Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 - Goldstein
Reader Response 12 - "Who does what to whom, when, where, how, and why?" (represented by the letters WDWWWWHW), include page references and personal/professional connections.
Who: Ronald Reagan
Does What: Appointed Ted Bell
To Whom: Secretary of Education
When: around the late 1960's
Where: Washington D.C.
How: using him to advance his own agenda
Why: Washington establishments trusted him
┄ Chapter Eight ┄
“Very Disillusioned”
HOW TEACHER ACCOUNTABILITY DISPLACED DESEGREGATION AND LOCAL CONTROL
Ronald Reagan’s administration had it’s own agenda for educational reform. However, the various perspectives of different individuals made it difficult for productive change to occur. The public’s view of the American education system was quickly decreasing due to poor quality of schools, community control, busing issues, and other tough topics (Goldstein, 2014, p. 167). Prior to the 1970’s school reform efforts did not include standardized testing. However, in the mid-1970’s student achievement was becoming a large topic tied to teacher performance. “Competency Based” included working teaches being evaluated according to their skills in the classroom. The renaming of traditional senses resulted in this and the arguments ranged from mildly annoyed to full blow atrocious. Teachers’ reputations began to suffer in the public eye. Bell only wanted to “test, quantify, and rationalize” (Goldstein, 2014, p. 166). Many factors went into better student performance, namely better teachers. These included lengthening the school day, improving teacher quality, higher base salaries, merit pay and other suggestions. So many controversial and conflicting concepts made the education reform spiral downward instead of improve.
┄ Chapter Nine ┄
“Let Me Use What I Know”
REFORMING EDUCATION BY EMPOWERING TEACHERS
Society blamed poor teachers for poor workers who had previously been poor students. However, I feel as though the blame should have been on America’s broken and crumbling educational system to begin with. Had this country required higher expectations of teacher candidates and also student performance before graduation, this would not have turned into the blame game. “Teach for America” took off from the ground up but it had a top-down approach that worked. Many people worked in this intricate web of history and had various viewpoints on the linings of the foundation. Classroom management seemed to be a major factor in teacher retention and student productivity in regards to this organization. This is still a current issue that many new and veteran teachers face.
Individual productivity, harsh grading systems and other systems are geared more towards the teachers than students. Schools and principals are basically getting into trouble because the evaluation systems aren’t harsh enough (Goldstein, 2014, p. 229). To me, this is ludicrous! As educators or even parents, we would not want our children to be reprimanded for unattainable high goals. Why are teachers being punished for trying their best? Instead of adding more evaluation systems why not focus on the critical ones and provide key information and training on these. Have teachers explain their way of thinking and why they choose the things they do. Standards are an essential part of education now so focus should be given to that. All the current evaluations systems do is drive good teachers away because they feel like failures. I do not think they prevent “bad” teachers from still being in the classroom, but instead, discourage “good” educators because of all the red tape and harsh criticism.
Goldstein, D. (2014). The teacher wars : a history of America's most embattled profession. New York :Doubleday.
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