Nancy E. Bailey's Blog, page 92

To the Pretenders Atop the Ed. Ladder–This is How You Spell D-I-S-C-O-N-N-E-C-T

One wonders what sort of alternative universe the so-called education leaders live in these days—most whom only taught a year—if they taught at all, and who most likely never bothered to lower themselves to take one of those silly courses … Continue reading →

Hey! Who’s that With the Baby Grand on their Back?

Memphis and the surrounding suburbs have been through quite a lot of “churning” with the school merger of the city schools with the county schools. Most everyone spots the corporate fingerprints. They’re all over the place. Chain charters, Teach for … Continue reading →

Great Public Schools Focus on Student Interests

I wonder how many parents out there remember when anyone at their child’s school asked these questions: What are your child’s interests? Does your student have any hobbies? How do they like to spend their free time?      I am … Continue reading →

Homemade Activities to Target Disabilities (and/or Just for Fun)–Puzzles!

Just in time for the holidays! I have blogged about not letting the current issues in public schools steal the today that you have enjoying your children and helping them to learn. I know that is easier said than done. … Continue reading →

Does the Tea Party Love Teach for America?

I read an interesting blog post by Plunderbund all about Teach for America in Ohio. Cleveland pays $9,000 (for two years) in addition to regular salaries and benefits to hire TFA. In other places, like Memphis and Pittsburg, Bill Gates … Continue reading →

What Part of Individual Educational Plan Don’t They Understand?

A recent Ed. Week article, “Common Core’s Promise Collides with IEP Realities,” claims, “Special Education teachers struggle to make sure individual education programs align with standards.” Wow! You could have fooled me! I thought IEPs were tailored to student needs, … Continue reading →

The Hurtful Reality of High Stakes Testing—Let Them Eat Cake!

Last Thursday night I had the honor to sit on a panel of distinguished educators, parents, a school board member, and two students, in Jackson, TN. The event covered standardized testing and was sponsored by the Tennessee Education Association (TEA). … Continue reading →

Are You a Coach or a Teacher?

The “coaching” post generated criticism. Several individuals argued that coaching can include good attributes and there is nothing wrong with the term. Some teachers, who have been or are currently called coaches, took offense. I am not criticizing teachers/coaches personally. … Continue reading →

“Coaching” Applied to Teaching–Why I Don’t Like It

“Teaching Coaches” have become commonplace as public school curriculum is converted to Common Core. The plan is to enlist teachers, lots of them, to coach other teachers how to instruct using Common Core.

In most places these teaching coaches get a stipend of $5-6,000 to help transform a school district into a Common Core wonderland. So-called budget-strapped school districts are able, through the state, to still find funds to add these bonuses, because, as we are informed, Common Core has been chosen to lift schools out of their academic doldrums and create a level playing field for students. Still, Common Core State Standards have never been fully tested–never pilot tested. It worries many educators and parents.

We are not even clear on who devised the actual standards! And those, who we know of, like David Coleman, were never real educators. So investing all this time and money into the Common Core is a pretty risky venture in more ways than one. But putting that aside, it is the word “coaching” that I want to address today.

First, I realize if you look up coaching on Wikipedia, there are a lot of definitions relating to actual teaching in regards to coaching. I just happen to disagree. Coaching, for me, refers to sports and winning games. I’d venture that’s what comes to most people’s minds when the word is used.

In the context of sports and playing games, I think the term coaching is appropriate and relevant. I also do not want to offend real coaches and the science surrounding what they do. A great deal of strategizing goes into winning a game. It makes the sport exciting. I respect coaches for the professional jobs they do.

But I don’t like calling school teachers coaches. It sounds like they are also in a game and reminds me that schools are currently being forced to race against each other to  win. We are told they are competing globally, by state and even locally. Schools, no matter how needy, won’t get funding if they don’t play the game and win! For many of us, that’s troubling. I also don’t think teaching students should be about winning, and yet that is what drives all the changes being foisted on schools today.

