from the book: Shadow Dancing on the Grave of Hope:
Some remarks on how things should be done.
Higher Standards
“Our statistics improve while our results get worse.” honest Communist.
Many states are experimenting with higher standards. Some even give what are called "high stakes tests". The stakes can refer to teacher bonuses, superintendent tenure, school closure, student promotion, graduation, or all of these together. In states where fairly easy tests are required for Grade 8 or Grade 12 graduation, a large percentage of the students have failed leading to abandonment or lowering of standards. One cannot raise the standards of student education without raising the effectiveness of teaching techniques. Except in isolated instances, for short periods of time, public education cannot do this. Those who have the skills are outside the system, are rarely allowed in, and, if in, generally leave quickly.
The Ideal School
The ideal school needs several components and, as in any successful program, all elements must be present.
1. Management by wandering around. The top management of the school must know how the programs are being implemented. This requires visiting classrooms as a priority every day to monitor the implementation of teaching programs.
2. The continued employment, advancement and status of those who work in the system must be dependent upon the performance of the students and not on seniority and ability of the teachers to apply political pressure. You get what you reinforce.
3. The programs that are used must be the best according to field testing and not what is philosophically popular at the moment.
4. Measures of student achievement must be taken in every class, several times every hour, otherwise, the teacher will not know what is being taught, but only what is being "covered".
5. Each student must have many reachable goals in each subject.
6. Each teacher must be monitored daily by someone who knows how to teach. This requirement can be gradually loosened as teachers are identified as competent or as they become more competent. When this occurs, the behavior of the students will tell whether the teacher is competent. The vast majority of teachers are not like Jaime Escalante. Those who are, should be left alone. Those who aren’t, can’t be left alone.
7. Frequent tests must be given students to determine the progress of teachers and teaching methods. These tests do not test students, but test what is learned.
8. Children should not be given PROJECTS, or any other task, until the subskills have been taught and rarely thereafter. Facts are best taught directly, not discovered.
9. Teachers must be able to manage classrooms positively. Classroom management extends to organization which frees the teacher’s classroom time for teaching. Students can manage their own learning packages, plot their own improvement and monitor their own behavior when the classroom is managed correctly.
10. Staff development must be an integral part of the operation and based on proven methods, rather than popular ones. "Professional Development" days should be in the summer. Teaching must be one of the few professions which gets paid days to learn their craft.
11. The classroom program must ensure that each student is learning.
This kind of school would only be possible if the parents gave the school money for educating their children and could take it away if the parents were not satisfied.
Cheerio and ttfn,
Grant Coulson
