Below are some comments on Show-And-Tell Time: He's promised to bring change to Washington, but does Obama's calculus include D.C.'s awful schools? Written By Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert | NEWSWEEK Published Nov 22, 2008 From the magazine issue dated Dec 1, 2008
Original article please visit: http://www.newsweek.com/id/170362

These comments are intended to figure out whether school education either school teacher in USA are still facing problematic that required proper solution delivered by Obama's cabinet. That so, we can learn similar case within Indonesian School Education environment.

Posted By: thinker09 @ 01/11/2009 7:47:50 PM
Professions demand proof of knowledge; teaching does not. Once a teacher gets past "registration" teh tenure system is applied.
As a pre-service teacher educator, I'll tell you that even with all the "research" that goes on in education, the real trick is helping children become self-directed learners and moving "authoritive, controlling and power-seeking" teachers to the sidelines. Most researchers rivet on teachers because there is a the notion that a child cannot teach him/herself. I've seen 4 year olds teach themselves to read and to perform multi-digit division. I've seen children, working in the right conditions teach themselves an entire year's curriculum in 10 weeks; however the well-prepared adult on hand only guided interactions and showed students how to interpret natural feedback. This adult didn't relay on power, authority or control. The educator aided the child to teach him or herself. Schooling systems and processes have over-complicated the most innate homo sapien sapien traits - to observe, to symbolize, to abstract the event or findings and to apply them later--to learn.
Most children are natural learners and need little else than an intellectually-emotionally supportive and trusted environment. When adults start treating children like "knowledge entrepreneurs" (entrepreneur as defined by Robert W. MacDonald, the children can and will build their own human capital/capabilities. When textbooks and "cutsey, child-fun" websites and activities are replaced by authentic/practical items and ideas and fact-checked information, then children will learn what needs to be learned. Anyone who deals with an lower SES urban children knows they have figured out really fast how to survival and succeed in their "real" life.
Teachers need to discover in "pre-service" training to recognize the natural and powerful abilities to learn and not a list of pedagogical strategies, techniques, 'programs' and schooling processes. Watching children learn, watching an 18 month-old figure out how to climb stairs) is more useful to any adult assisting children to learn than sitting through 280 hours of lecture, "learning activities" and reading 'theory'. Get out of a child's way, set up a responsive support system and learning will occur.*

Posted By: munie200212533 @ 12/18/2008 10:10:22 PM Teaching is not a profession because teachers are members of a union. To be considered as a member of a profession, its members must hold paramount the interest of the public. Learned professions such as medicine, law, dentistry and engineering practice before the public and are accountable to the public for their performance --- and are subjected to professional discipline and removal from practice if they are incompetent.. Teachers unions protect their members regardless of their competence. Accountablity for performance is the main problem in our public school system.*


Posted By: munie200212533 @ 12/18/2008 9:57:23 PM
Teach*

Posted By: Academic Crusin @ 11/27/2008 2:36:26 AM
Hire,Train,Support and motivate ! Tone,vision,organization and team spirit. Coach and guide to develop higher level thinking skills and it's not about teaching to a test.School climate and listen to the ones that see it differently for objectivity and problem solving solutions.*

Posted By: seriousabouteducation @ 11/25/2008 6:32:55 PM
The fundamental question in this article is: what do teachers need to do a good job? No one is better equipped than Linda Darling-Hammond to provide national leadership on addressing this question and making serious change in our schools. Dr. Darling-Hammond knows that real accountability that promotes good teaching has to be based on high quality assessments of both students and teachers. She has developed these assessments and has studied them. Accountability has to have ???stakes??? and interventions that school staff will respond to. And Dr. Darling-Hammond knows that even the best accountability system cannot work if teachers are not first provided with the real skills and opportunities to plan and improve that good teaching requires. She knows how to build a system that not only can terminate those who are not qualified, but that can make sure that the vast majority of teachers are as prepared and qualified as our students deserve. I was saddened by some of the inaccurate representations in this article, and am very pleased that Linda Darling-Hammond has a significant role in planning the national direction for our schools.*

Posted By: seriousabouteducation @ 11/25/2008 6:02:28 PM
The fund*

Posted By: bdhotwheel @ 11/25/2008 2:04:13 PM
Obama will probably get some liberal fat cat to donate some money to fix up the school that his daughters will be going to and liberal sheep will say hooray! But what about the other schools in the area? I bet he leaves them out to dry like a typical polititian!*

