Comments? Your experiences? Compliments?
Here's your chance to post a comment on your experiences with schools in Illinois, or to report on a promising development, or just to tell what you've found useful on the Illinois Loop website!
We welcome open discussion! As a result, please note that we do not necessarily endorse or agree with opinions or recommendations expressed here. We reserve the right to edit or delete entries with offensive language or unrelated topics.
| Name: | E |
| Town or district: | District 205 |
| Comments: | Hello Everyone...
I am a teacher in district 205, and it is interesting how people think they know so much about a teacher's life when they know so very little. First of all, you complain that we make 87,000 for 10 months of work. However, I would have to ask you; how many of you have to work nights and weekends throughout the school year to plan lessons and carefully grade papers, giving thoughtful comments to each student so that you can help them improve? Also, how many of you can say that you are so emotionally invested in your job that you begin to care so much about kids that you think about them night and day? Oh, and don't forget the lovely parents that we must deal with. Many parents are very kind and want to help, and I welcome that, but what you don't know is that many other parents give us grief because they think WE lost their child's homework or we are not being fair. Interesting that most of these parents do not have a degree in education. Finally, I'll leave you with this tidbit. You think we drum students with the ISATS? Well, you can blame your government for that. Ever since NCLB was passed, teachers are being blamed for low test scores, so naturally they feel they must "teach to the test." Just this year, our district has adopted an elementary program that is written by the makers of the ISATS. Anyone who thinks a teacher is in favor of this is a fool and is just showing how very little he or she, and the rest of the public, know about teaching. I personally, make about 43,000. Do I think I am worth every penny for ten months of work? Yes. You know why? While our contract reflects that we must be in attendance from 7:50 AM until 3:20 PM on a daily basis, I generally arrive at about seven, work through my half-hour lunch and then leave at around four, only to bring home a folder full of papers to grade. |
| Name: | Seth Robey |
| Town or district: | Forest Park |
| Comments: | I am an educator at a medium paid district and although it is true that there are some teachers who are paid based on experience rather than performance, there are some things to keep in mind for those people who think that "merit pay" is a good idea:
-Considering that fifty percent of teachers leave the career within 5 years, a commitment to the profession and particularly a district does deserve some reward. -If a "free market" approach were taken, then lower income districts would pay even less than they already do. Who would want to teach in a school that has more problems and much less pay? -If salaries were based on performance (i.e. test scores) then how could a district with students from less educated and stable backgrounds compete with those whose students have stable, highly educated and wealthy households? -A test based pay system would force teachers to "teach to the test" even more than some already feel compelled to do. Any educator knows that this style of teaching is highly detrimental to the students. -If you give the principal the power to choose who gets paid the most, the highest paid teachers will not necessarily be the best but rather those who cow tow to the principal most. While this can happen in the private sector, an incompetent employee in a school district will not bring down the district's "bottom line" as it might in a business. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. |
| Name: | Al Bagdonas |
| Town or district: | summit hill district 161 Frankfort |
| Comments: | Hello,
My children attend summit hill school district 161 in frankfort illinois. Recently they took the ISAT tests. Prior to taking those tests, the students were herded into the cafetorium and subjected to a powerpoint presentation on how to perform on those tests. Additionally, the children were threatened with detention if it was discovered that they weren't making a concerted effort to perform on those tests. What the Hell is going on here? The ISAT's are used by the administration to blow up their skirts and show the community that they are doing their job. ISAT scores are such a poor indicator of performance that it is a joke. Meanwhile, the superintendant uses these bogus scores to inflate his already astronomical pay with the help of his handpicked majority on the school board. I wish I could get my children out of there. They are NOT preparing our children for high school. Thanks for letting me rant. I love your website and I tell everyone about it. Keep up the good work. |
| Name: | Mr. Thomas |
| Town or district: | New York City |
| Comments: | We have gone through a grueling time with incumbent school board members. The community is split right down the middle now, because the school board, administration, and others involved didn't tell the voters the whole truth about the full referendum amount, and how much it would ultimately impact the taxpayers...those opposed or who questioned were labeled as "not for the kids" and unsupportive of the schools...yet when we got our tax bills, it was hard not to see that the teacher's retirement fund was what we were all contributing to....the coup de gras was that the referendum was never needed, and the school district had over 5 million dollars in the black beyond their needs...not including many real estate sales that boosted that amount even more....we have no confidence in those who "run" the schools. They have repeatedly lied to us, shut us out of meetings, and will not provide any information freely...we have to go to the Freedom of Information Act to get any information...much of which comes back to us blacked out...most of the questions we ask are just simple straightforward questions that should not require an ACT to answer. Then they blame us for "costing" the district more money! Besides this, the district right next to us, Dist. 300 wants to implement a policy that anyone who "accuses, or implies a false hood" about a school board member will be prosecuted as a class A misdemeanor and fined $5000.00! So this makes questioning anyone on the board dicey, so no one will ever question or counter their actions because they will be too intimidated to do so.
