Michael Gilbert, a school psychologist at Meachem Elementary School in Syracuse, New York, offers words of wisdom to his fellow citizens.
He writes:
….Much of what is happening in public education “reform” is not about what is in the best interest of students and schools. It is about politics, power, special interests and money.
All children in public schools are riding in the back of this proverbial bus in some way or another. Parents have a right to be outraged, but I doubt that most of them fully understand the current state of affairs. When it comes to public education, we can no longer assume that our children’s best interests are being served. This will continue to be the case so long as state and federal mandates are issued by individuals lacking basic knowledge of child development and education.
Lately there have been a lot of attacks directed against teachers for the failure of our schools as measured by standardized test scores, and against parents for behavioral issues in their children. While teachers and parents certainly own some of the accountability, these issues are much more complicated than they seem. Due to recent education reform policies, the passion and creativity for teaching is being destroyed, and I fear the best and brightest teachers are either leaving the field or will never enter it in the first place.
There is an over-fixation on testing, the results of which are being used — unfairly, according to researchers at the Economic Policy Institute and National Research Council — to evaluate teachers. While class size continues to increase, there has been a decrease in time allotted for movement (recess, physical education) and for the arts and humanities….
Data clearly show that children in low-achieving districts experience a great deal of stress related to factors such as trauma, poverty and violence. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated how stress interferes with the skills required for school success — for example, with the ability to attend to and concentrate on instruction; with flexibility and perseverance in problem-solving; and with the maintenance of self-control.
Instead of addressing this in a meaningful way, we simply assume that students will be able to leave their struggles at the entrance to the school. To make matters worse, we have increased the level of stress on these children by implementing policies that are getting us nowhere and are leaving a large number of students behind.
There are no quick fixes for meaningful education reform and it will require a great deal of hard work and commitment. However, the “reorganization” of “failing” schools is another process void of logic. Why do we wait for schools to consistently not make yearly adequate progress before we decide to do something new and creative? Should all schools not be given this opportunity? Or is this school transformation process really just an illusion of change?
Schools are not a “business” and students are not products to be measured through high-stakes testing. There needs to be a fundamental shift in the underlying framework of public education. Here are a few things that we could perhaps start with.
Teachers need to be truly valued in our communities. Let’s not minimize the dedication and heart teachers put into their profession or the role they play in the development of the whole child.
Teachers also need to be given the opportunity to teach a meaningful and enriched curriculum. There needs to be a return to unstructured play opportunities in kindergarten to cultivate necessary social-emotional skills.
Learning is about quality of instruction, not quantity. It is dependent on teachers and students developing meaningful relationships, not the administration of what State Education has termed “instructional dosages.” Students need to learn how to think, not what to think.
We need to put resources back into classrooms and school buildings, even if that means eliminating staff from central offices. There needs to be a reduction in unnecessary meetings and an elimination of ineffective programs. Otherwise, a great deal of valuable time will continue to be wasted throughout each school year.
Building administrators need to spend more time in their buildings working as instructional leaders to teachers and supports to children. Currently, they have much less time for what really matters, due to all that is required with state-mandated testing and teacher evaluation protocols.
Leaders in education need to inspire and unite – not dictate, demoralize, and divide. It is not about image, photos ops, rhetoric and catch phrases. It is about leading by example, with actions, not just words. With the current mantra of no bullying, why is it OK for our leaders to engage in exactly that type of behavior?
“College and career ready” makes a great sound bite, but in reality the concerns are much more complex and urgent. Can we agree to first make a commitment to equip children with skills for life, such as being responsible, persistent, cooperative, empathic and resourceful? Our children must be, above all else, effective communicators able to manage strong emotions. Once we are successful with that goal, then “college and career ready” will take care of itself.
Districts need a strong and well-informed school board — one that serves the students and families in their community. Many school boards across the state have passed clear resolutions against high-stakes testing and teacher evaluation systems. Unfortunately, a local school board recently passed a resolution that was, while well-intended, weak and off target. They should not only be more aggressively defending the teachers they employ, but also the children that their district serves.
A school board works for the public that elects them. The superintendent works for the board that hires them. Some districts seem to have this hierarchy upside down. Of course, the accountability doesn’t stop here. The commissioner of education, state Education Department, state Legislature, and governor all need to answer to parents specifically and taxpayers in general.
Ultimately, control of public schools should be returned to the local level. But until then we all need to be defending what is right and in the best interest of our children. Parents and concerned citizens need to lead the charge in taking back the schools which ultimately belong to them. A grassroots education revolution may be our only hope.
It should begin with Obama/Duncan. It’s their policies that have abetted the current state of affairs in public education.
“When it comes to public education, we can no longer assume that our children’s best interests are being served. This will continue to be the case so long as state and federal mandates are issued by individuals lacking basic knowledge of child development and education.”
It would be illegal for me to practice medicine without a license.
Why are “reformers” without significant teaching experience and proper certification allowed to practice as educators/supervisors, so to speak?
To serve the best interests of students, educational malpractice must be outlawed.
Amen. I will share this with people for sure!