Posted By: Gerrit Jones-Rooy @ 11/25/2008 12:36:33 PM ademeyer- It is true that teachers have difficult times because kids from uneducated families enter the school system far behind their peers. This does not mean however that they are a lost cause.
My classroom of 2nd graders started out on the kindergarten level in reading and left on the 3rd grade level. THE BIGGEST VARIABLE IN A CLASSROOM IS THE TEACHER. The simple fact is that some of the teachers in low income schools are miserable, and the data ins our DC schools reflects that. In order to produce real change and show real growth, new teachers are necessary and bad ones need to be shown the door. Michelle Rea's proposal to allows teachers to opt into a potential $130 dollars a year while removing the right of tenure could promote an influx of new teachers and the new ideas that come with them, while at the same time giving DC the much needed authority to fire those who cannot perform.
I know first hand that all kids CAN BE EDUCATED regardless of the family that they come from, and the idea that they are a lost cause because of who gave birth to them is simply finding a scapegoat for a problem that we have yet to find the guts to solve. We need to give Michelle Rea a chance, and I hope that our future President supports that.*

Posted By: Gerrit Jones-Rooy @ 11/25/2008 12:35:59 PM
ademeyer- It is true that teachers have difficult times because kids from uneducated families enter the school system far behind their peers. This does not mean however that they are a lost cause.
My classroom of 2nd graders started out on the kindergarten level in reading and left on the 3rd grade level. THE BIGGEST VARIABLE IN A CLASSROOM IS THE TEACHER. The simple fact is that some of the teachers in low income schools are miserable, and the data ins our DC schools reflects that. In order to produce real change and show real growth, new teachers are necessary and bad ones need to be shown the door. Michelle Rea's proposal to allows teachers to opt into a potential $130 dollars a year while removing the right of tenure could promote an influx of new teachers and the new ideas that come with them, while at the same time giving DC the much needed authority to fire those who cannot perform.
I know first hand that all kids CAN BE EDUCATED regardless of the family that they come from, and the idea that they are a lost cause because of who gave birth to them is simply finding a scapegoat for a problem that we have yet to find the guts to solve. We need to give Michelle Rea a chance, and I hope that our future President supports that.

Posted By: ademeyer @ 11/25/2008 4:27:11 PM
Bless you for having the talent to be a good teacher. If you had been my mentor or professor, I might have gone into teaching after finishing my certification. I interned in a middle class school system here in Maine and I still found it depressing. I think the system as a whole is broken, but I don't think firing individual teachers is necessarily the solution. I read another story in Time about the conditions these inner city teachers work in, and I think something needs to be done first to improve these general working conditions Thanks for reply, by the way. You probably know more than I do.*

Posted By: ademeyer @ 11/25/2008 11:53:00 AM
Who is hiring these bad teachers? Its just as easy to say Principals should be held accountable for hiring incompetent employees. Besides, new teachers in our state have a probationary period before they are actually hired - principals should be able to decide during that period if the teacher is competent. I don't think the biggest problem is bad teachers, the biggest problem is the dysfunctional families that produce these kids.

Posted By: reinadelaz @ 11/25/2008 1:45:52 PM
The biggest problem is the failure of administrators, teachers and parents to stop pointing fingers and start teaching what needs to be taught! Also, throwing money at the problem hasn't worked for 40 years, and it won't work now!

Posted By: bdhotwheel @ 11/25/2008 2:14:43 PM
Most of the blame also goes to parents that dump their children on the educators instead of being the real role models for their children. A lot of people are having children that are not fit to be parents!*

Posted By: Treyboy @ 11/25/2008 11:44:16 AM
Just remember that the goal is to educate these children and help them to be globally competitive. The goal of education is NOT to have a jobs program for adults. If the parent(s) don't care and the teacher is not qualified, there is no amount of money that will help.*

Posted By: sieg6529 @ 11/25/2008 10:59:08 AM
Teacher's unions are not always bad. In some of the more rural states, they're the only thing keeping the teachers' salary above the poverty line. My old high school just now raised the minimum starting salary for a college-educated teacher to $30K, and only because of union pressure. Trying to categorize unions as always bad or always good is a very simplistic way to look at the situation. It may be abused some of the time, or even most of the time, but they are necessary in certain areas.

Posted By: bdhotwheel @ 11/25/2008 2:11:54 PM
They suck here in California. Their liberal agenda almost brought gay marriage into the curriculum in our public schools. The stupid union poured money into the No on Prop 8 fund when they had no business choosing sides! So unions are a big problem and that is why many teachers here choose private schools. They pay better and are not tied to the liberal agendas.

