Live Oak — To the Editor:

 

Re:  your editorial of September 3, 2010 on improving education

Many, many teachers put a great deal of effort in the classroom, and some are very successful in having the students learn!  However, no matter how much effort is applied, some students don’t learn.  My hats off to these teachers!  I commend them for their knowledge, skills and abilities!

Many of the challenges in the classroom are a result from the student’s environment outside of the classroom.  Eliminating, or at least reducing, the adverse influences from the outside is one heck of a challenge to those in the public education program.

When talking about improving public education, I see very little discussion about augmenting these efforts in the classroom with like efforts within the students’ homes and with direct efforts by their parents.  I suggest that whenever grades, not averages, go below a “B,” the teacher, the school or the school system should initiate a dialog with the parents.  Continued poor performance could generate a ‘individual educational plan’ (IEP) for the school, the student and the parents.  Whenever possible, involve both parents, not just the ‘custodial’ parent.

Of course, classroom efforts in middle-school math classes, et al., might improve if some of the math teachers were to stop giving A’s solely for effort.  Awarding 100’s for Adequate-Daily-Progress (ADP) undermines the educational process as well as possibly raising the student’s grade-point-average by one or two letters.  When the ADP is weighted at 10%, there could be a one-letter-grade rise.  When the ADP is weighted at 20%, there could be a two-letter-grade rise.  So, a student’s “C” in math could actually have been an “F,” if it were not for this un-earned award.  Parents, don’t look at the grade-point average.  Instead, look at the individual grades for tests and quizzes.

Also, I’d like to know how a student’s education is enhanced by receiving ‘extra credit’ for bringing/donating copy paper, hand sanitizer, etc. to a class.  The students are basically told they can buy a higher grade than they deserve.  Isn’t that nice!?

Parents, ask your children how his/her teachers present the daily lessons.  Does the teacher merely sit at his/her desk reading the lesson plan while the students are supposed to read the lesson from the only-one television located at the front of the room?  Does the teacher give the students a pre-test … which is the actual test with the questions in a different order?  Does the teacher allow the students to sleep in class?  Are the tests multiple-guess, fill-in the blank, open-ended or discussion/essay type?  Each type requires a different depth of knowledge of the subject matter, as well as a different level of time and effort in grading.  Visit your student’s classes during the day once per month.

I’d like to see each school have video-taping capability in each and every classroom, and randomly tape each class at least once per week.  Put the videos on YouTube for public viewing!  Boy, I bet there would be lots of changes in the classroom by some teachers and students!

Is the new grading system, FOCUS, available to the parents yet?  I have not seen any information on how to access it.  It should be an automatic opt-in for both the parents and students, with the ability for them to opt-out.

 

 

Sincerely,

Tom Burnett

Live Oak



The editorial to which this letter responds is available on this site. Search for “Getting down to business.”

 - Editor