Mr. Thomas http://www.voiceofusa.com |
| Name: | flcertifiedteacher |
| Town or district: | Naples, Florida - Collier County Public School District |
| Comments: | Thank you for your informative web site. I have linked to it
on my new parody blog re: a Florida school district where Dr. Dennis Thompson now holds the title of superintendent. The GRADEBOOK, the education blog of the St. Petersburg Times, recently featured my parody blog on their site here: http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/2008/04/something-to-la.html I know you will appreciate my work. And, again, I truly appreciate your site here. Thanks again. |
| Name: | Teacher |
| Town or district: | Chicago |
| Comments: | Are you kidding me? You are complaining about superintendents who make $300,000? When CEOs make something closer to $3,000,000. You have got to be kidding. Editor's reply: A superintendent's job doesn't remotely compare with the challenges of being CEO of a major corporation. Read Dave Ziffer's classic article, "Should a Superintendent Be Paid Like a CEO?" Ziffer writes, "Superintendents do not do anything even remotely akin to the primary function of a CEO. Superintendents do not operate in a competitive environment. They do not establish new markets for anything. They have no competition and so do not have to steal others' market share. They do not have to employ military strategy, or in fact any strategy at all, to win or hold market share. Actually, superintendents' 'markets' are pretty much handed to them on a platter by the state..." |
| Name: | totroto |
| Comments: | totoiot |
| Name: | Mary |
| Town or district: | Yorkville |
| Comments: | I would have to disagree with you on the bonus in Niles. People in both business and education get yearly salary increases. To say that they are getting 34% over 5 year as a BONUS does not take into account a normal raise for which all employees would be receiving. The state has limited the last 4 years to a 6% raise per year so if we asssume that a normal bonus might be, for example, 4% then I could agree that they are getting an 8% bonus. You have also chosen one of the best paying school districts in the state. You tend to often choose these school districts and that hurts alot of Illinois school districts where teachers salaries don't come close to these few high paying school districts. |
| Name: | Mary |
| Town or district: | Yorkville |
| Comments: | You need to update your info on large end of career bonuses. The state has put an end to it and you are decieving the public when you inform them that it is still being practiced. Editor's note: The practice has been trimmed somewhat, but generally is still alive and well. See the long article in this same week's Pioneer Press newspapers. As an example, Niles D219 gave 20% raises in each of the last two years before retirement; now they give a still-huge 34% raise but spread over the last five years. |
| Name: | Eric Jensen |
| Town or district: | San Diego, CA |
| Comments: | Killion: The author's premise is stated on the back cover: "...Parents trust that the professionals who teach their children know something about the brain ... but most schools of education offer psychology, not neurology, courses ... [this book] fills this gap.” But this is not a science book as that premise suggests, rather, it is an idea book.