Posted By: octola @ 11/29/2008 3:23:13 PM
No teacher in his/her right mind would choose private school in CA. The pay is MUCH worse, and they are often tied to conservative agendas because many are religious schools. ps. They had just as much business choosing sides on gay marriage as you did.*

Posted By: modanofan @ 11/25/2008 10:49:18 AM
I am sick and tired of hearing our educators claim "it's for the children'" when what they really are saying is that "it's better for our political and financial positions." This is the same group of people that have seen to it that college costs have risen over 50% in the last few years. Teachers are as greedy as everyone else and they do it all in the name of the children. Unions serve well only when the product they presume to create is continually improved. Don't think we can say that about our education system as a whole.*

Posted By: informedbyteachers @ 11/25/2008 7:47:41 AM
No doubt much needs to be done to transform the Washington DC public schools. President-elect Obama???s selection of Linda Darling-Hammond to head his education transition team sends a strong signal that he is serious about reforming the teaching profession in the District and across the nation. Counter to the perception of some Washington insiders, Darling-Hammond is one of the nation???s most accomplished education researchers who actually has designed and implemented important reforms in teaching and learning. She has created several charter schools in California that serve as professional development sites for preparing teachers for high need schools. She has called for the closing down of poor schools of education and streamlining teacher certification while helping create more rigorous 21st century teacher tests. She has led efforts to improve No Child Left Behind and the current, old-school, standardized tests in order to better measure higher-order skills that our students will need to compete in the global economy. When she has critiqued NCLB it has been to suggest improving its assessments and fixing its accountability provisions, not abandoning the law or its focus on student data and outcomes. For over 20 years she has been in the forefront of crafting new ways to pay teachers for performance while creating school working conditions that give teachers the opportunity to teach effectively. President-elect Obama can do no better by selecting Dr. Darling-Hammond to lead the transformation of teaching, the profession that makes all others possible.*

Posted By: informedbyteachers @ 11/25/2008 7:34:20 AM
No doubt much needs to be done to transform the Washington DC public schools. President-elect Obama???s selection of Linda Darling-Hammond to head his education transition team sends a strong signal that he is serious about reforming the teaching profession ??? in the District and across the nation. Counter to the perception of some Washington insiders, Darling-Hammond is one of the nation???s most accomplished education researchers who actually has designed and implemented important reforms in teaching and learning. She has created charter schools in California that serve as professional development sites for preparing teachers for high need schools. She has called for the closing down of poor schools of education and streamlining teacher certification while helping create more rigorous 21st century teacher tests. She has led efforts to improve No Child Left Behind and the current, old-school, standardized tests in order to better measure higher-order skills that our students will need to compete in the global economy. When she has critiqued NCLB it has been to suggest improving its assessments and fixing its accountability provisions, not abandoning the law or its focus on student data and outcomes. For over 20 years she has been in the forefront of crafting new, relevant, and valid ways to pay teachers for performance while creating school working conditions that give teachers the opportunity to teach effectively. President-elect Obama can do no better by selecting Dr. Darling-Hammond to lead the transformation of teaching ??? the profession that makes all others possible.*

Posted By: Dr. Write @ 11/25/2008 6:59:40 AM
What is amazing to me, as someone with a doctorate in education, is that reform and accountability are now synonomous with standardized testing. Standardized, fill-in-the bubble testing is not a reform and does not equate with either teaching OR learning. If this were the case, it would be more in evidence in the private schools to which Pesident-elect Obama and other members of the ruling class send their children for a fine edcuation. Linda Darling-Hammond knows and understands this, which is why she is so scary to "reformers" like Michelle Rhee. Testing is easy; teaching, learning and real accountability for them are hard, time-consuming and expensive, just like private school education! Denise Stavis Levine, PhD*

Posted By: blondelogic @ 11/25/2008 12:02:35 AM
"He my child but he problem not my fault. Dey you fault - you da teacha, right?"
Hmmmm.

