Tom's Five:
1. Lower class sizes. If there's one way in which teaching is different than most other professions it's this: We work with a lot of other people simultaneously. Doctors, lawyers, accountants and others are also very busy people, but for the most part they only work with one client at a time. Most teachers work with 20 to 30 (or more) students at the same time. I will work just as hard with the 27 students in my classroom as I would with the sixteen that I wish I had. I will get up just as early, work just as late and be just as tired when I go to bed. Doesn't matter to me. But 1/27 of my time and energy is a much smaller fraction than 1/16.
2. Extend the school year. But not for everyone; just the kids that need it. We don't all learn at the same speed, and our school calendar should reflect that.
3. Pay our paraeducaters a respectable wage. Paras quietly provide an amazing and irreplacable service, mostly for our neediest students. They make about 30% of a teacher's salary. A teacher's salary.
4. Bring programs like this into our high needs schools. These people get it. They know that you can't fix a broken school by testing it to death. They know that children born into poverty have certain needs that must be met before they're ready to learn. And they seem to know how to meet those needs and get them learning.
5. Rotate every administrator (and every union leader) through a classroom at least once every five years. Pair them with a real teacher, if necessary, but get them in there. Because sometimes they forget.
I just want to also throw support behind your support for paraeducators. A good paraeducator as a teammate in the classroom is absolutely priceless. They are likewise stretched too thin and asked to do so much with so little… and if teachers are underappreciated, I don’t know what superlative of underappreciation exists to describe paras.
What if teachers don’t want lower class sizes? I always wanted as many kids as possible to be in my choir and band classes–and I know several secondary teachers who would welcome large classes for their lectures and group projects, as long as they had assistance with paperwork. I would rather have tailored class sizes for different needs, rather than lockstep one-size-best-for-all language.
I love #5. Considering inviting a legislator for a day. We’ll see what happens. I dare you, too.
Thought provoking post. The question becomes how do we make this possible, when money is often hailed as the object? Although, I do think money is not the only hinderance, just one of many.
Whoo hoo to number 5! I would add legislators to that list – especially those who are deciding on the education budget and imposing all of the additional requirements that seem to appear with every legislative session. Let’s have THEM take the math WASL and then they can make realistic policy on testing.
Lowering class sizes would impact the teacher’s ability to provide quality instruction. And it is the instruction, the teacher’s craft and art, that is one of the single things research has shown to make a difference in improving the learning of students. Let’s not gloss over this fact. Teachers are teachers because they have a skill. That skill is in instruction. Instruction does not mean passing papers out, running dittos, or giving fill in the blank tests. Instruction to a gifted teacher means analyzing what students say so that the teacher can choose the next step in the lesson. It means reflecting on what went on during the class period and then adding or subtracting items as necessary. Teaching is an art, a skill.
Just for clarification, I meant ‘best students’. “Best kids” is a whole different thing. I agree that Tom’s idea is a good way to start. I’m just getting impatient.
The link in your #4 offers an interesting model…and I think it acknowledges something that policymakers or those who see education as a conveyor belt carrying kids from K to 12 often miss: our kids need to also be taught how to be students.
In defense of the “letting the best kids wait while the others catch up,” I think Tom’s idea is a good intermediary step between the now and the ideal (year round school).
To Tom: wouldn’t students who excel and are ahead be considered students who need more time in school too? I think these students would love an extra class or two each week that goes beyond standard curriculum.
For idea #5: can we throw in law makers too? That would be awesome.
Tom,
I usually read your posts and agree totally. But there’s a little daylight between you and I on number 2: “But not for everyone; just the kids that need it.” Sounds like the objective would be to keep them bunched up in cohorts; nobody too far behind, nobody too far ahead. I don’t want any student falling behind, but I don’t want the best to be put on hold while we try to help their peers catch up. If they are going faster that means they can go farther, and that’s good. So let’s extend the year for everyone. (Thankfully money’s not an object in this utopia.)