Jensen: Correct, it is an idea book. Teachers are smart enough to read ideas critically and sort them out for themselves. It never was presented as a science book—that’s a different profession. Killion’s problem is that he is reviewing the 1st edition, written in 1995. He would do well to read the revised edition, published in 2005. All of his comments are a moot issue. I read his critiques 10 years ago and every complaint has been addressed. SuperCamp has been independently evaluated and found to be profoundly successful. The longitudinal study was not ready at the book’s publication time. Benn, W. (2003) “New Evaluation Study of Quantum Learning's Impact on Achievement in Multiple Settings.” An independent assessment by William Benn and Associates, Laguna Hills, CA I am quite aware of a wide range of brain research that applies to education. I have made over 45 hands-on visits to real neuroscience laboratories across the United States. I have met with dozens of top-tier neuroscientists and read the journals constantly. Please read the rest of the story from the journal: Phi Delta Kappa at this website. They dedicated a whole journal to brain research. http://www.pdkintl.org/ |
| Name: | Martha |
| Town or district: | Evanston |
| Comments: | We here in Evanston are being Delphi'd every day. Our K-8 Board is the handmaiden of the Administration and does nothing but conduct "studies" that re-confirm the direction they are already taking and which give the illusion of soliciting public input. (While they pack the meetings and focus groups with those who already agree with them.) Those who publicly voice disagreement are treated as cranks who are unrepresentative of the larger community. |
| Name: | Eric Jensen |
| Comments: | Killion’s problem is that he is reviewing the 1st edition, written in 1995. He would do well to read the revised edition, published in 2005. All of his comments are a moot issue. I read his critiques 10 years ago and they are the same ones still posted here. In service to the users of this website, perhaps you should consider posting current information.
Much has changed in 10+ years. Killion quotes sources who have very different perspectives today. For example, a statement from Dr. Kurt Fischer of Harvard University is included, "You can't go from neuroscience to the classrooom, because we don't know enough neuroscience." This is an outdated quote from a very reputable person. Today, Dr. Fischer heads up Harvard's masters and doctoral program in brain-based education and says, "...the program's broadest mission is to create a new field of mind, brain, and education, with educators and researchers who expertly join biology, cognitive science, and education." Sounds like he is on board. To read more about current brain-based learning, please read my new article in Phi Delta Kappa (February 2008) at the following link: http://www.pdkintl.org/ |
| Name: | Dave Montgomery |
| Town or district: | Barrington |
| Comments: | I am admittedly one of those educators that have been excited by the prospect of using better understanding of the brain as a tool for teaching. The Jenson book was the first book I had found that actually tied research (sketchy as you may find it) to teaching. Your review of the book surprised and disappointed me. I did take much of what Jensen said on face value, as it does make sense and there were references. In your view about the omissions however, I believe you are wrong in many of your assertions. The book did cover everything you claim was left out, perhaps this time it was your dismissal of any value to the book that blinded you to what was written. The book may not be the holy grail it is billed as, but it is a text that will help teachers teach more effectively. It's too bad that the real information is not out there, because we could certainly benefit by knowing how the brain works. We are truly like electricians set to wire a house with no idea how electricity works. Of course, that's a bit unrealistic. We are wiring 25 houses at once.
Now that I've vented, where are the answers I seek??? Editor's note: The review on our website was based on the 1998 edition of the book, and we understand that there are some changes in later editions, including some changes that (we were told) were made in response to our comments. |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | INFORMED PARENTS ... are a real, mounting threat to the education establishment; so I fully understand why some activists/teachers must instinctly attack websites like this as negative, insult parents, and ridicule the facts. Their dribble is a worn out routine.
Again, thank you IllinoisLoop for a fine and helpful website. |
| Name: | Ms. Anne Thrope |
| Town or district: | Albuquerque, NM |
| Comments: | Are there massive deficiencies in the American educational system? Absolutely. Does an aggressively negative website such as this - launched by need and dissatisfaction but fueled by ignorance, half-truths, and often outright misinformation - do anything at all to effect beneficial change? Absolutely not.
