As my boyfriend was flipping through the radio the other day I heard something on talk radio that set me off in a different direction. The radio was broadcasting a speech that Obama was giving about educational reform, claiming that the government is trying to establish a higher standard for test taking and putting more money towards educational reform. All I could think is, "how long are we going to keep talking about this before we see anything change?!" Educational reform is a topic that's been thrown around the mouths of politicians for over a decade now and the change that they've all been talking about is still yet to be seen. Granted minor changes have been made, such as the funding for tablets and computers in the classroom, but what about other things? Are tablets really useful when there are no teachers to conduct a classroom? Are they useful in an environment where students are barely reaching their average potential in reading, writing, and math? The answer is no. Educational reform in the eyes of up and coming teachers stems from the basics: funding a school so that they can pay their teachers, buying new books, and creating programs for sports and tutoring. So far, none of these things have happened and if they have then on a minimal scale. Giving tablets to low income elementary school students is like giving a toddler an iphone and claiming you're a good parent. It doesn't work. If educational reform were to happen it would have to start at the bottom of the educational pyramid i.e. the actual school. Many schools need to be fixed and possibly even rebuilt. No one likes learning in an environment that's not conducive to learning. The next thing that would be really helpful in educational reform is to stop firing teachers and possibly even pay them more than we already do. During student teaching and observation hours there wasn't a single teacher that didn't tell me that they didn't have to buy their own supplies. Granted they could use it as a write off on their taxes, but is it really fair to make them spend money they barely have for school supplies for students? No.
Another good idea for educational reform would be to fire teachers that aren't doing their jobs and hire teachers that actually care about students, legitimately care about their students. Many teachers get signed on to ten-year and after the third they stop caring about their jobs. If a teacher gets even remotely lazy about their job, they shouldn't be allowed to stay in the classroom because it has a direct impact on the students and their attitudes toward school. In the past year, there has been some talk about teachers being replaced if the students in their classroom aren't testing well on their STAR and CAT6 tests. That, in my opinion, is a horrible way to weed out bad teachers because lots of students don't take the tests seriously. By a certain grade level, students realize that these tests don't mean anything to them and it's a schools way of getting more funding from the government. If a student hates school, they might sit there and draw pictures while bubbling in random answers. Is it a reflection of a teachers capability to teach a classroom, again the answer is no. Teachers should be able to teach what they want and how they want as long as it's beneficial to a student and meets the criteria for the grade level. All classes are different, there is no direct equation for success in school and each class has its own personality that neither the principle nor the board of education can see. I'm not trying to say that we should get rid of standards, but if we got rid of things we have to teach based on state standards created by people that barely spend time in a classroom we would be closer to educational reform.
Which brings me to another very important point, the use of text books in early and secondary education. Buying schools kindles and tablets might help soften the load in a students backpack, but it takes away something that we try to teach students every day: the importance of work ethic. Some would argue that we are entering a digital age and that it's important to prepare students for this. That is true, in which case schools should have a mandatory computer lab program in which students learn the basics of how to use computers and navigating social media (not that they really have a problem with that). Textbooks, new updated textbooks, are important in educating students. If the government wants to reform a school sending money for textbooks would be way more beneficial than sending them tablets. The care for books teaches you respect, the use of books teaches you research and patience, and students that can learn those things will probably have a better attitude towards education overall.
This brings me to my final point on educational reform: building elective programs in schools. When a school loses money the first thing to go is elective and after school programs. There has been no word on schools getting them back either. I don't understand why the government and state board thinks that art and sports are any less important than subjects like math and science. Those programs give students incentives for coming to school and working hard for something. They learn the value of keeping up their grades when they have to keep up a GPA in order to stay on a team. These programs are important and if educational reform were to be happening then the programs that get taken out should be the first to be brought back into the school system.
In conclusion, educational reform is not happening. The money is clearly being put into other things, possibly even the super intendants pocket, and I for one would be very happy if politicians either stopped making promises or go through with what they're saying. Putting new technology in failing schools will not make test scores go up neither will pumping our news with empty promises. If Obama wants to keep preaching change that's fine, but he should really consider that one day people will catch on to the fact that change isn't coming about and put him out of office or demand to see that change. Until the country is ready for educational reform it will not happen, so if we could keep it out of the media that would be splendid.
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