. The two things I was particularly interested in were his opinions about standardized testing and the problems therein, and the problem of funding. All students felt the repercussions of No Child Left Behind enacted in 2000, and I do not believe I know one person who has not complained about the imposed testing at some point. Many people consider themselves bad test takers and this system only aggravates these problems. With pressure from teachers, universities and government to excel on arbitrary exams, students often seem to revert to a more apathetic attitude with their testing. It is understandable that a standardized system is needed for comparing students against their peers but NCLB does not seem to ameliorate this issue in any way.
ReplyDeleteThe debate surrounding government funding of public schools was another area on which Ginsberg expressed dissatisfaction. He highlighted proposed ideas of vouchers and charter schools as solutions to the problem, but as he explained, neither of these have shown to increase test scores (the ultimate goal, of course). Vouchers pose the problem of an individual’s right to use the money for a religious institution, something that conflicts with the constitutional theme of separation of church and state. Another issue it presents is that if government money is going to private schools, which would probably still require tuition on top of the voucher, it takes money away from the public schools. In their current state, public schools are barely staying afloat on their minimal funding and a loss of students and their voucher money to private schools could devastate the program.
It seems to me that the real culprit of all these problems is the lack of federal instruction in the education arena. Ginsberg explained the system very well and clarified that education is a responsibility of the state, not the nation. Therefore, it seems to me that this makes it nearly impossible to have standardized system for education throughout 50 different programs and it is in turn very difficult to fund them.
Dean of the School of Education Rick Ginsberg presented several issues during our last class of which I was greatly unaware. One that primarily interested me was the condition of small rural schools. These small school districts cannot run as efficiently as large ones, due to operating costs, small number of attending children and faculty, and dwindling financial support from the community. Staffing is also a problem in these districts, due to very few educators wishing to isolate themselves in a rural environment. However, in rural communities, the school is often the focus; sporting events, academic achievements, and other activities serve almost as a social life for citizens of small towns; thus, their success is important to more than just the students. Being from a school in Topeka where resources and funding were never an issue, I was surprised to learn of these problems.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting point was the use of standardized testing in education. The government, as well as educators in higher education, fail to realize that while these tests provides a standard measurement of progress, they should not be used to measure intelligence or academic worth. Some children simply do not test well, and the high importance placed on standardized testing is an immense disadvantage in their education. In some cases, the score one achieves on a test like the ACT is the judge for whether or not they will be able to afford their education; in truth, this test is generally unreliable in determining how well a student will perform in the college environment. Instead, Dean Ginsberg recommends looking at past grades achieved and how rigorous of a curriculum a student experienced.
As a person who hadn’t thought much about the problems in our education system, this lecture did much to inform me on the issue, as well as wonder which of these problems may affect me. While my educational experience has been stable and satisfactory, I began to think of the state of other’s opportunities and what could be done to better education for all students in America.