text:
Left Masthead
September 28, 2016
Taking Back Our Schools—and Fixing Them
Posted on Apr 25, 2006
(Page 3)
Frustration and suspicion about who might emerge from the shadows to sabotage their plans often lead superintendents to jealously guard their power. In 2002, Day Higuchi, then president of United Teachers Los Angeles, the Los Angeles teacher union, had high hopes for working with the school district's new "can-do" superintendent, Roy Romer. Higuchi hoped that Romer would endorse a new union initiative called Lesson Study, a plan to help teachers work collectively to improve classroom lessons. At a breakfast meeting that I attended, Higuchi presented Romer with an invitation to work with the union to develop and spread Lesson Study across the district. When Higuchi finished, Romer flipped over his paper placemat and with a red felt pen drew a box with an S in it. "That's me," he said. Beneath he drew 11 boxes with smaller s's in them, representing the 11 local superintendents, and below that, a number of small boxes with roofs, representing schools and teachers. Then, pulling his face near to Higuchi's, he drew bold red arrows pointing downward from the top. Romer jabbed his pen in the air to accentuate each word: "You cannot usurp my authority to manage this district!" It was a dumbfounding moment, one that revealed the true underside of the use of power. Here was a chance for a new superintendent to forge a small but significant step with the union, but Romer, who recently announced his resignation, explained that he was "in a hurry." He clearly had little time for ideas that were at odds with his own. In the end his refusal to work with the union undermined the possibility of creating a broader base of power that could transcend self-interest.
Nor are the unions exempt from self-interest. A few years ago I helped establish a national group of union presidents called TURN (Teacher Union Reform Network) who were dedicated to remaking their unions as forces to improve education. One way was to cooperate with administrators and encourage teachers to use their classroom know-how to redesign teaching at the schoolhouse. But hostility and mistrust run deep. The union leaders became nervous, fearing that fellow unionists would attack them for "collaborating" with the enemy and that if the effort to collaborate failed they would share the blame. Don Watley, president of the New Mexico Federation of Educational Employees, commented: "It's like the Normandy landing. We've got the best troops in the world. We've got the best officers in the world. And we've got the best equipment in the world. But at 0800 when we hit the beach half of us are going to get killed!" Sadly, in the years to come, the ingrained mistrust, and the unpredictable dance of union politics, prevented these unionists from becoming a positive force in educational reform. Instead, they have been reduced to stockpiling power, much as the Soviets and Americans stockpiled nuclear weapons during the Cold War, to oppose any hostile moves the other side might make.
So what can be done to break the standoff between teacher unions and districts? How can teachers' professional authority be restored? How can parents be awakened and brought back into the fold? Experience shows that it can be done. Schools such as Harlem's Central Park East Secondary, Los Angeles' Foshay Learning Center, those in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and many others attest to the fact that schools can be made into safe places where children learn. Sustaining them is the hard part.
There is little doubt that trying to build good schools with command-and-control management doesn't work. School boards, superintendents and union officials need to clear the obstacles—unnecessary bureaucratic requirements and outmoded work rules—to make innovation at the schoolhouse possible. These top-level educational leaders also must make resources available to support new ways of teaching. Jonathan Kozol has it right. Teaching is the only reform that counts and it can be done only at the schoolhouse by teachers, principals, parents and students working together.
Square, Site wide
Turning school districts upside down will also mean turning a century of top-down management on its head. But where is such bold leadership to be found? One promising place is among big-city mayors. But they must resist trying to take over the schools, as they did in New York, Chicago and Boston with mixed results at best. Instead, popular mayors could use their influence and visibility to tell the truth about the condition of education and to build a popular consensus about how change must occur.
In the next essay I am going to examine what mayors can do. Waiting for the schools to be saved by someone else is nonsense. Only concerted local action offers a chance. Doubters should recall Margaret Mead's observation: "Never doubt that a small group of concerned people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
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By Taquan Stewart, January 14, 2007 at 9:20 pm Link to this comment
First, Wilms' critique of Kozols fail[ure] to explain why resegregation has occurred. Wilms also fails to explain. He states that [m]ost middle-class white Americans simply cannot comprehend the horrid schools that Kozol describes. What he did not mention was that 90% of American public school teachers and 85% of current undergraduate teacher education program participants are White a good portion from that same White middle-class. More than 40% of public school students are of color. Prevailing racial attitudes and a lack of cultural competence deserve mention here to complete the point being made.
By Ion C. Laskaris, December 20, 2006 at 2:59 pm Link to this comment
Wilms is certainly on the right track. Having attended a farm-boarding school of 60 students during WW II for 4 years, and a classical eastern boarding school for another 5, I have mostly been appalled by the inertia of most administrators, many teachers, and the enormous expense of public school operations. It is as if everyone involved, parents included, were obsessed with a compulsion
Most public schools seem to end up like "Mordors" in Tolkein's volume 2 of "The Lord of the Ring." in terms of confusion, stupid paper work and much neglect of "the life of the mind". Having taught 9th grade through university graduate students myself, admittedly in the private sector where the freedom to do your best was not interfered with by an ignorant,careerist administrator bent on maximum salary gains, and indifferent to everyone except the power political types on the local school board he had to keep pacified, and perhaps the education union which has always been about money,money,money for Me! Me! Me! and nothing else, I have watched this decline and the useless debates about reform in the public sector for 50 years.
To be sure the private school sector has suffered a decline in the quality of its education product and its expectations like the university level as well in the last half-century. But then our nation as a whole has become intellectually and spiritually degenerate in that time span too.
It is the parent's generation, and their parents' generation which has given away our inheritance over the last 60 years. I have not time or space here to tell why that has happened. But after 74 years you can trust my judgements are formed and deep in their foundations.
It is just possible pilot school projects might
Ion C. Laskaris, Burlington,Vt.+ iclrevusa.com
By Rudy Becerra, December 19, 2006 at 12:30 pm Link to this comment
Dear Dr. Wilms
I read your article. I payed attention to this sentences:
"the problem with public education is not with the teachers, or with the children, but the way we organize the schools.."
"politicians, school board members and administrators are under intense pressure to produce immediate results, i.e., higher and higher test scores"
I'm completly agree because the point of view of Administrators of Education affects the result of education. But in Perú, Administrators of Superior Education don't follow higher scores; they want to register more students.
By Bearacuda, May 8, 2006 at 1:15 am Link to this comment
Lori Woods:
Dr. Summerfield bases his opinion on direct observation. So, I wouldn't cast off his determination about teacher quality. It would help to know more about the criteria his observations contained. And it would be helpful to know where the conclusion that female teachers prior to the 60s were better educators than males afterward. The claim appears to be anecdotal.
In my anecdotal experience, I have observed a few types of teacher:
I have seen a few burnouts and drones. Most teachers are survivors. They have weathered years of declining support and increased accountability (while parent/student accountability has decreased). Then you have the wet-behind-the-ear newbies like me. I voluteer coached youth sports for 8 years and loved it. Teaching lights me up. Yet, I find myself to be a statistic. 50% of all new teachers quit within 5 years. I have a mathematics degree from a University of California institution, 2 years teaching education, 10 years experience working with children (10-18 yrs old). Yet, I don't earn enough to make a monthly payment on a decent home in Southern California. My sights HAD been set on obtaining a Master's degree in Education. But why? If I do, I'm stuck. And when (not if) the education environment gets worse, I'll not have any choices. I'll be unhappy with my work, myself, my life. If all goes according to plan, I'll begin a graduate degree in mechanical engineering in the fall. It's my hope that when I'm finished, I'll get paid a wage I feel I am worth. I want a comfortable life and I've worked very hard to try and get it.
By Lori Woods, May 7, 2006 at 8:45 pm Link to this comment
With all due respect to Dr. Summerfield, his anecdotal evidence about teacher quality merely perpetuates the problem. I came to teaching as a second career, full of idealistic intentions of helping "inner city" kids. Yet after just five years in public education, I find myself looking elsewhere. There are many reasons why I do not want to continue teaching, some of which are touched upon by Dr. Wilms, but not the least of which is the kind of attitude, demonstrated by Dr. Summerfield's low opinion of teachers, that seems to pervade the public debate.
By Elton Ray, May 6, 2006 at 9:18 pm Link to this comment
A major reason for the prevailing dropout rate is a pervasive culture of elitism in our educational institutions. It seems our school's goals are to grade students as you would eggs. One group of students are worthy to go on to college, whereas another group is not.
A student who fails a critical final exam is marked for the rest of their life as a failure. the current system does not encourage remedial study. It does not give failures the opportunity to reorganize and succeed.
With such a stigma, can you fault students for giving up and dropping out? The system has given up on them.
If education's duty is to enlighten youth with knowledge and prepare them to become useful citizens, then it needs to focus on mastery, and not on labeling people as successes or failures.
By Jascha Kessler, May 6, 2006 at 11:48 am Link to this comment
Dear Buzz,
By Harry L. Summerfield, May 5, 2006 at 2:34 pm Link to this comment
The many failures of public education are familiar. They persist across generations as stubbornly as the failed American energy policy.
