<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	
	>
<channel>
	<title>Comments on: America’s Education System Isn’t Broken</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=americas-education-system-isnt-broken</link>
	<description></description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2014 09:14:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	
	<item>
		<title>By: Taylor</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5468787</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Taylor]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2014 10:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5468787</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes! Patriotism and propaganda is rampant in the American school system. Of course it is, anyone who says different is blind to the inner workings of this country.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes! Patriotism and propaganda is rampant in the American school system. Of course it is, anyone who says different is blind to the inner workings of this country.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Daniel Greenfield</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334222</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2013 02:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334222</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I think it&#039;s a matter of quality. Rather than broken. Taco Bell isn&#039;t broken. But it&#039;s not a quality diet or a healthy one.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I think it&#8217;s a matter of quality. Rather than broken. Taco Bell isn&#8217;t broken. But it&#8217;s not a quality diet or a healthy one.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Richard Johnston</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334190</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Johnston]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334190</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thank you for your reply. I sincerely appreciate your columns. That people need to put out extra $$ to get this suggests the system is broken. I think your thesis is much stronger if prefaced by &quot;given programs such as vouchers for all will not happen...&quot; No need to respond to this.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you for your reply. I sincerely appreciate your columns. That people need to put out extra $$ to get this suggests the system is broken. I think your thesis is much stronger if prefaced by &#8220;given programs such as vouchers for all will not happen&#8230;&#8221; No need to respond to this.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Richard Johnston</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334189</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Johnston]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334189</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We introduce school vouchers good at any school. I think it is not accurate that all private schools require a teacher certification. I could be wrong and if so stand corrected. I do not question that the &quot;quality of peers is higher&quot; insomuch as parents putting out the extra money indicate some extra interest.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We introduce school vouchers good at any school. I think it is not accurate that all private schools require a teacher certification. I could be wrong and if so stand corrected. I do not question that the &#8220;quality of peers is higher&#8221; insomuch as parents putting out the extra money indicate some extra interest.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Jeff Ludwig</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334112</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeff Ludwig]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2013 21:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334112</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I couldn&#039;t agree more than I do with what Mr. Greenfield has to say in this article.  An excellent book written from pretty much the same premise is Robert Weissberg&#039;s Bad Students, Not Bad Schools.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I couldn&#8217;t agree more than I do with what Mr. Greenfield has to say in this article.  An excellent book written from pretty much the same premise is Robert Weissberg&#8217;s Bad Students, Not Bad Schools.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Cheryl</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334046</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Cheryl]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2013 20:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334046</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I quite agree - when I went to Catholic grade school even the prinicpal taught a classroom full of kids - all day. Other than the principal there was a janitor and the lunchroom ladies. I got an excellent education without a lot of the frills and some of my teachers only had a year or two of college (I&#039;m a baby boomer).  While I went on to graduate school (which was a piece of cake for me and I&#039;m nothing special) I think the best education I had was in those Catholic schools and one of my graduate professors who was tough but fair. 

I went home and cried after my first course in &quot;Research Methodology&quot; because I was so sorry I had not been taught that years before.  And all this rubbish about families not being able to teach, etc. - well one of my parents was obviously bi-polar and the other one also had mental problems. But it didn&#039;t stop me from reading and learning (my escape from the insanity of home) which led to my getting a Ph.D. Now I must compete with 44DDs, pretty faces, and nepotism in the job market, often people who have the piece of paper but know nothing (I mean NOTHING) - all because some do-gooders and the government got involved.


