By: Joel Klein
In this article, Mr. Klein lays down some hard hitting facts about what has happened to the education system in recent years. Mr. Klein chooses three big problems he sees in the education system today and discusses his ideas on the areas of problem and gives his solution.
Problem 1: The education system does not choose the best candidates available to go into the field of education.
Solution: The education system needs better academic training for students, pick from the top one-third of graduates, and change how teachers receive rewards.
Problem 2: The education system has been keying in on seniority instead of the progression of students and the effectiveness of the teacher.
Solution: Create an exam for entry and certification yearly much like in professions of law and medicine.
Problem 3: The education system is in dire need of a change.
Solution: Teachers must establish a board that polices the teaching profession and allows teachers to move up by the results and their choice to take and pass examinations.Remove the idea of a mandatory school assignments and allow teachers to pick what is best for their students.
With problem number one, I do happen to see and hear a lot about the lack of quality teachers and how it is hard to get quality candidates to go into education. In my mind, one of the best ways we can ensure that the profession does get the best candidates available is by raising the pay scale for teachers and educators and allow the to make more because we will get what we pay for with our teachers.
Problem number two is one of the biggest issues in the education system. There are so many teachers who are in better schools based only on seniority and not on progression of students. Not all teachers are like this but problem still remains. I do like the idea of certifications for teachers but I believe that they should be mostly evaluation based instead standardized tests because just because teachers can learn for a test does not mean they can apply it in the classroom and it allows teachers to be critiqued based on their everyday work.
Problem three is kind of like Mr. Klein's conclusion. At this point we can kind of tell that Klein is almost to the point of disgust with the system. I love the idea of allowing teachers to pick their own assignment because we as educators must understand that all of our students will not go into the same profession and must be allowed the free choice to learn other things than a strict criteria.
In conclusion, I believe Mr. Klein made some great points and has some great ideas on where the education system should go and how it needs to be changed. I hope that I one day can be as influential in education as he has been. With more and more teachers trying to find a way to change and make education better the more students will benefit. I truly treasured Mr. Klein's article and hope one day I can help implement them.
Paige,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you the the pay of teachers should be raised. Teachers I feel often become lazy because either a.) they're not paid enough and lose interest or b.) tenure keeps them from the fear of losing their job. I felt that giving teachers a test would help keep them on their toes. Teachers should be role models for their students. If we are telling our students to be life-long learners, we should too. So taking a test to get ahead in our career shouldn't be a problem.
--Andrea