Monday, March 7, 2011

American Government 3/7/11

In Class - WHIPS.  Continue group work on education reform project.  Presentations will begin on Monday, March 21.

Homework - Continue to update your blog.  QOW due by Friday, March 11 by 11:59 pm.

QOW - Considering what you have seen, what you have read, and what you have posted on your blog concerning the state of education in this country, there seems to be an overwhelming agreement that reform in our educational system is necessary.  With this in mind, what ideas do you have that would improve student achievement in the classroom, increase motivation and attendance, and prepare students for the next stages of their lives?  Is NCLB working in public education?  Should school days/years be longer?  Should there be more accountability for teachers and students?  Do teacher unions stand in the way of reform?  Should the use of technology be of greater importance in the classroom?  What role do parents, teachers, and students play in all of this?  Does the culture of education need to be changed in this country?

All in all, I want you to be creative and original in your ideas.  Be sure to provide an MLA works cited with a minimum of three (3) sources to support your ideas/concepts of reform.  This is due by Friday, March 11 by 11:59 pm.  Do quality work!!!  Excellence is expected. 

47 comments:

*Sparkles* said...

I believe the ultimate thing to bring up student achievement is parent involvement. Parents need to be involved in their child’s education. My brother wasn’t always a good student, so my mom would actually go to school with him to see what was being taught and if his claims were correct. He would come home saying, “She doesn’t even teach us,” and other complaints about his teachers, so my mom took action. Sometimes she would come home shocked because the teacher really didn’t have any control over the class; students were passing notes, talking, and not paying any attention to the teacher at all. I think a good idea would be to encourage parents to come to their child’s classes. It also should be a random day, a day the teacher has no idea a parent is coming because I think teachers try harder when they are being observed. I think if parents really knew what happened in classes, they would be stricter with their child’s grades.
As of right now, I find it very hard to try and motivate students to work. Different students have different mindsets. For me, I know that I want to become successful and I have the ultimate goal of being a valedictorian during graduation. These are goals I have started since I was really young. I have worked my butt off to hit both of those goals, and I am on the right track to accomplish being successful and I finally accomplished being valedictorian. I think all students’ need to start in junior high writing down a checklist of what they want to become in the future.

*Sparkles* said...

I think a good motivator would be making graduation standards harder. As a senior, I see so many students working extra hard to graduate. According to an article by Barbra Martinez, our graduates are not even taught well enough to move on to college or even a career. Across the state of New York, the graduation rate in 2009 was 77%, and only 41% of them were prepared for a career or college. Different ethnic and racial groups were even worse off. The graduation rate among black student is 62%, and only 15% are considered college and career ready. In Syracuse, only 1% of Hispanic students graduated from high school at college- and career-ready level. Schools should be focused on teaching students what they need to know for their future and not focused on small things like dress codes and crude language. I do think those are important to acknowledge, but education is the main priority. The problem is, we expect students to do less than average. Student’s can have straight D’s and still graduate. This is not fair to a student who has straight A’s. I think student’s need to have at least a 2.5-3.0 to even graduate high school. We don’t need students out in the career world who don’t care. In another article, it talks about how gifted students become bored in school. This is so true. We are not challenged by school and we just seem to breeze on by. Our country needs to invest in the gifted students because those are the students who are going to change the future and do something with their lives.
I also think schools need to offer classes that focus on careers the students are interested in. I became more motivated than ever once I joined the Business Academy. This class offers immense hands on experience and it gives me a head start in the career world for when I do graduate high school. There are some classes that I people just take for the heck of it. They don’t know what else to do, so they take the “easy A” classes. To me, this is just wasting time. Students need to take classes that will help them in the workforce.
I know I can go all day talking about this, but I am going to conclude with this, No Child Left Behind is a HORRBILE idea. This just puts the pressure on teachers to make their students pass. In the video “Stupid in America,” we saw that teachers would just give their students the answers so they can pass the tests. This is teaching the students absolutely NOTHING! If a student can’t pass a certain class that is needed for graduation and is needed for them get into a good career, they should be kept back until they do understand. We are not helping our country and the future of America by just letting kids slip by school.

*Sparkles* said...

Martinez, Barbara. “Graduates, but Ill-Prepared---Big Disparity Reported Between Getting a Diploma and College—Readiness Rates.” Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 8, 2011. pg. A. 17
Robinson, Ann, Whitaker, Gyimah. “Gifted students bored and ignored.” The Atlanta Journal- Constitution. Atlanta, Ga.: Sept 13, 2010. pg. A. 17

Santos, Fernanda. “Touring Schools That Work, Chancellor Says New Approach Is Needed at Those That Don’t; [Metropolitan Desk].” New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Jan 4, 2011. pg. A.16

Stossel, John. “Stupid in America.” ABC 20/20. ABC News. January 13, 2006. March 9, 2011.
< http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338>


Jamie Tyson
Period 1

TheStarBabyy said...

Well to start my argument i dont believe that no child left behind is really working. With that i feel we are all doing the bare minimum, and teachers dont really teach the matirial well cause they are in a rush to be in a certain point. Yes i believe that our school days should be longer and we should take away summer. Of corse everyone loves the summer 2 and a half months of nothing but fun and games. Once we come back to school we cant even remember what we were doing the past year. Besides our education is so old the reason we have summer was to go work on the farms and lets all be honest how many of us have farms to go to? Other countrys such as China have taken there learning methods and made it way better surpassing us. Americans are compeating for a job against them and we are way behind. U.S. used to be one of the leading nations in the world when it came to education but now we are ranked 18th out of 36th. In north Korea 95% of there people get a diploma and in the States only 75% get theres it might not seem like alot but it adds up. The United States has rested on its laurels way too long," Jacob Funk Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, told USA Today. "Other countries have increasingly caught up and surpassed the United States."
We all just need to step it up teachers students and parents this isnt a one sided problem we are all the cause of it. We all need to just put it together.

"We've been asleep for a good number of years as a country," says Richard Freeman, an economics professor at Harvard. "It's not that we're doing horrible. But the other guys are moving faster."

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-02/26/content_746294.htm

http://askville.amazon.com/United-States-rank-education-industrialized-nations/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=21721726

Allan Baray
Period:1

Juan Gamez said...