There is NOTHING in the CONSTITUTION ABOUT EDUCATION _ this should be decided at the state level.  The Dept. of Education was created by Jimmy Carter as a pay-off to the teachers&#039; unions. No wonder we are in trouble.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I quite agree &#8211; when I went to Catholic grade school even the prinicpal taught a classroom full of kids &#8211; all day. Other than the principal there was a janitor and the lunchroom ladies. I got an excellent education without a lot of the frills and some of my teachers only had a year or two of college (I&#8217;m a baby boomer).  While I went on to graduate school (which was a piece of cake for me and I&#8217;m nothing special) I think the best education I had was in those Catholic schools and one of my graduate professors who was tough but fair. </p>
<p>I went home and cried after my first course in &#8220;Research Methodology&#8221; because I was so sorry I had not been taught that years before.  And all this rubbish about families not being able to teach, etc. &#8211; well one of my parents was obviously bi-polar and the other one also had mental problems. But it didn&#8217;t stop me from reading and learning (my escape from the insanity of home) which led to my getting a Ph.D. Now I must compete with 44DDs, pretty faces, and nepotism in the job market, often people who have the piece of paper but know nothing (I mean NOTHING) &#8211; all because some do-gooders and the government got involved.</p>
<p>There is NOTHING in the CONSTITUTION ABOUT EDUCATION _ this should be decided at the state level.  The Dept. of Education was created by Jimmy Carter as a pay-off to the teachers&#8217; unions. No wonder we are in trouble.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Diane</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334040</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Diane]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334040</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You are so, so right.  I&#039;ve even met one who is writing a dissertation on a 17th century Italian topic who doesn&#039;t know any Italian.  All these people know is theory. Another one I know regrets borrow money for a master&#039;s degree, owes a pile of money, but when she couldn&#039;t find a job she liked went abroad where to the best of my knowledge she does next to nothing and thinks that somehow this is okay. She will not go to heaven.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You are so, so right.  I&#8217;ve even met one who is writing a dissertation on a 17th century Italian topic who doesn&#8217;t know any Italian.  All these people know is theory. Another one I know regrets borrow money for a master&#8217;s degree, owes a pile of money, but when she couldn&#8217;t find a job she liked went abroad where to the best of my knowledge she does next to nothing and thinks that somehow this is okay. She will not go to heaven.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: WW4</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5334035</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[WW4]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2013 19:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5334035</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#039;s a good question, but &quot;because he can&quot; is probably the best answer. People who can afford to do so send their kids to private schools for all sorts of reasons.  Not the least of which, as I&#039;ve pointed out elsewhere, is that the quality of peers is higher. They don&#039;t have to take anybody and everybody. But for those that do have to take anybody and everybody...what do we do?

I couldn&#039;t agree more that qualified people shouldn&#039;t have to jump through 80 hoops if they desire to teach.  But somewhere people have to learn how to manage a class full of other people&#039;s kids. Education classes are a bit of a joke, but private school teachers come from the same places public school teachers do.

