Discussion questions based on the readings: The Teachers' Unions' Last Stand and School's Shake Up is Embraced by the President.
First, briefly explain in your own words what you understand Race to the Top program is about. Next, comments on whether or not you agree with action such as Rhode Island school board's decision to fire the entire faculty? Why/not?
Second, if you had the opportunity to speak to your local school board what suggestions would you offer to improve the quality of the English education at your school?
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21 comments:
Race to the Top is all about performance. States compete to achieve higher standards of education and improve schools.
I feel that this has high points and low points. I like the idea of it being a competition which promotes new ideas and new ways of thinking. I think, however, that students and parents could easily take advantage of this program. If they do not like a teacher they could purposely do badly on a test which would reflect on the teacher and possibly get them fired. This is not what the program is about and it's sad to see that this will more than likely happen multiple times.
I don't agree with the decision to fire the entire staff of the Rhode Island school. I can sum it up in one word: Experience. Because they got rid of so many teachers and staff, they have to start all over finding new teachers. When getting rid of old teachers, the school board also got rid of the teacher's knowledge of the world and experience in the classroom. This experience is vital to the learning process. I know my favorite teacher this year was my Biology teacher who had been teaching since the 80's. He had been through more in his life than anyone I had ever known and he used those stories to help teach concepts and new ideas. When the school board in Rhode Island got rid of the teachers they made themselves vunerable to the unexperienced teachers just coming out of college. I believe that the experience of teachers is what makes them valuable.
If I got the chance to talk to my school board I would encourage setting higher standards for entering teachers to meet, education wise. I would also encourage them to add more AP classes, including English, to help our students be ready for college and the world beyond.
I think that Race to the Top is a school reform program that tries to encourage school to comepete for money set aside for the schools to use. They have to make certain requirements and then apply for it... At least thats what I get out of it. I think that Rhode Island was kind-of harsh in firing all of the teachers. They could have taken different actions such as testing the teachers for competence or something like that. Then after that, they could have fired the teachers that didnt preform well.
Finally, If I could make suggestions about my own English, I would like to maybe incorporate more creative writing, and writing courses. We dont have many writing projects, and normally we only have one main writing project per year. I would like to have more writing.
Race to the Top, is pretty much a swift kick in the butt. It’s a fancy inspiring name but it pretty much means, to me, that our education is failing and we need to change something. Instinctively we respond to a challenge and competition. It is in our blood to be the number one, to win. I think by coming up with this challenge, that we might further increase the want and need for education in the U.S.
Yes I do, this sounds mean but I am totally fine with it. If I was going to a school where teachers both in the elementary and high school, didn’t teach at my level, and I was failing…I would be ticked off! There must have been something that went wrong that just stopped the learning process. By starting over and cleaning the slate, I think it would bring the idea of a new start. Sometimes that’s just what people need to become motivated.
Actually I'm pretty happy with how our English class and such is ran. The teachers are great, I learn a lot, and I enjoy myself. the only suggestion I have, is the ability to be involved in writing contests and things related to that issue.
The Race to the Top is a national competition between states to improve the quality of education. Schools have to meet certain criteria to recieve grants. The schools will be assessed by the success of the students and the teachers and principles are held responsible for the success of the students. The bar has been raised.
It would be beneficial to expose the students to more areas of writing. Organizing after-school workshops. Accepting feedback from students. Offer electives for creative writing or compostion or other sub-sections of English studies.
The way I see it, Race to the Top is a competition issued to state and local school boards to get funding to better their schools. However, in comparison to previous funding programs, schools must earn ‘points’, which set the amount of funding they receive. The points are earned by issuing reforms in their districts, reforms for more challenging standards, better assessments, more excellent principals and teachers, tracking students learning, and making a strong commitment to better their lowest performing schools. As for the decision the Rhode Island made, I’m all for it. The teachers are welcome to reapply for their positions, so the best teachers will remain, but the less-qualified teachers will be replaced. I wish my school would do this! There are many teachers who, once they reach tenure, slack off in their duties, and the students suffer as a result.
