Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Fixing Education: A Poll

What is the largest major problem facing our country today? Terrorists? Lobbyists? Vice Presidents with guns? The history of Hinduism as it affects California? (believe me, there are PLENTY of people worried about that one! really!!) No, of course not...our major issue is the education of those young people who will be in charge when we sit in nursing homes staring vacantly at reruns of Wheel of Fortune.
According to an Associated Press/America Online poll of both parents (n-1085) and teachers (n-810), education is a big issue, and there is some disagreement about how things are going. What with No Child Left Behind, charter schools, voucher programs and home schooling ad nauseam, it's no wonder this is a hot-button item. Here are the details as to how each group saw current education.

Less than 50% of parents thought discipline was a problem in schools.
More than 66% of teachers thought that it was a significant problem.

Over 63% of parents surveyed felt that learning was assessed more effectively with homework and in-class assignments rather than by using tests as a measure.
Slightly more than 70% of teachers agreed with them. High stakes testing got low grades all around. Provide your own reason why this might have been the case.

Are our schools doing a good job preparing our kids for college? More than 67% of parents felt that this was true. Teachers agreed at a 79% rate.

What is the most important subject taught in school today? (I was shocked to find out that it WAS NOT physical education) Parents felt that math was the most important while teachers felt that English was the most important. It is necessary to note that English was a relatively close second in the parents' poll.

Respondents were asked if they thought low expectations were part of the problem. Parents agreed that this was a problem to the tune of 43%. Teachers said "yes" 54% of the time.

Almost half (46%) of all teachers questioned said that they had been asked by a parent to change the grade a student had earned.

I found it tremendously fascinating that BOTH groups indicated that the single biggest problem facing education today was "getting and keeping good teachers."
I have many potential reasons for this, but I'm keeping them to myself. I have a bias, and I see too much education every day to be impartial.
No matter what you think needs fixing in public education today, the fact is that we try to educate a wide range of intellects under a variety of stresses. Sometimes I wonder how we manage at all.

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