Posted By: 40YearR @ 11/25/2008 1:12:33 AM
You might have revealed more problems than you intended.+

Posted By: Academic Crusin @ 11/27/2008 3:57:47 AM
Call Ringling Brothers and send in the clowns ! That one made me laugh ! Every survival kit needs a sense of humor. "I'm not doing this homework and you can't make me !" "I'll be at your mama's house before the bus pulls over the curb !" You think to long,you may think wrong. Mom and the teacher standing on the porch and the teacher had his books. Butter bing,butter bang and what a surprise ! Uh oh,it's a rodeo !*

Posted By: tfteacher @ 11/24/2008 10:28:36 PM
Just stop. Stop blaming the teachers. It's not our fault. Hell, the measures we use to compare the U.S. to the rest of the world are screwed up! You realize that we compare ALL our students to only the TOP students in other countries, right? The comparison is not apt.

Please, universal healthcare, preschool, and parental commitment to the education of their children is the fix; not firing all the teachers!*

Posted By: mlisman2 @ 11/24/2008 8:40:12 PM
If conservatives could craft a position (without standardized testing-which accomplishes nothing) whereby the good teachers themselves cannot be arbitrarily cast aside, then they may find the teachers joining their numbers.
This is drivel, and the kind of "adults-first" mentality that keeps the worst schools from improving. The only people that care about teachers' tenure is teachers, and it has nothing to do with kids' success. What other profession has "tenure" and is immune from performance reviews?*

Posted By: fmikieo @ 11/24/2008 8:25:59 PM
People, have we already forgotten the good that unions have brought every working man and woman? Because of them, we have fair working conditions, reasonable job protections and even the opportunity to retire if we plan wisely. Study your history-without unions, we'd work 100 hour workweeks in deplorable conditions until we dropped dead at the ripe old age of 50. These were the existing conditions that necessitated the people to come together and form a more direct method of political representation.
Besides, the greatest determinant to a child's success in school has never been either the school or the teacher, but rather the socioeconomic background from which he or she finds themselves.
What the right doesn't understand concerning the issue of tenure is how easily any teacher, good or bad, can be dismissed for either not placating the most powerful of parents or by unfortunate politics. If conservatives could craft a position (without standardized testing-which accomplishes nothing) whereby the good teachers themselves cannot be arbitrarily cast aside, then they may find the teachers joining their numbers.o

Posted By: reinadelaz @ 11/25/2008 1:49:48 PM
Unions? We also have a failed auto industry. If the test has the right questions, what is wrong with teaching the test?*

Posted By: mlisman2 @ 11/24/2008 8:02:50 PM
As much as Obama might want to support Rhee's experiment, it would be highly imprudent for him to publicly and squarely speak out against the teacher tenure, as Rhee calls it, the "holy grain of teachers' unions." Moreover, his support would be moral at best, which would not go that far in fighting what as already become a national union issue; a few ill-advised words from the new president would do much more harm than good.*

Posted By: neoconx @ 11/24/2008 4:15:19 PM
the government hires 3 people to do the work of every 1 person in the private sector, and we're still more efficient , even with the government taking half our money. the only things that tear down our efficiency are the unions, because they are as lazy and corrupt as the government. the new president is beholden to larger government and unions. it's simple arithmetic: subtraction from the middle class bank accounts.*

Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 11/24/2008 1:34:56 PM
Obama can only do this if he takes on the powerful Teachers Unions. After all,why does Detriot[especially CHRYSLER],build such ''awful''cars,while the non-union manufacturers get props for manufacturing a decent ,cheaper,more gas efficient product? Obama,as he sends his kids off to a glitzy DC private school,will have to ponder this.,lest he become another in the long line of ''For Me,But Not For Thee'' types of characters.*

Posted By: Dan_Sample @ 11/23/2008 11:51:39 PM
What about making students accountable? Oh no, we can't have too many dropouts or schools will be punished by NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!! What about making families accountable for school attendance? The students of inner city schools have "NO HOPE" in the looks of their eyes. Offer them job and money for achievement. I have examined the resume and papers of Linda Darling-Hammond. She is exceptional.*

Posted By: Dan_Sample @ 11/23/2008 11:45:16 PM
What about making students accountable.?..oh oh be careful we cant increase dropouts!! What about making families accountable?....Kids today are more intrested in Entertainment than Achievement....I have examined the resume and papers of Linda Darling-Hammond. Exceptional!!*

