Waterbury Teachers May Have To Pay For Costs Of Cheating

The Connecticut Post reported that the State Department of Education may try to get a law passed to make teachers caught cheating to pay for the costs of investigating and correcting the problems caused by their cheating.

It surely seems like a good idea -- the costs to the State of cheating scandals is large. Investigators have to be paid, students will need to be retested, and well, apparently there's a lot of money at stake. If teachers and administrators were involved in actually changing student answers to fake passing the CMT, then they clearly have some personal responsibility for their actions.

And what these "educators" have done is just like stealing.

But, that being said, they aren't the only ones to blame these days. There are a lot of people out there that have claimed to educate students, but given them a sham. The State is to blame for setting such low and vague standards that they could be met merely by exposing students to a topic. Meeting the state standards should mean you've learned something.  All too often the standards are set so low that anything will count.

Then there are the Boards of Education that set graduation requirements so low that a high school diploma ceases to mean anything.  And the curriculum administrators that force teachers to use a new program because someone at a conference somewhere convinced them it would solve all of their problems, or purchased programs because they claimed to be "research-based" but never bothered to read or evaluate the quality of that research.

The textbook companies and myriad of education companies that create appealing, but vacuous, curriculum and materials, and reap the profits of our schools' failures. Yes, they are to blame too. 

Or the schools of education that have set the bar so low, and removed all elements of content from the required knowledge of newly minted teachers, that they are not prepared (by any measure) to take on a classroom and succeed.

And then there are the unions and the teachers themselves, that have watched passively as their profession lost credibility and respect, and spent too much time protecting the incompetent and not enough time worrying about what is best for students.

And, finally, parents need to be honest ourselves. We've trusted too much, and we've happily believed that we could just pop the little ones on the bus and all would be well.

So let's beat up on the dishonest teachers of Waterbury -- those that knowingly changed student answers should pay the costs of their actions. But the widespread problems of our failing education system will not be addressed until we take a critical and honest look at all levels of the education bureaucracy. There is plenty of blame to go around.

Students need to understand the Solution of a Problem -- We've heard this before

It's been well over 150 years since Massachusetts became the first state to demand compulsory education by law. The idea that every child must attend school was radical at the time, but now is broadly accepted around the world. While some things have changed -- such as the size of schools and number of administrators -- some things have remained persistent issues.

I have seen fully demonstrated the past year that the best educated are not always the best teachers, though it is often thought that a person who passes high in examination or holds a state certificate, is fully competent for any district school.

To be able to master books is not enough. One should possess either a trained or natural ability to impart in a manner comprehensible to the young mind.

If the pupil is not made to understand the solution of a problem but little is gained. I find a deficiency too often in this respect which intercepts the best results.

This was taken from the "Annual Report of School Visitors to the Town of Granby" dated  1903.

Whenever I get a little too immersed in the rhetoric of the "21st Century Skills" movement, at those times when it seems like every commentator and blogger and administrator is singing the same tune about the different needs of today and how today's child is so different from yesteryear's -- at those times, I like to go back and read about the concerns and issues of 1900 and reflect upon what hasn't changed.

Here's what hasn't changed: 1) It is very difficult to identify good teachers.  2) Retaining good teachers is difficult, 3) Students need to be able to solve problems, and 4) Students need to understand what they are doing and shouldn't just memorize answers.

These were the top issues in 1903. They are still the top issues today in 2011. It's good to remember that we still haven't solved the education problems of 1903, they are with us today.

In advance of tonight's premiere of The Finland Phenomenon, I've read Tony Wagner's book -- The Global Achievement Gap. Tony might be surprised that back in 1903, educators were worried about the need for better teachers and the focus on problem solving and understanding. Tony might also be very surprised by how many of his "reforms" were thought of by others long ago.

The Blame Game -- from the School Institution Point of View

The current issue of The Nation contains this: Teachers are not the Enemy.

I wanted very much to embrace the premise of this article. As a proud lefty, I am not interested in bashing unions for the fun of it. I was really hoping to find a spirited defense of teachers and unions that would point a way forward toward school improvement. For the past decade, the efforts to improve the schools came mostly from the right. The left has tended to defend the status quo, while requesting ever larger quantities of money. It has been disheartening to those of us that think we need to change the way we are doing things, but would like to believe that the teacher union should have a seat at the table and be a part of the process.