Professor Wilms states in clear language the enduring fact that the structure of public education is based on a design flaw. The basic unit of education is neither the school district nor the classroom. The fundamental unit is the schoolhouse, but except in unusual cases, mostly as a result of charismatic leadership, the schoolhouse is ruled imperialistically by higher and larger bureaucratic\political entities whose primary attribute is power. This has been the case since probably the early 1960's. The schoolhouse languishes as a creative node as if it were a neglected colony.
As Wilms points out, the distortion of power results in continuing, huge waste of resources. According to one recent estimate, sensible reduction of district and state education bureaucracies would make it possible, perhaps, to double the starting salaries of teachers and thus draw idealistic, well educated youth to the task. Rather than Iraq, President Bush, perhaps, should have invaded the central office of each major school district. Shock and awe of some kind is what it will take to meliorate the non-schoolhouse power bases.
Where Wilms and I seem to disagree is on the nature of the quality of teachers. My proposition is that prior to about 1960, women had few occupational choices and the schools were the beneficiary. Bright and ambitious women could and did teach. The pool began to dilute beginning in the 1960's. Schools of education at the great land grant colleges at that time developed a reputation for attracting the weakest students in the university. Over the course of years, the brightest, ambitious women increasingly sought private sector jobs both for the pay and the opportunities. In my limited experience with my own children, I can certainly testify that the preponderance of teachers they had were mediocre and poorly educated, some to the point where, were they conscious of the fact, they would likely be embarrassed.
Indeed, I found the same pervasive mediocrity in 1974 when I was conducting observations in the lowest income school in Oakland, California and in the very upper-middle-class town of Mill Valley just across the Golden Gate Bridge. Inspired by my earlier work with a cultural anthologist trained by Ruth Benedict at Columbia, I spent hundreds of hours in classrooms. In both inner city Oakland and the beautiful hillside community of Mill Valley, only a few teachers in a school seemed to me to be gifted at what they did. Most were bleak, and it did not seem to me that Mill Valley was especially superior as far as teacher talent went. It takes a good intellect and a certain kind of strong, robust personality to teach k-12 effectively, and there are not an abundance of such people under the best of conditions.
Leaving aside for the moment the impositions of the union in determining personnel policy, if creative leadership and significant autonomy were allowed to exist at the schoolhouse level, I suspect that the quality of teachers would rise because the principal would have greater authority over personnel choice and retention, and, like the early Peace Corp, eager bright young people would be attracted to a dynamic place. Wilms own anecdotes about the famous Oceanville-Brownsville experiment seem to agree with my hypothesis.
I saw it also in Minneapolis when I studied neighborhood schools. The school with all low income, African-American students by chance had assigned to it the highest energy, most educationally ambitious principal. That school was universally regarded as the best school in the city by far. The principal was consciously aware that he operated at the edge of defiance of the central office. He was always vulnerable to either political punishment or co-option, which is what actually happened in the end. They promoted him out of the schoolhouse which only served to flatter the central office for capturing and incarcerating their own best leader. I suspect he took the promotion because he knew he would burn out operating the guerrilla leadership that he did.
Working conditions in K-12 public education are probably even a greater problem than the inherent quality of teachers. For one thing, the bureaucratic obligations, not the least of which originates in "Special Education", can be onerous for classroom teachers and are mostly irrelevant to their primary task. "No Child Left Behind", the greatest subsidy ever to the private sector testing industry, has exacerbated this to an extreme unimaginable 30 year ago when there was, it turns out, reasonable doubt by Republican moderates that Federal aid to education would work out to be a good thing. For us idealistic liberals who came of age at the height of the Civil Rights movement, it is a sorrowful thing to ponder now that the Republican moderates in Congress during the Nixon era may have correctly foreseen the abuses that federal aid to education can create.
One can even reasonably challenge that Title I, aid given on the basis of disadvantaged populations, the jewel of federal aid, has been much of a help. As Professor Wilms reminds the audience, the findings of the landmark 1966 Coleman Report, findings of severe educational deficiency correlated with race and family income, have never been disproven. More money does not affect the outcome.
Title I had no stipulations about school structure or the quality of teachers employed with its money. Greater than 80 percent of a school districts budget goes for teachers' salary and benefits. Title I has been little more than a salary subsidy to relieve the tax burden in urban school districts. That is not a bad thing in itself, but it really is like farm aid. The money is distributed not with the intent of improving the quality of crops or providing fresh vegetables; it is paid to keep the farmers in business, largely producing unwanted corn,cotton and milk.
In 1971 I was treated calumniously by John Merrow (currently a PBS commentator on education) who, in the prestigious Harvard Educational Review, lambasted my first book titled The Neighborhood Based Politics of Education. The attack, in Merrows view, was that a neighborhood base for education is reactionary. I was told that one reason sales of the book were so good following the review was because courses at Harvard and other places used The Neighborhood Based Politics of Education as an example of how the enemy of public education thinks.
I was, of course, actually a reformer who, based on field research, believed that the schoolhouse was the essential, and neglected, unit of education. Perhaps I bear some responsibility for the virulent reaction to this proposition. I used the word neighborhood when what the book is actually about is the notion that the schoolhouse is like the village or tribe traditionally studied by anthropologists. I argued then that the locus of education is firmly planted in the schoolhouse and its clients in the community. Maybe the word neighborhood had racist overtones for Mr. Merrow back in the early 1970s, however, the fact endures that the primary issue then, as now, is structure. The locus of power in public education, for better or worse, is inevitably expressed at the schoolhouse level where teachers work and childrenI was going to say learn, but it is better to say attend. Learning is problematical and not enhanced by the top down bureaucratic power that dominates public education almost everywhere in the United States.
Harry L. Summerfield, Ph.D.
By californiadreamer, May 5, 2006 at 10:22 am Link to this comment
Dr. Wilm's comments about Romer and Day Higuchi non-meeting of minds made me recall recently seeing our superintendent on the LAUSD channel dialoguing with the asst. superintendent of secondary education. This was after the LA Times series showing students sleeping in class at Birmingham HS while teachers tried to explain algebra to them. The series caused a great deal of outcry among the public and the LAUSD dropout rate was noted as being close to 50%. So Romer and the secondary school official discussed implementing new interventions to reduce the dropout rate. What is ironic is that the same people who were in charge as the dropout rate soared and now in charge of correcting the problem. Teachers and schools are being help accountable through debatable testing standards, why not administrators. Obviously, it is easy to agree with Dr. Wilm's critique, but the problem is that nothing happens. The powers that be are not going to give up power: rather, they will create a whole new layer of bureuacrats to monitor this and that and report back when the outcry has diminished. Nothing changes. New teaching modalities are simply re-packaged standard ideas sold by textbook companies with new covers.
By levi civita, May 4, 2006 at 3:41 pm Link to this comment
Propose Buzz Propositionon on Education for November ballot: No more than 8 percent of the education budget shall be spent on administrative functions and functionaries of all kinds.
By Bearacuda, May 3, 2006 at 9:10 pm Link to this comment
I think we are missing the message Buzz is trying to say. Education solutions are repeatedly being implemented by those outside the educational system. There are too many hands in the cookie jar. Californiadreamer, it appears what you are proposing is a cosmetic fix. The reason why 50% of high school students don't graduate is not from a lack of computers. Almost every student with poor grades has some kind of drama going on at home. It is hard for me to imagine since I grew up in an academically supportive environment. After school, my job was to do my homework. I didn't have to do chores, I had my own room, I had my own desk, I was free of distractions, my mom was home to make sure I had these things and I stayed with them. Many students I've known who have shown motivation problems have other things going on in their minds. Often, a parent isn't home when the students come home. Many have jobs because they were kicked out of their home, have to help support the family, or try to pay for the material things our culture stresses is important. These students don't have their own rooms, a quiet place to study.
I had a student last year, a senior, who suffered a stroke in middle school, lived in a home with 12 people, had a two year old daughter, and consistently failed math. Yet, she wanted to graduate so she could give her daughter a better life. That was her motivation. She focused in class, took notes, asked questions, did her homework, studied for tests, stayed up to date, and came for tutoring after school. She passed my class with a C. What have these kids got to look forward to? For you and me its a simpler question to answer. We come from an environment where we experience the benefits of an education. But these kids don't. What they live with is all they know. Parental and cultural influences are stronger than the influences their teachers exert because they don't identify with their teachers. There is an inverse relationship between a school's academic success and the percentage of free-lunch students. Having more computers can't fix these things. Technology is a tool, but it cannot address these issues. These issues are the greater roadblock to education. Technology is not going to liberate and re-energize teachers, smaller class sizes will.
Not having enough technology is not the reason why 50% of all new teachers quit within the first 5 years. They quit because they are expected to over-work themselves, pay for materials, are underpaid, disrespected, and ignored. If you have this high of turnover for education professionals, how can you expect more from students?
Technology isn't going to help students focus more; improving their social, economic, and psychological health will. Check out the T.I.M.M.S. report. Other countries outperform the United States with as much or less technology in the classroom. The methods, strategies, and tools are already out there. You can't create an 'interactive' educational computer game that can compete with Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, etc. I haven't felt myself nor heard anyone else say "wow, I can't wait to go to school and play mathblasters!"
Uploading 'a' curriculum to a server that can be updated, so that every student can be presented with the same content in the exact same way is ineffective teaching. It doesn't take into account that students have different learning styles: 1) reading; (2) manipulative activity; (3) teacher explanation; (4) auditory stimulation; (5) visual demonstration; (6) visual stimulation (electronic); (7) visual stimulation (still pictures); (8) games; (9) social interaction; and (10) personal experience.
