While the national conversation about education would never be the same, stunningly few of the Commission’s recommendations actually have been enacted. Now is not the time for more educational research or reports or commissions. We have enough commonsense ideas, backed by decades of research, to significantly improve American schools. The missing ingredient isn’t even educational at all. It’s political. Too often, state and local leaders have tried to enact reforms of the kind recommended in A Nation at Risk only to be stymied by organized special interests and political inertia. Without vigorous national leadership to improve education, states and local school systems simply cannot overcome the obstacles to making the big changes necessary to significantly improve our nation’s K-12 schools (Wikipedia)
Tag Archives: parents’ responsibility
Are We Still At Risk?
25 AprFunctional Illiteracy, A Modern Plague
9 AprLiteracy is a vague term that is often misapplied by politicians and academic pundits, without forgetting students who falsely believe that the ability to decode letters on a written page is the equivalent skill. We teachers often criticize the new generation’s reluctance to read “good” books; or any book for that matter, for I have visited quite a few homes completely bereft of written text, save for the occasional newspaper. I much prefer the term, for the last example, of functional illiterate people; that is, humans who have learned how to speak, read and write (in that order), but who simply “forget” their lessons and stop polishing their literate skills.
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The best in education and society
- Healthy Students In Body and Mind June 17, 2013If you parents trust me, the school, with your kids during most of the day, shouldn’t I have more say so in their eating habits and in their personal health? Why don’t schools, especially the public K-12 ones, take a bigger role in children’s health? After all, kids spend more than half a year under […]jcsprenger
- Testing? What For? June 16, 2013Standardized tests results are typically too general to be useful in every day teaching activities (Educating Students with Behavior Disorders, p. 135, Rosenberg et al, Pearson, 2004 ) If experts like these state that teachers cannot use the results of standard test in their every day classes, then what good are they? Why are we wasting […]jcsprenger
- What Do We Do Now? June 14, 2013“Open your eyes, your ears, and all your wonderful senses to Nature’s teachings” As usual, parents miss school days, while their kids feel just the opposite. Teachers are often substitute nannies, while schools have become daycare centers. So when summer vacation hits working moms and dads, the big question is ‘what do we do with […]jcsprenger
- Sanity Prevailed June 10, 2013“Once a teacher, always a teacher” As I reflect on my 200+ blog articles, I wonder whether the quality is there frequently enough; then I read your comments and I remember those who asked to be notified when I publish a new effort. You guys are awesome and generous in your observations; you make it […]jcsprenger
- Living With Mom and Dad…Still June 4, 2013“Caring thoughts make for a meaningful life” We have reached the end of another exciting school year; hundreds of seniors eagerly await graduation day, a marvelous opportunity to transition to adult life. It is but a commencement toward what can be a frightening experience. Parents of course are eager to watch their children fly away, […]jcsprenger
- Abusive Parents May 30, 2013“Don’t do to me what you don’t want me to do to you” How do you deal with the parent of a disabled student who uses speech laced with profanity in an ARD (Admission, Review and Dismissal) meeting? If the mother or the father doesn’t show proper respect toward the teachers and the staff, should the […]jcsprenger
- Last Days Anxiety May 27, 2013“What we do today will decide what we are tomorrow” Today we started our last two weeks; teachers can finally “teach” normally as state exams fade like an unpleasant memory. Biology in particular is doing the real work by dissecting rats, piglets, cats,sharks, fish, squid, and owl pellets (to see what they eat). Even the ‘bad’ students, […]jcsprenger
- The Tower Of Babel May 22, 2013The Tower of Babel does exist amongst us; it’s called public schools We have various levels of English-speaking students in high school, from the recent arrival who doesn’t speak a word to those who have lived in the U.S. for 2-3 years or the youngsters who never bothered to learn the language well even though […]jcsprenger
- Democratic Education May 18, 2013Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so (Wikipedia, Philosophy of Education) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the famous philosopher born in Geneva, Switzerland (as […]jcsprenger
- My Future, Which One? May 14, 2013The next Einstein may well be an illegal immigrant already living amongst us I was just discussing with a fellow teacher our most important role in helping teens become independent as adults; I told him that I had met an ex-student, a special education one, working in a supermarket packing goods for customers. It was […]jcsprenger
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