You know, we have some really great schools in Johnston County, especially in this area, and it would be really nice if our schools could make the news for something good for a change. It seems like in the past couple of years every time one of our schools is mentioned in the news it is for something with an Ugh factor. Let's hope the rest of the year, and the upcoming year, make better news.
Thanks for posting that! It is so frustrating to me to keep seeing our schools showcased for less than desirable stories, when I know we have some really great teachers, and some amazingly brilliant and genuinely good kids that are doing great things through the schools.:hurray:
Yep, for the same reasons that we don't hear or read about everyone making it home safely from RTP to 4042 yesterday. We hear when there are accidents. We rarely hear about making the correct choices. We hear when they die in auto accidents (rarely that they were speeding, not paying attention to the road, etc) fights, and other stuff. We rarely hear about the students who did positive things.
Pressured to teach the test? Points out the problems with using EOGs/EOCs for evaluating teachers. If parents and students are engaged in learning the entire course, there should be no issues. If students aren't engaged or parents don;t follow through, we get poor results. If parents and students are engaged, then those teachers who are phoning it in are exposed, and should be fired. But, to hold the teacher responsible if parents and students didn't do their part, this is unfair.
While we're on the subject of parents being engaged....parent calls teacher two weeks into the second semester concerned about the first semester grade. By the end of the conversation, parent is upset with the child for not worrying about the grade sooner. Hmmmmm, i wonder who the child got that from? All along the parent has been signing progress reports and an official report card listing no concerns. Too often students and parents wait to care until it's too late.
This had nothing to do with teaching the tests, and more to do with kids being able to play sports. But you did not hear it from me.
Cleo..spot on. I spoke with a teacher this afternoon about the issue. The response was that they first wondered as to how many of the students needing to be retested are athletes. Seems to prove that the emphasis is on something other than preparing these kids for life. And given the funding concerns, why I feel that athletics should be funded by boosters, not the school system. Put the incredible amounts of money spent for the big three..football, basketball, baseball...back into academic education. Strange that the vocational clubs find a way to raise money for their pursuits, as does the band, and many others, but the big three need big bucks, yet benefit few of the student population at large. To their credit, GCAA and parents seem to find a way to fund their children's athletic pursuits. Put the coin into the classrooms, not the ball fields.
Amen Hatt. The US spends more per student than Luxembourg and are stuck near the lower middle in achievement.
PRM, Perhaps I should have said invest the money in academics and technology. We haven't adopted enough technology to permit teaching and learning in non traditional times or places....Those days of rote memorization, sitting in neat little lines, regurgitating what the teacher said are long gone. Today, the challenge can;t be teaching them what to think, but more of teaching them HOW to think, problem solve, adapt, overcome.... And, I would submit that if you want to get better teachers, we're gonna have to pay a better salary. There's a reason why the top corporations pay the big bucks for leadership and effectiveness, rather than hiring Joe Schmo to run a company. While I'll agree that there are some teachers who are ineffective and more often than not, 'phone it in', I also temper that with knowing that no teacher started out by thinking, 'I'm gonna have a cushy job, do little, and not care about the students I teach.' In this, I hold good teachers as I do the military. Doing a job that should be monetarily appreciated more, for the work that most of us are unwilling to do. Having done both, I can tell you that for many, the rewards come from the personal investment we made so that others will thrive.
This is news ??? When i was attending CHS,back in the 80's, It wasn't unusual for certain students to be gven a "gimmie" simply because they played sports, especially football. I know because I was one them.