]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s a good question, but &#8220;because he can&#8221; is probably the best answer. People who can afford to do so send their kids to private schools for all sorts of reasons.  Not the least of which, as I&#8217;ve pointed out elsewhere, is that the quality of peers is higher. They don&#8217;t have to take anybody and everybody. But for those that do have to take anybody and everybody&#8230;what do we do?</p>
<p>I couldn&#8217;t agree more that qualified people shouldn&#8217;t have to jump through 80 hoops if they desire to teach.  But somewhere people have to learn how to manage a class full of other people&#8217;s kids. Education classes are a bit of a joke, but private school teachers come from the same places public school teachers do.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Mark</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5333972</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5333972</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[They may be highly credentialled but most &#039;teachers&#039; are barely educated because they themselves have been schooled rather than educated. Everytime I meet someone who says they are a teacher I want to say &quot;aren&#039;t you ashamed of telling people that.&quot; Most of them are so dumb they don&#039;t even understand my sarcism. Most of them are people who         borrowed a lot of money from the government, but 50 years ago they would have been lucky to get a job stocking shelves at a local store.  
I despise most &quot;educators.&quot;]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>They may be highly credentialled but most &#8216;teachers&#8217; are barely educated because they themselves have been schooled rather than educated. Everytime I meet someone who says they are a teacher I want to say &#8220;aren&#8217;t you ashamed of telling people that.&#8221; Most of them are so dumb they don&#8217;t even understand my sarcism. Most of them are people who         borrowed a lot of money from the government, but 50 years ago they would have been lucky to get a job stocking shelves at a local store.<br />
I despise most &#8220;educators.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Steve</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5333970</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5333970</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Agreed - I have a Ph.D. and really don&#039;t think I know enough in my field. But some of my classmates were so brain dead I could hardly stand them - and that was 20 years ago.  What we use to say about the education department is unrepeatable on line!]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Agreed &#8211; I have a Ph.D. and really don&#8217;t think I know enough in my field. But some of my classmates were so brain dead I could hardly stand them &#8211; and that was 20 years ago.  What we use to say about the education department is unrepeatable on line!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: kilfincelt</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5327214</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[kilfincelt]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 16:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5327214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[40 years ago I came to the conclusion that schools of education were a waste of time and said so to my uncle who held a chair in the school of education at a well known public university. He did not question my position. To be fair to him, his field was music education and he was considered to be one of the best music educators in the U.S.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>40 years ago I came to the conclusion that schools of education were a waste of time and said so to my uncle who held a chair in the school of education at a well known public university. He did not question my position. To be fair to him, his field was music education and he was considered to be one of the best music educators in the U.S.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: ML NJ</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5327170</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[ML NJ]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 14:41:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5327170</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Depends what your definition of &quot;education&quot; is, doesn&#039;t it?  A century ago kids who didn&#039;t finish eighth grade knew Latin and Greek.  Now maybe they know how to put a condom on a cucumber.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Depends what your definition of &#8220;education&#8221; is, doesn&#8217;t it?  A century ago kids who didn&#8217;t finish eighth grade knew Latin and Greek.  Now maybe they know how to put a condom on a cucumber.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: geneww1938</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5327159</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[geneww1938]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 14:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5327159</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Of course it is not broke ... it is doing exactly what the Educational Department wants. 
Yes it is the parents fault.  If you love your kids,  please investigate home schooling  even if you decide to leave them in those institutions.   At least you did your homework. 
Home schools have Co-Ops and families can team-up to share their expertise.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Of course it is not broke &#8230; it is doing exactly what the Educational Department wants.<br />
Yes it is the parents fault.  If you love your kids,  please investigate home schooling  even if you decide to leave them in those institutions.   At least you did your homework.<br />
Home schools have Co-Ops and families can team-up to share their expertise.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Nickname: "Teach"</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5327026</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nickname: "Teach"]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 04:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5327026</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#039;ve been a teacher for over 28 years.  Here&#039;s my core beliefs regarding education today:


1)  Schools in Chicago, Detroit, etc. are dictating the national discourse on education, much like the &quot;low-skilled&quot; students take up most of a teacher&#039;s time and a school&#039;s resources.


2)  The solution to the above dilemma is to micro-manage teachers and their day-to-day goings on.  At my school alone there was nothing short of a revolution.  Within one year, we made the following changes:  Teachers of the same course must start a chapter on the same day, administer the same quizzes, same tests, graded in the same way, same rubric and weights, same course info sheet.  And we are supposed to teach our daily classes in a very formulaic way (draconian in its implementation):  warm up, then SHORT lecture, then activities (to &quot;entertain&quot; the students--admin&#039;s words!), then a closure activity.  If we deviate from that, we have to defend ourselves.  And now we are supposed to present material in the same way.  CONFORMITY is the prescription for the hypochondriac patient.

Also, we are under extreme pressure to inflate grades.  It is now part of our contract.  Ingenious the way they do it:  If a kid scores less than 75% on a test, we MUST allow endless re-takes. Also, we teachers are forbidden from giving zeros on work not done.  Rather, the lowest we can give is 50%.  (It is called, &quot;0 = 50%.)  All this is meant to send the message, as well as create definite measures, to inflate grades.  Schools all across the nation are seeing grades go up, while colleges and universities bemoan the lower and lower skills with which kids are entering college.


3)  I am all for testing.  We need some way to measure ourselves and our students.  BUT NOT THE WAY IT CURRENTLY IS BEING RUN.  Students have no stake in it!  Schools get funding based on test results.  Teachers jobs on the line, but absolutely no consequences for students.  What a sham!  This is just a scheme created by the Republicans that the Democrats stole and are now running with.  Of course, the wall-streeters, the Bill Gates&#039;s, the Oprah Winfrey&#039;s, the Warren Buffet&#039;s are scheming to ruin the reputation of public schools and teachers so that they can privatize education.  After all, there is more money in education than in defense!