Are students products to be measured by teacher assigned grades?
You know my answer to that TE!!!
Hell NO!
Wow!
One of best posts on this education debacle yet.
Yes, everyone should read Mr. Gilbert’s essay.
This is one of the truest statements on education that I have heard. I will share it with those on my profile.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
I believe that in Missouri, the largest problem we have is a fundamental one. The media does not provide information that goes beyond what powerful people, and the politicians they own will allow. Yes….I can post what Mr. Gilbert says on a forum, but there is zero chance that his words, or any others of people skeptical of the so called reform movement will appear in the supposedly liberal St. Louis Post Dispatch. It is so extreme, that even though two members of the state board of education from the st. Louis area:, VICE PRESIDENT
Michael W. Jones…..and……O. Victor Lenz, Jr., Ph.D., ……are on the list of people they do not talk to……they frequently quote a professional spin doctor for Charters…try googling Doug Thaman and see how often the pd quotes him. Since the summer of 2006, I have gathered information not so much about the murder of Tim Bacon….but of the reasons it could not be discussed by the media in St. Louis. My judge Susan Block you tube explores the subject…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BctOq3y1Lrk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Mr. Gilbert is “right on”. He has stated the exact situation in schools all over the country. Hundreds of thousands of people could have written the same essay. He needs to get this essay out there to be read by every Congressman, Governor, state legislator, school board, and citizens. It is just so irritating that these things have happened simultaneously from Boston to LA. It is unconscionable.
It shouldn’t take a PhD in psychology to arrive at this common sense view of what effective education is all about, though apparently it helps. The real enemy of education is poverty and all that it entails- not teachers. Smaller classes, curricular enrichment through the arts, family engagement and support, along with good nutrition and medical care-physical and psychological are at the core of making children ‘school/career/college/life ready! Let’s put cash and resources back into helping our children and their teachers.
“Parents and concerned citizens need to lead the charge in taking back the schools which ultimately belong to them”. “A grassroots education revolution may be our only hope” ( I love this part). This was a great article! I’m ready to act!
The current methods of teaching and the removal of all options, beyond the Regents diploma, have literally eliminated huge numbers of children from completing their education. I propose that we return to a project based, student/teacher directed learning model and watch children regain a true interest in education. The number of behavior issues reflects developmentally inappropriate standards and education demands as well as poorly prepared parents who can’t fathom why their children today are learning everything so differently. I have an Ms. Ed and need to consult the “Family Letter” to understand the methodologies they are using to teach my 2nd grader his math. That’s just absurd. We have created math wizards in generation pasts and somehow the math of yesterday is not “the way” to promote the math of the future. Students today do not understand how, what they are learning, applies to life in general. In many ways, it no longer does. We need to return to using real life problems to teach and thus create strong ties from school to home and home to school. By allowing students to see these connections and help design their educational experience you have taught them “how to learn, not what to learn.”
I just had to reply about the math. It is absolute nonsense, and actually one of the things that I’m *hoping* Common Core might help with- because it builds sequentially, rather than an inch deep and a mile wide- like they had been doing for quite a while. However, part of the methodologies depend on the curriculum – I’m sorry but “Everyday Math” is *HORRID*- even with the “revamp”.
Also, do kids really learn anything from lattice multiplication?? Does it teach them the concepts even? I’m not saying that that *no one* is ever helped- but why learn alternative methods right up front. There are different techniques for playing music- a teacher doesn’t give a student 3 different techniques as they are learning the concept and expect that they will learn it better and that they will be able to choose the one that works for them. They learn one method while learning a new skill.
TMA – The math I see coming from the students in my business classroom is hideous. They have no concept of the fundamentals and need a calculator to perform the most basic calculations that I was raised to perform in my head using simple tables. I can’t agree that today’s math has the depth that we had years ago. There needs to be a more radical overhaul.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
I intend on sharing….as I echo every WORD! Now if only those that make the decisions would LISTEN with their hearts they would see the steps to reform clearly outlined right here in front of them!
This is hopeless. The people in power will stay in power, parents in urban environments will never care enough about their children’s education to actually do anything about it, and all of the these sound, logical arguments against the way things are currently being done are futile (I agree with him, but what does it matter and who does it matter to?) Education, especially in urban schools, is a clearly broken system that will self-destruct from the bottom up before it ever gets fixed, and the pigs at the top will be the last and least affected by it.
..and the general public is too busy being jealous of us for having summers off and good health insurance to ever care about what we know is wrong with our profession.
If we can get enough of an uprise and get enough people educated about what is really going on, I think we can get a true education reform movement going. We just have to be loud enough and get enough people educated about the people who are pulling our strings.
You are right, Kathryn, come to the annual conference of the Network for Public Education in Austin on March 1-2.
Google the NPE website for more information.
Michael Gilbert comes from a school district where the APPR relies heavily on the outcome of the CCSS assessment. So much so, that there was not a single elementary teacher who was highly qualified.
Michael has lived what he writes about and it rings true.
Hear hear!!! The best summary of what is destroying education today that I have read in ten years!