This parent, teacher, American, and activist for change would prefer you not help. |
| Name: | Mary Abrams |
| Town or district: | Columbus, OH |
| Comments: | I am appalled. Have you taken a moment to read Marilyn Burns thoughts on learning Mathematics? Have you taught her methodologies? Likewise, read Comprehending Mathematics, by Arthur Hyde. You are a proponent of that quote "Yours is not to question why, just invert and multiply". Using algorithms without comprehending why they are necessary leads to children who don't know what they are doing...except a procedure. Before you get on your soap box and bash every method out there...do some reading and some authentic teaching that promotes learning and not the regurgitation of facts. |
| Name: | Patty |
| Town or district: | St. Louis, MO |
| Comments: | As a parent and an educator, I appreciate this site and other sites like it (such as NYChold, wheresthemath, and mathematicallycorrect). Parents need to become better informed consumers and need a place to communicate with other parents who share the same interests and concerns.
It's also time that the field of education acknowledge the scarcity of good quality research and demand better. Theory and opinion still rule, unfortunately, but that can be changed if professionals demand it. This could be a place for educators to begin to coordinate their efforts along those lines. Let's hear it for honest, open discussion, and continuous improvement of our educational system(s)! |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | Do we really want to return to the schools we had in the 50's? I say "yes," in general. You can't spin the fact that a high school diploma from 50 years ago is equivalent to a BA today. Test scores prove this to be true: by a simple internet search, you'll see how test scores have plummeted over the years. Back in the 50's, the public school curriculum was rigorous, knowledge-based, and had high expectations for its students. Plus the schools were Union free! (Be still my heart!)
Many other parents would disagree with me, and that's the whole point: we need universal vouchers. Parents (regardless of income) should be free to choose and direct their tax dollars to the school they like best for their child(ren). This way, all us parents on this forum who like this or don't like that, can truly have it their way by choosing freely from a variety of schools. Competition will give us a huge assortment of schools to choose: from traditional to progressive and some in between. It's fundamental common sense. Now, everyone's happy! Have a nice day. |
| Name: | rlm |
| Town or district: | batavia, Il |
| Comments: | Thank you so much for exposing the TRUTH about IL schools. We just sat with a 30 something principal that spewed her edubabble to defend choosing Scott Foresman Reading and Harcourt IL math for a parochial school over traditionalist publishers. Parents that don't want to know the truth should just keep saying what great schools we have while over 30% of all Batavia students fail the state minimum testing standards!!! |
| Name: | David Sharpe |
| Town or district: | Bournemouth U.K. |
| Comments: | Congratulations Illinois Loop and Wikipedia. I am a Physics teacher in the U.K. who has been at it for 31 years. My opinion is that our modern society has been achieved by people who have been, at least until recently, educated in the "old" ways. How can they have been so wrong? We teachers in the U.K. are now bombarded by terms such as Brain Based Learning, targets, learning styles, tracking, pupil centred (centered to you!) and so on. The arguments for so many initiatives always have a certain logic to them, but nobody can cite any real evidence. Useful research is swamped by mumbo jumbo that has been fashioned by twisting and exagerrating genuine research that may or may not have any real bearing on education. I don't blame you Americans for creating all this stuff - we don't have to follow you.
The king is in the altogether - thank you for confirming my sanity and, just as importantly, providing the evidence. |
| Name: | Alexa |
| Town or district: | South Dakota |
| Comments: | To whoever moderates this site - Please ask Barbara Shafer to rewrite her "nutshell" article on Multiple Intelligences. Or are you simply interested in inflammatory and misleading "journalism"?
Although at first it appears that Shafer has read Gardner's book, her conclusions demonstrate shallow assumptions. From where did her information come? If her point is really worth considering, she should present information that reflects critical thinking. |
| Name: | Alexa |
| Town or district: | South Dakota |
| Comments: | Several people have commented on how negative this site is. Is the point of this site to return education to the same way things were done in the 50s and 60s?