And what is more, the test we currently have--the STAR 9--rewards low-level teaching--rote regurgitation and low-skilled step-by-step work.  Where is the ingenuity?  And where, in today&#039;s curriculum are we teaching kids the love of learning?  --and how that discipline gathers information and processes that information, how the practitioner thinks, etc.  All this is lost, NOT because the teacher cannot do it BUT BECAUSE OUR HANDS ARE BEING TIED MORE AND MORE EACH YEAR BY ADMIN who get their stuff from the schools of education.  I say do away with all schools of education.  They are doing more harm than good.

Standardization and conformity lead to mediocrity.  We need to go back to the &quot;OLD SCHOOL&quot; way of teaching.  Create an environment in which all students can excel, but let the chips fall where they may.  A student has a right to fail.  Create incentives for families to support their children, even if we have to go with some sort of monetary reward for parents being a part of a child&#039;s education.  Stop inculcating kids.  Teach both sides of every cultural and historical issue.

Unless there is a radical 360, the trajectory is that public schools will fall into the hands of the profiteers and it will not be about educating to help our country, but, rather, about profit.  I think the model is like what community colleges are today.  No secure jobs for teachers, so teachers will just have to be a sycophant to the newest, latest trend.   I see an awful future for our educational system.  (I think my bias is showing through.  That is to say, as a teacher myself, I believe teachers are part of the solution even though we are considered part of the problem.  That is ludicrous.  Our society must regard the educational process in high esteem and accord the same esteem to those providing that education--the teachers.  Anything short of that and we are barking up the wrong tree.)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been a teacher for over 28 years.  Here&#8217;s my core beliefs regarding education today:</p>
<p>1)  Schools in Chicago, Detroit, etc. are dictating the national discourse on education, much like the &#8220;low-skilled&#8221; students take up most of a teacher&#8217;s time and a school&#8217;s resources.</p>
<p>2)  The solution to the above dilemma is to micro-manage teachers and their day-to-day goings on.  At my school alone there was nothing short of a revolution.  Within one year, we made the following changes:  Teachers of the same course must start a chapter on the same day, administer the same quizzes, same tests, graded in the same way, same rubric and weights, same course info sheet.  And we are supposed to teach our daily classes in a very formulaic way (draconian in its implementation):  warm up, then SHORT lecture, then activities (to &#8220;entertain&#8221; the students&#8211;admin&#8217;s words!), then a closure activity.  If we deviate from that, we have to defend ourselves.  And now we are supposed to present material in the same way.  CONFORMITY is the prescription for the hypochondriac patient.</p>
<p>Also, we are under extreme pressure to inflate grades.  It is now part of our contract.  Ingenious the way they do it:  If a kid scores less than 75% on a test, we MUST allow endless re-takes. Also, we teachers are forbidden from giving zeros on work not done.  Rather, the lowest we can give is 50%.  (It is called, &#8220;0 = 50%.)  All this is meant to send the message, as well as create definite measures, to inflate grades.  Schools all across the nation are seeing grades go up, while colleges and universities bemoan the lower and lower skills with which kids are entering college.</p>
<p>3)  I am all for testing.  We need some way to measure ourselves and our students.  BUT NOT THE WAY IT CURRENTLY IS BEING RUN.  Students have no stake in it!  Schools get funding based on test results.  Teachers jobs on the line, but absolutely no consequences for students.  What a sham!  This is just a scheme created by the Republicans that the Democrats stole and are now running with.  Of course, the wall-streeters, the Bill Gates&#8217;s, the Oprah Winfrey&#8217;s, the Warren Buffet&#8217;s are scheming to ruin the reputation of public schools and teachers so that they can privatize education.  After all, there is more money in education than in defense!</p>
<p>And what is more, the test we currently have&#8211;the STAR 9&#8211;rewards low-level teaching&#8211;rote regurgitation and low-skilled step-by-step work.  Where is the ingenuity?  And where, in today&#8217;s curriculum are we teaching kids the love of learning?  &#8211;and how that discipline gathers information and processes that information, how the practitioner thinks, etc.  All this is lost, NOT because the teacher cannot do it BUT BECAUSE OUR HANDS ARE BEING TIED MORE AND MORE EACH YEAR BY ADMIN who get their stuff from the schools of education.  I say do away with all schools of education.  They are doing more harm than good.</p>
<p>Standardization and conformity lead to mediocrity.  We need to go back to the &#8220;OLD SCHOOL&#8221; way of teaching.  Create an environment in which all students can excel, but let the chips fall where they may.  A student has a right to fail.  Create incentives for families to support their children, even if we have to go with some sort of monetary reward for parents being a part of a child&#8217;s education.  Stop inculcating kids.  Teach both sides of every cultural and historical issue.</p>
<p>Unless there is a radical 360, the trajectory is that public schools will fall into the hands of the profiteers and it will not be about educating to help our country, but, rather, about profit.  I think the model is like what community colleges are today.  No secure jobs for teachers, so teachers will just have to be a sycophant to the newest, latest trend.   I see an awful future for our educational system.  (I think my bias is showing through.  That is to say, as a teacher myself, I believe teachers are part of the solution even though we are considered part of the problem.  That is ludicrous.  Our society must regard the educational process in high esteem and accord the same esteem to those providing that education&#8211;the teachers.  Anything short of that and we are barking up the wrong tree.)</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: My nickname: "Teach"</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5327020</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[My nickname: "Teach"]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 03:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5327020</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#039;ve been a teacher for over 28 years.  Here&#039;s my core beliefs regarding education today:


1)  Schools in Chicago, Detroit, etc. are dictating the national discourse on education, much like the &quot;low-skilled&quot; students take up most of a teacher&#039;s time and a school&#039;s resources.


2)  The solution to the above dilemma is to micro-manage teachers and their day-to-day goings on.  At my school alone there was nothing short of a revolution.  Within one year, we made the following changes:  Teachers of the same course must start a chapter on the same day, administer the same quizzes, same tests, graded in the same way, same rubric and weights, same course info sheet.  And we are supposed to teach our daily classes in a very formulaic way (draconian in its implementation):  warm up, then SHORT lecture, then activities (to &quot;entertain&quot; the students--admin&#039;s words!), then a closure activity.  If we deviate from that, we have to defend ourselves.  And now we are supposed to present material in the same way.  CONFORMITY is the prescription for the hypochondriac patient.

Also, we are under extreme pressure to inflate grades.  It is now part of our contract.  Ingenious the way they do it:  If a kid scores less than 75% on a test, we MUST allow endless re-takes. Also, we teachers are forbidden from giving zeros on work not done.  Rather, the lowest we can give is 50%.  (It is called, &quot;0 = 50%.)  All this is meant to send the message, as well as create definite measures, to inflate grades.  Schools all across the nation are seeing grades go up, while colleges and universities bemoan the lower and lower skills with which kids are entering college.


3)  I am all for testing.  We need some way to measure ourselves and our students.  BUT NOT THE WAY IT CURRENTLY IS BEING RUN.  Students have no stake in it!  Schools get funding based on test results.  Teachers jobs on the line, but absolutely no consequences for students.  What a sham!  This is just a scheme created by the Republicans that the Democrats stole and are now running with.  Of course, the wall-streeters, the Bill Gates&#039;s, the Oprah Winfrey&#039;s, the Warren Buffet&#039;s are scheming to ruin the reputation of public schools and teachers so that they can privatize education.  After all, there is more money in education than in defense!


And what is more, the test we currently have--the STAR 9--rewards low-level teaching--rote regurgitation and low-skilled step-by-step work.  Where is the ingenuity?  And where, in today&#039;s curriculum are we teaching kids the love of learning?  --and how that discipline gathers information and processes that information, how the practitioner thinks, etc.  All this is lost, NOT because the teacher cannot do it BUT BECAUSE OUR HANDS ARE BEING TIED MORE AND MORE EACH YEAR BY ADMIN who get their stuff from the schools of education.  I say do away with all schools of education.  They are doing more harm than good.

Standardization and conformity lead to mediocrity.  We need to go back to the &quot;OLD SCHOOL&quot; way of teaching.  Create an environment in which all students can excel, but let the chips fall where they may.  A student has a right to fail.  Create incentives for families to support their children, even if we have to go with some sort of monetary reward for parents being a part of a child&#039;s education.  Stop inculcating kids.  Teach both sides of every cultural and historical issue.

