Originally Posted by
the kins man
Honestly, the problem is home environment. I'm currently worknig on my masters in elementary education, and I have worked as an aid in both elementary and middle school settings. The students who do well, typically come from a two-parent household with both parents having a high level of education. What you are seeing so often now, is students who are a result of a drunken night, or a busted condom of some 19 year old girl, and her 25 year old loser "boyfriend." In a 6th grade class I worked in, 13 of 24 students were from single parent households, with that parent having to work, often leaving the child alone for hours on end. Because of this, there was no accountability on the part of the student, on whether or not they had completed their homework, studied for a test, etc.
Now, there is not really a way to fix that, but it is the root of the problem. People like to blame the educational system, principals, teachers, school board, etc when more often than not its because the parents don't care what the child does with their life. However, the emphasis of standardized testing needs to be diminished. No Child Left Behind is one of the greatest things, and one of the worst things to ever happen to education. I say that from the standpoint, of what this act wants to accomplish is noble, and what it should be, but how it tries to accomplish these goals is the wrong way.
That being said, the best way to educate children, is to stimulate them, emotionally and mentally (and occasionally, using some form of physical stimulation, for example, when reading the book Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, the 6th grade teacher took the class outside, and we started "bonfires" using flint and tinder.) An energitic teacher is more likely to suceed than a teacher who simply writes up on the board everything you need to know. The problem is, so few teachers want to put this type of effort into their teaching. (and thats where you find the divide between good teachers and bad ones, the good ones put the effort in, conducting lessons that a student would typically not expect a teacher to give, in a way that is unique.)
I know that this is wall of text, omg, qq more, but I prefer to saving my good "writing" for all the papers I have to write on the topic. (Keeping my fingers crossed on publication about a paper I wrote discussing homophobia in the classroom...)