I think if the education system got a dime for every 'expert' solution to education from those outside education, they'd have millions. And I think this statement isn't far off the mark with what Buzz would agree with.
By Mary Reid, May 3, 2006 at 4:54 pm Link to this comment
Thanks Buzz! Very thought provoking. I'm a middle school administrator for LAUSD and I still feel like there is hope for the future. I'm definitely a change agent and I need to stay positive to do the work I do.
I agree with Californiadreamer that technology is an important tool for our students. Friedman's "The World is Flat" is especially provacative. Our companies are now out-sourcing work to places like India through computer technology. Students who used to go to school in America are now hired by American companies in India. These students have jobs close to friends and family and can go to school at night while making a good living and receiving health benefits for their family. India's business schools are now graduating 89,000 MBAs per year p.31 I fear that if we don't inspire our students, we will not have work for them in our own country.
In order to inspire administrators in LAUSD, we were recently required to take AB75 classes for our Tier 2 credential. We ALL saw DeWitt Jones' National Geographic video about changing our lenses and seeing things differently and we all read Richard DuFour's "Whatever It Takes" and that's exactly what needs to occur. We need to help these students succeed, whatever it takes from all of us (parents, teachers, administrators, community members), no matter what socio-economic status they come from. If computers work-use it. If the arts work- use it. We need to tap into what excites students and then make the connections to the real world. That will make teachers get excited about teaching again.
When teachers find their inspiration, nothing can stop them. An excellent tool for teachers to practice collaboration and come up with creative ideas is the Lesson Study model. We've all read articles and research about Lesson Study and we know that it works. It's time to STOP TALKING ABOUT IT AND DO IT. Integrating time for Lesson Study during our Professional Development is part of our second order change for our school next year. Using the standards and creating assessments from those standards is a jumping off point to get teachers on the same page. The more creative they are the more participation they will see from their students. Students like structure and purpose. They want to know where the ship is sailing and why it's sailing there.
By john D. McNeil, May 3, 2006 at 3:46 pm Link to this comment
So glad to read of need to examine root causes for learning gaps. Wilms' first- hand accounts of power struggles and his shifting our eyes from the school itself to the wider environment that controls 75 % of the variables related to achievement is timely. One more anecdote to add is found in a report last week from San Diego where an NSF science curriculum was so successful in promoting science achievement among the low social class kids, that affluent parents waged a coup , taking over the school board and removing the NSF curriculum ,replacing it with the traditional approach that ensures their children's privileged status. Also today Tom Hertz reports how a child born into a poor family has a 1% chance to make it to the top 5% in income while a child born rich had a 22% chance of being rich as an adult.
Less political is Michael Feuer's "Moderating the Debate" where he addresses new approaches to educational policy based upon cognitive views of learning as well as better ways to accept evidence and establish standards for learning. For me , I think it is time to revisit deschooling. Our focus on the school instead of other vehicles for education and learning is about as effective as trying to reduce the price of gas by improving
By californiadreamer, May 3, 2006 at 9:26 am Link to this comment
Of course they have the money. You walk into a store and by a minimac for $450. How much would they sell you 700,000 for? I estimate that you could hook up every kid for about $200 million, which is chicken feed for this district. A lot of the infrastructure is there in term of high speed broad band, monitors, keyboards, just sitting around. The big issue is the software. Take the textbooks and using a consortium of teachers and software producers start putting the curriculum in a server that can provide quick uploading for every student in every class. The student logs in and is directed to his place in the curriculum. The teacher presents a new lesson and then the kids use computers to acquire the information. Once again, the teacher monitors and provides 1-1 support for those who are having a more difficult time. Those more able move forward at their pace. Computer work transitions to small group work to oral language discussion groups to art to PE to some more computer work. The teacher acquires updated information throughout the day and knows how each student is doing through test and re-test procedures. If the software needs upgrading, it is easy to add a patch. The saving from the annual purchase of textbooks and work books alone would pay for all this. Getting rid of literary coaches and math coaches and their supervisors would save millions and millions. Problem is the entrenched bureaucracy, the special interest groups such as educational supply companies, well, they would like their jobs becoming redundant. Such is the power of a paradigm shift. The mayor may be only looking for political capital with his plan to take over the school district, but he truly has an opportunity to effectuate real change. And for the teachers, liberation from the current standardization would be so renewing and exciting that their careers would be re-ignited. Most of all the children would benefit. Any one who has seen an ADHD student focused with 100% attention on a video game recognizes the potential of interactive, individualized, hands-on technology to help our children learn and grow. The option frankly right now is to build more prisons for all those who are ill-equipted by the present education syster to succeed in the work place of our society. I think you can tell I am very compassionate about Computerized education and have learned that a bloated bureaucracy is not going to consider anything that places its future at risk.
By Lori Woods, May 2, 2006 at 11:35 pm Link to this comment
I have taught English in LAUSD for over four years now and the one constant has been the top-down management. I have often wondered just how much money goes into this behemoth that only serves to affect me and my students either adversely or not at all. While I struggle on my $42,000 a year salary, most of these administrators make two and three times that amount. They have been out of the classroom so long, they have lost touch with the experience. Yet they sit in their ivory tower and send directives, lessons, assessments, trainings, and "instructional guides" that are forced upon the classroom teacher without input or collaboration from the ones who daily interact with the students, parents, and community. After complaining about the "instructional guides" for English Language Arts and their accompanying assessment exams (which take 8-10 instructional days out of our year to implement), I was told by the "literacy coach" that teachers can't be trusted to plan their own lessons. I realized that one of the reasons I am paid so little is that I am not truly considered a professional.
I very much agree with Dr. Wilms's call to deflate the bureacracy and give local control to principals, teachers, and parents. How much money could be saved from this venture? Perhaps then schools could get all the books and supplies they needed and teachers could be paid like the professionals they are.
By Bearacuda, May 2, 2006 at 5:54 pm Link to this comment
By californiadreamer, May 2, 2006 at 9:18 am Link to this comment
I appreciate the chance to debate and am sure your experience gives you more insight into the reality of the school system than my theoretical thinking. However, I do believe that individualized education options are something that should not be dismissed out of hand. What technology allows us to do is put more feet on the ground through the use of ComputerTutors. Obviously these machines can't replace the hearts and souls of real human teachers, but they can teach many aspects of the curriculum at the pace each student needs to learn successfully. The child who graps the material moves on and isn't penalized for his achievement while the student who is struggling is given instant remediation and instruction and re-testing to insure that he too has understood the concept presented. If the teacher's master computer indicates the child is still having trouble, then the teacher provides support. The technology should provide interesting and entertaining instruction that challenges the student much as a video game will challenge a child on his Play Station at home. Headphones and study carrels will reduce distraction and data collecton will allow the teacher to monitor each student's progress. The idea of "grades" might disappear as the students' progress at their own ability.
By Bearacuda, May 1, 2006 at 10:47 pm Link to this comment
By Walter Jones, May 1, 2006 at 2:03 pm Link to this comment
It seems the last quote from Margaret Mead made the most sense in this entire debate about the steps that need to be taken to improve our schools. Buzz points out a few instances, and I know of several myself, where a charismatic visionary educator is taken out of the school improvement equation and the plans that they have put in place have gone to seed. It will take groups of concerned individuals to faciitate sweeping changes over time. The "village" concept seems to be the only model for school improvement that can work.
in African-American communities during the time of legalized segregation there were limited funds, materials and expertise, but there was a greater level of family/community involvement. The teachers, superintendents and families understood the urgency of educating their children, but I cannot say with any degree of cetainty that that urgency exists today.
By Judith Perez, May 1, 2006 at 12:11 pm Link to this comment
Thank you, Buzz, for initiating this discussion. Many of the comments in response to your essay are generalizations that have little to do with the reality I live every day. As the principal of a high-performing LAUSD elementary school, I spend most of my energy on supporting teachers, involving parents and finding adequate resources. Yes, funding is important. This year every LAUSD elementary school lost School Improvement Funds—in our case over $20,000 which is close to 25% of our discretionary budget—to secondary schools. What this means in real terms is a loss of classroom assistants who work with K-2 teachers to help kids learn to read and write. I heard this morning that funds currently used to help elementary schools improve math instruction may be redirected to secondary schools, as well.
Why is the district moving our limited funds to the secondary level? My understanding is that Gov. Romer decided that high schools need our money to create small learning communities and cut the drop-out rate. I wonder if UTLA or the administrators' union, AALA, will address this issue.
Our school's active parents and I will have to spend more time and energy next year raising money to mitigate these budget cuts. We currently raise money for school library books, chorus instruction, computer lab equipment and software, before-school childcare for working parents, after-school library and homework assistance for students, school beautification, a math instructor, and classroom paraprofessionals. We provide after-school tutoring and enrichment programs, and we keep our school playground open until 6:00 pm so children are safe and supervised until their parents can pick them up.
We have outstanding, hard-working teachers who often meet together on their own time to plan instruction for their respective grade levels. Some of them stay at school until 6:30 pm preparing lessons and would stay later if I'd let them. Our teachers are not the problem! The lack of resources is. If our school had to survive solely on the funds doled out by the district, we'd be in far worse shape than we are.