It has been a topic that has had many disputes, arguments, and ideas. This topic is Education in America. It is a VERY hard issue to cover and come to agreements because not every school is the same, differences can include good campuses, good teachers, good students, test scores, duration, class size and class subjects. Im sure a lot of people have their 2cents on what could be done to improve educational success in America, although there ideas could be biased. One idea i have would be to make the class size smaller, allowing the student and teacher to interact more, such as in a class of forty students where perhaps its not beneficial. Granted the education itself is between the students, and the quality of the teacher. This is an idea that is rather common in elementary schools, and we have personally seen how it effected us then, and how it could possibly help us now. There are quite a few benefits to class reduction that include, increase in class production and performance resulting in higher probability of passing. Being said, students might have a better attendance rate when they are doing well and doing excellent in school will lead you to pass your classes and on the way to graduation. Sounds good, but the school will have to use more money to make more classrooms, Just a suggestion.
Another way i can see education improving would be by the people who are trying to educate us, the TEACHERS! The world would be much better if we had teachers like MR.PALO who are student friendly, actually interested in what we have to say, bring proper attitude that is acceptable, and willing to see us achieve excellence, rather than those teachers who might not be fully interested in doing their "job". It would be easier for students to enjoy school and class if they respected the teacher. Perhaps that is a reason why people fail, ditch and don't try anymore is simply because of the teachers performance in the classroom. I have personally heard it all, " i don't like the teacher so i don't care anymore", " i don't like the class so i wont show up". Teachers should be judged on their class overall grade and performance, rather than always being judged by test scores. The teachers that aren't doing so well should be put on a notice, and should be judged by teacher officials and see first hand what is the issue in that class. Those are some ideas that i have came up with that could possibly improve class performance and teacher evaulation.

GreatSchools, Joining. "How Important Is Class Size? - Defining Your Ideal School | GreatSchools." GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .

"Education in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .

Kelly, Melissa. "Top Six Keys to Being a Successful Teacher." Secondary School Education - Education and Teaching. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .

Anonymous said...

I think that parents have a part to play in the students life, but if they don't start helping them when their younger the student will not want their help and just not want to have nothing to do with school. Students, parents, and the teachers have to be willing to help for a student to be truly sucessful. If teachers don't want to help the student it makes it that much harder for the student to reach his/her full potenial. Without parents guidance student will more likley to be unwilling to help them selfs, and if they can't help themself who can? I think a good way to help students would have to be for the government to fund more money into schools technoligy so that students have more ways to learn and can use things that they already know how to use.
As a student i would know first hand that it is hard to get motivated to do mthings for school, like this post i didn't really want to do it but i need to pass class to go anyfuther in life.If parents would help their children out more and pay more attention ,a lot of student might have cared for school but sence most parents don't show intrest in their student education the students learn to do the same.

Anonymous said...

Teachers also play a big role in their classroom, if they don't try hard enough the students begin to think that they don't care and aslo learn from them. Student are very impressanable and if no one cares about their education how are they sopposed to care about their own future.I think teacher should be aloud to teach the way they want and not have the government control thing they don't know about. Everyclass is differnt according to the area the students in the class and the way the students where brought up.
If teachers could teach how they wanted it would be more effiecent and the students would be able to learn how they need to learn.




Jacob Munoz March 8, 2011 7:38 PM
The one the only.

Holmes24 said...

I believe that most things you do in this world cant be perfect. Nothing ever runs the way that people expect it to. With that being said, i dont think a topic like education would ever run it the way people want it to. But i think there are some things that we can do to improve education. First off, education to me is been something that has been forced at me for many years. Its ALL up to the student. If they want to work they will work, if they dont they wont, its as simple as that. I have been looking at high school graduate results over the past ten years and results vary. I have also realized that percentages dont mean anything. The standards for graduating have been lowered and many teachers are just passing seniors like its nothing. Here is what i really think about all this though. I think to much money is spent for schools. I think a more straight foward way of teaching needs to be done like it was in the old days. There has to be teacher and class involvment more class discussion. For instance, in your class we do alot of discussion we really look at things and we anaylize them together. I might not have an awesome grade in your class, but i can dam well say that i have become much more knowledgable and more educated then i was in the past. Teachers need to be carefully reviewed there are way to many horrible teachers and i think they have the biggest impact. Its up to them if there going to make anything interesting and if there going to truly care for there students. They have the power to INFLUENCE and thats huge on a kids/young adults life. Technology is something that is valued way to much. Theres a time for it and it needs to be used less often. School should be fun and there should be more motivation around you. Students not only must have great motivators around them, but they must truly be motivated from within. Everyone is going to be different and thats a fact about life. But when you see those that truly do good in school, they have a strong passion for it inside them. Thats what it takes.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/High+school+graduation+Grits/4405989/story.html?cid=megadrop_story
By, Leen Greenburg March 8, 2011 9:02 PM

http://news.change.org/education-reform
By, by Emerald Becker · February 18, 2011

http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/alfiekohn/
Sunday September 12, 2010 by Stacey

Ryan Starke said...

Education in America just seems to be getting worse and worse. "More than 500 students teachers and parents all went to protest their lack of voice in the way that education gets reformed". I too believe we need more of a voice when it comes to stuff like educational reform. Why should we let a bunch of district members sit in a room and decide what they think is best for us, they don't know, they don't go to class everyday and see what is wrong. They need to ask us what would help. Well for one I would suggest getting rid of teacher unions so that we can start by getting rid of all the bad teachers. I know that there is debate on how to tell if a teacher is bad or not. I suggest that we simply randomly pick a few students to describe everything we do in class. But that also may not work. We should also give students a greater variety on what classes they take so that they are more motivated to go to class and learn. I think school days should be longer. A longer day would give teachers more time to help students with something they don't understand. It would also give teachers more time to teach rather than the teachers trying to quickly cram information down our throats before the bell rings. In a sense there is accountability on both the students and the teachers. If you got a teacher that does not want to be there why should you want to be there. But the same goes for students, if the student doesn't want to make an effort to learn, then why should the teacher want to teach you. Student should want to learn or our future isn't going to be to bright. Technology is a growing item in the world of today. We have it. Why not use it? The internet is an amazingly simple way to access tons and tons of information in seconds. Why not harness this power for our education? Honestly if we just had a little more enthusiastic teachers that all love to teach and help students. If we as students had more incentive and motivation to learn. If we used our technology wisely and put at least 10 computers in every class the students would better so much from that. There is so much talk about educational reform. Lets stop talking and get it done. Each generation is getting dumber and dumber. We need this reform before it gets too late.

Amy Hetzner, and Erin Richards. "Budget Cuts $834 Million from Schools - JSOnline." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Breaking News, Sports, Business, Watchdog Journalism, Multimedia in Wisconsin. 01 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

"Students Protest Proposed Education Reform; HHS Participates Locally - Students Protest Proposed Education Reform; HHS Participates Locally : Local." Idaho State Journal - It's All about You: It's All about You. 28 Feb. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

Woodall, Martha, and Kristen Graham. "Teachers, Students, Parents Rally against Plans in Philadelphia - Philly.com." Featured Articles from Philly.com. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

Starzyk, Edith. "Good Teachers Are Key to Student Achievement, but Bad Ones Are Hard to Fire | Cleveland.com." Blogs - Cleveland.com. 30 Nov. 2008. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .

kr10 said...