Teachers are doing their jobs because they want to help your children. Their jobs are emotionally exhausting and quite low paid compared to their reponsibility and training. By the way, please substantiate claims in the comments area. Don't spread unfounded speculation. |
| Name: | Shannon |
| Comments: | My child was recently held back, due to the belief of his teachers he could not do the next grade. I do not want him held back, I feel this will only cause greater harm to his mental well being. He CAN do the work. Do I have to allow them to hold him back |
| Name: | Clarissa |
| Town or district: | U-46 Elgin |
| Comments: | I just stumbled upon this website and started reading and I'm disappointed in the obvious biased and negative way much of the information I've read has been. My children were in Chicago Public Schools and their school was one of the first to adopt Everyday Math and I *LOVE*, *LOVE*, *LOVE* it. My kids are teaching me new ways to do math that is so much easier than the way I learned it. I think it's great. I plan to keep poking around the site and reading the information presented here and I hope I find more positive information and not so much negative. Thank you for having a site for parents and by parents. |
| Name: | Adam |
| Town or district: | Niles |
| Comments: | You're very negative on teachers. I would love to see people in other professions atttempt to handle the workload that teachers have. I know it's not the hardest profession on the planet, but salary doesn't reflect complexity of job either. I have a second job working in retail. Managers in that field make a lot more than some teachers, and those jobs are so much easier. Instead of focusing on the negative, why don't you look at the teachers that are doing their job well; the teachers that make a difference in the lives of there children (there are a few of us left). |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | Cheer up, Anne from Chicago Public Schools! We do support teachers. We pay taxes, remember? And as long as we pay those big salaries and benefits to educators, we should have the right to voice our opinions. The Loop is an invaluable resource -- not only in Illinois but nationwide. Don't try to censor a good thing!
Besides, if you are so distraught with all the negative comments on Illinois Loop, maybe you should visit the NEA website. I bet you'll find plenty of information there to make you smile. |
| Name: | Anne |
| Town or district: | Chicago Public Schools |
| Comments: | Have you ever thought about posting some ways to help and support teachers/schools? Negativity abounds on your site. This worries and saddens me... |
| Name: | Mefredrick |
| Town or district: | St. Charles, D303 |
| Comments: | PSAE test this past week - My daughter, a Junior, took the PSAE this past week with her class mates. Her comments, and those of her friends, indicate that the test scores will come in high in the area of Math, and low in Science. The kids all agreed,the math questions were equivalent to ones they would have had in Elementary school, simple arithmetic equations, even the last 10 questions which were supposed to be hard, were NOT very hard. The science questions were very strange, asking about things these honor students have not even learned in their Biology, Chemistry or Physics classes. Questions about Fire extinguishers, star creations, and other strange topics. What a waste! Why are we even bothering with these tests? |
| Name: | Bob Schmidt |
| Town or district: | Hanover Pk, Elburn & Normal |
| Comments: | re: "whatever didn't exist when we were born. -- Alan Kay "
In watching recent graduates enter the "technology" job market there seem to be disturbing trends. - Pushing the envelope in which computers are equated to pushing the envelope on stemcell research, human cloning, sex change with hormone replacement, etc. It isn't that any of these should be valued per se. It is pushing the envelope that should be valued. - Catching the newest fad is the expected behavior and value system to be adopted. Kids are taught that the old traditions should be rejected, just because they are old or traditions. For example, high paying jobs are in the legacy mainframe technologies. But counselors and advisors steer tech students into avoiding those subjects and those jobs. Administrators impose a curriculum on schools that is always on the bleeding edge and never where the jobs are. - Above all, kids are taught WHAT TO THINK, not HOW TO THINK. |
| Name: | Ivebeendelphid |
| Town or district: | LTHS 205 Homer Glen |
| Comments: | Unicom ARC can add a failed referendum to their resume....