Regarding the issue of central vs. local control:
I wonder sometimes if NCLB, with its emphasis on standardized testing and unfunded mandates, was deliberately crafted to undermine public education nationally. Some of it's requirements are impossible to achieve, I think. I'm interested in your comments on this issue.
By alex roberts, May 1, 2006 at 11:51 am Link to this comment
It's not just the poor schools that are suffering. When I was in Monterey California, hardly a poor, inner city school, there was an incident where a classroom ceiling fell in on students…purely from age and neglect of maintenance.
I firmly believe there has been a concerted and protracted effort to undermine public education. The purpose of this is to point then to all of the problems and offer up the solution of vouchers.
This 'solution' will effectively undermine public education further eroding it by siphoning money off and redirecting it to private institutions.
Since poorer families will be unable to meet the need to pay the balance of tuition the voucher won't cover, this scheme becomes essentially a way to subsidize the rich as well as the religious.
Mr. Wilms is on the right track saying we need to take back the schools and redirect monies from the bloated administration to where it will do the most good; on the front lines of education.
By californiadreamer, May 1, 2006 at 11:46 am Link to this comment
In response to bearacuda's post, I would reply that technology is probably the only answer because it provides more individualized education than in currently possible with the 25+:1 ration of students to teacher. One teacher told me that the pace of education is so rapid in order to meet the California curriculum standards that the teacher does not have the time to reach all the students. One third of the class "gets it" after the initial introduction of material, one third "gets it" with some re-teaching, but one third doesn't "get it" and they move on with the others in the class. Computerized education allows for the teacher to monitor the class through instant analysis and to concentrate on the ones who need more help with personalized intervention. With ComputerTutors the ratio becomes more like 25:25. With our software development capabilities and broadband access available in LAUSD schools, it seems almost negligent that we have not introduced more technology in the classroom. I don't mean to replace teachers and don't minimize at all the impact of "personalized" education, but feel that the teacher's ability to reach individual students would be enhanced by allowing each student to work at his/her own pace instead of one teacher presenting a lesson plan to a class of 25 who grasp the material at different rates of comprehension. Maybe billions have learned without the use of technology but we have a new generation of learners who are deeply involved in technology in their daily lives. It may be that the age of reading is over and the new age of technology needs to be the basis used for education. The little red schoolhouse may have to give way to laptop learning. And why not? Certainly we should not be afraid to try out new educational techniques. If we must have technology for our smart bombs and lunar landings, why not for education.
By Scott Phelps, April 30, 2006 at 10:30 am Link to this comment
Thank you for this thoughtful review of the recent history of promising developments and persistent problems in our field. As a first-year graduate student in UCLA's School of Education and a Pasadena school board member, I hope to use his essay and those forthcoming to spur some discussion in both arenas!
By Tina Johnson, April 30, 2006 at 6:30 am Link to this comment
As a former university librarian Ive had the opportunity to work with students individually, and in small/large group situations from all classes and socio-economic backgrounds. Many of the high school graduates who come from our urban schools come to the university struggling from behind the eight ball: mis educated and in many cases not prepared for the rigorous journey to complete their education.
Having moved to a small town in rural America after working in a large metropolitan area, I've observed closely the public school system in action. The struggle for power between the local school board and the superintendent is a contentious situation, opportunities are being missed which could make a diference in the education of the children, low teacher salaries impact the quality of teachers hired and the few that are passionate about the profession find it difficult to do what they do best, teach the underprivilege.
By David Tokofsky, April 29, 2006 at 10:19 pm Link to this comment
On Tuesday at LAUSD Board of Education 2132417000 there will be discussion of elementary social studies textbooks and the lack of time for social studies, science and art in the upper grades fourth and fifth. I invite all of you to come and participate as k=3 reading programs, if successful, should not impinge upon the upper grades launching into the reading to learn rather than fixating in the learning to read mode.
david , Member Board of Education
By Mariam Russell, April 29, 2006 at 3:24 pm Link to this comment
It is impossible to keep children from learning.
The only way this control can be directed at the educational system is control from the top down.
By Susan suntree, April 29, 2006 at 2:49 pm Link to this comment
The elements of the national crises in education, which Buzz so accurately describes, also are found in the whole of American culture. Despite our pretensions to individualism, we are a top- down society with an ever-widening gap between those at the top and those at the bottom. (Just note the difference between the per student money spent in wealthy versus poor school districts.) Segregation by ethnicity and class is the American way of life. Consequently,the wealthy are carefully protected from the damage that having lousy schools inflicts on students and their communities.
It is significant, as Buzz points out, that the students who attend well financed public schools are not even as afflicted by the current focus on standardized testing since, even if they comply with No Child Left Behind, their school days are enriched by many other modes of learning, as well as being clean pleasant places to spend a busy day. The schools that serve the poor, who are often English learners, are the ones most hobbled by not only the list of lacks we have become so accustomed to hearing (no paper, no text books, no clean bathrooms, no after school programs, etc), but by unmitigated standardized instruction and testing imposed by the Bush administration.
When we discuss how to fix our disintegrating schools, we are talking about how to fix a declining America. Nothing will come of any of it until everyone, rich and poor and the fewer and fewer left in the middle, pays the cost of abandoning our once cherished American institution: public education for all.
Paulo Freire advises: Start where you are. Each student, teacher, each school, each parent, each community is a place to start. I agree with Buzz that we should begin our fixing by asking each one: What are the problems you see? How would you fix them? What do you need to get that done?
Perhaps this would start a democracy movement that might spead to the whole country.
By Peter Lownds, April 29, 2006 at 1:50 am Link to this comment
Immigrant parents cannot be 'criminalized' and their first-generation children expected to rise en masse to the phony NCLB bait. The culture of silence reigns in the LAUSD adullt schools where I have taught for the past twenty years. As the relatives of previous generations of immigrants, let us remember the Power of the Word (printed and spoken) to free harnessed minds! My solutions: Bring good books, discussion, debate back into the classrooms. Create a new "WPA" from the surplus of talented and ambitious young people in the entertainment industry. If all the unemployed and underemployed writers, actors and videogame designers in Los Angeles were welcomed into ghetto schools as stimulating study buddies, we could take the pressure off overburdened teachers and bring the current dumbshow to a halt!
By Alex J. Norman, April 28, 2006 at 4:18 pm Link to this comment
Professor Wilms has identified some of the causes of the problems with our educational system. Granted our policy makers and bureaucratic leadership play a pivotal role in the creation and perpetuation of those problems, however I see a situation in which there is enough blame to go around. Certainly the bureaucratic maze and resistance to change is a large factor, and union concerns with contracts instead of academic performance is a contributor, but the students and parents have also opted out of the system rather than dealing with it. I don't know what the solution is but it has to involve some discussion among all of us (community activists like me included) as to what we can do the improve the academic performance of our students. Further we need to give some attention to creating a violence-free, safer environment for children to learn. Consequently I see a role for us all, District Admnistrators, Union leadership, parents, teachers, students, and community leaders. We all have to claim ownership.
Alex J. Norman, Professor Emeritus
By Frank Krasicki, April 27, 2006 at 7:07 pm Link to this comment
There are so many wonderful responses here.
Paul Moore's hit a nerve with me; "Buzz is an honest and earnest supporter of public education but he is mistaken in believing there is a genuine movement to reform the system. There is though a very real effort to destroy it."
The command-and-control observation is a keen one. Twenty-five years ago or so the Berlin Wall fell and public education has never recovered. The national crisis of what to do with unnecessary military personnel played out in an all-out assault on schools.
Discipline and order became the new syllabus and schools today are run like paramilitary operations in far too much of the country. Along with the military-style of discipline came the mindless memorization of factoids and standardized testing - and a generation of teachers and administrators more suited for prisons than schools. The rhetoric changed from learning to 24x7 criticism of kids, parents, teachers, and schools. Tough was never, ever tough enough.
It is no co-incidence that Kozol describes students (usually minorities) whose classroom responses are restricted to Manchurian Candidate-like dialogues, "Yes,-I-like-school-it is-wonderful-to-study-4-hours-every-night-they-treat-me-well."
Watching students who are considered success stories often makes me wince because their personalities are blank, their soul is laid bare, and the grinning idiots responsible for the condition are snapping their suspenders with pride, "Told ya they could learn if ya just teach em right!"
Our country is being intellectually gutted by the right-wing lunatics who have taken control of the school bus and are hell-bent on driving it over the cliff.
Time to wake up and take it back before it's irredeemable.
Here's where I do my part;
- Frank Krasicki
By Daniel Fyffe, April 27, 2006 at 6:13 pm Link to this comment
P.S., Could Roy Romer possibly have been in place so as to ensure and protect bond issues rather than tend to the needs for educational reform. Roy Romers son worked for Merrill Lynch's Municipal Bonds Dept. and I used to drive him while I put myself throught college.
By Daniel Fyffe, April 27, 2006 at 4:56 pm Link to this comment
Education at its core must serve an introduction to various venues and avenues in which students can thrive and contribute, and it provides but a vehicle of servitude if limited to basic skills and repetitious root exercises.