I would ask for a review of some of my teachers. This past year, I was very disappointed in the quality of my teacher- an Accelerated English teacher no less! She would test, then teach, and was very opposed to admitting when she was wrong, such as on a test or quiz question. Also, she was rather unclear about what assignments actually were (by that I mean she wasn’t clear what she was looking for), and that was very frustrating. I would also ask for new dictionaries. While our technology in the classroom is wonderful, the actual books are getting rather worn. Finally, I would ask for more rewards for excellent teachers. Last year I had a brilliant English teacher, but I feel that he should be rewarded more for his hard work and excellent style.
The Race to the Top is an effective way of improving the education of students. It involves a national competition for states to compete against other state schools around the country. The scores of each state are based on the achievement of the students on their state testing. The winning states recieve money for their educational system.
I agree with the decision to have the entire Rhode Island school board reapply for their jobs. The reason why is because when a school is failing year after year, you have to wonder if it's really the performance of the teachers that are to blame.
For my school I know that we have had our own problem with our English program. Of late my school has had to bring in a traveling teacher to pick up the slack of the primary English teacher because it had come to the attention that the English teacher wasn't teaching the students anything. But because of the Teachers Union and her seniority as a teacher at my school, the school board wasn't able to fire her, only hire another teacher for other classes. If I had the opportunity to improve the English program at my school I would change the rules relating to senior teachers and their performance levels and whether or not they should keep their jobs in relation to their student's test scores.
I think that firing all the teachers in Rhode Island was unnecessary. What if the teachers and faculty tried their best to better their students education but the students just weren't responding. Especially when the job market is unstable, Obama should try to perserve jobs, not destroy them. If the teachers weren't doing their job, I think the school board would be smart enough to start their own reform because before the Race to the Top schools got money when they did well. So you would think that if that school wasn't doing well they would put some changes in place...but you never know.
So basically, I think this whole "Race to the Top" deal was initiated with the long-term goal of raising the quality of American education. In the meantime, I think it's supposed to reward the states that are REALLY driving reform, and it is also supposed to eventually lead to more successful students and teachers.
Um...about the Rhode Island school board's decision, I don't know exactly where I stand. Sure, the idea of having a clean slate and starting from scratch is a nice one, but was it entirely necessary to fire ALL of the staff? I don't really think so. High school teachers can't be blamed for the lack of skills that the students have when they come to high school. A lot of times when students perform at a low level, they just give up, and if they aren't seeking help, its most likely that teachers won't go out of their way to help the students. The lack of success should be at least blamed partially on the students, especially if they aren't requesting help, because in reality, the teachers aren't the ones taking the tests. We are.
From what I understand, the Race to the Top program was designed to make sure that all school districts in our country are held to the same educational standard. States have the choice to participate, and if they do they are judged on a 500-point scale. Federal legislation decides what points states do and don't get depending on standardized test scores, among many other forms of testing.
With the RI high school teacher firings, I'm not entirely sure whether or not I agree with it! I can't decide who to put the blame on. In some ways it is the elementary teachers' fault for not understanding the students' needs immediately and addressing them at a younger age. It can also be the students' fault for not asking for help when they need it. Lastly, blame could be placed on the high school teachers because they may not realize the students' needs and take care of them right away. Though this may be good for the school to start with a clean slate, many students will be exactly the same in years to come if they don't ask for the proper help that they require.
If I was given the opportunity to speak to my local school board about English education, I would tell them to keep up the good work! Though there are some minor improvements that could be made, the overall quality of our program is good. :)
The Race to the Top program is about schools competing for government funding. The schools are creating a "blueprint" that outlines the way they want to reform their schools and how they want to bring some of their lower schools up. Winning the Race to the Top is based on a 500 point system. Schools test scores and the abilities of their faculty and principals go into each states scores.
I think the Rhode Island decision to fire all of their faculty was a little outrageous. Firing teachers can't and won't help any student. The student's need teachers so they can grow and succeed. Just because a school is doing poorly doesn't mean it's all due to the teachers. Sometimes the funding just isn't there and the teachers can't do anything if they can't get the materials that they need. Rhode Island should have worked on their funding and, if really necessary, they could lay off a few of the teachers that they feel could use a break or possibly are doing the greatest by the school's standards. Though, the firing of the whole faculty was too far.