The way to bringing student achievement up is if there was more technology involved. I believe that students interact better with school if they have some kind of electronic device. Having a laptop to do your work in would make students want to do more because, the fact that the world revolves with in the future. Something that will get these students motivated was if they would get a little gift for having a certain type of GPA. I believe this will get students to give it their all to into wanting that present. Lots of students are prepared for the next stage of life, but many aren't because of how they grew up and things just don't work for them. This also has to do with NCLB. Schools across the nation are accountable of their students to doing better in math and english. I don't think NCLB is working because every state gets to do it their way and many don't get the main point of this. They do it all wrong and students get blamed for this. Also, schools are taking way to long. I believe that the more we take the more we forget. School should be shorter that way students wont forget as much. Parents should be involved in this like, observing classes that way they know what their kids are doing and how teachers are doing their job. I still believe that technology is the best way to getting students to better in school. That's the way people work these days and us as teenagers live with the new things that are being created. This is what I believe it should be like.

kr10 said...

Is "No Child Left Behind" Working?

No Child Left Behind, Education, K-12 Education, U.S. Department of Education

Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies

The Brookings Institution

Kevin Real
per. 2

JuanMontes said...

Ways that we can improve our education system are using technology to its fullness and showing students to use technology more towards school work. I mean us teenager already use technology everyday but we mostly never use it for school purposes. If we did use technology for school then our grade would be off the roof. Because studies show that we use electronic devices 82 percent of the time. Also we can start closing down school that don’t show any improvement in the scores. This way they actually have to keep on their toes because them knowing that they can get close down at any time will push them to motive there student a lot more to do their best. Or that if they don’t improve their score they will turn into a charter school, which a charter school is design to improve their scores. The last way we can improve our education system that I can think of is by getting the teachers to actually care for their students educations. For example them actually going to their students houses to talk to their parents if the student is doing bad in their studies. Another idea is for the teacher to sit down one on one with the student to do a private tutorial instead of having 25 minutes of soar. This can benefit both the student and the teacher because the student can learning more affectively and the teacher can get to know the student more and adjust the way she or he teaches toward that one student. Because not everyone learns the same way we all learn different. Like this article that I found show how teachers can teach a dyslexic student in the classroom that show that the teacher cares about the students education not just about getting paid. But the most effective way we can improve our education system is by the teachers and student talking to one another and actually getting to know each other so that way teachers can adjust their teaching method and learn of new way to teach so that way in the future if they encounter a student that learns that way they know now to handle that situation.

Titone, Angela. "More Technology Used for School Work at Home than in the Class : Page 1 of 2 : Dealerscope." Latest News, Trends, Products, Strategies and Tips for Consumer Electronics Retailers, Manufacturers, Distributors in HDTV, Mobile Phones, Accessories, Audio, Cameras, Video, Home Networking, LCD, Plasma, Home Theater : Dealerscope. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. .

"Public Charter School Program." US Charter Schools Home. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. .

"How a Teacher Can Help a Dyslexic Student Learn Effectively in the Classroom | Rants & Raves from the Right Side by Dyslexia Victoria Online." Rants & Raves from the Right Side. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. .


Juan Montes de Oca
Period 4

JuanMontes said...

Ways that we can improve our education system are using technology to its fullness and showing students to use technology more towards school work. I mean us teenager already use technology everyday but we mostly never use it for school purposes. If we did use technology for school then our grade would be off the roof. Because studies show that we use electronic devices 82 percent of the time. Also we can start closing down school that don’t show any improvement in the scores. This way they actually have to keep on their toes because them knowing that they can get close down at any time will push them to motive there student a lot more to do their best. Or that if they don’t improve their score they will turn into a charter school, which a charter school is design to improve their scores. The last way we can improve our education system that I can think of is by getting the teachers to actually care for their students educations. For example them actually going to their students houses to talk to their parents if the student is doing bad in their studies. Another idea is for the teacher to sit down one on one with the student to do a private tutorial instead of having 25 minutes of soar. This can benefit both the student and the teacher because the student can learning more affectively and the teacher can get to know the student more and adjust the way she or he teaches toward that one student. Because not everyone learns the same way we all learn different. Like this article that I found show how teachers can teach a dyslexic student in the classroom that show that the teacher cares about the students education not just about getting paid. But the most effective way we can improve our education system is by the teachers and student talking to one another and actually getting to know each other so that way teachers can adjust their teaching method and learn of new way to teach so that way in the future if they encounter a student that learns that way they know now to handle that situation.

Titone, Angela. "More Technology Used for School Work at Home than in the Class : Page 1 of 2 : Dealerscope." Latest News, Trends, Products, Strategies and Tips for Consumer Electronics Retailers, Manufacturers, Distributors in HDTV, Mobile Phones, Accessories, Audio, Cameras, Video, Home Networking, LCD, Plasma, Home Theater : Dealerscope. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. .

"Public Charter School Program." US Charter Schools Home. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. .

"How a Teacher Can Help a Dyslexic Student Learn Effectively in the Classroom | Rants & Raves from the Right Side by Dyslexia Victoria Online." Rants & Raves from the Right Side. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. .


Juan Montes de Oca
Period 4

matt said...

You don’t need all this money to make kids get good grades, all u have to do is concentrate on the teenagers then they know that u care and that you really want to help. I’m not sure it seems to work in other places so it could work her but personally I wouldn’t want that. Yes they stand in the way because there the ones who don’t want it. It may for some people but it does not really matter info is info we could probably get to it way fast also.

Anonymous said...

An idea that i have about preparing students for their next stages in life would be that in high school it should be like a mini college and that they should have classes that are specific to their career that they will need in life. To inprove motivation kids are going to have to want to learn becuase if they do not want to be there then they wont and they wont be motivated to learn. I dont think that public schools are doing a good job about NCLB, i think that they could do a way better job because no matter what the teachers will still get paid regaardless if they can read or not. The school days and years should not be longer because the kids will burnout and they wont try as hard.in the educatinal system i think that the students should take way more of a responsibility then the teachers because the teachers can only do so much the teachers cant do everything for the kids, the kids also need to step up and do their part. i think that teacher unions do stand in the way of reform because its kinda like they have their own laws and rules that they go by regardless of the educational system. technology hsould be a greater importance to the classrooms because it will save money, no more books, saving trees by no paper and many other things. Kids can be more organized and not lose their papers or homework assignments everything will be on their laptop or whatver kind of technology that they would use. the order should be 1 student 2 teacher 3 parent, i think this because out of these three choices i think that the students have a bigger responsibilitly in this than anyone else. i think that the culture today does need to be changed because soooo many people are involved in being social and their status and kids are honestly getting dumber. flat out. when i was little and in school we all did our own work cell phones werent around you actually had to figure out problems and things and now you just look it up on google and all the answer are there.
Our educational system needs major work and people and students need to get it together and change it to make it better before its too late.