By Marvin Spiegelman, April 27, 2006 at 4:52 pm Link to this comment
Thanks very much to Professor Wilms for his informed, evidenced-based and insightful article. I look forward to more of them. As a lay person in this area, despite having been a university professor and teacher of post-doctoral people as an auxiliary profession, I am struck by the many voices and, especially, the complaints and frustration. Furor paedigogicus they used to call it; the wild energy used in the belief that teaching would mend all ills in society, if only we did it right. Social class is the main thing, or race, or money, or uninterested parents or ...? I would guess that keeping things small and local, as Wilms suggests, at least keeps us more real amd correctible.
By Bearacuda, April 27, 2006 at 4:51 pm Link to this comment
Californiadreamer: I don't think technology is the key. Billions of students have learned from teachers without technology. Technology is a tool, an added resource; but it isn't the panacea of education. I do agree that immediate feedback is very important. That's what answers at the back pages of textbooks are for. That is your immediate feedback. If a student doesn't understand, no computer program can substitute for a human educator. A computer program hasn't developed a personal relationship with the student. It doesn't know what the student's life contains. So, how can it possibly relate to a student?
By Mark, April 27, 2006 at 3:34 pm Link to this comment
Schools with a student poplulation of more than 500 are unmanageable. (I know you can find exceptions, but under real world circumstances the changes of success are limited) As school populations expand beyond 500 layer upon layer of administration is added to gain and maintain control. Then admin workers are hired to coordinate the administration and so on….. Small schools also form the core of communities. Kids are able come to know the other students, the teachers and principles. Transportation problems are greatly resolved along with many others problems, you fill in the blanks. One of the biggest benifits is that teachers have a more enjoyable work enviroment. We know the solution-small schools with dedicated teachers and dynamic principles. (It could be done) Consolidation of schools, as if the economies of scale work on children, was a mistake we pay for everyday.
By Paul A. Moore, April 27, 2006 at 11:34 am Link to this comment
Buzz is an honest and earnest supporter of public education but he is mistaken in believing there is a genuine movement to reform the system. There is though a very real effort to destroy it. As far back as 1950, the iconic University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman wrote in his book Capitalism that The privatization of schooling would produce a new highly active and profitable industry. Friedman is the ideological godfather of todays assault on the public school system across the country.
From the worlds richest human being Bill Gates to the worlds most powerful corporate entity Wal-Mart and the Walton Family Foundation to the billionaire mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, the enemies of public education can dip into a bottomless well of money to execute their mission. They carry political leaders around in their pockets like so much loose change. The President of the United States and the governors of Florida, California, Texas and New York are just a few who belong to their destroy disguised as reform movement.
Our nations history recalls public education as a partner of the abolition of slavery in a grand post-Civil War experiment in expanded democracy. Their dream is to arrest and reverse this expansion. They are men unsated by billions in profits plying young people with X-Boxes, iPods, Big Macs, Air Jordans, cell phones, Sprite, MTV, and B.E.T. They want their cake and they want to eat it too. Their appetite includes the transfer of billions of dollars in annual public school funding into their own pockets. They will have a downsized and exclusive for-profit school system to train and educate only the children created in their own image and likeness.
But the American peoples deep reverence for equal opportunity stands between the privateers and their mission. For that reason their designs must be concealed behind the façade of education reform and the smokescreen of school choice. Genuine reforms like class-size reduction and increased teacher salaries are violently opposed. The principle of increasing budgetary outlays to build a more effective homeland defense does not seem to apply to public education. Instead they employ weapons of mass deception that include voucher programs, merit or performance pay plans for teachers, charter schools, and canards like the so-called 65% solution.
Then there is the most potent weapon in their arsenalstandardized testing. They bludgeon 9 and 10-year-old children, parents, teachers, administrators, elected school boards and whole school districts with it. You failed! You are a failure! You are failing! Yours is an F-school! Strange how something so uplifting is confined to the public schools but testing is for public schools only! Start testing the pre-teen child in the third grade. Keep testing every year until the schools become testing factories and then testing sweatshops where children labor to no useful end. The music, art, dance, theater, physical education and vocational classes are for private schools. Recess and field trips are for rich kids!
With these tools they have battered public schools as Hurricane Katrina did the Gulf Coast. The ensuing New Orleans-style exodus has transformed those schools into Americas Superdome. Huddled inside now are the mostly Black, Latino and white children of poor and working-class parents. Their broken bodies and spirits will be found amid the wreckage after the very idea of universal public education has been demolished.
By George S Semsel, April 27, 2006 at 8:35 am Link to this comment
The core of the matter is that neither education nor educators are respected in the U.S. As long as education is given no more than a passing note, if that, in our media, while sports, entertainment and the trivia that passes for news are given broad daily coverage, nothing will change. My Chinese friends do not understand why education is so little valued here, or why the media carries on such a relentless campaign to denegrate the profession and those given to t teaching. Our values are seriously distorted.
By Ion C. Laskaris, April 26, 2006 at 9:07 pm Link to this comment
Having been a high school and college/university
There is plenty of blame to go around. And
No self-respecting teacher in the private sector
What truly astonishes me is the apparent reality
I sense all the vested interests in the public education system are only concerned to preserve
Ion C.Laskaris + iclrevusa.com
By R. A. Earl, April 26, 2006 at 9:02 pm Link to this comment
There seems to be massive, wide-spread misunderstanding and confusion about this notion of "education."
Einstein is reported to have stated, and I paraphrase, "education is what's left AFTER YOU'VE FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL."
It seems to me most "education" systems as described in this essay are actually TRAINING systems (and not very good ones at that.)
There's a HUGE difference between EDUCATION and TRAINING. Most of today's systems are geared toward producing FUNCTIONARIES for society… COGS for WHEELS OF INDUSTRY. Nothing more. Nothing less. That's why I've long advocated that INDUSTRY and BUSINESS should be required to fully fund the school system since it is they who stand to benefit the most from the products.
However, I digress. My main point in this comment is to point out perhaps the obvious… that there are FAR too many cooks at the broth, and those cooks are FAR too politically motivated and "power-over" oriented. I submit it is a fundamental error to place the control and management of critically important "educational" institutions in the hands of amateurs and volunteers… eg elected/appointed school board members. We sure as hell wouldn't let a bunch of volunteers control and direct our military or mining or automotive industries… why then do we insist that they control the most critical industry of all?
In the essay, it was written "Parents have a significant role to play in their childrens education, but their voices have been largely silenced." In my opinion, many parents are ill-equipped to be directing an "education" system. Many are woefully ill-educated themselves, at least as educators, and some are so blinded by self-interest, prejudice, religious/righteous nonsense and just plain ignorance that to put them solely and ultimately in charge of a child's "education" is about as shortsighted a move as I can imagine. Someone needs to tell "parents" that the ability to biologically reproduce doesn't qualify them to run the world!
That said, a parental "role" - a voice - is, appropriate… just don't let it be the controlling vote… not if you expect progress or change, that is. The "professionals" clearly can't be trusted to do it alone either. Left on their own, they build empires bigger and faster than the Romans!
Richard Chapleau in #7951 wrote: "Theres not too much more sad than a parent of a high school student softly crying and saying to me, I just dont know how to reach her anymore as she discusses her childs progress." My point exactly… parents are AMATEURS… of course most of them don't know how or what to teach a child what he or she needs to know to cope with a future that even the parent can't comprehend or visualize!
Communities need to sort out whether they want children TRAINED or EDUCATED. If it's trained, then by all means, teach the little darlings as you would teach a parrot… repetition, regurgitation, and test scores until they fit into the "system" like a new part. And for God's sake NEVER teach them to think for themselves!
However, if you want an EDUCATED population… then the TOP priority is to teach CRITICAL ANALYSIS. Sure, 3Rs, and lots of other FACTS of KNOWLEDGE need to known and understood, and many basic skills need to be learned, but unless and until the learner knows HOW to ANALYSE INFORMATION… sort the wheat from the chaff, identify the "bull" and the "shit", HOW to THINK INDEPENDENTLY, and HOW to SYNTHESIZE IDEAS, you will produce only a trained monkey… like the one living in the White House at the moment.
By Mike Cortrite, April 26, 2006 at 8:19 pm Link to this comment
Professor Wilms hit the nail on the head about the problem of command and control management. The story about Roy Romer resonates with me and my experience with administrators more worried about keeping control than doing what they're supposed to do—in this case educating our children
By Marianne Caston, April 26, 2006 at 6:51 pm Link to this comment
Thank you for a provocative discussion of the serious problems facing our public schools. In Santa Barbara we have held community meetings at the public library to engage the public, parents of school children, teachers, teacher educators, school board members and university researchers. After hearing Kozol speak, we determined that despite the impression that Santa Barbara is a "wealthy" community, our schools are as deeply segregated as those in Kozol's recent book. The conversation was excellent, but merely a drop in an ocean of needed communication across groups in our community. Clear information was shared as well as stories and reactions to the harsh reality of NCLB and the priviliging of standardized tests as the only way to measure learning.
As a teacher educator, I am passionately commited to educating enthusiastic, compassionate, knowledgeable and skilled new teachers for our public schools. Our biggest hurdle seems to be that once they are hired, all the wonderful knowledge and skills they have acquired while in our program becomes secondary or worse in the pursuit of test scores. Only in the schools where excellent leadership is supported by district administration are our candidates finding positions that allow them to use their professinal knowledge. Such a terrible waste of everyone's energy turns us cynnical and apathetic. Unless we are driven, inspired by the work of those such as Deborah Meier, Jeanne Oakes, Sonia Nieto, Paulo Freire and others who have worked for change under even more difficult situations, we would give up. But we don't. We continue to give our hearts and minds to creating schools that teach all our children powerful curriculum so that they can take on the immense challenges facing our world.
