The Road Ahead: Education Reform, part I

For the last three months, I've been reading about education reform.  And let me just say that plenty of ink has been spilled on this topic.  Thinking about education in the first place got me thinking about my own approach to teaching, and I wrote about that a few months back.  Today's posting isn't about me in the classroom, it's about classrooms and our kids.

President Obama's Race to the Top proposal interests me, not because I think it's brilliant, but because at this point in the game I'm intrigued by any serious proposal that aims to shake things up.  It's not that all American schools are in trouble; far from it.  Our problem is that the poor kids in at-risk schools are suffering.  We have a 75% high school graduation rate in the United States, much of it due to the abysmal completion rate in our poorest schools.  In a nation like ours, with an unacknowledged but powerful class system shaping so many of our children's lives,  a good education can still create better life opportunities.  Our most needy children are most in need of a real education if they are to have any chance of getting ahead.

I write from my perspective as a teacher, not a teacher in a large system or government-run school, but rather a teacher at an independent school, one with the ability to be innovative and with the luxury of well-cared for children.  My job can be demanding, but I would be the first to acknowledge that my challenge is not the same as the challenge present in places like Camden, Newark, Los Angeles or Washington D.C.  But it is those children to whom we owe a real commitment.  And frankly, we need to spend some money to give them what they deserve.

I'm not convinced that teacher salaries are where we need to spend the money, by the way. Teachers should be well-compensated, of course, and by and large the last 40 years have seen to it that teacher's salaries and benefits place them squarely in the middle class.  For example, the average public school teacher in New Jersey makes $65,000 a year, plus benefits and a pension plan.  Those folks may not be living the dream, but they are doing okay.

But we must spend money on some very important things.  Today, I'll outline a couple of the ideas on my list.  Later on this week, I'll finish up.

Nutrition and social services for children.  Hungry children from unstable family environments cannot learn.  What these children require is food, health services, stability, and security in the company of adults who care. Schools can provide breakfast and lunch, but that's just the beginning.  Schools need to open early and close late, providing after school enrichment, activities, and fun, and most of all the stability that children crave and deserve.  It will take more caring staff to make this happen.

Smaller classes.  The very best teachers I know are people who have a complete handle on their classrooms and their students.  They know how to challenge a child and move them forward; they teach with a focus on learning autonomy but with the sure knowledge that children benefit from guidance.  A teacher can do this most effectively with 15 - 18 students in her care.  Classrooms at that size allow for plenty of quality work to be assigned (and assessed to measure progress); they allow a teacher to develop assignments and activities that target the child's learning needs.  They ensure that a child has a meaningful relationship with his classroom teacher, a teacher who is neither over-worked nor under-valued.  The average class size in American schools today ranges from 22 to 30.  That's not good enough.

Don't scrimp on the "extras."  There is a growing amount of scholarship that demonstrates what good teachers already know: Learning across diverse disciplines is connected.  Children with regular gym class have better math scores.  Children who receive regular art instruction are better thinkers and writers.  Children in regular music classes learn to be adept problem-solvers.  Math and reading are essential, of course, but these skills don't develop without a full serving of learning in fields as diverse as science, history, foreign language, and so much more.  This learning must be in the hands of professionals who are committed to their subjects.  Among other things, that means that students are working with many caring adults who are teaching subjects they love.  It's a recipe for lifelong learning.

Subject Training.  My exposure to schools of education has convinced me that pedagogy is not nearly as useful as content.  There is simply no substitute for content and more is always better.  'Nuf said.

These ideas are a start, but they aren't the whole story.  Later this week, I'll outline the rest of my reform agenda.