[quote=sydness] Until you actually do it and see what it's like, it's hard to explain. While you will get the occasional teacher that really shouldn't be teaching...a majority of them work extremely hard and it's really difficult for them to take all that time for each student and each problem with just one person.
I have been there and done that, with student populations that were not "easy". I have taught in an academic intervention program for4th graders who were identified as being "at risk" for future drug use and dropping out. I have taught pre-teens and teens at runaway shelters, where the "class" composition was constantly changing, so every student needed (and got) in-class differentiation. I have taught in Adult Basic Education and GED prep programs. I have taught in Family Literacy programs where parents were learning to read and do math along with their children. I have taught homeschool co-op classes where the students spanned a wide range of ages and ability levels. I know exactly what I am asking for. I've done it. It is hard. It is also possible, if you have people who know their stuff. There are highly knowledgeable, committed, competent teachers out there. That should be the professional standard, and unfortunately, it's not, and that's tragic, not just for the children who are being cheated out of a decent education, but for the good teachers who end up tarred with the same brush as their incompetent colleagues.