Posted By: sarx478 @ 11/23/2008 9:44:11 PM
Let's clarify some issues, shall we?
First and foremost, I commend President and Mrs. Obama for taking the time to decide what school their daughters should attend while they reside at the White House. Caring parents do take the time to decide which school their children should attend, whether its public or private. Second, the educational system is regulated by the state not the federal government. The only obligations that the federal government has to the schools is provinding funds for the Title I and Special Education (IDEA) programs. Therefore, any school budget crisis is handled through the state and district level. Finally, I do understand Chancellor Rhee's position of trying to keep educators who are effective versus those who are not effective. Yet, we need to keep in mind that every state and school district has their own evaluation of the teaching profession. There isn't a universal teacher evaluation form. However, I do disagree in giving merit pay to educators based on students test scores. The reason being that there many students with different learning disabilities or health impairments, who receive instructions in the general education setting, may reach a plateau in their academic achievement and not meet the NCLB requirement for proficiency. Does the instructor deserve to be punish if the student with specific learning disabilites or health impairments doesn't meet NCLB requirements? If that's the case, why not punish the educational administrators who are paid the "big bucks" for their school or district for failing to meet the NCLB requirement. By the way, all educational administrators including Chancellor Rhee should walk through varies classrooms at least twice a week and speak to the instructors - especially around lunch time- to hear their concerns. They are in "trenches" day in and day out.
Chancellor Rhee's method of "Divide and Conquer" will eventually lead to her dismissal. I have seen it too many times with varies administrators whom I have worked for throughout my career. Its best to united your staff and community under a common goal. Division only causes more problems than provide solutions.
What we as Americans should focus is preparing our "future leaders of America" to compete on the world's stage. We are the most diverse nation in the world and yet we don't push for multiligualism and appreciation for multiculturalism. "UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL".o

Posted By: octola @ 11/29/2008 3:31:10 PM
If merit pay is instituted, teachers will fight for the highest students, and won't want to teach the average and low kids. The schools will be rewarded for pushing out the lower kids (sending them to the alternative school or letting them drop out )so they don't lower test scores. I received a bonus once as a 9th grade teacher. The money should have gone to the junior high teachers who taught the students for the 2 years before they came to me!+

Posted By: 40YearR @ 11/29/2008 6:14:49 PM
I'm all for merit pay. From the several I know who went into teaching because they knew they could never be fired, and two most conscientious administrators who worked up through classrooms, I think that weeding out the sloths would be more effective, and eliminate one of the legs of that failure system.
To all you good, conscientious ones, we're behind you and grateful.*

Posted By: Efav @ 11/23/2008 1:58:51 PM
The authors say, "If he backs Rhee's proposal, he will send a powerful signal to struggling inner-city schools that reform is possible. If he fudges or says nothing, it will be a signal that little will change for the poor and mostly black children in the capital's nearly dysfunctional apparatus."
It sounds like they've made up their minds that the Chancellor is right and anyone who disagrees is wrong and that Obama better get with the program if he wants to be successful.
Perhaps the authors are not familiar with how unpopular the Chancellor is becoming in DC for her heavy-handed ways that are not improving the situation and seem to be making it worse. Here are a few examples from recent Washington Post articles:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/11/rhee_more_principals_facing_th.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112103222.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112103225.html?tid=informbox

Perhaps the authors also don???t know that Obama???s success comes from being a community organizer, bringing disparate people together, inspiring hope, mutual responsibility and mutual accomplishment.
Chancellor Rhee seems to be the opposite ??? a community disorganizer, who operates independently and imperiously, alienating people at all levels and inspiring fear and distrust.
Here is a classic Rhee quote: ???I think if there is one thing I have learned over the last 15 months it???s that cooperation, collaboration and consensus-building are way overrated,??? she told the Aspen Institute???s education summit at the Mayflower Hotel. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/09/rhee_who_needs_consensus.html
The same article points out that she has called herself a ???benevolent dictator???
Does any of this sound like something Obama would encourage?*

Posted By: nikki_smith @ 11/22/2008 4:30:18 PM
Only about 12 percent of DC 8th grader can read proficiently, while just 8 percent are proficient in math. About 60 percent of DC students finish their high school diploma. Impressive numbers for the capital of the Free World, don't you think? It's no surprise the Obamas selected a private institute for their girls - most DC parents probably would. I just hope the new president doesn't overlook the public school crisis in his new town. http://www.whgmag.com/index.php/377-obamas-choose-private-school-no-surprise-thereo

Posted By: Doc Howl @ 11/23/2008 3:18:35 PM
I was unaware that Obama had been elected mayor of Washington DC.+

Posted By: Floridave @ 11/23/2008 4:36:03 PM
He couldn't cut it as mayor of DC. They prefer the higher quality candidates like Marion Barry.#