If I could talk to my school board I would just explain our English program to them first. I have been in regular and AP English, so I could give them both ends of the spectrum of what should be done. I would let them know that I don't think we are challenging the students enough. We have a developmental English for every grade. That's nice and all, but then it allows students to not have to try. Some students slack off because they know at one point they will just get spoon-fed their English curriculum and they won't have to worry about it after that. That isn't fair to the kids who work hard in their English class. Even AP English could be a little more challenging. The AP course actually had to be submitted to a college board to be reviewed, but that was about 10-15 years ago. While the course is challenging it could work the brains of the students a little bit more. I would also talk to them about allowing more books to be read in the classes. Some books that would be really beneficial to the classes have been banned because of their "content." We are in high school now so we can handle whatever is said in a book.
I think race to the top is trying to get students and teachers etc. to do the best that they can. It's used so we can be at the top of academics.
But I think that there's only so far we can go. I don't agree with the actions to fire the entire faculty. It seems that if an entire faculty has to be fired, then it's not just their fault. That's a lot of people to fire! Sometimes there are students that just will not cooperate, and the teacher can't do much about that. They can try to get the student involved and do better, but in the end it's the student's choice on how much effort they put in..not the teacher's. I do like that teachers can reapply for a job, but sometimes that shouldn't be necessary for the whole faculty.
I agree that if a teacher is not doing a good, respectable job they should be fired, but if students aren't doing well it shouldn't all be blamed on the teacher's performance.
If I had the opportunity to speak to my school board I would suggest that we offer different areas for students to have more diversity for classes, and maybe a more organized journalism class. :)
The Race to the Top program is about improving public education in America. The Obama Administration’s goal is to achieve this end through innovative approaches. He believes that the most “fundamental obligation” of the US is to their Education system. The future of our country rests in the hands of the public schools, which educates a vast majority of the youth of America, who are the next generation. Last year 4 billion dollars of the National budget was set aside for Education improvement. For the first round of the Race to the Top competition, the states of Delaware and Tennessee the major awards; they had the scored highest (455 and 444) on the 500-point scale, which was used to evaluate the different areas in which all of the states were required to report about. The second round of Race to the Top will be focusing on local school districts. 1.3 billion dollars will be going to this round. The areas being assessed include: implementing more challenging graduation standards, better academic assessments, the quality of their principles and teachers, cutting edge data analysis, and the strength of their commitment to helping struggling students.
I believe that the Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty was somewhat extreme. If they evaluated and saw that all of the kids were failing and all of the teachers were doing poorly, though student questionnaires or something of that nature, then maybe their actions would be justified. However, I don’t believe that it’s possible for every teacher in a school to be a bad teacher. There has to be at least one or two good ones in the bunch. They don’t deserve to be fired or have to “reapply” for their jobs because of the failure of the majority. Individual evaluation should be a key factor.
At my school, our English teachers are some of the best in our city. Shanley is known for its academics. Last year our freshman English teacher however was, to put it lightly, the worst teacher I have ever had. She was fresh out of college and started out “too nice” and as a result all the kids too advantage of her. She had no control of her students; a “push over.” I would suggest that my school board not fire any of our teachers who teach sophomores and up, but simply work keep doing what they are doing. The new freshman English teacher this year was also my Journalism teacher and a major step up from the old one. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement. Our faculty as it is right now though is the best it has been in the past few years.
I think that English and the environment just needs to modernize.
Our school is starting to use more techonology already. We create videos, sometimes learn on the web as a class,and more.
Learning by the things we are most used to will allow us to be more interested.
For example, writing notes onto paper is a lot different than on a word document. For one writing it on paper takes longer, and two it does have spell check or any of the fancy options.
Technology envelopes our lives. It's not a bad thing by any means, because if that was the case, we would still be using parchment (if evolution of learning was a sin).
