Current Trends in Education

Seeing everything that is being accomplished from the standpoint of using technology in the classroom, I have definitely come to question the current goals of our educational system. I think about my day-to-day life as a teacher ~ what matters the most to the people for which I work. Everything in education has become a numbers game. We NEED to get our attendance numbers up so our enrollment is high enough to justify all of our positions. We NEED to meet a mandated AYP score on this specific test, else we want our school to shutdown.

Now I am not calling for a cessation of accountability. Even with the current system we have, I'm sure using innovative and new-age classroom techniques will increase student aptitude as it pertains to standardized testing. But even when officials from the school district come, they constantly wonder what I am doing in order to increase student scores on the state test in Algebra I (mind you, I teach sophomores through seniors). First, why is it that we have to push our kids to pass this specific test with formatting and questioning that is dry and repetitive from year to year? What does this prove? Second, why is it that most appear to believe that the only way we can get students to succeed on these exams is to drill and kill them on exam material, making sure they are familiar with the testing format? Doesn't that just become passing a test for the test's sake?

I understand the value and importance of backwards planning, knowing where your students need to be by the end of the year, how it will look like when they get there, and then and only then how you are going to get them there. What is our end goal though? It seems to me that the focus is on getting our kids to pass these tests. But what about creating life-long learners? Independent learners? Sure, some kids that run through the drill and kill style geared towards a test are able to pass that test. But where does that leave them?

Times have changed and so must the "traditional" classroom. With fluid information pertaining to every subject constantly available to every student in this nation, with millions of students around the world exploring the same exact topics covered in any Baltimore City school on any given day, why is it we are so stuck on our single school buildings (or one side of a school building lately) in our single subject hallways in our individual rooms, getting 20 or so kids to pass one paper test? And we wonder why children are disinterested in their education, or feel defeated or fed up when the same thing stops working. We always hear a cry to differentiate for our children, meeting their needs where they are, making them productive members of society; doing that for well over 100 students each day is impossible for one person to do singlehandedly. Why not use the community that surrounds us on the internet in order to make our classrooms more dynamic. Students will be more interested if they are put in charge of their own learning (gradual release of responsibility however; teachers will be there to help them get started if they struggle, monitor progress/understanding, tailor assignments to student needs, etc.). Show them how to access their own learning. Let them connect to people outside of their classroom. Equip both our classroms and teachers with the tools and training needed to allow our students to learn in today's world, using all of the technology that precedes us and can be used at our disposal.