It is so mind boggling that state and after state is comfortable with our kids knowing so little. And even more shocking that it is shocking to find that no one is talking about what actually correlates with student learning - teacher knowledge! They have studies which show that the more the teachers know the better students do. Isn't this a no brainer!!! Forget depressing, it just makes me angry!!!
Children Left Behind DeHe
It never ceases to amaze me either that people (parents included) seem fine with the fact that their children are not learning much!
I have seen the correlation first hand between teacher knowledge and student success (or lack there of, whichever may be the case). As I go through the school year, it is really easy to see which topics the students' previous teachers knew well and understood more than the grade level expectations and which were not really understood. It then takes quite a while to "un-teach" the mistakes that they were taught previously.
Every time I've changed schools, whether internationally or in the US, because I teach physics and there are so few true physics teachers out there (as opposed to chemistry teachers or math teachers teaching physics) it usually takes a couple of years before there is a noticeable difference in the students' understanding of physics.
Now, as a parent, it makes me angry too when DD's teachers don't know enough to keep up with her in some cases. I mean, she is still only 7!
I would love to see a copy of all of the states' standardized tests and compare them in level of difficulty and requirements year by year. I think that would tell a lot more about the state of education in each place than looking at just what the results on these tests actually are.