In my opinion, English needs to be as advancing as those learning it. Students need to be challenged again and again in new and exciting ways. Facebook will most likely become an important teaching tool as teachers join and create new groups for classes. Blogging is a good way to encourage class discusion and use technology at the same time. The more teachers can use tech. in the classroom, I think the more students are going to want to learn. Technology can be a great motivator. Being able to use computers, iPods and cell phones in the classroom can make kids feel more comfortable and willing to work and speak out.
In my opinion, English needs to be as advancing as those learning it. Students need to be challenged again and again in new and exciting ways. Facebook will most likely become an important teaching tool as teachers join and create new groups for classes. Blogging is a good way to encourage class discusion and use technology at the same time. The more teachers can use tech. in the classroom, I think the more students are going to want to learn. Technology can be a great motivator. Being able to use computers, iPods and cell phones in the classroom can make kids feel more comfortable and willing to work and speak out.
I think that teachers could use more technology. They should ask students for ideas on how they want to do an assigned project. Be creative!! Use more modern literature. Incorporate some rewards for finishing homework or doing well on tests. The school should offer some AP or honors classes. Teachers should be open-minded and tuned into their surroundings.
What kinds of changes should we make to the way we teach English, as suggested by the video?
What I think is important is to differentiate the curriculum. I think teachers need to offer the new technology option, but also keep in mind the older ways, such as posters and essays. Not every assignment needs to be made with a multimedia! Children learn different ways, such as visual, auditory, etc. Teachers should accommodate those learning styles in their assignments. The flip side to this is to ensure that students leave the classroom with a comfortable knowledge with all types of presenting what they know. To do this, teachers needs to assign different types of assignments.
What are some things that should be changed in English education?
I really liked the idea of making a facebook for a character, it could be kind of fun doing one for a very old fashioned character!
I would also like it if schools read more modern books, like the ttyl books and sarah dessen book...although I'm not sure if the guys would like that haha, maybe teachers could find books that are interesting for girls and boys, I'm sure there are some.
I was thinking that some classes could read Jodi Piccoult books, honestly her books do teach you! (I read handle with care and decided to do a biology project on the bone disease that the little girl in the book had)
The books also really make you think about where you stand with religion and ethics and they're just really good discussion books. I also liked Breken's idea, where if the students got their homework done they would be able to do something fun like go outside. :)
"What kinds of changes should we make to the way we teach English, as suggested by the video?"
With what the video was kind of putting out there, I think that there should be more technology use in the classroom. Some teachers are afraid to let their students use computers frequently because they think they will get off task, but they need to trust the students and the way they learn. Now students learn a lot better when they can use a computer or listen to a book on their iPod. This isn't because they are non-learners in a way, it's just the way the students today have grown up. At Oak Grove the students get a laptop for the whole year and they can use it for their homework and things like that. I think that is a good idea. English programs should have laptops available for students so they can always be writing. Especially when it comes to English, the teachers should be more technologically advanced so their students and themselves can move along with each thing they want to do. The main thing is to bring in as much technology we can use.
English Class Suggestions
I think that we should incorporate environment and technology into teaching more often. Integrating environment into teaching could be simply going to the library or going outside to study during a class, or it could be as much as changing the look of a classroom and making that homier almost, more welcoming and inviting instead of blah, taupe, and fluorescent lighting. Kids need to be able to work in all kinds of environments, and in such a diverse society, we need to encourage this and teach kids how to do this.
I'm running out of time, so just a quick snippet on technology: we need to vary the way it is used in the classroom, balance it out with traditional classroom learning (? idk how to explain what I'm thinking at present), and make sure its use is spicing things up.
What kinds of changes should we make to the way we teach English, as suggested by the video?
There are many creative and engaging ideas in which a teacher could implement into their lesson plans to improve the effectiveness of their teaching. A majority of the ideas suggested in the video were technology based. 21st century America is a high tech world. We do everything using technology: cell phones, e-mail, internet, iPods, etc. Teenagers in particular are living lives ruled by technology; and although that has the ability to lead to negative results (such as addiction), the fact of the matter is that this is how students would best like to learn. Some ideas include starting class blogs for students to follow the lesson plans; implementing individualized activities, for example, students using their preferred medium to learn. In elementary school, English teachers would do well to engage little kids by teaching them in a way that captures their attention and making learning memorable and fun for them.
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