- Why schools should try things not "research-based." Valerie Strauss. Washington Post. March 8, 2011.
- The Word - Easy A." The Colbert Report. Comedy Central. June 11, 2007.
-

[T]c live Free said...

The most important thing that we want to see happen is a greater majority of students getting the proper education that is needed for them to be succesful later on in life. The key to that will first be that parents have to really start being apart of their childs academics because it can slowly but surely plummet and then it might be to late in the year for them to try and catch up.Another thing is that teachers might have to change the way thier teaching student and probably get sdome hands-on activities so that the students can interact on their own and find new ideas independently. In addition I was one of those kids that could really careless about whether i had an education or not doing my ninth grade year but i had a parent that pushed and supported me mentally and phisically inspiring me to want to achieve. Most kids around my age otr younger look at the little things and if they see that their parents dont care about them succeeding why should they. She repeatedly told me that if I didnt get my education that my future would've been a disaster and that is the last I would've wanted because I've seen so many people struglee just because they didn't further their education.If teachers are teaching correctly how will we learn correctly and that's where it starts inside the classroom.

Syqlizard said...

Parent involvement and teachers are what need to be improved. President Obama has support for merit pay. Florida and Idaho are pushing for an enactment of a statewide teacher merit pay. That would hopefully help determine who is not an excellent teacher along with improving inolvement between students in the class. "Under Obama's 'Race to the Top' initiative, states applied for grant money to pursue changes in education policy in 2009." Florida won $700 million for reforms and that will be used for the merit pay. With all that money, will the schools really improve student performance? Class size is another factor. A smaller class size would make student-teacher interactions slightly more personal and better relate one another. That could be used to help improve student performance. A news article states that Texas could loose as much as 100,000 teachers because of the budget cuts. It was suggested that if it were to happen, class sizes would have to increase. "Teachers are being asked to do more with less, much less. Welcome to assembly line learning." With that, students would only learn the basics to be "good enough." It seems like that nowadays anyway. From what I've experienced, it seems that a lot of what we learn in school is used only for the test. Whatever knowledge we aquire at the time will be forgotten at any time, even immediately after a test. That shows a negative side to our education. Bob Moen from the Associated Press reported that the governor of Wyoming signed a bill that aims towards the performance of the public school system within the state. This was decided because they were not improving despite all the money that was spent. Schools will be cited for intervention if their performance shows poor acedemic achievement. So in the end, students, teachers, and parents need more involvement for the education. Parents should help motivate a child to achievement acedemic excellence, students should be more focused on what work they receive and not be afraid to ask questions or do any work a certain way to please the teacher, and teachers quite possibly be a little more involved with students if merit pay comes into play.



"Florida, Idaho Push For Merit Pay, Could Set National Precedent For Teacher Contracts." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

"Cuts to Education Guarantees Only Mediocrity." San Antonio News, Weather, Sports, Spurs, Breaking | Express-News | MySA.com - San Antonio Express-News. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

"Education Reform Bills Signed into Law Seeks to Hold Wyoming Schools and Teachers Accountable :: The Republic." The Republic - Columbus, Indiana. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

-Erik Ramirez
Period 2

Cheyanne said...

I believe that every student needs to be their own motivation. From the begining of their lives their parents play such a huge role in their lives, they need to begin to influence their kids educationally. Kids need to be shown how their performance in school will lead to their performance in life.
As far as schools are concerned the teachers and the administration department need to improve. They need to raise the standards of what an "A" is consedered, because right now it means that you know how to hit your way out of a paper bag. Raise the "A" to being extremely above average. Teachers need to take class time and homework time more seriously and put a little pep in their lesson plans to ensure that not everything needs to be "by the book". The administration department needs to be more hands on, and make sure that watching tv, passing notes, talking, and goofing off doenst happen in schools anymore.









Why schools should try things not "research-based." Valerie Strauss. Washington Post. March 8, 2011.

Danny Bennett said...

I hate the name. NCLB. Because children are being left behind. I'm not going to sit here and explain. Because I am honestly very angry! Kids, more specifically high school kids, are not showing any movtivation to achieve their academic greatness. The way to do this is to let kids become creative. Let them express themselves in the classroom. Why can't our voices be heard! People base the learning structure of students based on test. WHY!!! Why don't you ask the true victims of the educational crisis. Not the educators, the ones to be educated! THE STUDENTS! They want to extend the number of days in the school year but they complain that the longer students are in school the "dumber" they get. This is absolutely ridiculous!Technology should play an important role in the education of students. Because students utilize technology all of the time! It is a second world to them! And I say now that I refuse to stand by and let someone else make decisions to "benefit" my education. IT"S MINE!!!

Read this article STUDENTS and tell if YOU feel this is accurate!

http://dpi.wi.gov/esea/pdf/parents.pdf

BWilcox said...

It would seem that there are several very viable opportunities already in place around the world from which the American public education system could benefit. Parent involvement seems crucial; the most advanced students are those who were raised to value education and are pushed by their parents to excel in academics. Students can sometimes lack the motivation and self-discipline necessary to achieve their full academic potential, and much can be gained if parents become more involved with their children's education.

Additionally, the introduction of parental choice in their child’s actual school can bring huge improvements, as seen in the charter schools in “Stupid in America”. Everyone seems paranoid about a more socialized health care system without realizing that the education system is detrimentally so; competition is highly beneficial economically, so why not educationally as well? If schools had to compete for student attendance, as they do in superior European countries like Switzerland, then the teachers would work harder to actually teach the kids in newer and more innovative ways, instead of just babysitting for the paycheck. Increasing a school’s funding is not necessary, or even necessarily beneficial; money seems to be mismanaged, going for “school improvement” as opposed to the actual students.

Finally, students should have more say in their education. Everyone is more or less forced to study the same things, when not everyone is interested or talented at the same branches of study; yes, the basics of math, history, science, and English should be taught, but school should be more like the finishing schools of Victorian society, in which kids learn things that their parents can’t necessarily teach them, like more advanced maths or sciences, music, other languages, or whatever random field that would prepare kids for their chosen professions.

