Education - Billions of Dollars, Poor Results and No Outrage

In the late 1990's, former education Bill Bennett penned a book entitled The Death of Outrage. Even though this was a politically directed book, this title can be applied to many different situations especially public education.

Where is the outrage in public education? We hear about all the reasons why No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is bad and won't work, but the average American citizen is not hearing about the results or lack thereof that are happening each and every day throughout the elementary, middle schools, high schools and college classrooms.

Each year in conjunction with the Gallup organization, Phi Delta Kappa releases its poll of attitudes towards American public education. What is interesting to note is the yearly consistently high scores of A's or B's that respondents who are parents give their local schools. Yet, results from the Nation's Report card as well as another recently released study from American Institutes for Research show that these parents really don't know the "real story."

Here are some facts from a variety of sources that can be easily located using the Internet:

4 year bachelor's degree takes a minimum of 5.3 years to earn.

50% of college students take at least one remedial course

17 year olds have not gained one point in reading during the last 33 years.

Most soon to be college graduates lack the analytical ability to understand a credit card offer or compare the cost per ounce of food.

20% of college students could not estimate if they had enough gas to get to the a service station.

80% to 75% of surveyed adults believe that it somewhat likely to unlikely in securing a teacher with a 4 year college degree who is fully licensed or certified and knows the subject matter (the definition of highly qualified teacher under NCLB).

In 1998, less than 65% of 12th grade students understood the purpose of a tax table.

Between 1992 and 2005 national fourth grade reading score (NAEP)s went from 217 to 219 on a scale of 500.

Eighth grade scores in the same time frame went up 2 points from 260 to 262.

In 30 years, reading scores in grades 4th, 8th and 12th never exceeded 300 points on a scale of 500.(NAEP)

Urban school students still suffer from under-education despite increase of 50% in federal funding since 2000 where much of the federal dollars are directed.

A Thought: If we look at student performance from a simple analogy perspective, would you put your money in a bank that delivered less than a 5% return over the course of 33 years? Of course, not!

Every day we receive new information showing that despite the increase in funding from both states and federal governments (2004-05 school year is estimated at $536 billion for K-12 and another $373 billion for higher education), our spending is not achieving performance improvement when compared to nations that spend far less and achieve higher levels of student performance.

University Business Case Study Choices for Your Team

Every year Universities assign students in their Business School projects. Come up with a business, make a business plan, develop a marketing plan and submit it to the class. This makes sense for students and professors and is an excellent way to learn.

Unfortunately these students will use deception to seek information for their project by pretending to be interested parties of goods or services of real companies in order to gain this information, without revealing they are actually students doing a research project. Although this goes on in the real world of competitive intelligence gathering it teaches the students bad and unethical traits, which they will use later in the real business world.

With corporate corruption at issue in the United States at least with regards to media and regulators, why are we allowing students to lie or looking the other way when we know they are doing this? So much for ethics; apparently the dishonesty is being taught in the liberal land of academics, the same schools, which pretend to teach ethics, foster unethical-ness. This should not be too surprising to anyone, yet it is indeed in need of being pointed out, thus this article.

Often a student will pretend to be a buyer of services or products to gain information while using their @university.edu email address. Most smart business people know that these are bogus inquiries. When they come into our company we usually reply something like this:

"I see you are a student, graduate, administrator or professor at the University is this correct? If so, how long would it be before you choose to enter the industry? Or are you considering do a research project for school? If so what information do you need."

If they are an actual buyer then usually they will correct us and say; "No, I am seriously interested." Yet they often do this because they do not want to be caught in a lie, fabrication of truth or complete falsehood. So, we indicate, call us when you graduate. Then someone else on their "Business Class Team" will email us, always from the same area about a day or a day and a half later, this time more honest. We feel this is good as we are teaching them to be truthful while the Universities deal in lies allowing for dishonesty.

