We finished our lit circle today....finally. I was pleased that we were allowed more time because I think Kozol's book is really worth talking about. There is so much that he covers that is worthy of discussion that it is a shame this book is not a class text. I think this text should be used in teacher education programs, or maybe for new teachers in schools so that they have an opportunity to be more aware of what is happening in the public school system in America, and that they need to be informed of these things so that if it goes against their philosophy of education, they can speak out against it. I thought our lit circle presentation went well, and I think we got across to the class how emotional the text truly is.

There were several questions we came up with when we were formulating the presentation that we wanted to ask the class, but did not end up having time to discuss. I will ask and answer some of them here.

(Q): Should there be a different curriculum for students in poorer schools? How can curriculum be changed for teachers who have little/no experience without creating such a strict environment as some of these curriculums propose?

(A): We talked in class about how Kozol noted that just because children come from poorer neighborhoods or because they are minorities, does not mean that they can not learn just as elite white children can. In fact, these students are very capable of learning the same material in the same ways as more privileged students. The only change I see necessary would be towards the level of parental involvement and support. If the parents of the student do not have much education, then it would be helpful for them to have some assistance from the school so they could help their students with homework and studying. For instance, homework should be structured in such a way that it is simple for the parents to figure out exactly what methods the teacher is using, etc. Or, teachers should offer parents a guide or outline of what is being taught in class so that they may help their students at home.

Teachers with little/no experience do not have to have a militant classroom in order to maintain order in the classroom. When a curriculum such as SFA that proposes a very strict classroom environment is used in a school, I think it would be important for educators to remember that if they are positive and happy and project this to their students, then their students will feel less threatened in the classroom. While SFA does not leave much room for creative assignments or things of any fun nature, teachers can still be encouraging and reward students for their accomplishments. It is very important to remember not to forget about low-achieving students or reprimand them. It seems these students need the most encouragement, especially in a situation where an SFA-esque curriculum is being used.

(Q): Is there a better, fairer way to evaluate student progress than by using standardized tests? Can teachers be trusted to be objective enough to truly evaluate their students without the use of standardized tests?

(A): It is hard to come up with a better method of student evaluation that is as consistent as standardized testing. Unfortunately, we know that these tests do not measure many important aspects of learning. It is very easy to teach to the test and have students forget the information immediately after they pass. It seems that while it is not ideal to have this kind of system, some form of testing is, in fact, necessary. However, it would be beneficial to students to be tested in other ways so that their multiple intelligences are taken into account. Personally, I think that we should be less concerned with meeting standards, and more concerned with individual student progress. An average test score is just that: average. It does not consider the highest or the lowest students in the school, but only what all the students look like together. I believe state standards are necessary so that teachers have guidelines and students have requirements so that when they finish school they finish at a similar level, though I also believe that more time should be spent focusing on whether or not students are truly understanding and retaining material, or if they are only learning to regurgitate and forget. Teachers are the best judge of this because they see whether or not students are grasping material in the classroom and on homework assignments.

Without some kind of standards one could not possibly expect teachers to be able to be so objective that they would judge each child the same way. Teachers will form different relationships with every child so it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for them to judge each one equally. Therefore, for evaluation purposes when it was desired to compare students on a larger and more formal scale, it would be necesary to have some outsider judge their progress.