-Brigitte Wilcox, P.4

Stossel, John. “Stupid in America.” ABC 20/20. ABC News. January 13, 2006. March 9, 2011.
< http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338>



"Education in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .

Woodall, Martha, and Kristen Graham. "Teachers, Students, Parents Rally against Plans in Philadelphia - Philly.com." Featured Articles from Philly.com. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2011.

jhorowitz1 said...

The idea of learning in a classroom has become that of a monotnous old man lecturing to a bunch of students about the importance/significance of Literary devices. Already we become bored an begin to instantly hate school.
Compared to China and Japan, we are basically the lowest of the low when it comes to education. We don't really support our value of education in America. If we really are teaching the future, then why are kids becoming afraid of continuing on into College, or why are teachers being paid so low. The answer is that we really have lost our sense of education.
NCLB could be so much better. With it, the way it is, still in effect, is basically just a nuke about to detonate in my opinion. We have kids going into middle school that can only read at a 3rd grade level. We have kids entering High School who can't do some of the most simplest equations in math.
But the real ones at fault aren't necessarily the students, it's the teachers. Teachers need to step up, or else just step down and let better ones in. There are teachers that can't teach, who just don't make the kids do anything. Yeah they'll think he/she is cool, but what are they going to do in the future. Bad teachers need to be taken out, but be careful, there are great teachers who teach much more than the test. Take out the teachers who don't teach a thing, or are just not really prepared for the job.
The CAHSEE needs to be changed. If it really is going to be a test, make it a High School entrance exam, because that exam is pathetically easy. The Exit exam should focus on High School material, not some 7th grade math and english questions. We want our kids to be educated, but there is no support with, so yeah, the culture of education needs to be fixed in this country.

ProQuest Staff. At Issue: Educational Tests and Measurements; ProQuest LLC. 2011

Whitmire, Richard. On Education Reform, 'Safe' Has Gotten Us Nowhere; USA TODAY, 2011. pg. A.9.

jhorowitz1 said...

I am not trash talking teachers. I think what they have to offer to the table is always a treat. Students though, they lack the motivation as they get older. I think that the authorities are being lazy as well as the students. They are making things easier and pushing deadlines farther away. If the authorities don't care why should the students? What will push the individual to their goal if nobody cares?
Dang technology and its luring power.

Jarel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MjH(: said...

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Jessica hernandez said...

I believe that for students tolearn better in class, and to make them interested, is to use different methods. Student love teachers who make teaching much and make the learning fun, students love a laid back funny teacher, that doesnt get boring who always has a good point and jus doesnt babble about the topic in a boring manner.I learn way more when the teacher is funny and actually is creative with his work he gives us and really communticates with the class. I hate going into a boring class and the teacher jus talks aND talks and talks,v it gets frustrating and annoying.I dont think NCLB is working, because every idividual learns their own way and needs certain ways to undersdtand, and some tachers will hepl you and find a way. but then there the teachers who dont care and basically say its your fault your not learning my way then you can jus fail...and thats not what no child left behind is about.i dont think school years should be longer because the more students have to be in schoool the more there going to be anxious and the more they are jus going to B.S thier way through till break. I think that technology should be more effective in schools, because thats how alot of people do things now a days on the computer and everything is by internet and phone and stuff and no one really reads the books anymore..qand most kids would be into using more technology in the curriculum. i see it as, the parents are first, then students and lastly teachers. because everything your child does and what he learns before school, is at home, if you dont motivate your child their going to have no reason to do anything with their life, the students are second because they are the ones to choose whether to learn or to not care and if they want to great, if they dont then well good luck with life...and teachers are last cause i believe that it is not the teachers responsability to make the students learn, if they want to learn then they are doing their job..it is not the teahcers faullt they are just there, yes teachers do have a big part in teaching us and giving us our education we need, but then again they cant make us WE need to want to learn.

AZUCENA said...

the healthcare form of education is taking has been in the same way it started and there hasn't been a decision and i think it's time to make a decision.My ideas are that teachers and students have to communicate more often.By improving in the classroom students should actually take the time paying attention by using technology such as laptops.Teachers should start paying attention to students more often to their way of acting or their bad attitude.By improving motivation it's better to have students longer in class and to improve attendance if a student doesn't show up for more than a week then parents should be called in and explain why their student hasn't been in school.For students to achieve their should be tutoring on the weekends and for them to attend it should be mandatoring.Parents should be more involved in their students education by making sure they enter school and go to classes.To prepare students for the next stage their should be other programs at school like computer tech, law enforcemnt, and other type of programs that will help students for the next satge of their life. It can be a great experience for students to be prepared for real college or university or whichever school they go.I think no child left behind is working at the same time it's not because their is always one child that doesn't understand and their has to be a way to make every child understand their studies.I believe school years should not be longer because the more their is school the less students are going to attend or they're not going to try enough to care about education.I just say school should be longer in days and that's how students will have what they learned fresh in their mind for the next day and have better test scores.Yes they should be more accountable the students and teachers because that way their can be more success in education.Teachers do stand in the way of reform, Many teachers don't care for the principal.Teachers have become closed-minded with respect to them.Technology should be a greater importance for teachers that way students will understand things better.Students, Teachers, and Parents are roled in education because i believe parents are the first teachers for their children and depending how parents teach their children then that's how their children are going to act.Teachers are the second one's to teach students and depending if they do care for students to learn then students will learn and succeed.I think education does need to be changed the system needs to be changed to have a more successful students.
period 2, Azucena Correa

BJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tommy To said...

There are many ways to convince a student to be more motivated in schools but I believe it starts with the student. I had some ideas of how to make students work harder. One of my ideas is that America should let students choose their career starting from middle school. Like once they chose their career path in middle school, they spend their time in high school taking classes entirely on that job career. From their, they go to college to get more education on that one career so by the time they are done with education they will have much experience in that one career. But it starts with the student I still believe because Mr. Palo said anything worth doing is worth doing well. Students don’t get the point of school and education and that it equals money in the future. If they were paid in high school for good grades, students would try much harder because money is one of the main motivation to getting a good education. Personally, I would try my best in school if I got a check every week from doing good in school. I also think that the culture in America is putting to much stress on other activities besides education. For students it seems its either, a social life, education or sleep and you can only choose two. I also think that technology should be used in classroom because if it used to distract students from learning, it can be used to benefit in learning, Overall I think their should be a change in order to have a better education in America.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

"Education Reform | The Heritage Foundation." Conservative Policy Research and Analysis | The Heritage Foundation. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

"Education Finance Statistics Center (EDFIN) - About EDFIN." National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education. Web. 11

Tommy To
period 4

BJ said...