By Debi Jaramillo, April 26, 2006 at 6:10 pm Link to this comment
I agree whole-heartedly…As a university Reading/Language Arts instructor and K-5 Literacy Coach, I realize our schools are not only limiting the content taught in the classrooms, but are hindering student learning by requiring "pull-out" remedial programs that piecemeal reading and math into bite-sized, meaningless chunks of adequacy, just to pass standardized assessments on out-of-context basic skills. If we are to improve the system, I believe instructional coaches, administrators, and curriculum specialists in our schools and districts need to work with teachers and students on "teaching for meaning" (see Knapp, 1995) rather than drill and kill. We can't blame parents or the communities of poverty…we can't blame politicians. What we need to do is start with the people who spend eight hours on the cognitive development of children- it is here where we change lives-one mind at a time.
By Saul, April 26, 2006 at 4:00 pm Link to this comment
The problem is both liberals & conservatives will both have to give up objections and allow public schools to operate somewhat like private schools.
By californiadreamer, April 26, 2006 at 2:12 pm Link to this comment
As a school psychologist with LAUSD for over ten years, I have seen the frustration of teachers and seen the blank faces of children not learning in spite of all the structured learning that is being imposed on the district to improve test scores through standardization. A brand new bureaucracy has emerged to monitor teacher compliance with the new directives. It is true that is is all politically driven and perhaps the not so hidden agenda is a voucher system that will subsidize the wealthier parents so they can place their children in segregated private schools. Conservatives have long believe public education to be a form of socialism that a free market economy would drastically improve. There is one overlying problem that never seems to be addressed. It seems to me that students are learning differently these days. I learned to read and continued to read because reading was a form of entertainment that could transport me from my little dusty California town to a world of adventure and excitement. Today's children much prefer being transported by video games or television and reading falls by the wayside. It seems we need to recognize this over-riding fact and start using technology to teach children. If every child worked at his own pace with a computerized curriculum that provided instant error remediation and each child's progress was logged into the teacher's computer, then the teacher could provide 1-1 support to those who need it and those who wanted to move forward could. Truly then no child would be left behind. I think we need to effectuate a technological paradigm shift to really change education. As many have said, parents play a huge role, but we need to bring education into the 21st century. We shouldn't teach kids how to use computers, we should use computers to teach kids.
By Jeri Hurd, April 26, 2006 at 12:38 pm Link to this comment
I echo what Richard Chapleau says below. As a 20 year veteran teacher (7-12),I find that parents want rigorous standards until it comes to their child, and then all hell breaks loose if you dare to suggest that child's performance is sub-standard. Increase expectations, but you're hauled in if you have too many D's and F's.
I love teaching, but after 20 years, I'm burned out, fed up with the bureaucracy, the discipline problems, the paper load, the students who want an easy A without being willing to work, and the administrators and legislatures that measure test scores, not student achievement. I'm getting out.
By Jill Chapin, April 26, 2006 at 10:53 am Link to this comment
Contrary to what this article tries to portray, there was no "new idea" to reform school. As usual, these discussions about improving schools skirts the main reason why our schools are failing.
By Bob Simpson, April 26, 2006 at 10:19 am Link to this comment
The goal is a vibrant, relevant and effective educational system, one that prepares students to be productive, active and energized participants in society. The educational system is the biggest of bureaucracies, one whose goal is far too often to maintain the bureaucracy, not to provide vibrant education.
Speaking for administrators interested in empowering faculty, families and students to structure an educational environment conducive to the goals stated in the article, we buck the system at our own peril. Change cannot come about if we are not willing to fight the battles needed to redirect institutional energy, but in far too many instances one must be willing to lay a career on the line in order to do so. And at the end of the day, there is no guarantee of success.
Countervailing forces are powerful. Institutional inertia is powerful. The possibility of sacrificing a career or career goals can be frightening. But living with the status quo should be even more so.
By Kathleen McCoombs, April 26, 2006 at 9:52 am Link to this comment
This article is extremely interesting and I would like to read the rest of it—the third page cannot be accessed. Something about "database connections" Help!
By Daniel J.B. Mitchell, April 26, 2006 at 9:27 am Link to this comment
An interesting piece. Since I know zilch about the issue, I will make some observations based on going through the public schools of New York City, 1948-60. My impression is that the schools were at that time bureaucratic, top down, etc. They "worked" as far as the middle class was concerned by leaving maybe a third of the students behind. Schools were either de facto segregated by neighborhood or, where the neighborhood was mixed, by grading. The third grade classes in a mixed school would be labeled 3A, 3B ... down to maybe 3R. The higher in the alphabet, the "better" the students and the more learning that went on. By the time you got to 3R, the teacher just kept order, or tried to. At the high school level, poor students ended up in vocational schools or vocational tracks or dropped out. And there was not much vocational learning if they stayed. Students in the middle got "general diplomas" which meant they were not headed for college. But the girls learned typing and the boys learned "shop". They could get jobs after graduating with those skills. The top third went on to college. And within the top there were the elite schools, Stuyvesant (at the time all male) and Bronx Science (co-ed).
===Dan Mitchell
By Richard Chapleau, April 26, 2006 at 9:18 am Link to this comment
As a classroom teacher and a graduate of the UCLA doctoral program, I know of Dr. Wilm's work first-hand.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is blame enough for all in the equation. Buzz, I hope that we see more work on the parent side of these issues. Yes, the politics of absurdity are everywhere in our schools. Up the Down Staircase is alive and well after a half a century.
However, in the trenches, I don't see disempowered parents. On the contrary, even in the lower SES area where I teach, parents are in charge. The unwritten rule is that if a parent complains, pedagogy be damned. The education system is dedicated to an unrocked boat.
So I see teachers doing nothing that might challenge a child's intellect and therefore engender the dreaded phone call/email from admin.
I see administrators telling me to "raise my standards, yet lower my expectations."
I have so many wonderful children in my classrooms who are completely unprepared for academic work. My belief, and it is borne out by looking at numerous "cum" files in the office, is that the child was abandoned somewhere many years before.
We have monthly parent meetings, usually called by a parent. We run about 30-40% parent attendance at these. No apologies, no show, no call. The teachers sit and wait to help for a family that never comes.
My goal is to hold teachers very accountable for their work, and also to hold them accountable for going beyond the call of duty. Ours is a helping profession. Still, there must come a time when the community is also asked to quantify some sort of accountability of its own.
I've renamed NCLB (nicklebee) to CLBBF (Club F): Child Left Behind By Family.
We need to get more help for these struggling families, and we need to do it early. There's not too much more sad than a parent of a high school student softly crying and saying to me, "I just don't know how to reach her anymore" as she discusses her child's progress.
Richard Chapleau
By Morgan Hatch, April 26, 2006 at 9:14 am Link to this comment
This is the type of clear-headed discussion that needs to percolate in education. Prof. Welms not only points out the narrowing of pedagogy which results from increased focus on test scores, he makes important mention of the pitched-camps that now line up all in the name children. I hear in the article a sense of real opportunity that comes and goes in the midst of organizational standoffs. Stakeholders appear to really be holding stakes! And they are pointing them at each other rather than noticing Jose has his hand raised waiting for a little help.
There seems also to be an implicit challenge from Prof. Welms for anyone who cares about education to look past the hopeful yet transitory success of a charismatic leader to find a sustaining model of teaching and learning that captures imaginations among anyone who walks the halls of our public schools.
Looking forward to the piece about mayoral control.
By Edward P. Fiszer, Ed.D., April 26, 2006 at 8:51 am Link to this comment
Dr. Wilms' article captures the dilemma facing public schools. Quick results are expected but cannot be fixed by quick actions proposed remotely. Kozol's work showcases the deep rooted issues facing schools across the country that require sincere answers. These answers must be generated from the school stakeholders themselves since only the individual school itself truly understands their unique population and can propose appropriate remedies. "One size fits all" approaches do not work - yet these top down approaches persist. I look forward to the follow up essays from Dr. Wilms.
By Harvey Hoyo, Ed.D., April 26, 2006 at 8:38 am Link to this comment
I agree with the theme of the article: the class room needs should drive the instruction with some form of collaborative process designed to support that instructional program. Perhaps, it is time we look more seriously at the charter school movement.
By ann, April 26, 2006 at 8:24 am Link to this comment
We have structural problems in education that can be addressed by the government. One: teachers. My mother was a teacher and the last years of her life she was at an assisted living facility. Every woman she ate dinner with, there were five or six at her table, had taught or been educated to teach. That was education in the 1930's. No so today. I know people who would make excellent teachers but are struggling to pay for one class at a time in junior college while they work a job or two.
My plan: the government pays for the education of teachers in return for so many years of service back to the community. Some teachers will stay in the profession, some will leave.
When people reach early (forced or voluntary) retirement from their professions (not necessarily teaching) there should be a place for them to participate in education programs. Retired workers have a wealth of information that should be passed along at the junior college or university level. They might also want to work as counselors or help teach reading skills, music or other areas they are interested in (teaching American history and civics?). This could provide them with medical insurance to fill the gap between retirement and Medicare and give them limited income.
