Thursday, August 16, 2012

Six Things

Even though I am finished reading, I keep thinking back to a section of the book in chapter six, “Homework x 2 = The American Dream”.  In this part of the book, the authors say that there are six things needed to improve education: “better teachers and principals; parents who are more involved in and demanding of their children’s education; politicians who push to raise educational standards; neighbors who are ready to invest in schools even though their children do not attend them; business leaders committed to raising educational standards in their communities; and students who come to school prepared to learn, not to text” (p. 109).

Today in education, it seems that teachers are often the first to be blamed when anything goes wrong. As we hear more and more about teacher accountability and what changes are coming down the road, I keep thinking back to the other five pieces of the equation. While most of the country is willing to admit that changes need to occur and improvements should be made, I agree with the authors when they say, "Our education challenge is too demanding for the burden to be borne by teachers and principals alone" (p.109). Although teachers and principals are often scrutinized, I just wonder how different education might be if everyone involved was truly dedicated to doing their part.

1 comment:

  1. So true, why shouldn't the other stakeholders be working just as hard as the teachers, and held to the same level of accountability? It seems that in the current political and economic climate teachers suffer the most attacks. It feels pretty awful to be a teacher today, when everything you see reported on TV, quoted in the newspaper, is a slam against teachers. Society needs to stop shifting blame, it's time to participate, because, in the words of Friedman and Mandelbaum, "Today, education is not an option--it is a necessity for a middle-class standard of living."

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