tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220567035505058882.post7884939843898764199..comments2023-08-18T01:01:29.710-07:00Comments on Learning in America: Should Education Be a Race?Jim Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683223394880936587noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220567035505058882.post-89106770521026815882010-01-07T18:32:02.344-08:002010-01-07T18:32:02.344-08:00Sorry, I don't agree, except in extreme cases....Sorry, I don't agree, except in extreme cases. An excellent curriculum and great teachers can overcome all sorts of problems children come to school with.Pam Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332214539318625107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220567035505058882.post-76489442397847414492010-01-07T14:38:01.431-08:002010-01-07T14:38:01.431-08:00Pam,While I can't disagree that high expectati...Pam,<br><br>While I can't disagree that high expectations and good teachers are important, you seem to be missing the whole socio-economic context of the situation. It is hard to buy into doing well in school if the cards are stacked against you in the first place. There certainly are exceptions, but to do well in school, you need a good foundation (love, support, experience, encouragement, a sense of safety and security, and a belief that if you work hard, it will make a difference in your life. <br><br>We can make these standards as "high" as we wish, but it is not going to make one bit of difference if basic survival needs are not attended to as well.<br><br>It is just so easy for the rich and middle class to talk, from the comfort of their own life styles, about raising the bar for those who have nothing. The bar can be raised all we want, but if the rich continue to get richer and poor poorer (check the statistics for the past 40 years), then high standards are pointless.<br><br>In closing (*cough,cough*) I would argue that, in the end, it is a social-economic and cultural problem created by the greedy . . . and not a standards and teaching issue at all. <br><br><br><br>JimJim Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683223394880936587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220567035505058882.post-46520366537186677682010-01-07T11:58:40.766-08:002010-01-07T11:58:40.766-08:00Although I'd prefer that corporations and tech...Although I'd prefer that corporations and technocrats not determine how and what our children learn, I know that complaints from the business sector about poorly prepared college-educated hirees are rampant and justified. If we don't want computer and technology companies, with their attendant profit motives, to dictate curriculum standards, then educators better get serious and develop standards to educate our young people that are more rigorous than the ones we have now.<br><br>Does that, then, mean our students need "21st-century skills"? I don't think so. Delineating creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration as skills unique to today is nonsense. Good teachers have used all of them in their classrooms for years, and they know that the best learning takes place when kids learn basic content and processes simultaneously with reasoning, problem-solving, and communicating.<br><br>What I'd like to see are strong measurable standards and better training for our nation's teachers. At the end of the day, it's the quality of the classroom teacher that most influences what the students learn.Pam Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332214539318625107noreply@blogger.com