$75,000 of taxpayer money down the drain thanks to Illinois Loop's efforts at informing the public. I can't thank you enough, now maybe we can work toward effecting real change and a positive compromise that benefits the entire district and one the community can support without the need to use the "delphi method". Thank you thank you thank you, Illinois Loop! |
| Name: | ivebeendelphid |
| Town or district: | LTHS 205 |
| Comments: | To Mr. Kiser,
I respect and applaud you for your efforts. Good luck to you! |
| Name: | Michael L. Kiser |
| Town or district: | Downers Grove, Illinois |
| Comments: | Wow, is illinoisloop.org ever accurate about school processes and strategies! I definitely experienced this while working in schools for over 30 years. As a former teacher (8 years) and assistant superintendent of a large district (24 years), I find school's resistance to systemic change to focus on children to be pathetic and embarassing. Advocates for public education are having more and more difficulty defending schools.
For many years since ending my school administration work, I have been providing legal representation for students, with a focus on getting services for those with disabilities. Every day I understand more about the enormous difficulty of truly changing schools so that they focus on kids. I find my work now to be meaningful because I am able to make lots of changes for individual kids. I applaud your insights and efforts. Mike |
| Name: | Karl Priest |
| Town or district: | West Virginia |
| Comments: | Thank you for your excellent site on Education Buzzwords! Wow, I have found so much that I can use! Also, it brought back a lot of memories. I am a retired teacher. I haven't read all of the section on "Multiple Intelligences", but in my case it was mandatroy training and it was based on New Age religion. I nowwork to persuade parents to abandon the public schools. |
| Name: | ivebeendelphid |
| Town or district: | Homer Glen |
| Comments: | Here's something else wrong with Illinois education. Two weeks ago during a board meeting, our local h.s. district BOE violated the Illinois School Code and two of its own Board Policies, and guess what, no one cares!
The ISBE and the Attorney General's offices both state that they don't have jurisdiction. The Illinois School Code mandates that Boards have written policies, but no one has jurisdiction over them to make sure they are followed, and no one cares if the boards themselves violate their own! The Regional Office of Education contact me and informed me that the district superintendent "readily admitted" that they "dropped the ball" with respect to violating the ISC. He said they will "issue a statement of apology". That's it?! I heard the penalty for violating the Open Meetings Act is a slap on the hand... What's the point of having a law, if no one has jurisdiction and no one cares if it's violated?! |
| Name: | Darrell |
| Town or district: | Plattsburgh, NY |
| Comments: | I've followed your web-site for a few years now and have been pleased with the work and information you've amassed. I have also noted that several teachers and education student have blasted for being anti-education, anti-school, anti-student, and biased. I am a teacher myself and disagree with their charges.
First of all, when one has a position in favor of a specific school of thought, one is biased in favor of that school of thought. The "progressive" nonsense and the whole array of "whole" programs are avidly supported by many, in spite of their failures; thus, those who advocate them are biased. You support what would be considered traditional or classical teaching, a bias I share, because it works. Secondly, when one reacts to your articles with "oh you big meanies" or "how you must hate kids" type of drivel, it reflects their insecurity with the sheer insipidty of what they're doing. Articles and research against time-wasting nonsense and fads is in my view very pro-education and pro-kids. Doing what doesn't works because it is more fun is in fact anti-kid and rather selfish for these teachers. Thirdly, the education students out there who resent the researchers and evidence you've presented had better take a second look before judging this site too harshly. The reality is that much of the progressive agenda has ruined our schools, to the point that we are internationally non-competitive. It has also coincided with students hating school, their teachers, learning, and hard-work more than ever. I give your web-site much credit but do caution you on one point-- many of your articles are no longer accessible, due to time constraints on the URLs. Please make sure that your articles are accessible, because you have so much to offer that it is essential for those who are interested to be able to access them! Good luck! Darrell McCroskey |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | Everyday Math encourages juvenile dependency and speaks for itself. Here, from 5th grade (10 year olds!) instruction:
If math were a color, it would be ... because? If math were weather, it would be ... because? If math were food, it would be ... because? That's "aggressive and challenging" math study? What are they smoking these days in our educational colleges? Everyday Math is mathematical malpractice! Only a modern educator could proudly defend such utter nonsense and then go on to belittle the facts as biased. The racket and rot in our government schools has been exposed, and more parents are finally catching on! My thanks to Illinois Loop for providing clarity. |
| Name: | Not Ready to Move |
| Town or district: | Homer Glen |
| Comments: | I don't think there is a law mandating websites for school districts. I searched by keyword the ISC, and it appears a website is optional. Are you certain you have been filtered? I would suggest if this is the case to expose the district immediately, via newspapers.