So I had high hopes for the article in the Nation. We need the left to engage in the debate on how to make the changes we need to make without dismantling the good with the bad. Unfortunately, I was once again disappointed.

You will not find an acknowledgment anywhere in the Nation's article that the current system sucks for a whole lot of kids and families, that for even our best and brightest (and best funded) schools are not keeping pace internationally with their peers, that those in our urban schools are dropping out in shockingly high numbers and those that graduate are woefully unprepared for college level work.

What will you find in the article? You will find a list of evils that teachers oppose -- vouchers, charter schools, merit pay, eliminating seniority preferences, using student achievement as a measure of teacher or school quality, closing schools that fail year after year, and changing any of the bargained for perks of many teacher contracts.

You will find strongly worded criticism of all reforms that have been proposed. But you won't find a single new idea on how to improve the results of our failing schools. You won't find an appeal to research on what has worked in particular states or countries that have dramatically improved the quality of their educational system.

You will find that the only solution being offered is the same one we've tried and tried for the past decade or more -- just give them more money for more counselors, more teachers, more professionals. The writers give us no reason to expect a different result this time around. At best, they use a couple anecdotes and no data to suggest we will see "marked student improvement."

At this point, anyone that wants more of anything (particularly tax dollars) had better be able to point to some hard data and solid research for their claims -- "trust us" just isn't good enough anymore.

LYNN: Michelle Rhee Wants Our Opinion

A week or two ago I signed up to get the latest news on outgoing DC Schools Chancellor, Michelle Rhee. She has started a new website/blog with the apparent goal of keeping a visible profile until she figures out what to do next with her life.

Today, I received an email from Michelle. Of course, I was honored.  So what does Michelle have to say to her followers? The theme of her emails seems to be -- let's share ideas. She says:

"Trust me, I'm no stranger to the challenges we face, and I know how hard real reform is going to be. But the reality is, too many children in America today are getting a really crappy education."

"Allowing the status quo to continue means condemning millions of children every year to substandard lives. That doesn't have to happen. Morally, economically, logically -- from every perspective -- it shouldn't be allowed to happen."

I've visited her website, and so far, I am not impressed. I really wanted to be impressed. Michelle showed a great deal of chutzpa as the DC head. Her wishy washy attitude on her website feels like a real step backwards, as if she has lost her nerve. Maybe it's an image consultant that is behind the site. Her fierce outrage at the system is gone. Her confidence seems to be shaken. What to make of this?

I'm thinking it may be time to mourn the passing of an outstanding education advocate. I can't say I would blame her. The system of education is so massively immovable, that she wouldn't be the first to give up in frustration.

Here is a link, where you can send your own suggestions to Michelle on how to reform the American education system. First thought on that subject? Dissolve all schools of education.

Michelle Rhee

LYNN: Welcome!

After creating this blog in February 2009, I left it to molder as I pondered what to do with the empty space in front of me. Well, the time has come to wake up and dust off the accumulated pixel grime. Much has taken place in the past year. The Race to the Top left Connecticut in the dustbin, for one thing. For another — I no longer have a single child in the public school system. Shocking, I know. Other than that, the world of education has continued without even a burp in the machinery.

Also, a new movie has been released getting a great deal of attention in all the education world. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?

Waiting for Superman. I haven’t seen the movie, but hope to this weekend along with a few of my friends (if I can drag them along). Which brings me to my final point.

My friend Rosemary has suggested that this blog, the Throwing Curves thing that I started so long ago, be turned into a joint venture. The basic idea is that she, Rosemary, and I, Lynn will blog in this space cooperatively and as a team.

Rosemary will be the voice of the political right on all things education. I will do my best to balance her out with the liberal left.

We are well-suited to this task as 1) I am indeed liberal, and 2) Rosemary is conservative, and 3) we have both spent a great deal of time thinking and talking about education.

The best part of it all is that we are more than civil in our discussions. This will be a place for an intelligent discussion of all things education and a place to seek and find common ground. To that end, we will moderate all comments and delete anything offensive or of the ranting/flaming variety. And we will be the final judges of that.