Poll: Schools not properly preparing kids

[flashl]

It's not much of a report card.

Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults, an Associated Press poll released Friday finds.

"A lot of kids, when they get out school, are kind of lost," said Jamie Norton, a firefighter in Gridley, Calif. "When you get out of high school, what are you educated to do?"

The views of the general population echo concerns from business and college leaders, who say they have to spend a lot of time and money on remedial education for people who completed high school but don't have the skills to succeed at work or in higher education.

...

Education was generally viewed to be as important as health care and slightly ahead of the Iraq war. Among minority parents, education is just as important an issue as the economy.

The Star

[Mountainman]

1. And the parents are doing what?

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Yep, and the gov't is stripping schools of funding and tying teachers' hands with NCLB, all to

get people upset over the poor job the schools are doing so that some private corporation can swoop in and "fix" everything.

[RedEarth]

5. I agree.... I think it's more of an indictment against parents than schools

I wonder how many of the parents of kids who didn't do well in school made sure their kids behaved, made sure they did all of their homework, spent time with them on their assignments, spent time reading to them each day when they were young, taught them to be respectful of their teachers and their fellow students...the list can go on and on.

In my opinion, how well kids do in school is directly related to the parents.

[Odin2005]

8. Or maybe those parents have to work so much to make ends meet...

...that they don't have TIME to do that stuff?

Parents shouldn't get blamed for systemic failures within our society, blaming parents for this is like how the Pukes blame poor people for causing themselves to be poor because of lack of "personal responsibility." I get sick of people blaming individuals when the blame should go to a fucked up society.

[MichiganVote]

3. Some people won't be happy until we move them in and raise em' for them.

[midnight]

4. Parents going up against the Department of Education ........

It is an education at the highest level.

[ulysses]

6. this isn't an Onion feature?

[flashl]

7. Importance of Student Voice

Students are important stakeholders- it's their education.

Research shows that students, for the most part, have been outside the school improvement loop. "The only group whose voice seems strangely absent in this chorus of ideas and counter ideas is that of the students themselves" (Johnson, 1991).

Student views are distinct.

Schools can learn from students' input about instruction, climate, and classroom structure. These are areas that teachers traditionally address and where students rarely have input, but they do have a distinct vantage point as learners.


Listening to Student Voices

Current educational brain research points the way toward the best teaching practices. But are we taking advantage of that exciting science to create schools that result in successful outcomes for all students? Research shows that instruction which takes place in small, caring, learning communities, and which integrates passion and purpose while addressing a variety of teaching and learning modalities, is more likely to be embedded, retained and transferred to other learning environments and opportunities. When students become partners in creating their own educational plan through expression of their interests and creativity and in an atmosphere of fun, they become motivated and engage in deeper learning, dramatically reducing off-task behaviors and concerns.

Interagency Academy students are predominantly multicultural and have non-traditional learning styles (the majority are not visual word learners). Most students who enroll at this school have had difficulty or lack of success at former comprehensive middle and high schools. Many are two or more years behind grade level and need multiple services to become effective learners. They have grown up in urban poverty, burdened by the resultant dysfunction and violence accompanying it, and with most students it is necessary to address issues of 'readiness-to-learn' before academic success can be achieved. Purposeful education of this population requires that attention be focused on their lives in the community as well as in school.

...

IA approaches the education of each student individually and assesses and places them in site programs based on their interests, needs, and abilities. Students are encouraged to participate in the creation of their educational plan based on these assessed interests and career goals.

...

Perhaps the most important factor in the success of the Academy is the nature of the teaching staff and their commitment to their students' success. IA has found that previously unmotivated and disruptive students become focused and pursue learning actively when supported and encouraged by truly caring adults. Repeatedly, students declare that the Academy works for them because the teachers/staff authentically care that they succeed.

Success by Design