The editor:
Ever wonder why, despite all the reforms and “accountability” testing in our schools, our educational system seems no better than before?
Having been a public school teacher as well as professor of education for close to thirty-five years, I have a few insights to share on the subject.
1. The main difference between American education thirty years ago and today can be boiled down to this: Ask a teacher today to tell you what his/her job is and the answer is most likely to be something like, “My job is to teach math,” or science, or history, or English or but if you could go back and ask a teacher thirty years ago the same question he or she would probably answer, “My job is shape and mold human beings.”
2. Teachers, through no fault of their own, have lost the incentive to teach humanity to their students. Gradually our schools have come to place “getting a job” as their number one priority in preparing kids for the world. As such the schools have concentrated on the mechanics of the core curriculum and forgotten there is more to life than subject matter and a job.
3. The term “accountability” came into popular use about twenty years or so ago with taxpayers and politicians alike wanting to “get the most for their buck.” So reform movements centered around test scores. Why? Because test scores could “prove” your money was getting results. So far so good, but when it was found that the humanistic elements of the curriculum could not be easily tested for such things as initiative, leadership, ethics, enthusiasm, etc. (in short the things that make us human) -- instead of simply acknowledging that some things cannot be reduced to test numbers on a page and keeping these elements in the curriculum, it was decided to simply dump them and focus on what COULD be tested for.
4. Teachers are no longer inspirationalists or role models, rather they are blue-collar mechanics who prepare and teach soulless lesson plans, that is, when they can spare a minute from the almost continual prepping for standardized tests to “prove” they are accountable.
Schools have become little more than prep mills, devoting huge amounts of time to preparing students to take these tests. No wonder parents are concerned that there seems to be little learning going on scores, scores and more scores are all that count these days. And unfortunately those scores don’t really mean a whole lot when kids have been endlessly prepped right up to the moment they walk in to take the test. It isn’t a matter of who is learning more, it’s a matter of who’s better at prepping (cramming) them for the test.
5. You want better education? Ask yourself what you really want from schools. Do you want babysitters? Do you want schools to simply prepare your child to fill a job? Are high scores on standardized tests what you really desire? Or do you want institutions that help your child develop his/her humanity (as well as teaching some subject matter)?
Right now America has said it wants accountability. That’s exactly what you are getting. If you want something different you are going to have to admit that accountability has not succeeded. Until we change our priorities, the schools will remain prep mills and our kids and our society are going to be shortchanged.
Stephen S. Young
Clearfield
Letters to the Editor
Schools focus on scores, not enough on education
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Elliott County outreach changes
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Elliott County Christian Community Center became an incorporated service organization. Christian Social Services congratulates the leaders in Elliott County for their enthusiasm, compassion and dedication to the people of Elliott County.
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Bring better movies to Morehead
Don’t you love a good movie? We certainly do BUT for me that does not include “R” rated films. Of the seven movies advertised in the 1/20/12 issue of the News, five were rated “R.”
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Abortion advocate change of mind
As the new year begins, it is quite common to see printed in a newspaper or magazine a list of the names of prominent citizens who passed away in the preceding year. I recently came across such a list, and the name of one individual in particular caught my attention: Dr. Bernard Nathanson.
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Large sign is unsightly
While driving to Morehead today, I was dismayed to see that Cracker Barrel has erected one of their typical ultra-high “signs on a stick.” I somehow thought that Morehead’s sign ordinance would protect our community from this unsightliness and that the sign would be the same height as those of surrounding businesses.
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Political cartoon was off the mark
I don’t know how the political cartoons you publish are chosen, but I take exception to the one in the Dec. 27, 2011 issue of the paper. The cartoonist obviously does not agree with Time magazine’s choice of The Protester as Person of the Year.
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Business owners say thanks
We would like to take this opportunity to thank The Morehead News and Noelle Hunter for the lovely article about the loss of our small business, Clay Makin’s.
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Contest helps learn about energy use
As the New Year approaches, many of us are thinking of ways to save money. One way to do that is to reduce your energy usage. This will save you money and save resources.
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Thanks for supporting speech team
The Rowan County Middle School Speech Team members and coaches would like to extend a heartfelt “THANK YOU” to Mr. Tom James, Kentucky Bank Branch Manager and father of 8th Grade speech team member Haley James and all the staff of Kentucky Bank for their recent generous and most appreciated financial gift to the speech team.
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Thanks for Haldeman Christmas program
The Haldeman Community Center board members would like to say “Thank You” to all who attended and supported our Christmas Program. We all enjoyed the play “The True Gift,” the man in the red suit and all the wonderful snacks.
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Storybook Christmas appreciates support
On behalf of the Storybook Christmas Committee, I would like to thank the community for generous support of our project again this year. Storybook Christmas is an annual project of the Adult Basic Education and Literacy (ABEL) Council and the MSU Adult Learning Center.
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Elliott County outreach changes