With regard to the teachers comment below, in the case of our districts, as a parent I support the majority of the teachers here and think by far most are fine educators, performing a difficult job in sometimes extreme circumstances. I think the Superintendent of our high school district is the root of our problem and I hold him and the BOE solely responsible for the plight in our community. Further, the administration and department chairs make the curriculum decisions for the teaching departments, so people should not necessarily place blame on the individual teacher for what is being taught. Administration can make it extremely difficult for the teachers to perform their job. In the case here, the district "didn't have the money" for a raise for the teachers during recent negotiations, but they managed to find money for the 5-7% increases for the upper administration. One admin person got a raise after less than one year in his position. The upper admin people think they have carte blanche and the school board seems to be wrapped around their fingers. The school board here have been in a baised rut for too long and it is time for a change. Good luck New Lenox! |
| Name: | Curious |
| Town or district: | New Lenox |
| Comments: | Does anyone know the law regarding keeping a school districts website available to everyone? Is it legal to block an individual through filtering or other methods from viewing a district website? What are the implications
if the person being blocked may be considering running for school board in that district? |
| Name: | Corrine Norton |
| Town or district: | Chicago IL |
| Comments: | As an educator, I was dismayed to read your politically slanted articles. By using phrases like 'child-centered' and 'educate the whole child', we are expressing a desire to educate EVERY child using MANY different methods. By no means does this mean any child is getting a less rigorous curriculum or 'fuzzy math' (a slang term in itself). Our Everyday math curriculum is one of the most aggressive and challenging programs I've encountered and our children must work hard to learn math inside-out. To trivialize instruction and insinuate that teachers are sacrificing strong educational goals for the sake of student confidence is grossly incorrect. |
| Name: | I haven't Moved Yet |
| Town or district: | Homer Glen |
| Comments: | You didn't include any details and I completely understand you are concerned with retaliation. Perhaps an associate can write a letter to the local paper, or start a "blog" - which can be anonymous by the way - that includes details and maybe names, it can certainly be vague and say "the person who is listed first on the ballot" etc. Anyone doing a "google" search will get hits on the blog, which could help spread information, to those persons who are not apathetic, and actually do research before they cast a vote. I would just make sure nothing your associates posts is false or rumors, as long as it is factual nothing can be said about it by the subjects involved.
If the facts involved are true, then your associate can name names, keep it business, nothing personal, etc., if it's about the issues, what can they do, right? I had no idea when I got involved in school issues a year ago that everything related to schools is so corrupt and political. It's sickening. Good Luck. |
| Name: | Anonymous |
| Town or district: | In Illinois |
| Comments: | Hello -- I work at a school that, under the previous administration, was basically a patronage entity; there was little concern for learning or students and more concern for getting friends of the administration jobs. Naturally, the Board was troubled by this and, when a new CEO was hired after the retirement of the previous one, all of the administrators either retired or left for other jobs. Shortly after the new CEO arrived, there was a major reorganization and many of the people who owed their positions to this patronage system were let go (with generous severance packages, although some are still angry).
