Waiting for Superman - Education Essay

Janet Dodd

ENC 1102

Professor Kelly Warren

April 16, 2013

 

Waiting for “Superman –Our Education System

 

     “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”  Willliam Arthur Ward said a mouthful in that quote.  How do we identify and reward these “great teachers?” Our education system is broken and we have no clue how to fix it. There are so many problems, where do we start?  We must look at the most important factors that influence a child’s performance in school; parents and family, standardized testing and most importantly teachers. Each factor has a huge impact on a child and can greatly affect them all the way from grade school into college.

     Parents play the most important role in a child’s life and education. Parents essentially set the baseline for a child’s development and learning.  If a child is taught at a pre-school age, the importance of school attendance, homework, paying attention in class, and performance, it will be instilled in them throughout their school years. However, parents do have to play their part in their child’s education.  As parent’s, it is our responsibility to be a role model for our children and stay active and involved in all aspects of their learning. “Daily assistance with homework and attitude toward school has the biggest impact on your child’s performance.” (Standardized, Scholastic.com) Whether it is meeting with teachers, attending school functions or just assisting them with their homework and reading at home, it is our job to keep our children involved and engaged. When my son started pre-kindergarten, it was brought to my attention that he was disrupting the class so much so that some type of action had to be taken.  The teacher was unable to effectively teach the class.  At first, I was in disbelief.  I thought, she can’t be talking about my son, he is so sweet.  I had not heard any negative reports about my son until the day that the director asked to speak to me. The next day, I observed my son from the hallway. While the class sat at the carpet for reading at circle time, he just stood up and went to the other side of the class to do his own thing. The teacher was unable to get him to stay on the carpet or sit still.  She spent the entire reading time trying to get my son to sit with the class.  I could see how this was unfair to the other children. I called my Pediatrician.  We had my son evaluated and he was diagnosed with ADHD.  It is a new experience everyday to find ways to keep my son engaged and interested in his school work. This is my job as a parent. At this time, my son is being tested for gifted classes.

    

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     However, parent’s can only do so much to keep children on task.  How do we know if children are retaining the necessary information that will be needed throughout their school years?  Schools have standardized tests that are suppose to measure how much a child has retained and if they have a basic understanding of what has been taught. “Now that the No Child Left Behind Act federally mandates and regulates state testing for elementary and middle schoolers, standardized tests play a major role in today’s schooling.”(Standardized,Scholastic.com).  These tests are designed to successfully test a child’s retention of the knowledge and to assure that they have what is needed to be promoted.  However, there are several factors that can affect a child’s performance and score. “The conditions in the classroom, how well the school curriculum fits the material, whether she had a good night’s sleep, and her test-taking ability can all affect her score.”(Standardized, Scholastic.com)

     Although these standardized tests can provide information as to where schools need to focus their curriculum, it is important that the tests alone provide the entire learning picture. Teachers play a critical role in our children’s education and future.  A study conducted by economists Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E Rockoff of Columbia found that “second only to parents, are the most important part of a child’s education. Great teachers make a great difference; poor teachers hurt a child’s like chances.”(Bennett, CNN.com)  “A good teacher not only improves a child’s test scores in the classroom, but also enhances his or her chances to attend college and earn more money,” (Bennett, CNN.com) according to this study.

     Knowing this, what do we do to get more “great teachers?”  We reward them for doing a “great” job. According to the documentary, Waiting for “Superman”, “one out of every 57 doctors loses their license to practice medicine, one out of every 97 lawyers loses their license to practice law, and only one out of every 100 teachers is fired for performance-related reasons” The biggest problem is the tenure.  Tenure is the practice of guaranteeing a teacher their job.  If a teacher has tenure, essentially it doesn’t matter how they perform as long as they show up to work.  If a teacher does not care about their job, how can they effectively teach students?  “In 2009, no state required student performance to be the central to whether a teacher is awarded tenure’ today eight states do.”(States, USA Today.com) Essentially, great teachers should be rewarded and bad teachers should be fired.  Seems simple enough right?  Unfortunately, the adults who run the teachers unions, administrators, and some of the teachers themselves, have forgotten what is the most important thing about all of this; the children.  Thankfully, many states have realized that tenured teachers are a huge problem and are working to correct it.  “Eleven states now require districts to consider teacher performance when deciding who to let go.”(States USA Today.com) We must continue these changes to remind the “bad teachers” that they have lost sight of what they went to school to do; teach.

      

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     On the other hand without tenure, teachers could be might hesitant to express new ideas or different ways of teaching for fear of being labeled outcast or worse, losing their job.  In an existing system, people of fearful of change.  As in any job, subordinates can’t always feel free to express themselves.  This is what tenure was designed for; protection of teachers.  Unfortunately, it now needs to be changed and updated to accommodate the “bad” teachers or “lemons.”

     So how do we fix our broken education system? There is not one solution, but a combination of many.  First, as parents, we must continue to help our children stay on the right path and provide the baseline for learning that our children need at home. Secondly, review standardized tests to be sure that they alone do not determine the ability of a child.  Standardized tests should be only be a tool if properly used. These tests should not be administered by the teachers, but by a not-biased third party to eliminating cheating by teachers. Next, eliminate bad teachers.  They can be detrimental to a child’s education.  Finally, reward great teachers.  A great teacher can have the biggest impact on a child.  Bottom line, the children are the future of our nation and need all the help that can we can provide them.  Don’t you agree?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Works Cited

 

“Standarized Tests/Prepare and Interpret Results”            http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/study-skills-test-taking/standardized-tests-prepare-and-interpret-results, accessed 4/14/13

Bennett, William J., “The Lasting Impact of Good Teachers, http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/11/opinion/bennett-good-teachers , updated 1/11/12, accessed 4/14/13

“States Weaken Tenure Rights for Teachers” , http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-01-25/teacher-tenure-rights-firings/52772354/1, posted 1/25/12/updated 1/25/12; dated accessed 4/14/13