I say teachers should be stricter to their student’s attendance. We students need to be more responsible to our schedule. We need to push ourselves to work harder to get up earlier or walk faster to get in class. Second parents should know what their kids are learning. They need to be a better parent to their kids. We students need to know what we have. The government provides us our book that we need, their letting us to use computers in campus. We have the best teachers that will help us to learn and to be preparing for the next level of our education. Some students in some country have to walk miles just to get to school. And they don’t have enough books for their students; there are no enough teachers to help them. We just need to work harder to get whatever we want. To motivate some students maybe school should have like some festival or like some activities like sports festival like every class will have a team for basketball or volleyball, soccer and some other sports. This is my opinion.


"Education Reform | The Heritage Foundation." Conservative Policy Research and Analysis | The Heritage Foundation. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

"Education Finance Statistics Center (EDFIN) - About EDFIN." National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of
Education. Web. 11

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.


bj delgado
period 2

SaraCarreno:) said...

What i think about education during these times is that it does need reform. I don't think it's the faults of just one type of person i think teachers, students, parents, and the government needs to help to make changes. How is it that other countries are so much smarter than us and our educational grades are so low when we have so many privlages and advantages. It just show how were not using them. I think that we do need more school days in the year because for me the reasons why i don't understand something or don't turn something in is because i feel like it wasn't explained to me enough and maybe if i had time to go the next day to school and ask more questions it would help me out more. Although some student so slack off though. I think that money sometimes is an issue because schools that have more money like private schools tend to get better grades but i think that also has to do with backgrounds of the parents. Most of the parents of students that go to private schools have more money and maybe they're parents have a big push on their childrens education but I'm not saying that the other parents are bad because they probably still teach their kids good morals but maybe they don't have time to help their kids when most of the time they're working. I would say that technology would help kids to better their education because it would just be another resource to help someone learn like having the internet available all the time in class to look up an article like i just did would open the education to someone and not just what the teachers has to say or the books. The thing is also is that even though computers are very common in peoples homes there is those kids that don't have that. That's why i think we should make a way to help get more computers. Teachers should also be motivated to do their jobs thats's why i think people shouldn't rate a teacher by when an administrive person should do the judging but they should ask several students because they'll give the more honest opinions. If there are bad reports i don't think the teacher should get fired but just have a meeting to show them how to improve themselves in some way.

Sandhyaranit, Ningthoujam."Education Problems in Public Schools".
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/education-problems-in-public-schools.html

Wright,Peter D.H."The Blame Game"
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/ALESSI1.html

Pablo LSDub said...

We have been talking about alot of education reform in my Government class lately. One thing that i believe should improve schooling would be to make the kids want to learn. Most kids are not going to want to learn if theyre doing boring things all the time. If it would be possible they should maybe make the kids do fun things to learn. Also if the school has off campus for lunch, i believe that they should earn it for how well they do in class. I am not saying that teachers should reward them for doing good in school because they should be doing that anyways but what i am saying is that if they have a privleage it should be earned. Another problem with education is that the attendance rate is horrible, kids just simply do not want to be in school. You should want to do good in school because then you know in the near future you can actually be somebody, so i think students reward should be that. Maybe lowering the population of the classrooms could help because then the teachers could have a little more one on one time with their students and they will be able to focus more on what theyre doing. I also think that teachers should care, because believe it or not alot of teachers do not care how much their students learn as long as theyre getting paid. Every little thing seems to matter in education which means it will take such a long time to fully fix. Look at Japan and other countries, their main goal is EDUCATION because they know that you will be garunteed to get somewhere with it.

JoseGrimaldo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pablo LSDub said...

CITATIONS....

Lancaster,, Joseph. "Joseph Lancaster: Improvements in Education (1803)." Index. 5 June 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. .

C, Shav'orn. "Making Education Better For Our Students - Writing Our Future: Letters to the Next President." Writing Our Future: Letters to the Next President. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. .



Ayers, John. "Making Healthcare Better Has Lessons for Making Education Better." Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. .

JoseGrimaldo said...

I truly believe that the way to improve education is to make it more fun and more open to everyone. One way to improve student achievement is to make smaller classrooms that way there will be more student-teacher interaction which can help struggling students, but with this schools will have to spend more money on classrooms. In my opinion I think schools shouldn’t try to hard on improving students attendance. I don’t know if they really do this but do schools call the students home to see if why there not going to school? I think that if the students don’t go to school we shouldn’t try to help them attend the school. With that there could be less students in the classrooms, but I’m pretty sure that if less students go to a school less money they will get. An idea I thought was to eliminate all academic competitions in all of the country. I think this should be removed because to me it seems like schools just want to be more known by using their students to win and get more publicity. With more publicity they get more sponsors which gets schools more money. Yes, money could improve schools with sponsorships, but in my opinion I still think academic competitions should be removed. A way to improve students achievement is somehow make it less boring. For example last year for U.S. History I had Mr. Anderson. For almost every topic that we discussed he had an amazingly funny story that will somehow fit into the topic. This way made it fun and not boring learning history. For once I actually liked going to a classroom. I think there should be more teachers like him in the United States. To me I think its harder to motivate students in high school just because there more distractions now. I strongly think that a way to help students get more experience after high school is to have a variety of classes that meet the students wants. We should have more ROP classes because those seem to be like how the real life is in a smaller way. I have taken ROP classes and they seem to be better than regular classes.

After reading the pros ands cons of NCLB I disagree on most things. On the set standards they just want students to do well on tests. The standards they set are probably not that useful and are a waste of time. Just using this as an example, I am okay with how the year system is at La Sierra High School and the school days. The only problem at La Sierra is that it starts to early. In my dream school it will start at 9 a.m. and end at 1 p.m.. Within those hours you will learn the right stuff that you will need in life. I believe that teachers and students are a big part of education. Schools should hire real teachers that will teach and not just do it for the money. Students should pay attention because they will be the next generation of education depending on how they do.

Brittney.Millard. said...