Recently such an email came through and it was; awakefield@university.edu instead of matching the actual name of the submitted inquiry. This the name of the inquiry is probably incorrect and completely fabricated; a lie or AKA. Rather than get upset for these students wasting our time. We replied to this fake inquiry;

"Dear Sir, Your email address does not match your name. Why is this? "A Wakefield" could be a family name, thus there could be misdirection here for some purpose, which would be a tactical error, as you are asking for free information from us. Integrity is the best policy for our correspondence."

Further we asked them questions to make them work for their project, as our company is not interested in getting an "A" in their class as we are in the real world not the BS fantasy world with unethical students and professors who have never had to make a payroll in their lives for the most part; having never been in business. What about the students being used to collect information for a professor wanting to gather data to start his own company, you know this goes on too. Either way these students are going to have to work for it. So we sent these questions back to the students;

"What part of the car wash industry do you see yourself in or what part of the car wash industry are you doing a college project on? Full service car wash, flex serve, robotic, mobile or truck washing? All would be good in your current location or market. Do you see yourself leaving this area after graduation or in the future? Each region in the United States is slightly different and those differences have large effects on how one might strategize to maximize profits?"

Indeed this seems to work as we have not heard back a reply nor do we expect one. We believe this to be because not only are the students unethical and wish to take short cuts in their research and cheat, but that they are also completely lacking worth ethic and are basically lazy. I challenge the next up and coming university students to get off your asses and do your own work, learn all there is to learn and practice some of those ethics that your liberal skewed world in college so gallantly proclaims. Because I think it is appalling the lack of personal character these days in our Universities from the highly paid Professors to the students.

Preparing for Emergency Situations at School

We know emergency situations can (and will at some point) happen in your class. It may be minor, such as a student becoming sick in your room, or even a practice event like a fire drill or tornado drill. Hopefully you won't encounter a real life-threatening emergency. But you should always be prepared for such instances.

Fire drills are probably the most common situations you will encounter. The best way to handle these is to teach your students what to do in the event of a drill or an actual evacuation. Yes, you can teach this to your students. Fire drills are to be surprises only WHEN they occur, not a surprise in WHAT to do. It is good practice for your students to know exactly what the procedure to follow is. The most important part is to be sure YOU fully understand the school's fire drill procedure and you can confidently teach it to your students.

Making sure all of your students are accounted for is your main responsibility. Thus, your attendance taking is very important. You want to make sure you have a means of carefully checking attendance when you and your students reach your destination. Have your grade book, attendance sheets, or a class roster easily accessible and always in the same location so you can grab it as you leave the room. I use the class roster file on my handheld because it's always with me.

Teach your students to exit the room carefully yet quickly. Instruct them in which direction to turn from your doorway, and what exit is to be used. Always have your kids line up and stay organized so you can take attendance easily.

And let them know why it's important to maintain composure and control, not playing or wandering around. If you are new to the building, your students will probably already know where to go! The trick will be getting them there quickly and maintaining order.

You'll want to let the students know how to react to different situations. They may find themselves in the hallway heading back from the library, in the rest room, or involved in a group activity in a far corner of your classroom.

Obviously more urgent matters will constitute true emergencies, and it is very difficult to prepare for these. Hopefully your school has a comprehensive plan to cover bomb threats, intruders, inclement weather, and other emergencies. Take time to carefully read through and understand these procedures, so when an emergency does occur, you can confidently lead your students. The students will respond to you when you give direct, confident directions.

Education

The System of Education

Education has been on-going from the beginning of civilization on the face of this earth. In the beginning, it was acquired by experienceand mutual understanding, sharing, and trial and error. Subsequently it has developed into many forms and systems that now prevail across the globe.

In the old days, it was a case of mucking up books, books, and more books. It hasn't changed much since then, The books are still around, although in different forms of publication and accessibility with the advent of technology, the digital era and the internet. However, the mucking up phenomenon hasn't still gone away for good.

