Duncan seems to blame NCLB (which he supported for years) and the states for poorly designed multiple choice testing, while denying that RTTT required it, or contributed to the high stakes environment that puts the thumbscrews to teachers.
I gotta watch this again when I get the chance. Until then, what do you hear?
Comedy Central Shows:
This from The Daily Show by way of Governing:
I gotta watch this again when I get the chance. Until then, what do you hear?
Comedy Central Shows:
This from The Daily Show by way of Governing:
3 comments:
Is this the same guy who started in this position three years ago? Sounds like tough talk has become spin talk.
Just one point I have to throw out there. If we as a nation wish to prize personal freedom and protect individuality, then we must be willing to accept that those results on an individual basis will not always create idealized results. Some people will make personal decisions which will result in failure. Others by virutue of resource availability and use will not respond in ways we would collectively want for the benefit of the group.
As we have moved toward a system which expects individualized education, reduction of student responsibility, increased liability being placed on schools, disproportionate spending on individuals and disempowerment of teachers it is only natural that we are creating conditions for failure.
It is my general belief that students often do not fear academic failure nor do they place a great deal of value on scholastic success but instead recognize that the system is set to ensure their success. Similarly, teachers are faced with the paradigm that all students must succeed and go off to be successful adults. Once again those are the ideals but unfortunatley the realities of both our existance as well as the ideals of personal freedom and individuality are not mutually complementary
46 states did not set the bar due to courageous govenors. They accepted common core and multiple other bar raisers due to the feds bribing them with federal race to the top funds which inequitably got distributed based upon the plans which the current administration wished to reward as worthy.
Come on 46 states didn't suddenly all decide to make this shift, it was in competition for federal payouts
Did he just say the federal government does not support "bubble in standardized tests"?
States choose to increase their standards? That is like saying that starving kids chose to cross the mindfield in order to have a better life when you are the one who parked the truck on the other side of the field.
Bottom line is teaching is not going to attract high end academic folks unless it is in their heart and they have the disposition to teach. In its truest sense it is more a kin to a missionary than a mission control technician. If you are more academically inclined then you take tracks that are less burdensome and offer better career benefits. Basically, teaching is the same gig your entire career and inorder to advance or increase your salary significantly within the system you have to leave the classroom.
People don't leave the profession because they don't know their content well enough or can't embrace new pedagogy that works. They leave because they lose faith in what they are doing makes a difference or they change professions because it wears them down more than the tangible benefits offer.
These later elements have nothing to do with better preparing teachers or attracting teachers with stronger academic skills. It has to do with stablizing working conditions and making the job meaningful at the ground level, not fullfilling mandates from folks hundreds of miles from your classroom or school building.
Post a Comment