On November 9, Mead School District held the fifth school board meeting of this academic year. Running the meeting was Superintendent Tom Rockefeller, President Board Director Ron Farley, Vice President Board Director Denny Denholm, and Board Directors, Maureen O’Connor, Robert Olson, and Carmen Green. All of the directors were recently re-elected, excluding Maureen O’Connor who isn’t up for re-election until next year. Due to this, there was an almost celebratory feel to the meeting, with many of the Directors, especially Vice-President Denholm, making jokes and being conversational with the small audience. At the meeting, I was the only person attending that was not giving a presentation to the board. The rest of the audience was made up …show more content…
Even after the bell rings, there is constant work happening to keep the school district running. The Council of Learning definitely hit this point home for me. In their twenty page document on student progress, they not only explained the importance of academic progress but the importance of pushing for a safer school climate for their students. Outside of the report they addressed the difficulty of excessive testing requirements and how it is putting down students. Only having had the perspective of a student, it was reassuring to see educators seeing a problem and actively seeking a way to fix the problem. Though testing is necessary with the current structure of evaluating students, there is a conscience effort to improve schooling for students. Hoping to stay teaching in Eastern Washington, I am excited to see teachers setting the foundation for change. I hope that I have the opportunity to not only help my students inside the classroom but also in a more political way that will help students that I am not teaching. Like many things that I’ve experienced in these last ten weeks of class, my thoughts on education have definitely been
One of the tasks that Oleszek’s plans to do is improve the education system in Braddock District. She has substantial knowledge of the education system in Fairfax County from previously serving in Parent-Teacher Associations at Bonnie Brae Elementary school and Robinson High Schools. She has also served as a School Board Member. As more and more people migrate/immigrate to Northern Virginia due to the attraction of the educational programs that it provides, it continues to
“It is my belief that all young people have the ability to achieve at high levels, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they do… This includes having high expectations for students to succeed academically, socially, in their college and career pursuits, and in life” –Antwan Wilson Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District Community To Be Served For every seven students that earn a diploma from the Oakland Unified School District, three of their peers will never make it to graduation day. In a school district that educates more than 37,000 students, a graduation rate of 67% means that more than 12,000 will drop out before graduating from high school. A disproportionate number of these students are minorities and students
Since the passage of No Child Left Behind Act 12 years ago, teachers are judged based on standardized tests and their students’ scores. The tests are often used as a measure for schools to determine if teachers should keep their jobs. The whole teaching profession is being shamed as inadequate. Joe Nocera, opinion columnist for the New York Times newspaper, by examining a thinker named Marc Tucker, argues for a new way to approach educational reform. To begin with, Nocera addresses reforming and reconstructing our current schools.
After reading the interviews on Len Bickman and now David Fetterman, it seems being an evaluator is dangerous work. It is frustrating to read the obstacles educators have to navigate to see progress made in discovering new ways to teach and learn. We are trying to educate in a fast paced world where information changes so quickly, so how will schools ever be free to move with the ever changing landscape when the political dynamic creates obstacles of progress. Luckily we get to read about educators who are not afraid to step in front of the train and evaluate with integrity and demand we do what is right for our students. Fetterman explains how easy it is to be retrospectively courageous, but the hardest thing is to do the right thing at
In 2007 when Diane Ravitch descended from her 20,000-foot view of the education reform landscape to examine what was going on at ground level, she did not like what she saw: children suffering nose-bleeds and vomiting from test anxiety, school personnel and parents humiliated by test results designed to satisfy the failure quotas imposed by cynical and self-serving corporate privateers and political ideologues; educators being blamed for the effects of poverty that no amount of good teaching could fix alone; untrained beginners replacing education professionals in schools that needed the most caring and experienced teachers; schools that had functioned as community centers of identity and activity being closed; a pathological fixation of quantifiable
Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, by Michael S. Roth, offers several perspectives from some of the most influential American educators of all-time. Roth, who is partial to a liberal education due to his background and profession, still manages to offer a nonpartisan view into the mindsets of the United States of America’s most prominent educators. These prominent educators are from different backgrounds, races, and sexes; therefore, they prove that liberal education is something that affects everyone. In his book, Roth focuses on the viewpoints of Thomas Jefferson and Frederick Douglass: two opposing, influential members of the Civil War era.
Opening minds In one of his Sunday commentaries, Professor Walter Williams of George Mason University wrote that many college professors, mostly liberals, “use their classrooms to proselytize students,” and that this practice is “acceptable at most universities.” I agree with Professor Williams that the beliefs and opinions a professor holds should not become part of classroom discussion. I also agree that using the classroom to force certain beliefs and opinions on students “is nothing less than academic dishonesty.”
Too many Valley districts are forced into choosing between making repairs to keep students safe and investing in the updates and innovation that will prepare students for 21st-century jobs. ” It shouldn’t be an option between the safety of students and innovation; schools should have both safety and academic improvements to prepare students for the future. Schools should be provide money to combat these issues for the students’ well being and reconstruction they
Making a difference in the lives of students starts in the classroom. Teachers need to stop being lazy and caring about the state testing and start caring more about their students. Teachers need to start making school engaging. Teachers need to start trying harder to make lessons geared towards students. To do
Here we are taught to listen to others’ advise, take in criticism, and transform our fixed mindset into growth. With this skill we have been taught we are able to do the opposite of the definition, and act according to wish, but we do allow ourselves to be deflected or change our opinions based on facts. The students here have an advantage, but it does not make a large counterpart to the wooden-headedness prevalent in our nation and around the world to make a difference in human
Many financial setbacks have caused the 2009–2011 teacher layoffs, and increased class sizes in poverty schools, communities are now held to the highest accountability measures mandated by Federal policy. The challenged schools were forced to reduce their professional development expenditures, that pushed school leaders into over-sized classrooms. This develops an opportunity for collaboration among school and university partnerships. The partnerships created lofty goals for improved teacher preparation and ongoing professional development, similar to those developed by the Holmes Group (1995).
Behind the members, were two rows of about 7 chairs, for guest. I 've noticed four cameras surrounded the room and a tv capturing everything. I found this rather interesting, that you can watch these at home and still get a feel what 's going on at the meeting. I chose to attend this school board meeting because i 've personally always wanted to go there and knew Ms. Barnes was going to be there, and felt more comfortable with a familiar face. I think as a future educator, it 's important to get involved within the community on issues revolving around education, becauses they do affect
I totally agree with that Herbert is saying in this article. The way school systems are today is disgusting. They are not pushing kids to do their best work. Being a senior in high school and going to college right after was a huge change. High school does not get you prepared for college.
When I decided to train to become a professional school counselor, I knew I had a long road ahead. I am trained to be a teacher, a special education teacher to be specific, and though I will be able to use much of my past experience as a classroom teacher in my school counseling practice, I am aware that I will also need to see my students in a new way, a more holistic way. I will need to focus not only on what works in the classroom, but what works in order to motivate and support the students with whom I meet. It is essential for me to determine what will drive me, inspire me to be the best school counselor for both my school and students, therefore, I must determine my professional philosophy of education and school counseling and develop my beliefs, vision and mission statements.
Sadker & Sadker (2017) believes that, “behind every school and every teacher is a set of related beliefs--a philosophy of education--that influences what and how students are taught. A philosophy of education represents answers to questions about the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what methods” (Chapter 9). I seek to adopt the progressivism approach. Progressive education rejects traditional education as it is child-centred and not subject-centred (Reedy, 2017). My Philosophy of education requires me to ask myself questions on why do I teach, what do I teach and how do I teach.