End of the Road for Students?

Question

The failure of the DOE is complete and absolute. I worked as a counselor at a

high school and then decided to become a teacher in order to better help kids.

What I have found along my journey as an SES instructor and Substitute teacher

for the past 6 years is completly depressing.

Due to NCLB there is a smoke and mirrors game taking place with students;

standards are diminished to the degree where a 30 is considered passing on a

standardized test. Administrators don't reprimand children because it will

adversly affect their statistics which will then negatively impact their

funding.

The worst of all these ills is the mentality of appeasement that is being

practiced by teachers in order to "get by" through the day. I subbed in a 5th

grade class recently and was disgusted by the regular co-teacher taking a

survey of which treats the children will want in order to behave, do their work

and follow instructions. During a break we were talking and she asked me " do I

offer kids treats to behave?", my response was no, I thought it was terrible

lesson to teach kids and that it will harm them in the future. Her response was

priceless; "Yeah but that's in the future" so much for the character component

of education.

P.S. The croneyism taking place is off the charts. I work around teachers who

don't have degrees and haven't passed the exams and yet they are permanent.

Answer 1

I HEAR YA!!  Yep I know all this c**p. I hate it because MOST parents in the whole country don't even know what's going on. I can tell you some horror stories alright!

I had to take both my kids out of public school because the school fought me to no end becasue they wouldn't help them thru special ed.

Thank GOD for homeschool!

I am VERY interested in this topic and as a parent I have had many experiences over the last 8 yrs with 6 schools in 3 different districts. Mostly with special ed, and it is horrible.

I learned that special ed is the same all over the country.

One of the amuzing things that happened is, my daughter has a 504 plan. She had to live with her grandparents for a while. THey asked the principal why wasn't it being followed? The principal actually said 'we have something called 'no child left behind act' that we have to follow. We'll see if that will help her and if it doesn't, then we'll do the 504'

Can you believe it!!?!?!?

I am SO glad I have her back home now, but I had to start homeschooling her starting this week. She is a senior and I'm having to go back I don't know how many years to get her caught up because they didn't teach her a thing, she kept failing all classes, I saw their 'tricks' they do for their so called joke of a 'summer school'.

She has had to be in summer school every summer while in high school. I HATE that she is going to have to be in homeschool about 3 or 4 more years because the school did not do the JOB that  *I*  paid them to do!!

Speaking of no disclipline because of NCLB, that's why there is so much bullying going on! The schools ignore it because they dont' want to have proof of it. PLUS, they get rid of the child who is being bullied so the 'bully' might calm down and have no more incidents.  THere is no document of proof if they get rid of the one who is being bullied.

It burns me up!!!!

Oh let me get off my soapbox now, I could go on forever! If you would like to talk more about it, email me  [e-mail]

Answer 2

One thing that you should know is that you seem to have a misunderstanding of the use of reinforcement for children. It would truly be nice if all children were intrinsically motivated to do things. However, what do you do if they aren't? What if they don't care a bit if you praise them? Then you have to go to a primary reinforcer, such as a treat or food.

I am not sure whether the teacher was right in asking the whole class about what they want for a reinforcer, but I do know that using a reinforcement menu is very valuable.

So why do I think this is OK? It is because I know that reinforcement is a process. First you pair reinforcement with praise so that they become linked. Gradually you fade out the primary reinforcer when the child has become intrinsically motivated.

And as for harming them in the future I have just one question for you. Would you go to work everyday without being paid? Children that lack motivation aren't getting paid. They are usually unsuccessful in academics and do not get very many opportunities to shine. And all kids will grow up and want money for what they do. I suggest you go to Dr. Mac's Amazing Behaviorior Management Page to find out more about reinforcement and behavior.

You must understand that your own experience is not enough of a sample to base your opinions on. I suggest that you do some reading before you start giving people advice.

NCLB is horrible for everyone, but not for the reasons you are giving. Teachers are forced to teach directly to the tests and creative classrooms are a thing of the past. Children with disabilities, unless they are retarded, are held to the same standards as children without disabilities and end up doing grade 3 several times. There is very little research that supports holding children back. It is in fact highly correlated to the drop out rate.

Being a sub is not being a teacher. Get your own classroom and then you will better understand what is going on.

Answer 3

It sounds like you would much better fit into a private or parochial scool that still holds the kids to high standards. The public education syustem is rather flawed and out country will be in trouble when these kids grow up and take over running the country.