Students still need to cram and answer question papers for lengthy hours using long and explicit paragraphs of text. This is absolutely boring and useless. It only cultivates the ability to memorize and remember so that one can actually answer a set of questions which are also somewhat pre-defined based on previous examinations across time. I believe it has very little value for money.

Of course, everyone wants a piece of paper in his briefcase to supplement his resume in order to prove that he or she is capable.

I think we should change, completely, the way we teach and assess our generations.

Let there be a curriculum and syllabus established for each discipline.

Let there be prescribed texts, comprising of books, websites and other means for students to access and learn.

Let them be tested using only multiple choice questions and answers.

And most of all,

Let the student be able to utilize, fully, the books, the internet, the PC, and any other available educational material that is available to him or her during the examination.

At the end of the day, when the student passes out with his Bachelors or Masters he surely will have access to whatever he pleases in order to execute his/her tasks.

Education: Learning Must Extend Beyond Knowledge For Sustainable Performance Improvement

If you are an educator whether in the K-16 schools or corporate training, can you answer the following three questions:

Who is Krathwohl?

Who is Dave?

And why is that important to me as a teacher or a trainer?

Krathwohl is an educational researcher who worked with Bloom and developed the Affective Taxonomy published in 1964. (NOTE: Bloom and his colleagues indentified the 3 learning domains of affective, cognitive and psychomotor and spent considerable time constructing what is now known as the Bloom Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956) around the cognitive learning domain.)

The Affective taxonomy or classification in ascending order consisted of:

Receiving

Responding

Valuing

Organizing and Conceptulizing

Characterising by Value or Value Concept

Dave in 1975 suggested a taxonomy based upon Bloom's and others earlier works specific to the psychomotor domain. His efforts led to the following:

Imitation

Manipulation

Precision

Articulation

Naturalisation

The reason it is important is that the initial research by Bloom and his colleagues suggested that all three domains must work together in tandem to maximize the effectiveness of learning. When there is emphasis on only one domain, then sustainable learning will not happen.

Some additional questions to consider:

As an educator, teacher or trainer, do you agree that Bloom's work is important to learning?

Do you construct lesson plans or training sessions based upon all 6 categories within Bloom's educational objectives?

Are your lesson plans and instructional strategies reflective of all 3 domains or of just the cognitive domain?

Are you frustrated by the lack of academic progress or results your students or participants are making when compared to your daily efforts?

Are you building the desire or the affective learning domain?

Are your actions intentionally or unintentionally shutting down the affective or psycho motor domains?

After working with the performance of young people for the last 10 years and with adults for over 25 years, I can honestly state that no one wants to be a performance failure. What we as educators or trainers need to do is to ensure that we unite all 3 domains for true sustainable performance improvement.

Will Education Get You Where You Want To Go?

Does an education really buy you anything in the job market?

Most people have pretty firm opinions on this and believe

that degrees are vital to landing good jobs. But is this

true?

Let's look at the idea that "Yes, you must have a good

education to get a good job." That's one possibility. If

you're in education yourself you can make an excellent case

for needing degrees to get a job in education. That is

definitely what most people do. Most job requirements for

teachers, professors and administrators require anything

from a four year college degree to a doctorate in the field

in which you will teach or work. But do all jobs in

education require a degree? No.

When people are outstanding in their field, they are often

invited in as guest faculty, no matter what their

qualifications. Can you imagine learning about relativity

from Einstein? He had no advanced degrees. Or what about

learning business and computers from Bill Gates? He has no

degree and he is worth billions. The same is true of Steve

Jobs. No degree there, either, and he didn't do so badly.

