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I am posting this link in hopes that when people on the forum look at math scores and they will see a drop there is a reason why-
the link is:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/education/15746706.htm (broken link)
but NC is not unique, here on LI we had similar drops in many schools and the results show as the grades go higher, the scores gets worse-
From the article
And the U.S. Department of Education is allowing the state to change its targets for "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law. For 2005-06, schools will have to have 65.8 percent of students proficient in math, as opposed to 81 percent under old standards-
What are educators doing, in one sentence they say these tests help to raise the standards as even some kids that pass are not proficient in an area - on the other hand as above, they are lowering the standards as noted.
It make you wonder are our children really learning what they need to know?
Are they raising or lowering the standards?
Last, if a test is geared so many pass, how much can we count on these tests to really know if a school is teaching.
Children nowadays have twice as much homework than I remember, yet teachers still get paid next to nothing in most states.
If teachers were paid well, I really think it would help.
But....no I won't start on politics here..sorry.
It is true some cities have better schools, unfortuantely, in the U.S people vote on issues dealing with schools...in FL here most are retired so guess what that means for the schools here and the poor kids.
No Child left behind - if you read the actual legislation does have some things in it that makes sense the problem is with all of the state mandates + this, schools do not have a lot of the resources needed when it comes to making these mandated programs successfull.
I agree children nowadays are given more work younger and many people feel that homework has no value - infact there was a recent article about this in the Ral N&0
IMO, teachers pay should have nothing to do with the education we are giving our children
I am not a teacher either - here on LI our teachers are very highly paid but all our scores in all schools are not so great. our scores fell too
When it comes to learning and how well each individual child does, there are many variables - the ability of the student, the learning environment, the competence of the teacher (Like any job, some are better then others) and parents -
Where I went to school in the 80's, teachers were paid well and it was and still is a safe, wonderful school. (Solon Ohio)
I think if the city or state or the gov't for that matter, would put more money into the school system it would make a difference. Well, also in my home town, any bill to raise taxes for the schools always passed. But we shouldn't have to vote to have better schools!! That is the only pet peev I have about that.
Sad to say socioeconomic status is a great indicator.
Also, if kids are tested with college-bound standards who would never be college bound (ie vocational) are we really serving them?
How about special ed- they take the same tests! It pulls the scores down.
Pretending everyone wants to go to college is not a big help. In Europe at age 14 you go on a college or vocatinal track, then at 17-18 you graduate with the equivalent of 2 years of US college, or a vocational degree, & thus can work, or go to university if appropriate.
Here we dumb everything down, push everyone to college, then dumb down college so you need a masters or MBA to be marketable. What a mess.
I find what many people said here to be true. However...being a teacher is very hard!! We are expected to make sure that every student makes it. We are expected to make non-English speaking and special needs students to take that same test and pass. Yet teachers get the blunt of the blame. Overcrowding is a HUGE issue. There needs to be 15-18 children in one elementary room and that's it! How can 29 kindergarteners all learn at the same pace and be ready for first grade? Then, teachers have to be a social worker and a psychologist for the students who have ADHD (no meds), emotionally disabled, or learning disabled. A child who needs services might not even be looked at or tested for two years. Then let's factor in the parents who don't care or their child can do no wrong. So many principal's refuse to back up their teachers and let the parents run the school. They are so afraid that they might make someone mad. What to do...
Make strict laws that forbids no more than 18 children in elementary rooms.
Use lotto money to help build more schools. If taxes are so high in NC then what part of that is for education?
See what schools are succeding, study them, and repeat their actions. Just an FYI, schools that do great hold the parents totally accountable for their child, help the parents become self sufficient, test scores are high, and the principal is totally involved with everyone and backs up the teachers. The teachers and the parents get involved and work together. This does work and a school in New York was doing excellent in this area.Test score were very high. Higer ups closed it because it was making the other two schools near them look bad.
It's all political and those who make the big decissions don't have a clue of what really needs to be done. So we have to get invloved more.
No Child Left Behind needs to be changed to No School Left Behind. So many schools are in horrible conditions, very overcrowded, no music or art programs. When students have to go to this everyday, this makes them feel like if no one cares about me why should I care. If a DC senetor can spend $2-3 billion of dollares on a bridge in Alaska that no one wanted, then we should not give into the excuse that there's no money for education. This is a huge lie! Basically, it's those with money get the best, those without get the leftovers.
Children's needs should come first not test scores.
I had to respond to this one. I totally agree. No child is "left behind" because all the others are held back too. It seems as if educators focus only on test taking and not teaching. I understand that quite a bit of that "control" is out of the teacher's hands but the mentality of the school boards boggle the mind. My 8th grader informed us this term, that their math problem aren't counted wrong if they get the wrong answer only if they do the "steps" wrong in finding the answer...where's the logic in that? Our 5th grader has a slight learning disability which was compounded in his first few years of elementary school when some "bright bulb" decided that teaching phonics was useless and determined that "creative spelling" was the way of the future...
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a joke
