Posted By: Tina, I hear you (23/06/2009 12:02:27 PM)
Comment: Tina, I am a teacher and I understand what you are saying. I appreciate the fact that there are a lot of very hard working parents who love their children and are working hard to make ends meet. What does frustrate me is when parents immediately jump to the defense of their child and outright assume that the teacher has it in for their kid when the kid has done something wrong. Kids make mistakes and will learn from them as long as they understand that what they did was wrong and will not be tolerated. This could be a "mistake" like a fight, vandalism, or lack of effort in the classroom. It is very disappointing and counter-productive when a teacher is trying to change a students' behavior and instead of being a partner in the effort the parent wants to act like a friend to their child and "defend" them instead of supporting the teacher. As far as testing, there is way too much of it these days. Students need to be held accountable, but we are spending so much classroom time on tests that it takes away from learning. That may sound crazy, but the fact of the matter is that we are spending so much time testing these days there is not enough time left over to teach basic facts and skills that are not covered on mandated tests.

Posted By: Tina (23/06/2009 11:23:44 AM)
Comment: Neither teachers, nor parents are to blame for students failure to pass the exit exam. I agree that taking tests such as the exit exam and Star testing can take from classroom time. My problem is with the test itself. Not all children are sit at a desk test takers. Some children are more hands on and need to demonstrate their proficientcy in a different manor. Unfortunately, unless you have a documented learning disability or are an ESL student, acomodations are not made for you. As a mother of 2, I am hopefull that my children will be excellent test takers, nevermind that my 5 year-old requires speech therapy and that my 8 year-old has had it drilled in to him to do his personal best, that he has become so meticulous and cannot complete his classwork on time. Give them the tests, but stop timing them. It's not how fast you know it, it's simply that you know it or have learned the resources available to find it. As for blaming the parents vs. the teachers, we are all doing the best we can. But teachers need to realize that not all parents are bums. My husband and I both work full time jobs. We are required to be at work at 7:30 a.m. and don't get off work until 5:00 p.m. We only have 1 car and have to commute. We don't receive any special assistance or discounts, and struggle to pay for child care, hot lunch, field trips, school supplies and all of the other programs that our schools threaten to cut unless we pay out of pocket for them. It is difficult to get dinner, baths, homework and family time in between 5:30 and 8:00 and still have the kids well rested so they can do well and not sleep at their desks.

Posted By: Nice Parenting (23/06/2009 11:01:06 AM)
Comment: So this "Mom" thinks that we should dumb down high school graduation requirements while simultaneously complaining that college standards for teachers have been lowered??? Oh, I get it, the teacher standards should be raised because her kids aren't teachers, but the high school standards should be lowered because her kids are in high school. If one of her kids wants to become a teacher and is not able to pass the courses should the college lower its standards so that her son/daughter can pass? Sickening.

Posted By: Debra (23/06/2009 7:22:22 AM)
Comment: Unfortunately, this author has an all to common simplistic reaction to the challenges and realities that face public education. Teacher education is not the problem. At some point in time we must as a nation and a state take responsibility and begin looking at the societal issues that are reflected in our educational sytem. California teaches one out of eight students in the United States. Our huge student population is the most heterogenous population of all states. Our school funding is not equal throughout the state but based on a long outdated evaluation of local communities being rural or urban. Our population is exposed to constant media messages that reflect values and a work ethic that discourages tenacity, independent thinking and the tolerance for any sort of tedium.(yes even memorizing the times tables or the conjugation of verbs can be tedious.) A family must be actively parenting and monitoring their students to provide an alternative to the instant gratification mindset that permeates our popular culture. Considering that more than 50% of our students are dealing wih the financial and emotional hardships of divorce, more than 20% dealing with the teaching and texts in their second language and all of the other challenges that we face as a state and as a nation,families and schools are doing a heroic job. Education is still a way of bettering the sucessive generations' opportunities and well being. As an aside, English is a Germanic language rather than a Latin language.

Posted By: Wow! Kerry, please... (21/06/2009 5:45:32 PM)
Comment: Kerry, I am a big fan of this blog, but you really blew it on this one. If you are going to allow someone to comment on an education blog either edit their comments or don't print them if they contain as many errors as this lady's comments do. How in the world do you expect people to take her seriously when she comments on educational issues and then makes the following errors: Paragraph one, "has" should be "have"; Paragraphs two-eight start with quotation marks but do not end with quotation marks; Paragraph three, "have" on the third line refers back to "this" on the second line and therefore should be "has"; Paragraph four, sentence two should be broken into two separate sentences; Paragraph five, sentence three should not contain a comma; Paragraph six "over seeing" should be the compound word "overseeing"; Paragraph six, sentence three, the word "extend" should be "extent"; Paragraph eight, sentence one, the word "to" should be "too"; Paragraph nine, any third-grader in my class who starts a paragraph with the word "but" is asked to try to re-word the start of the paragraph. I won't even begin to list all of the run-on sentences that would not be accepted in a final draft of written work in a third-grade classroom. Rick, who posted a comment on this article, has several excellent points. This lady is, unfortunately, an all too typical parent. She criticizes teachers on subject material that she is obviously not competent in herself. I can tell you for a fact, Kerry, that way too many of the shortfalls in education are blamed on teachers and administators when the real issue in parenting.

Posted By: Karen (21/06/2009 9:24:02 AM)
Comment: Although I have been known to advocate for the elimination of most of the mandated tests being given, I actually think the CAHSEE (Exit Exam) is a good idea, especially for the students. I taught English for many years at a Los Angeles inner-city high school, and felt/feel that the exam is a fairly good way to push the students toward acceptable standards. The test is pretty basic, at least in English, and covers material they should already know. I would, however, suggeste modifying the requirements for Special Education and English Language Learners. That being said, I know it's a royal pain to spend so much time administering the exam - but most of the material should be being covered in classes (across the curriculum) anyway. However, the old financial argument ("it costs too much"), in my mind, is not particularly valid. How can you really put a price on education?

Posted By: rick (21/06/2009 7:43:35 AM)
Comment: I love it when people who have never been in a classroom in this day and age say that the teachers are the problem with education. You have no idea what you are talking about. Students have no respect for education, teachers, or their futures. The problem is the the social issues of single parent families, too much TV, parents who don't value education and cannot themselves help their children with the work, and students who cannot speak English. Math and English have not changed and the texts are still teaching the same stuff. It is time to look at the students and parents and put the blame where it belongs. The reason the Exit Exam was created is because a high school diploma should mean you have reached a certain level of proficiency in math and English. Walk in a teachers shoes for one week and you will see what they face every day.