Chapter 20 Schools Don’t Improve if They Are Closed
This chapter is a critique of the Department of Education’s policy of closing under-performing schools in order to create better schools. The policy involves firing the school principal, some or all of the teachers, and in some cases completely closing the school (Ravitch, 2014, p. 214). After taking these steps, according to Ravitch (2014), a new school is created under control of a private education company or under direct control of the district school board. The argument from the writer is that schools can do better if provided with quality leadership, cohesion among teachers, and involvement from the parents. I can see how the heavy handed policies of the government, at all levels, can lead to bitter teachers and high turn-over, which in turn leads to under-performing schools.
How can we get the government to understand that allowing schools to change from within, and giving them the resources and support to do so, is the best answer for our student?
Chapter 21 Solutions: Start Here
This chapter discusses the error in thinking that improving education can also help erase poverty. Poverty is a result of social issues not poor teachers or bad schools. I understand, from the reading, that improving schools and teaching is important. Good teachers and good educational programs can help those students who are motivated achieve success in education and make a difference in their lives (Ravitch, 2014, p. 224). However, in order to fully impact society, the government, and people in general, must also work to improve the state of equality in the country. Increasing equality, and lowering the amount of poverty in society is one large piece of the puzzle that will also help improve the quality of education.
What will it take to improve social programs for the lower income students to help them do better in school and succeed in their lives?
Chapter 22 Begin at the Beginning
This chapter is clearly stating that the United States needs to do better with pre-natal care for pregnant women. As a nation, the United States ranks 131st out of 184 nations in the rate of early births (Ravitch, 2014, p.227). Premature births lead to early deaths in many cases and other disabilities for surviving babies, including learning disabilities. These disabilities then lead to higher drains on resources for specialized care. This includes special education costs. I understand from reading this chapter that even though the United States is the world’s richest nation, it is one of the poorest in prenatal health care, and that is causing many problems for the nation. What the nation needs is a real affordable healthcare plan, especially when it comes to prenatal care.
With pre-natal care being so vital, why is the United States so far behind other counties in the percentage of early births?
Chapter 23 The Early Years Count
This chapter makes a case for early childhood education for all children. Children enter the school system at various levels of development and abilities. This difference is greater between low income and higher income students (Ravitch, 2014, p. 230). Making early childhood education available to all children would greatly increase the child’s cognitive skills as well as their non-cognitive skills. The non-cognitive skills are just as important as the cognitive skills because they are the skills most prized by employers (Ravitch, 2014, p. 231). Studies have shown that having some early childhood education, from well qualified teachers, greatly improves a child’s chances of gaining successful employment and being a contributing member of society, as opposed to a drain on society. I can see where getting an early start on education can improve a child’s learning abilities as well as his social skills. Making this early education available to all, especially lower income children should be a priority for the nation and will pay for itself in the long run.
Other nations have made early education a priority, why can’t we?
Chapter 24 The Essentials of a Good Education
I can see how this is an important chapter. It discusses the need for a full liberal arts curriculum in the schools. The government has become so obsessed with test scores that too much emphasis is placed on the core subjects, reading and math, and other subjects get forgotten or even dropped from the curriculum (Ravitch, 2014, p. 234). The purpose of education is supposed to be to prepare our children to be good citizens. That means preparing them to get along with others, collaborate, and make informed decisions (Ravitch, 2014, p. 237). Learning just reading and math does not accomplish this. As a result, the United States is becoming a nation that is ignorant about the rest of the world. I just have to look at the current presidential campaign to understand the message of this chapter. If we had a more educated, better informed public, we probably would not be seeing what we are seeing today.
What will it take to return to a more liberal arts foundation in our schools, and get away from the focus on the two core subjects?
Chapter 25 Class Size Matters for Teaching and Learning
This chapter argues that smaller class sizes will result in better learning, increased graduation rates, and more success in the future. This is because with smaller classes, teachers are able to spend more time on each student and teach each according to their particular needs and preferences (Ravitch, 2014, p.244). This is especially important today with so much diversity in the classroom. It is not surprise that teachers would prefer smaller classrooms over more pay or greater incentives. Most teachers are there out of love for teaching, more so than love for money. Allowing teachers to interact more with individual students would allow teachers to actually be teachers and make a difference in young people’s lives. I can understand that smaller classrooms would require more teachers, and maybe bigger buildings, but the up-front cost seems to be a good deal compared to the long term costs of remedial education, failed educations, and dead end futures (Ravitch, 2014, p. 245).
What can we do to ensure smaller class sizes in the future?
Chapter 26 Make Charters Work for All
The charter school system was originally intended to be a resource for school districts to work with the students that were not doing well in the public schools. The idea was that these students would attend a charter school staffed by teachers and administrators who have more freedom in planning a curriculum and teaching students with different needs. However, the charter system has evolved into an us versus them atmosphere within school districts, with charter schools free to accept only the best students and expel those that are not excelling (Raavitch, 2014, p. 247). This helps their test scores while affecting the scores and budgets of the public schools. Also, many charter schools have become for profit operations. A for profit operation, by definition, is primarily concerned with making a profit. That means that providing the best quality education may not be high on their list of priorities. What the country needs is a change in the charter system that gets rid of for-profit schools and incorporates charter schools within the public school system, with collaboration between the public schools and the charter schools in order to provide the best quality education to all the students in the district.
How did for profit education become so popular in the primary school sector?
Chapter 27 Wraparound Services Make a Difference
Much attention has been given the educational gap between affluent children and children who live in poverty (Ravitch, 2014, p. 253). With nearly twenty-five percent of the children of the United States living in poverty, this is a serious issue (Ravitch, 2014, p. 253). There are several wraparound services that can help lessen this divide and give lower income children a better chance to succeed. These services include things like routine medical care in schools, summer programs to keep children engaged in learning, after school programs, and parent education to get the parents actively involved in their children’s education (Ravitch,, 2014, pp. 255-259). These programs all sound great but they would need major changes in social programs and financing to be viable. These wraparound services would all contribute greatly toward improving the success of more students and enhance the status of the country.
What will it take to incorporate some of these wraparound services into our educational system?
Chapter 28 Measure Knowledge and Skills with Care
The trend to test student knowledge with standardized testing has not produced the desired results. It is wrong to believe that offering higher incentives for teachers whose classrooms achieve improved test scores will improve their teaching abilities. Requiring standardized test encourages teachers to teach toward the test, foregoing other instruction. Standardized tests also teach students that there is only one right answer, which is not true in the real working world (Ravitch, 2014, p. 266). Maybe the best solution would be for the federal government to leave the task of education to the states, where it is supposed to be and let individual schools and districts focus on the best ways to educate their students. There are many examples out there of schools who have been successful without the need to give students standardized tests.
How can we encourage our schools to teach the students how to learn rather than teach them how to prepare for tests?
Chapter 29 Strengthen the Profession
It should make sense that we have professional teachers in our classrooms and that the leaders of these teachers should also be professional teachers. We should not expect teachers to respect principals or superintendents who have not spent their time in a classroom in front of students. We should not expect those leaders to really understand the needs of the school if they have not first been teachers (Ravitch, 2014, p,275). I like what the author said in this chapter about every school being different. Schools are a product of their community, their teachers, and their students; each one has its own personality. Schools cannot be designed and ran on a “cookie cutter” plan because each one is different (Ravitch, 2014, p. 276). The best thing to do for all of our public schools is to improve the training of our teachers, use only seasoned teachers as administrators, and keep the politicians away from our education system.
Why is it so difficult to understand the need for highly professional teachers in our schools?
References
Ravitch, D. (2014). Reigh of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. New York: Knopf.
