Our Children Deserve Instructional Methods That Work
School patrons in Coeur d’Alene are involved in a debate over what constitutes adequate education and what is the best means to achieve it. Similar debates occur throughout the country.
Indeed, the very nature of the classroom and the purpose of the schools is in question. Many people feel our schools’ job is to instill self-esteem with socialization being more important than education. We in Parents for Academic Excellence feel the emphasis should be reversed.
The primary purpose of school is to educate children. If schools do that properly, character development will be enhanced. We believe in the value of self-discipline, concentration, hard work and achievement supported by reward.
Several years ago, a number of us who were highly involved in our children’s education became increasingly concerned with the inadequacies of their learning. Recognizing the value of working together, we formed Parents for Academic Excellence. We support quality teaching in our schools, but in some cases that will require correcting mistaken courses which have been followed lately.
As an example, schools sometimes emphasize socialization by mixing children of different ages and grades in one classroom. We have nothing against this as long as the children leaving the classroom at a given grade level are educated at that grade level. Unfortunately, older students in these mixed-grade classrooms often repeat lower grade lessons. They miss out on their current grade curriculum and are ill-prepared for the next grade. The burden of teaching elementary school basics often passes to middle school teachers.
Also at issue is the predominant use of “cooperative learning” in which students teach students while teachers take a passive role as facilitators. Bright children are rarely challenged in such a setting. Distractions are constant due to grouping at tables.
One of the most disturbing outcomes of the cooperative learning approach is that students are often unable to work independently. In some instances teachers grade the group rather than the individual, regardless of each student’s contribution.
The near abandonment of phonics in favor of the “whole language” philosophy of teaching reading is another concern. Extensive research shows that teacher-led instruction of systematic phonics, supplemented by good literature, is necessary to produce skilled readers.
The difference is astounding. With whole language a child may memorize 1,500 words by the end of fourth grade by looking at a picture and guessing at words. With phonics children will know sounds for corresponding letters and will be able to skillfully read 24,000 words.
The current philosophy, which insists learning has to be fun to be effective, has led to avoiding the basics. Textbooks and teacher manuals for core subjects are frowned upon and lesson plans are not always required.
Instead of memorizing multiplication tables students work with cubes to understand the “concept” of multiplication. Some teachers are reluctant to correct spelling, grammar and math errors. They discourage competition, concentrating on attitudes and feelings rather than achievement. They use portfolios of students’ work with teacher comments rather than grades and report cards. All this is done to protect the students’ self-esteem.
The instructional philosophies so popular here in Coeur d’Alene now have failed in other parts of the country and are being replaced by a return to basics. Schools have not been able to replace the family; self-esteem without ability does not substitute for real learning, and there is nothing to replace hard work by either teachers or students.
Why are we convinced that current methods are unsuccessful? Standardized test scores from Coeur d’Alene public schools for the last two years show a dismal performance, well below the national average. In some schools scores fall below the 15th percentile. Math computation and spelling scores barely register at the seventh percentile. This means that 93 percent of American students can compute and spell better than these Coeur d’Alene children. This is unacceptable.
How is a student’s achievement measured with these methods? We believe the only reliable measure of the knowledge of a subject is objective testing, particularly when comparing to the rest of the nation.
Our members put time and effort as well as words behind our opinions. We are active on the school district’s various committees and in our children’s classrooms. We work within the system to provide changes that ensure all children are well educated, and with some success. As a direct result of our involvement, the district has adopted an elementary school report card which more accurately indicates competence in key skill areas. Students in elementary grades are tested at both the beginning and the end of the school year so we can see how much they have learned.
Curriculum guidelines have been established for each grade level. This provides accountability for students and teachers. Cross-age classes were reduced in number to allow parents a choice. A policy was adopted to ensure that new instructional programs are assessed more frequently and carefully.
Most evident is the adoption of a districtwide discipline policy with a no-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviors.
We have had overwhelmingly positive remarks from those teachers who have commented on our activities.
Parents who advocate a return to the basics are accused of wanting to turn back the clock. However, while many new ideas and methods offer benefits, we believe it is foolish to reject proven methods and traditional goals without proving that the new approach is better.
The test scores cited earlier show what we can expect from current teaching methods. We should not shrink from returning to proven methods when new methods have demonstrably failed. To provide a solid education for all our children, in cooperation with our professional educators, is the only goal of Parents for Academic Excellence.
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