Monday Moanin Thoughts #46 5 Questions, Do You Have Answers?

Welcome to the first Monday Moanin of November. During this election season , education policy has been discussed by candidates at all levels of government. For today’s blog , I am posing 5 questions about education. Consider using them at staff meetings, PTSA gatherings, and among colleagues. They will provide a fine opportunity for discussion and reflection.

1. If teaching is an important profession, why is the trend across the country to reduce both their pay and benefits?
2. Is education reform preparing today’s learner for the 21st century?  20th? 19th?
3. Why is the reform movement focusing on test scores, instead of looking at the elephant in the room, poverty?
4. Why do we look at data by comparing last years students scores to this years students scores?
5. Are school district’s focusing too much on college readiness? What is college readiness?

Quote of the week:

” Our most effective teachers show that great teaching is leadership…In every highly effective classroom, we find a teacher who, like any great leader, rallies team members (in this case, students and their families) around an ambitious vision of success. We find a teacher who plans purposefully and executes effectively to make sure students reach that vision, even as that teacher also continues to learn and improve. Farr