To start off I think class should be more fun for the students, to make them WANT to particapte and also learn at the same time, but the student would be focused on the activity more and not even realize they are learning as well. Making a class/the work would not only benefit the achievement in class but the motivation the students and make them want to show up to class. What students would want to go to a class, that all they do is sit there read and answer questions?? No, there is no enthusiasm for the students, which would make them ditch their classes and fail.
Our school year is not long enough. Teachers rush to teach their students, and not every one can keep up to learn the material and they get left behind not knowing what to do next. Yes everyone loves the summer time to get a break and spend time with family/friends but when we come back the next year we forget everything were learned the year before.
Technology useage in the classroom would be good, but there is always the problem of the students not having a computer, or printer, or other problems, and they get pressured to use a computer they don't have or to go to the library. Therefore I think it should not be of a great importance in the classroom.
I think parents play the biggest roll in education for their child/children passing classes in school. If parents don't ask how their child/children are doing in their classes, than their child/children are not going to worry about how well they do themselves. If parents show more of an interest in how their child/children they will most likely improve and start to do their work. From personal experience, my mom never asked how I was doing in school, she would just ask If I had homework and I wouldn't want to do it so I would always say I never have any. But this year she started to show more interest and makes me do homework and made sure I was on track to graduate. I think that if my mom would have shown more of an interest in how I was doing in school much sooner than I would probably have open periods. Rather than having a full schedule and also having to make up two classes in Adult Ed. But I blame myself, because I could have done way better than what I was doing and now I am paying for it.

Arevik Martirosyan said...

The use of technology can ultimately improve nearly every aspect of our schools, modernizing the nature of curriculum, student assignments, parental connections, and administration. Students can share their work and communicate more productively and creatively with the use of online connections. Schools would be able to reduce administrative costs by using technology tools, removing the use of textbooks, and thus providing more funds for the classroom. Parent involvement is also key to improving a student’s achievement. Parents are a child’s first teachers and can instill values that encourage learning. Parents can motivate students to learn to a greater extent than a teacher since a student spends more time with their parents. NCLB is not working and I think that school days should be extended. Statistics show that more hours improve international test scores. Overall, the culture of education needs to be changed in this country since America does not value education enough.

"Big Ideas for Better Schools: Ten Ways to Improve Education | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. .

"Does America Value Education - by Fatina Newman - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Web. 12 Mar. 2011. .

"Should School Days Be Longer? | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Web. 12 Mar. 2011. .

Cecily said...

I think parents are responsible for increasing the motivation of their children and helping them prepare for the next stage of their lives. I think too many parents rely on teachers to make sure their children are on the right track and don't get involved in their child's education and just assume that they are doing good in school. I think school days should be shorter, but the school year should be longer. Long school days just encourage students to sleep in class. Schools should have students do their work outside of school to develop more responsibility and better time management. This way they prepare for college and later jobs they will get in life. I think teacher unions do stand in the way of reform, because in some places the benefits from teacher unions make it impossible to fire bad teachers. For a better educational system I think teachers, students, and parents need to put more effort into making a better educational system. In this country I don't think many people value education. Maybe if they had to start paying for their elementary to high school education parents and students wouldn't take education for granted anymore. -Cecily Lorica, Period 4

Stossel, John. “Stupid in America.” ABC 20/20. ABC News. January 13, 2006. March 9, 2011.
< http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338>

margarita said...

Well from what I’ve learned and heard from this topic is that are educational system is really messed up. And I feel that the educational system has not really done anything for us but they say they do. They feel like they’re doing things right and things are going to improve when really there not there actually going down. What are they really spending the money on? I asked my sisters which are in middle school and elementary to hear from their perspective and they think that teachers should be nicer, they should explain more, review more, and get newer books. From my perspective I agree with them, but also think that school could start a little bit later, teachers should actually look like they want to be there, find fun ways to teach, and have time to explain things that we don’t understand. I think that the, no child left behind act isn’t true because they are being left. Why is that, in other countries are doing better than us. America feels like our system is great but they don’t really focus on that there all about competing with other countries and trying to do better than them and they think they when really there doing way better than us. I think if technology was used more in class it would good but at same time I feel like kids still wouldn’t use them right. If they say that the longer that we stay in school the worse we do why should we stay in school if we’re doing badly and that I think is a waste of time and it makes us look really bad.

jimmy said...

Basically, to improve the perfect system of education, we need better our students. What can the American system do, without our students. Students are to one to blame, not parents, or our education. Students can change the way we think, more than the system can. We have no one, but to blames ourselves, I mean look at our state testing! We can blame the next generation of students, as much as we can blame the one now. We cannot create a better incentive, then to get a good job, and a decent pay. We need to change, and there is nothing else that could change that.


Navarro, Mireya. "E.P.A. Rejects City Timeline on PCBs." nytimes.com. NA, 3/11/11. Web. 3/11/11. .





NA, NA. "Duncan Says 82 Percent of America's Schools Could "Fail" Under NCLB This Year ." ED.gov. NA, 3/11/11. Web. 12 Mar 2011. .



Strauss , Valerie. "http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/why-schools-should-try-things.html." washingtonpost.com. NA, 3/11/11. Web. 11 Mar 2011. .

N.DeAndrade said...

We can all say that education needs to be reformed and that this is a very improtant issue. Knowing this, elementary students are learning algebra, do we have to force some sort of change. But educators work so hard on the younger generation but don't focus on the generation that is going to be coming after themselves. Does it make any sence? People may say that we need more money to start education reform, and personally I think this may not be true. Money doesn't change a horrible teacher. Secondly, are the students motivated? In my family education is everything. So I have a backbone to my standing with education, and I can tell you that most students are not as motivated as I am. Parents have the power to influence and thats huge for young adults. I don't know what their home living is like but I do know that they should have the drive to be better than where they came from. They should want to strive and succeed for their FUTURE. If parents and teachers are totally involved then I believe there will be a change for the best.



"Big Ideas for Better Schools: Ten Ways to Improve Education | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

"Education in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Mar. 2011.

"Education Reform Bills Signed into Law Seeks to Hold Wyoming Schools and Teachers Accountable :: The Republic." The Republic - Columbus, Indiana. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

Vvsince93' said...

Throughout my analysis on America's education, many ideas came to mind, because many should know our education system is not proficient and is outdated. Why is it that other schools in other countries are more advanced in education such as the education in Belgium? Maybe it's due to the massive amount of breaks and vacations that our education system includes, causing students to forget what they had learned in the past . It may also be plausible that the American culture also takes a major role on why we're extremely behind in education. I remember my freshmen year when I was enacted in my studies and received good grades because I had a blissful interest in learning new things, taking this into account my cousin was just a grade below me and she judged me and thought I was a redundant nerd and laughed at me from time to time. She’d believed that hanging out with friends and partying was the life that I should’ve been living. As I matured over the years , some of my friends also believed that partying was the way to spend your time instead of putting some focus in school. This is just one of the incites of how the American culture is: if you find science or math or any other subject intriguing your automatically labeled as a nerd freak. I don’t necessarily believe America needs to revise their culture, but I do believe that we as a country need to encourage people to get educated in order to become professionals and if this is concurred we as country can benefit within each and every norm since our minds will be more opened to new things and discoveries. Teachers and Parents do place a huge role in education. They are the ones who should be the link to motivation and parents should especially be the ones responsible for supporting their children in each and every manner. With what I mean with this is that some parents may not like the idea that their daughter or son has an interest in something that they personally don’t like, and completely freak out and encourage them to have an interest of what they like, instead of letting their children follow their dreams. Parents should just let their children soar out whatever makes their child happy, and if they do open these “doors” students would probably have an interest in learning. However sometimes an individual may have an interest in education but the subjects that they are learning may have a distinct connectivity to what they are interested in learning. Therefore I think that high-schools should in a way make their curriculum and standards like college. It would be a more proficient way to reach goals. Perhaps schools should grant valedictorian students an associate’s degree or a degree of

Lizette Estrada said...