Unless there is a radical 360, the trajectory is that public schools will fall into the hands of the profiteers and it will not be about educating to help our country, but, rather, about profit.  I think the model is like what community colleges are today.  No secure jobs for teachers, so teachers will just have to be a sycophant to the newest, latest trend.   I see an awful future for our educational system.  (I think my bias is showing through.  That is to say, as a teacher myself, I believe teachers are part of the solution even though we are considered part of the problem.  That is ludicrous.  Our society must regard the educational process in high esteem and accord the same esteem to those providing that education--the teachers.  Anything short of that and we are barking up the wrong tree.)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been a teacher for over 28 years.  Here&#8217;s my core beliefs regarding education today:</p>
<p>1)  Schools in Chicago, Detroit, etc. are dictating the national discourse on education, much like the &#8220;low-skilled&#8221; students take up most of a teacher&#8217;s time and a school&#8217;s resources.</p>
<p>2)  The solution to the above dilemma is to micro-manage teachers and their day-to-day goings on.  At my school alone there was nothing short of a revolution.  Within one year, we made the following changes:  Teachers of the same course must start a chapter on the same day, administer the same quizzes, same tests, graded in the same way, same rubric and weights, same course info sheet.  And we are supposed to teach our daily classes in a very formulaic way (draconian in its implementation):  warm up, then SHORT lecture, then activities (to &#8220;entertain&#8221; the students&#8211;admin&#8217;s words!), then a closure activity.  If we deviate from that, we have to defend ourselves.  And now we are supposed to present material in the same way.  CONFORMITY is the prescription for the hypochondriac patient.</p>
<p>Also, we are under extreme pressure to inflate grades.  It is now part of our contract.  Ingenious the way they do it:  If a kid scores less than 75% on a test, we MUST allow endless re-takes. Also, we teachers are forbidden from giving zeros on work not done.  Rather, the lowest we can give is 50%.  (It is called, &#8220;0 = 50%.)  All this is meant to send the message, as well as create definite measures, to inflate grades.  Schools all across the nation are seeing grades go up, while colleges and universities bemoan the lower and lower skills with which kids are entering college.</p>
<p>3)  I am all for testing.  We need some way to measure ourselves and our students.  BUT NOT THE WAY IT CURRENTLY IS BEING RUN.  Students have no stake in it!  Schools get funding based on test results.  Teachers jobs on the line, but absolutely no consequences for students.  What a sham!  This is just a scheme created by the Republicans that the Democrats stole and are now running with.  Of course, the wall-streeters, the Bill Gates&#8217;s, the Oprah Winfrey&#8217;s, the Warren Buffet&#8217;s are scheming to ruin the reputation of public schools and teachers so that they can privatize education.  After all, there is more money in education than in defense!</p>
<p>And what is more, the test we currently have&#8211;the STAR 9&#8211;rewards low-level teaching&#8211;rote regurgitation and low-skilled step-by-step work.  Where is the ingenuity?  And where, in today&#8217;s curriculum are we teaching kids the love of learning?  &#8211;and how that discipline gathers information and processes that information, how the practitioner thinks, etc.  All this is lost, NOT because the teacher cannot do it BUT BECAUSE OUR HANDS ARE BEING TIED MORE AND MORE EACH YEAR BY ADMIN who get their stuff from the schools of education.  I say do away with all schools of education.  They are doing more harm than good.</p>
<p>Standardization and conformity lead to mediocrity.  We need to go back to the &#8220;OLD SCHOOL&#8221; way of teaching.  Create an environment in which all students can excel, but let the chips fall where they may.  A student has a right to fail.  Create incentives for families to support their children, even if we have to go with some sort of monetary reward for parents being a part of a child&#8217;s education.  Stop inculcating kids.  Teach both sides of every cultural and historical issue.</p>
<p>Unless there is a radical 360, the trajectory is that public schools will fall into the hands of the profiteers and it will not be about educating to help our country, but, rather, about profit.  I think the model is like what community colleges are today.  No secure jobs for teachers, so teachers will just have to be a sycophant to the newest, latest trend.   I see an awful future for our educational system.  (I think my bias is showing through.  That is to say, as a teacher myself, I believe teachers are part of the solution even though we are considered part of the problem.  That is ludicrous.  Our society must regard the educational process in high esteem and accord the same esteem to those providing that education&#8211;the teachers.  Anything short of that and we are barking up the wrong tree.)</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Daniel Greenfield</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5326995</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 03:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5326995</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a little too much &#039;collaborative-community&#039; language floating around these days. But I don&#039;t think you can really restrain the natural instincts in a real environment.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There is a little too much &#8216;collaborative-community&#8217; language floating around these days. But I don&#8217;t think you can really restrain the natural instincts in a real environment.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Daniel Greenfield</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5326994</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 03:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5326994</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#039;s more expensive. Which isn&#039;t necessarily better. Any system with an entrenched teachers&#039; union that controls most of the politicians is going to be expensive. 



