Tag: education reform

Changes to K-12 Education in the United States – Systemic

black and white blackboard business chalkboard

Following on the heels of suggested changes to the student and teacher elements of K-12 education in the US, this post will focus on the system itself. I’ll cover aspects of the system reaching down from the national set all the way to the individual classroom. With that said, the following are just a jumping off point for fixing the system. They’re not necessarily in any kind of order, but the first is the primary issue that needs to be fixed.

Qualified Leaders

The biggest issue, from what I’ve read and experienced, is fairly easy to identify yet never seems to be directly discussed. Why are the people in charge of education in the US actually there? Since the Carter administration separated the job of Secretary of Education from the areas of Health and Welfare, there have been 11 full time appointees and a handful of interim position holders. Of the list of people of officially held the title of Secretary of Education, you would think there would be a plethora of people with advanced degrees in education and classroom experience, especially at the K-12 level since most of our national endeavors come from this office. The actual number who have both qualifications is comical:

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August 28, 2020 1 Comment

Changes to K-12 Education in the United States – Teachers

girl watching through imac

The teacher training schools in Finland can be compared to university teaching hospitals for medical students. The teacher’s profession is highly respected in Finland. A teacher is an expert, comparable to an engineer, lawyer or a medical doctor.

In Finland, to be a K-12 teacher you have to earn a master’s degree specific to who/what you’re going to teach. In the U.S. you just need to have a college degree in whatever you studied and pass a low level certification test.

In Finland, 90% of applicants to the teaching programs at the university level are rejected. In the U.S. we keep lowering the bar farther and farther to the point that things like Teach for America are necessary.

In Finland, 20 of your credit hours to become a teacher are spent creating lesson plans and teaching under the direction of a guiding teacher. In the U.S. you might, maybe, if we can fit it in the schedule and the budget this year, potentially get some sort of minor amount of lip service towards professional development. Maybe.

In Finland, teachers are paid like they’re doing a job that’s critical to a well functioning society. In the US we have things like the teacher of the year in Oklahoma moving to Texas so he can afford to live.

In Finland, teachers are trained to identify and help students with needs if they can, but then hand them off to more specifically trained professionals for whatever learning or social struggle they’re facing. In the U.S., you better hope you’ve got funding for that, and most states still fund schools based on property taxes of surrounding neighborhoods.

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August 13, 2020 Add Comment

Changes to K-12 Education in the United States – Students

football player pass by over reaching the goal

Living in Texas, I can assure you the feature photo indicates the single greatest item in the decision making process for returning students to school in the midst of a horribly mismanaged pandemic. While that’s horrible, but expected, the real question is what can we do to make the educational experience in the US the best it can be?

I’ve taught at the K-12 level and been instructor for a few undergraduate courses. I have an M.Ed. and currently spend a significant portion of my week writing the literature review for my dissertation to complete my PhD in Learning, Design, and Technology. I’m also someone who barely scraped through high school with a 2.03 GPA and flunked out of college twice before finally finishing my B.S. after 14 years (1993-2007). I feel like I can bring a unique background to the subject while validating much of the research that we ignore in the American education system. I intend to do three posts on this, for now, focusing on students, teachers, and systemic issues in that order. With that said, here are some of my primary thoughts for improving the student experience.

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August 1, 2020 2 Comments