There was a great study done by a professor here that found that some of the best performing schools in the country were the ones on the military bases run by the DoD. Yes, they had a standardized curriculum (so students being transferred when mom/dad moved bases would be in the same place as their old school), but what the study found was the crucial difference was astounding in its simplicity. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.

Because of the culture at the bases, parents tended to know one another and the teachers much better than your “typical” public school. They were also much more involved in communicating and volunteering with the schools. They knew more about what their child was or was not doing and were more likely to be addressing issues at home as well as at school.

IMHO, nothing can replace a parent who cares about and is involved in his/her child’s education. And too many parents can’t/won’t do that today.

I’m good at the questions. It’s the answers at which I suck.

Will

No Child Left Behind is a big steaming pile of fail. Every teacher I’ve talked to gets frothy at the mouth over this. The kids have to take tests which are used to evaluate school progress … tests that have no implications for the kids (don’t affect how they are taught, what they are taught, don’t evaluate the students’ weak or strong points, they are simply used to measure school performance). So teachers spend ridiculous amounts of time teaching kids to take these tests rather than teaching them substantive information, or HOW to learn, or the JOY of learning. Plus, the older kids know that they will suffer no repercussions, so teachers they don’t like may find themselves in trouble when the test scores for their classes do a nose-dive, and it may be totally unrelated to the capabilities of the teachers.

Additionally, teachers say they aren’t allowed to hold kids back who aren’t performing like they should be, so we are graduating more and more kids totally unprepared for college, for the labor market, etc.

Oh, and all of this crap? Unfunded by the federal government.

I DESPISE NCLB, because I am convinced it does not achieve what it should … children who are well educated and have the skills they need to be competent voters and responsible, contributing adults. Of course, in my more paranoid moments, I wonder if that isn’t the point. If you don’t teach kids to think, they will become adults easily swayed by fear, rumor, suggestion, and lies.

Oh, sorry. Rant button. I will go back to work now.

One out of three is not ok.

Will