Education definitely needs reform. Not only does the educational system need change but as students some need to change the way they view education. More parents need to get invovled with how thier kids do in school. An example would be my dad with my little brother. My mom tells him to study do his work and is on his butt all the time but since dad didn't care my brother didn't either. That changed when my dad actually started getting invovled a bit more. He joined a football team and you needed good grades to play and the kid with the best report card recieved a prize when the season was over and that was his motivation. A lot of people say that money will fix the problems the system has, or better the school but "Stupid in America" proved that wrong. Showing that the school didn't need all that financial support. Thier students performed great with what they were provided. Although I won't like it we do need to have more school days or make them longer. There has been studies that show we benefit from a longer school day and year. "Take away time, take away learning" says Mike Feinberg in his article. At this piont i think there is pieces to this puzzle laying on a table and they don't fit.We need to make it fit and for the outcome to be outstanding

Stossel, John. “Stupid in America.” ABC 20/20. ABC News. January 13, 2006. March 9, 2011.
< http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338>

Feinberg, Mike. "Students benefit from longer school days" CNN News. March 16, 2010.
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-16/opinion/feinberg.longer.schoolday_1_kipp-academy-public-charter-schools-kipp-schools?_s=PM:OPINION

Jennifer D. said...

I think that maybe bringing in more classes that will help students in preparation for their future will help them. Another one would be bringing in teachers with more experience who have dealt with students longer than most teachers today since they might have better control of them. Teachers should also bring in more creativity and better methods for students to study, memorize all the information they learn, and actually help those who struggle the most with out putting them on blast. I've seen several of my peers struggle and even when they ask for help, they don't receive it or get told something totally different. Now I'm not saying it is just the teachers but also the students. The students should have some effort put into their education because it will have a great effect in their future but it is their choice as well. The education system we have now can be improved and it should because almost 80% percent of the schools in the United States are failing or scoring low on tests overall. Maybe a decrease in educational spending might be better since not much is actually needed for school except for the basics and other programs but not for things students won't need. I also read that maybe rewarding teachers for students' achievement might help improve but that is another option that should be looked at well. The parents should also be involved into their child's education because most parents' aren't around to come to conferences or participate at all and maybe coming in could have a great affect on their child. Overall, the education system should deserve some change for the greater good and to improve the next generation's education because the students' should deserve a great education.

Jennifer Duque
Period 2

"For Superior Teachers, Reward Excellence" William J. Bennet. www.CNN.com. March 7,2011

"80 Percent of U.S. Schools may be Labeled Failing" Associated Press. www.foxnews.com. March 9,2011

"Judge Rules Against Kansas, Parent in Education Suit" Bill Draper. www.abcnews.com. March 11,2011

Cole Canup said...

Yes, i do believe that our state of education is not what it should be and there are many things that we can do to increase leaning and test scores. I also think that technology should be more widely used in school because its an easy way for people to look up information and learn from it. Less paper is also used which makes it better on trees and possibly money in the long run. I however do not think that money will solve our problems, teachers need to serve as motivators for kids to learn. Unfortunately not all teachers are as well equipped for teaching as they should be. This in the end hurts the students education and they end up forming bad habits. People need to have incentives for learning and teaching so i think we need to make school more rewarding and meaningful so that people will like coming to school and enjoy getting their education. I also believe that their should be competition in schools so that people will strive to do better, or else get put out of business. America doesn't need more lazy teachers and unmotivated students.

Cole Canup said...

"Education Facts At a Glance." Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
13 Mar. 2011 .

"Educational Attainment by Race & Origin, 1940%u20132007: Population 25 Years & Older." Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
13 Mar. 2011 .

152-pounder said...

I believe all students should be entitled to good schools. What I mean by saying this is students should not be limited to a certain district. It is our choice where we want to be educated. Believe it or not teachers make a big difference in our education and we know who the good teachers are and we know the bad ones.I feel in order to avoid class changes or interruptions in our learning we should be able to choose the teachers we want instead of being assigned one.It would make things less complicated and there would be less issues. Alot of whats wrong with students now a days is a lack of motivation and if students like their teachers they will be more motivated to attend their class. Another motivation factor for students would be for parents to get more involved in their childs success. All the parents have to do is check online for missing assignments and if they have some,have their children make them up. If the child gets more than three,I suggest some type of disciplinary action until assignments go back down to 0. Trying these actions would be very benefitial.

Good schools should be a civil right,grayse Walles.The Atlanta Journal-constitution.Atlanta,GA:Aug30,2010

In failing schools,parents must step up commentary by yolanda young,Usa today,mclean,ya:oct 8,2010

teachers:the great equalizers joel l klein micheal lomax ,janet mumuia,the washington post.washington.d.c.:apr 9 2010pg a.19

Bryan Hales
Period 1

ZacFlores said...

I think reforming education is a difficult yet necessary task. As we discussed in class many times, it doesn’t need a complete overhaul, but it could use some improvement. Things like holding teachers more accountable for student failure rates. I have had so many teachers that just say, “ I don’t care if no one in this class passes.” I don’t think that teacher should be allowed to even step foot on any campus with that kind of mentality. Teachers should want to teach kids, and actually want them to pass. Also, tenure needs to be eliminated. Its keeping bad teachers in schools, and not allowing for reform. As many said I think students need to be in control. After all education has to do with teaching the students, not the teachers or staff. So why not ask students what they think of the school and their teachers. Technology definitely needs to be used more often in our schools, just look at our library. That shows how much technology we use. Were using technology invtented ten years ago, that is outdated, slow, and is always malfunctioning. Kind of like the education system in the U.S.

Lizette Alvarez. "Florida house approves ending tenure." New York Times. 16 March 2011. Web. 18 March 2011

Amy Stuart Wells. "Why Bipartisanism isnt working for Reform" 21 January 2011. Web 18 March 2011

Paul Thomas " The education Reform Debate." 20 January 2011. Web. 16 March 2011