We should also consider dissolving the Department of Education. I have read the number one indicator of how well a child will do in school is parental involvement. But if all the decisions are made behind closed doors in Washington D.C., parents have less opportunity for involvement.
I believe also, instead of just block grants to States (after we dissolve DOE) there should be regional centers set up headed by Universities (the institutional responsibility could revolve on a five or seven year term to keep ideas fresh and power shifting). These centers would be used to coordinate and facilitate information passing between educators.
By Richard Gilbert, April 26, 2006 at 8:23 am Link to this comment
As a former classroom English teacher and a former Director of Sales for a multinational sales organization I have had many experiences that dealt with the thrill of learning by teaching others and the despair of failing to get my message across. Your article is closer to defining the problem than any other I have read.
Add to those problems you underscore the new tax revolt exacerbated by prop-2.5 in Massachusetts which constrains spending by law and forces every additional expenditure to an over-ride vote thereby segmenting the big picture into so many bumper sticker sound bites.
By mlipka, April 26, 2006 at 7:38 am Link to this comment
You have presented a whole lot of grist for the mill. And used a compelling argument for better schooling. In a recent conversation with a teacher his complaint is, "No Child Left Behind" Law. Why? You must have the children memorize for the test. Teach no skills. The solution you presented fits in exactly with this complaint. Move the bureaucrats aside; federal, state and local and let the teachers teach. Evaluate the teacher, not some standardize test developed by someone in some far off part of the country but on the objective standards for the grade level using existing models developed by other sucessful schools. Then one can judge the school on a whole. Then the district.
Recently I took a class and to my chagrin the math was bent to "new math". I'm old school and problems were easily solved and I was done before the others could read the problem. When asked to present my solution my answers were corrects but my method was wrong. Too many cooks in the kitchen, lets get back to basics. It worked before lets get it to work again.
Thanks for a thoughtful argument to a problem in need of a major solution.


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If you're tired of Internet speeds that don't live up to the hype, you'll be happy to know that CenturyLink® High-Speed Internet in Missoula, MT is consistent, reliable, and above all, affordable! CenturyLink gives each client direct Internet access that is 100% their own—unlike most other Internet providers in Missoula. With that kind of reliability and speed, you'll be able to use your CenturyLink Internet to create your own wireless network for all of your web-enabled devices! Your entire household can rely on CenturyLink Internet to download movies, stream videos, play games online, and so much more. And between the 24/7 tech support included in every package and the constant wireless security of the Advanced Networking modem, you can rest easy with CenturyLink Internet. CenturyLink's @Ease can also be added to any package for more advanced security options, like anti-viral or identity theft protection. Call today to sign up for CenturyLink Internet in Missoula.
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subset: commoncrawl


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31% Off Online*
Brake Hose
The brake hose is an integral part of the braking system and is used to transmit brake fluid under hydraulic pressure from the brake pipe to the callipers. This pressure then forces the callipers together, clamping the brake pads around the disc mounted on the wheel.
, also known as brake lines, consist of flexible rubber pipes. They are manufactured from reinforced rubber which, is impervious to oils and fluids and must be able to withstand extremely high pressures which the braking system generates.brake hoses
are subjected to regular hydraulic movement as well as the outside environment, and the rubber can perish over time. It is advisable to replace broken hoses with quality brake hose. A structurally sound hose is essential for safe braking and comes under close scrutiny during the MOT.
The brake pipe is a rigid pipe usually made of steel, and carries pressurised brake fluid from the master cylinder to the
. Steel or copperbrake pipes
form the main network of pipes supplying brake fluid to all the brake components. This fluid then acts on the callipers to force the brake pads to clamp the disc and bring the vehicle to a stop.
Complete structural integrity of the brake pipe is essential for safe operation of the hydraulic brakes. As
are made of metal they can become subject to rust and other corrosion, resulting in an MOT failure. To prevent failure, replace with qualitybrake pipes
, which are readily available at Eurocarparts.com.Show Less... View More


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Association Repents
The Yavapai Baptist Association in Arizona recently adopted a resolution repenting of sin against the Miller Valley Baptist Church of Prescott and Pastor Bob Selph. Seven years ago the association charged Pastor Selph with heresy for his agreement with the historic Southern Baptist view of unconditional election. He was subjected to formal proceedings that stopped short of disfellowshipping him and his church from the association. Now wiser, more spiritually and biblically minded pastors are in the association, and, though most of them were not involved in the fiasco seven years ago, they have led in the reconciliation effort.
Miller Valley has accepted the overtures of the association and has already expressed their forgiveness by sending a volunteer team of men to help remodel the building of the church which seven years ago led the charge against them.
New Journal
A new journal, Revival: The Need of the Times, has been launched by editor Mack Tomlinson. It is scheduled to be published 6 times a year. More information may be attained by writing to the above at P. O. Box 458, Azle, Texas, 76098-0458.


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ST. LOUIS -- The last time Bartolo Colon earned a hit in a major league game was in 2005. He shot an RBI single against the Mets on June 10, capping a 12-2 win for the Angels, the team he pitched for at the time.
Nearly nine years later, Colon got another one. He doubled off Lance Lynn to lead off the sixth inning of today's Mets-Cardinals game. He then scored when Eric Young Jr., the next batter doubled to drive him in.
A momentous occasion all around. He's now got 11 hits in 123 career at-bats.


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News from around the world
Canadian police: Woman's death linked to U.S. convict
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Canadian police have linked a dead U.S. convict to one of 18 women who vanished along three highways in British Columbia over several decades, and authorities are investigating the man for possible links to five murders in the U.S.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Gary Shinkaruk said Bobby Jack Fowler, who died in 2006, is a person of interest in 10 of the Canadian cases.
Shinkaruk said DNA has linked Fowler to the 1974 killing of teenage hitchhiker Colleen MacMillen.
A district attorney in Oregon said Monday that Fowler is a suspect in five unsolved murders of female teens there.
Fowler was convicted in 1996 of kidnapping, assault and the attempted rape of a woman he met at a bar in Oregon.
Uruguay poised to legalize abortion, with restrictions
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Uruguay's congress appeared ready Tuesday to legalize abortion, a groundbreaking move in Latin America, where no country save Cuba has made abortions accessible to all women during the first trimester of pregnancy.
President Jose Mujica has said he will allow it to become law.
The measure would give women the right to a legal abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and decriminalize later-term abortions when the mother's life is at risk or when the fetus is so deformed that it wouldn't survive after birth. In cases of rape, abortions would be legal during the first 14 weeks.
Lottery luck strikes 3 times for one Norwegian family
OSLO, Norway -- Luck can strike more than once.
A family from western Norway has hit the lottery jackpot for the third time in six years when the son won more than $2 million earlier this month.
He added to the successes of his father and his sister, who had also picked seven correct numbers in 2006 and 2010.
Reports: 7 killed in Turkey explosion
ISTANBUL -- A blast ripped through a vehicle carrying Turkish security forces in an eastern province Tuesday, killing six of them as well as a civilian walking in the road, media reported.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion in the city of Tunceli, where Kurdish rebels are active. The military launched an operation to try to find the culprits. Fighting between Turkish forces and militants belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has escalated in recent months.
-- from wire reports


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At approximately 2:15am, the Sacramento Sheriff's Communications Center began receiving multiple calls reporting citizens hearing gunshots in area of 4000 Antelope Road.
As Deputies were responding to the area, additional calls came in reporting a man armed with a gun walking in the area of North Loop Boulevard, near Antelope Road. Once the Deputies arrived and began searching the area, they encountered a male in his late 20's walking on Don Julio Boulevard, just north of Antelope Road, carrying an assault rifle.
Deputies confronted the male who refused their directives to drop the weapon. The subject then pulled a second weapon, a handgun, from his clothing and pointed it at the officers. Fearing for their safety and the safety of the public, Deputies shot the male. He was later pronounced deceased at the hospital.
It is unknown the motive or mindset of the armed male. No officers or members of the community were injured during this incident. The suspect's identity will be released by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office, once next of kin has been notified.
The investigation into the incident will be conducted by the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau and Professional Standards Division, which is standard practice for any officer-involved shooting that occurs in the Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction.
In accordance with the Sheriff's Department policies and procedures, the two deputies involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. One deputy is a nine year veteran of the Department, the other a thirteen year veteran of the Department. Both are currently assigned to Field and Investigative Services.


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Having graduated from the Royal College of Art London Trisha launched her first hand painted scarf collection at the chelsea crafts fair and then went on to produce collections for fashion and interiors, Trisha designs and prints all her textiles herself on a flat sreen printing table in her studio in South London and makes the products up herself with the help of two wonderful machinists who work from home when times get busy.
Her work has sold successfully to stores, boutiques and galleries throughout the UK, Japan, and the USA, such as Liberty, Heals and Fenwicks in London. Nordstrom, The Guggenheim museum U.S.A and Barneys New York and Japan She also has been commissioned by private and corporate clients to create wall hangings curtain fabric and interior accessories. and Jon Snow the channel 4 news reader wears her ties.