The NYC schools that are rated as good are just often the ones with good students. There is the occasional transformative principal who turns a bad school around, or claims to have, but it doesn&#039;t last.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s more expensive. Which isn&#8217;t necessarily better. Any system with an entrenched teachers&#8217; union that controls most of the politicians is going to be expensive. </p>
<p>The NYC schools that are rated as good are just often the ones with good students. There is the occasional transformative principal who turns a bad school around, or claims to have, but it doesn&#8217;t last.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Daniel Greenfield</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5326991</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 03:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5326991</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[They&#039;re safer and a higher end product. And a better feeder to good colleges. But much of this private-public school thing is happening in urban areas with toxic student populations.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>They&#8217;re safer and a higher end product. And a better feeder to good colleges. But much of this private-public school thing is happening in urban areas with toxic student populations.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Daniel Greenfield</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5326987</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 03:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5326987</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Exactly right]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Exactly right</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Texas Patriot</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/americas-education-system-isnt-broken/comment-page-1/#comment-5326979</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Texas Patriot]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2013 02:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212905#comment-5326979</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DG: &quot;The education system has been run by liberals for a while, but children compete naturally. They don&#039;t need to be taught to compete. At least boys don’t.”


It is quite true that competitive instincts are woven into our DNA as a result of billions of years of evolutionary biology, and there is very little we can do or need to do about that.  But the idea of competing without killing your competition is a relatively new phenomenon.  And in that regard, there is plenty we can do to help children understand the necessity and purpose of competition in a civilized society. 


The legitimate object of competition is always to encourage excellence among all the players, and never to destroy the opposition.  Bullies win by beating up on weaker players.  Champions win by constantly improving their own performance.  Bill Gates once said that he always expected his opponents to do an excellent job.  And in that way he was forced to think of even better ways of doing things.  Bill Russell, hall of fame center for the Boston Celtics, said he never got beat, but sometimes he ran out of time. 


Those kinds of ideas are the key to understanding how a competitive society is always the healthiest and best society, and those are the kinds of ideas we need to be teaching each other if we want to avoid being relegated to the billions of years of evolutionary biology that are necessarily driving us to kill one other.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>DG: &#8220;The education system has been run by liberals for a while, but children compete naturally. They don&#8217;t need to be taught to compete. At least boys don’t.”</p>
<p>It is quite true that competitive instincts are woven into our DNA as a result of billions of years of evolutionary biology, and there is very little we can do or need to do about that.  But the idea of competing without killing your competition is a relatively new phenomenon.  And in that regard, there is plenty we can do to help children understand the necessity and purpose of competition in a civilized society. </p>
<p>The legitimate object of competition is always to encourage excellence among all the players, and never to destroy the opposition.  Bullies win by beating up on weaker players.  Champions win by constantly improving their own performance.  Bill Gates once said that he always expected his opponents to do an excellent job.  And in that way he was forced to think of even better ways of doing things.  Bill Russell, hall of fame center for the Boston Celtics, said he never got beat, but sometimes he ran out of time. </p>
<p>Those kinds of ideas are the key to understanding how a competitive society is always the healthiest and best society, and those are the kinds of ideas we need to be teaching each other if we want to avoid being relegated to the billions of years of evolutionary biology that are necessarily driving us to kill one other.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
</channel>
</rss>

<!-- Performance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: http://www.w3-edge.com/wordpress-plugins/

Object Caching 711/760 objects using disk
Content Delivery Network via cdn.frontpagemag.com

 Served from: www.frontpagemag.com @ 2014-12-30 04:17:09 by W3 Total Cache -->