For years the answer was to lower
the requirements because all that mattered was that the students can pass the
tests in order to graduate. The bar, instead of being raised, has been lowered.
Dramatically. And it continues to decline.
For the past few years teachers and principals
have been graded on their proficiency and results they have with the students.
If they don’t do well they can be fired, or the school would be deemed failing
and risk closure. I can’t possibly understand what this would gain. My question
is: why is all the pressure being put on the faculty?
Doesn’t anyone in charge understand
that once the child leaves the school at the end of the day the responsibility
for the child’s learning falls to the parents or to older siblings (if there
are any)?
This
part of the equation has in essence been ignored.
Teachers can try every possible way
of teaching the students, as imaginary as it can be, to get the message across.
But if there is little or no back-up at home, the lessons have difficulty in
sinking in.
Here are a few possibilities why
students have trouble away from the school:
Due to the economic conditions of
the times, some parents work two or three jobs to try to keep the family financially
viable, but this takes most if not all the time from monitoring the child’s
education.
Since, as I stated before, the bar
had been much lowered to allow students to graduate, many parents don’t really
have the level of knowledge to help their own children’s schooling.
There could be peer pressure keeping
the children out beyond when they should so there is less time to get the
homework done.
With all the technology, there is
the question why they should learn when the information is already in their
computers. Or, they can be so wrapped in their smartphones or iPads or other
devices that they detract from their learning.
The child can be in a broken home
and the environment can make the child depressed, detracting him from his
studies and everything else.
Materials including books can be
difficult to get or badly out of date. In some areas of the country, officials
are foolish enough to change history and science texts as they like, either
because they are deniers (e.g. climate change, evolution) or due to religious
beliefs.
There can also be any number of other
reasons that keep students from continuing their education at home.
What should be done is survey the
situation after school. Is it something at home or outside? This could find the
problems and they can be addressed and hopefully to respond to them so the
children can learn. It is wrong to say that the teachers and principals are the
sole reason the children aren’t learning. The children must also be open to
getting up to date and correct information from every source available.
In reality, the problem can be
anywhere or in more than one place. It could be in the school or out. To
improve the child’s chances of success, all possibilities must be investigated
and addressed.
Children can be very resilient and resourceful. It is up
to everyone to give them every chance possible to allow them to reach their
potential and improve this world despite all the various deniers in the
sciences.