A lot of what’s behind what’s happened to schools in the last 30 years, and this notion of how schools must compete, started with the belief that public schools failed and couldn’t keep up with other countries. Google A Nation at Risk to learn more about this if needed.  But we should know, by now, that wasn’t the case then and isn’t the case now. A look at the suppressed Sandia report (1990) is a good place to start to see that public schools, while they needed to improve, were improving! Edutopia provides a wonderful article on this issue and is found easily on the Internet.

Yet, the public is still led to believe America’s schools went down hill long ago and continue to decline. You hear it with every conversation in the media–even surrounding preschool! Connecting 3 and 4 year old children with the global economy seems like a real stretch, but that’s the message behind many preschool initiatives. It is too bad, because preschoolers, especially disadvantaged preschoolers, benefit from good preschools. But pushing children, at this age, to compete is not what early learning should be about.

Common Core carries this further. It is one more new program to supposedly save schools, even though public schools originally didn’t need saving, and also, despite not knowing if the Common Core works! If anything, the program might take America’s students backwards! Along with this, I have always worried that a self-fulfilling prophesy is at play surrounding the negative speak concerning public schools. If you keep saying America’s schools are bad, they eventually will be.

In fact, I would venture to say, if you want to see America’s schools as competing and playing a game, today’s so-called teaching coaches are more likely now coaching the losing team. I wouldn’t bet on any Superbowl championship ten years from now.

 

 

 

What Really Scares Parents IS Arne Duncan!

Yesterday we learned what Arne Duncan said—in support of Common Core State Standards. At first I didn’t think I could write about it because it made me sick. But then I decided I had to write about it.

From The Washington Post: Duncan said, “It’s fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were, and that’s pretty scary.”

To this I must say, NO, Mr. Duncan. That’s not what’s scary. Here’s what really keeps many parents, of all different colors and background, up at night.

1. Having an Autistic child who you know could make progress, but there’s no behavioral program in your public school to serve them.

2. Recognizing there is no realistic Individual Education Plan for your child and your child’s needs are ignored.

3. Watching your child cry in fear and agony over repetitive testing.

4. Knowing the tests are totally inappropriate and out to get your child, their teacher and the school.

5. Fearing your school will be closed and converted into a chain, for-profit charter that will push-out your student with disabilities.

6. Not knowing how to pay for outside services, you can’t afford, that the public school used to provide.

7. Having your family life disrupted due to your child’s difficulties in school.

8. Knowing your child faces a draconian, one-size-fits-all, curriculum that doesn’t adjust for their strengths and/or disabilities.

9. Recognizing your child has abilities and interests that go unaddressed because teachers are being forced to focus more on the test than the children they teach.

10. Noticing your child’s teacher isn’t really credentialed.

11. Having your child’s talent in the arts ignored because there are no more real art or music programs.

12. Noticing your gifted student is made to do boring worksheets, or must work on their own with no guidance.

13. Being troubled that your twice-exceptional student’s disability is the total focus instead of their gifts.

14. Worrying what will eventually become of your child, after they grow up, because they haven’t received the truly necessary skills and/or education.

15. Seeing that your child isn’t really being prepared for college as we know it.

16. Fearing your child, who exhibits severe behavioral problems, might go over the edge and do something terrible.

17. Recognizing no one listens to you, or cares about your child, and maybe your child is  learning to cheat to get attention and good test scores.

18. Agonizing whether your child will eventually be driven to drop out of school.

19. Being frightened that your nervous child will be made really ill over school work.

20. Experiencing angry that your kindergartener has no play or recess.

21. Feeling uneasy because your young child is being pushed to read too soon.

22. Frustrated because you do not know where, or who, to turn to for help.

23. Experiencing confusion over what your child is learning and embarrassed not to be able to help them with the mountain of homework they bring home.

24. Realizing time is fleeting and that you, and your child, are missing out on life’s joys.

25. Knowing your child is losing out on what really matters when it comes to learning.

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