According to

http://www.thisismychance.com/m_shockingfacts.htm, "at

least 108 members of The Forbes 400 Wealthiest Americans

never graduated from college. Their average net worth: $4.3

billion each!" Hmm. No degree? That's not what we were told

would lead to success. It seems pretty clear that a degree

is not required for wealth or success. In fact, this site

gives a very long list of successful and famous people who

have no degree at all. Their list includes such luminaries

as Walter Cronkite, Steven Spielberg, Ted Turner and John

Glenn. Debra Fields of Mrs. Fields Cookies and Rosie

O'Donnell are two of only three women listed, but there are

undoubtedly others.

A degree does not even guarantee an entry-level job in

your chosen field. Ask anyone in California or Colorado

with a master's in counseling or a massage therapy license.

Nothing can really guarantee wealth or success.

Entrepreneurs in many lines of business who do not have

formal education have been recruited to bring their

expertise and knowledge to related businesses, programs and

schools. Some people even "invent" their career due to

their ability to perceive the world in a unique way.

Getting a degree could be fun. You could learn things you

won't take the time to learn any other way. You may meet

people who will be influential in your career and make

friends with similar interests. But your degree does not

guarantee your success. It doesn't even guarantee a job in

your field. And that's okay. As they say, "Success is a

journey, not a destination."

Kids in School? Check Out the School Systems Before You Buy a New Home

If you're looking to buy a new home and you have school-aged children, the quality of the school systems in the towns or cities you're considering needs to be a major component of your decision making process. As you're looking for homes, be sure you research the schools, both public and private, in the region where you'll be living.

First, what sort of school would you like for your children? Does one of your kids want to seriously pursue athletics? Then a school with a strong team sports culture might be a perfect fit for that child. If your child is not an athlete, you may want a school system with more emphasis on health and individual physical development, with many options for non-athletes, and less emphasis on team sports.

Do you have a budding genius in the family? An honors program or advanced placement program is a plus. Do you have a special needs child, or one who needs just a bit of extra help? A school with a solid special ed program and lots of built-in support for every child would be a good fit. Is your child artistic? Pay attention to a school's arts and music programs, and the variety of course offerings and extracurricular activities for students. Some schools offer the bare minimum, while others have a rich selection of activities for kids. Once you've defined your children's needs in terms of a school, you're ready to ask questions.

Your Realtor may very well have a lot of information on the schools in his or her area, and information from the real estate agency is a good start; but you need to go beyond that. State and local governments should offer basic information on the supervisory unions in the area; many of them supply information on the Internet. Once you've identified a contact person at the supervisory union, make appointment to meet and quiz him or her about each school in the district. The staff of the supervisory unions will often have a good sense of the atmosphere and learning culture in each school, and when asked specific questions, should be able to suggest a school compatible with your child's needs.

Once you've gotten an inkling of the schools you've like to explore, make arrangements to visit each school and meet with the principals. It's a good idea to prepare questions in advance; some suggestions are to ask about the academic programs, and in the case of high school, any vocational training or guidance available. Beyond that, consider the following: Does the school have a written policy on bullying and cliques? Is there a variety of extracurricular activities for different students, and active encouragement for all students to become involved in the school? Or is there a dominant football or basketball culture that leaves a lot of kids on the sidelines?

Safety and security are surely important issues; does the school deal with these issues by enforcing a strict disciplinary code, or by creating an atmosphere of acceptance and diversity?

Talk to members of the local PTA to find out how the school administrators and the school board deal with parent concerns. If you've got time before your move, subscribe to the local newspaper and follow local issues regarding school. And, if you can, connect with former and current students, and get their view of the school; kids' opinions are often very different from the official viewpoint, and need to be taken into account.

With kids in school, a big part of family life is going to be centered around issues of learning, extracurricular activities, and school culture. Doing some research on the school systems, and finding a house in a district where you have a positive impression of the schools your children are going to be attending, will increase the chances that living in your new community will be a positive experience.

Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips and Topics. She has published numerous articles in local and regional publications on a wide range of topics, including business, education, the arts, and local events. Her feature articles include an interview with independent documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and a feature on prisoners at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord.