http://http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/20/obama_wants_135b_more_in_school_grants/
The above link is an article from the Boston Globe, the article explains Obama's plan for improved funding toward schools across the United States. The article gives good reason to beleive that our President really does care about the education of students, the question is does he understand what will truely help improve their education in the long run. "Higher test scores" were mentioned several times throughout the article, which no doubt are important to students of any age, however Obama seems to be missing the larger picture, that students need more from their time at school then an excellent score on their standarized testing to become a wholesome member of society someday. The article does stress that the money in which schools recieve will allow higher quality teachers to be highered, which is an excellent use for this money. The question government officials should be asking themselves however, is what an "excellent" teacher really is, in my opinion an excellent teacher is one who will involve the children in the subjects they are teaching in a fun, age appropriate manner that allows the children to learn at their highest potential. The question in my mind when i read this article however is; does the government want educators who will do whatever it takes to produce productive members of society in the future, or do they want an educator who will cram the information into the children's minds just for a high standarized test score? There are definately pro's and con's to this article, improved funding can be a HUGE blessing to the schools all over the United States, we can only hope that the government allows this funding to be used to its full potential.
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You raise many good questions.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I don't think the government ever specify anything that they want except high test score. How will high test score help our students to become productive members of society? Its not safe to assume that because they're test scores are high they will become productive.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up many good questions that I strongly think the government should think about as well. I totally agree with you that schools should not have to worry about how well the students are doing on their test scores. I am well aware that these tests are important, however, I believe that if we are teaching the students in a correct manner we wouldn't have to throw the information at them and then make them memorize it. I think Obama has the right idea that better quality teachers would benefit the schools, but I would like to know what his definition of "better quality" is. I think this article and blog bring out several good points but there is definitely still more to think about on the governments part.
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