The hallmark of Trisha's work is her passion for colour and pattern,inspired by her love of gardening and her allotment plot to architectural forms such as the guggenheim museum and now the olympic site, whether it is a favourite flower or a delicate seed head, and even a trucks oil filter found on the road while cycling, has led her to produce bold striking distinctive silk screen prints on iridescent velvets, silks, fine wools and crisp linens. Echinacea, pea pods, poppys, and of course where would my collection be without stripes and spots are all featured in this years collection.


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Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is an interdisciplinary leader in brain and behavioral health. Our focus is on three priorities: patient care, research, and education. Through excellence in these three areas, we are committed to providing the best available care to patients and their families, while advancing science to improve mental health and training the next generation of mental health professionals.
This is an exciting time for the field of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. Advances are being made every day to better understand and treat a wide range of disorders. Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has a robust and diverse research program, which is reflected in our strong record of federal research funding (in 2011, we were one of the highest NIH-funded psychiatry departments in the country). Our researchers are world-renowned leaders in their fields, and are consistently recognized by the academic community for their achievements.
We are proud to offer evidence-based clinical services that are informed through our research. Our clinicians have expertise in treating a variety of populations, from very young children to the elderly, as well as families and veterans. Consistently ranked in the top 20 psychiatry departments in the country by U.S. News & World Reports, Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is also a member of the National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC), a group of leading institutions in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and bipolar illness.
Our hardworking and dedicated faculty, staff, and trainees in our department are what make us so successful. We have experts in psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, social work, nursing, epidemiology, biology, engineering, and more, all working to advance the field. We invite you to visit Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences to learn with us, collaborate, and find the best treatments available for you and your loved ones.
Richard Weiner, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences


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Well, it's getting to be that time of year again. Time for the NCAA tournament, the St. Patrick's Parade, time for Angela to shamelessly promote her birthday (*cough* which is Saturday *cough*), and, of course, time for the SALT award nominations to be announced.
And while we're all waiting, I thought a diversion might be in order.
Inspired by a comment posted by Laker15, I've decided to do my own little spin on the SALT awards by giving out honorable mentions in categories that have never been and - one would hope - will never be recognized by the academy. Sort of a nomination B-side, if you will. Some are for shows, some are for individuals, and some are even for characters. Some are timeless, like the Costume Lust Award, some decidely less so, like the Take It Off, Baby Award, for achievement in onstage stripping.
(I mean, I can't really see that one coming around every year. But then again, based on last year...who knows?)
I thought about opening these honorable mentions up to a popular vote and choosing winners, but the thought of my inbox being flooded with tens of e-mails dissuaded me. Plus, how can you, as readers, possibly be expected to vote on something like which characters most reminded me that I actually do have a heart?
Without further delay, then.
The Burn Me A Copy, Please Award (for achievement in pre-show tunes)
- The Cocktail Hour, Salt City Center for the Performing Arts
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Abridged, Syracuse Shakespeare Festival
- Baby with the Bathwater, Rarely Done Productions
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, SU Drama
- Sorry! Wrong Chimney!, Appleseed Productions
(And a very special thanks to both Jim Uva and Jon Wilson for actually burning me copies of their pre-show tunes...)
Costume Lust Award (which is pretty self-explanatory, actually)
- The Winter's Tale, SU Drama
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Wit's End Players
- 1776, Appleseed Productions
- The Will Rogers Follies, The Wit's End Players
- The Merry Widow, Syracuse Opera
The Presto Change-o Award (for achievement in quick set and/or costume changes)
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged, Syracuse Shakespeare Festival
- The Musical of Musicals: The Musical, Rarely Done Productions
- Footloose, The Talent Company
- Lucky Stiff, The Talent Company
- Lucky Stiff, SU Drama
The Fight! Fight! Fight! Award (for achievement in onstage brawling and/or dueling)
- The Fantasticks, The Wit's End Players
- The Outsiders, Syracuse Civic Theatre
- Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Syracuse Stage
- Of Mice and Men, Syracuse Civic Theatre
The Whole, Skim, or Soy? Award (for the shows about which I'd most want to have a book-club-type discussion over hot drinks afterwards)
- Spike Heels, Syracuse Stage
- Frozen, The Redhouse
- Pugilist Specialist, The Redhouse
- A Picasso, Simply New Theatre
The Sitters Are For Suckers Award (for the shows that made me want to have kids if for no other reason than to bring them to plays)
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Salt City
- Miss Nelson is Missing! Gifford Family Theatre
- Seussical, the Musical, Cazenovia College
- The Adventures of Rudolph, Cultural Resources Council
- A Christmas Memory, That's the Idea Productions
The Take It Off, Baby Award (for achievement in onstage stripping)
- Jordan Glaski, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Simply New Theatre
- Dan Stevens, Sorry! Wrong Chimney! Appleseed Productions
- Angela Newman, The Octette Bridge Club, Appleseed Productions
- The cast of Debbie Does Dallas, Rarely Done Productions
The OutRRRRRAGEous Accent Award (for achievement in outlandish dialect in a musical or comedy)
- Beth Schmidt as The Swamp in Miss Nelson is Missing, Gifford Family Theatre
- Erin Race as Helena Landless in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Wit's End Players
- Myles McHale as Neville Landless in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Wit's End Players
- The cast of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Syracuse Shakespeare Festival
The How's My Backhand Award (for the characters I most wanted to smack in the mouth with my knuckles...)
- Cardinal Law (Tom Minion) in Sin: A Cardinal Deposed, Rarely Done Productions
- Adrienne (Babs Rubenstein) in Idol: The Musical, Syracuse Civic Theatre
- Master Richard Rich (Garrett Heater) in A Man for All Seasons, Simply New Theatre
- Thomas Cromwell (Tom Ciancaglini) in A Man for All Seasons, Simply New Theatre
The Go Ahead, Bang On It! Award (for the actors/characters that reminded me that I do actually have a heart, because they broke it)
- Dana Sovocool as Anatoly in Chess, Simply New Theatre
- Brian Hensley as Patrick McSorley in Sin: A Cardinal Deposed, Rarely Done Productions
- Ida Clay as Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, SU Drama
- Navzad Dabu and Joe Pierce as Buddy Layman and C.C. Showers in The Diviners, Appleseed Productions (Way to tag-team, fellas!)
The Melvin Udall Award (for making me want to be a better performer)
- Dani Gotusso, for Chess, Simply New Theatre
- Tamaralee Shutt, for It's a Trip
- Dave Witanowski, for Miss Nelson is Missing! Gifford Family Theatre
- Karis Wiggins, for Guilt by Association
- Brody Hessin, for My One and Only, SU Drama
And finally, the coveted Rob Fonda Award for Outstanding Fake Facial Hair in a Musical or Comedy goes to...
Rob Fonda, actually.
After a careful examination of all possible contenders, I've decided to go completely against the rules and give this award to Rob Fonda for A Man For All Seasons, which was neither a musical nor a comedy, and in which his beard was - to those of us from Baylin - mind-bogglingly real.
And there you have it. An utterly non-comprehensive look at some of the theater that graced the local stages in 2007, from the perspective of a woman who - after having spent an entire month on this project - does not envy the SALT academy at all for having to come up with the real list.
At all.


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Slingbox, which would use large amounts of wireless network capacity, could create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network. The application does not run on our 3G wireless network. Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service. We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.
quote: Apple is a private company? Nope. it is a listed company. A private company would be owned, yep, you guessed it, privately. No shareholders to be accountable to. To be a private company you would need to buy every last share and then delist the company.


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Sticks and Stone break the surface at candidate forum
October 25, 2012
LISBON — Are Columbiana County commissioners keeping the vacant county Emergency Management Agency position open for the sheriff should the sheriff lose his re-election bid? The issue was raised at......
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Yes, we again held a Christmas Eve Family Service featuring our renowned and creative Christmas Skit. This year it was X-Factor Bethlehem.
Here are some pictures. You'll find more in the Worship Events section of our Photos page and the video (73MB) of our skit is on the right hand side of the page


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For me, life is about the achievements, what you gained in life, how much you have learned and what qualities you possess as a person. Every day or next I make a list in my mind of the things I like, I use to follow and also those in which I a lacking and want to have an expertise. Some of them makes me pleasure while some gives the knowledge and the idea to succeed in life.
The pokies world is something where I moved because of the limelight and the excitement heard about this world from the people around who already a part of it. I tried The Finer Reels of Life for the first time with the full thrill and excitement of the betting world being heard before. It is a wonderful slot game loved by most of the punters as the safest and most productive way of all kinds. All the reviews and the suggestions being given felt like echoed into my mind while having a trial. It was the wonderful experience to enjoy playing the slot machines with so much of uncertainty making the whole environment so adventurous.
The cherry on the cake was my deep interest into the games from a very long time. It is like the part of my life to relax my mind and also to add spark into my boring life when I get exhausted from the long list of tasks being done at night. At that time, playing is something of much interest that seems much worthful to me. and additionally If I am getting some sort of the rewards than there is much better rather than following your habit and passion in to the way of gaining money.
The gaming house is a place where one should enter with utmost confidence and focus on the mind to take the best from the bet. This is because you can easily be put into loss if not played with accuracy and the attention on all the moves. So I suggest to those who love this industry and want to be an expert that be always alert and then you will be a champion soon with pockets soon.