A retired administrator angry that many of his friends were fired has now stated he will run for the Board with the express intent of "getting revenge" on the new administration and Board for letting his friends go. I don't know his chances of winning, but if his name is first on the ballot, he'll probably win and do everything he can to get his old friends re-hired and back on the payroll. Does anyone has experience or know how to deal with former employees who run for and get on Boards in an attempt to get revenge? The guy isn't the brightest, so I think the college and other Board members can run circles around him, but he might be able to cause a lot of trouble, in the end hurting our students and learning processes. Can someone please provide advice on how to deal with people like this? Thank you. |
| Name: | Ready to Move |
| Town or district: | LTHS 205 Homer Glen |
| Comments: | I googled UNICOM ARC in May and found your site. This site is fabulous. Whether or not people "agree" with the content, doesn't matter to me, the "Delphi" information changed my life, for the better.
Our entire high school district has been "Delphi'd" not once, but now twice, and now we face a totally sucky referendum in April 2007, that is likely to fail, because the administration are not concerned about what is best for the kids, only their own reputations and jobs, screw the taxpayers. And Blago should be impeached. The only reason he was re-elected is because of who he was running against. If I move, am I trading one set of problems for another? At least in Lincoln-Way my kid won't attend an overcrowded high school, because they will soon have four. |
| Name: | Nancy |
| Town or district: | Chicago |
| Comments: | We need to get rid of abusive principals. There are many who scream at staff, parents, and the students. People have to earn a living, but even a dog will bite you, if you keep kicking him/her. Obtaining a Masters or higher does not give you the right to be so EVIL!
I want to thank the principals who do not fit in the above description. You have "common sense", and it will save you. God bless you. It is nice to be nice, for we are all Adults. |
| Name: | joyce |
| Town or district: | ypsilanti |
| Comments: | hi. my mom is doing a report on what your qualifications are of writing "the trouble with boys" if you could somewhat post them on your page today, i would appreciate it. thank you! |
| Name: | e. |
| Town or district: | tinley park district 228 |
| Comments: | when are you going to post updated salaries---this is from 2005???
Editor's reply: You're referring to the information provided by the Family Taxpayers Network, which we happily link to. FTN tells their website visitors, "The information is compiled once a year, AFTER the employees have been paid for the school year, including the summer vacation. This means that we will ALWAYS show the previous years salaries. Also, we get the information and prepare it for publication on the website in late October each year." |
| Name: | jane |
| Comments: | Is anyone knowledgeable about the Rigby Literacy Program. |
| Name: | Bruce Deitrick Price |
| Town or district: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Comments: | I just want to thank IllinoisLoop so much for mentioning my site Improve-Education.org.
AND to say that I finally added the first part of "A Tribute to Rudolph Flesch" (#21) to this site. So many fine things have been written about phonics vs. look-say. (I was just reading the one by Dave Ziffer on your site.) But I believe my piece will help many people see the debate more sharply. It's long been a mystery to me why educators keep favoring bad ideas. I ended up researching the question all the way back to the early days of the new field called Education, about 1880. What a story. When the whole article is up, it will constitute a short history of American education and try to explain what the heck was on John Dewey's mind. |
| Name: | Lynette Gain Williams |
| Town or district: | San Diego, CA |
| Comments: | I grew up in Chicago and earned a Special Education Credential, in 1966, at a University in Illinois that has created hundreds of thousands of teachers. I know that a teacher doesn't learn how to teach students to read in a typical teacher education program. I learned to teach children to read through years of experience, both failures and successes, while being guided by mature, long time teachers who had already learned this skill. Being trained in Special Education caused me to create much of the supplemental curriculum I have used over the years. I designed materials to meet the needs of students I had. I’m in the process of upgrading some of the materials I’ve written over the years that have helped many struggling students achieve success. My own publishing company, Gain Literacy Skills, will soon have a web site. There are plenty of expensive programs that teach a child to read. My goal is to create AFFORDABLE materials that parents and teachers can purchase to help children learn to read at an early age and advance more quickly than students in many public school classrooms. Remember this: the most important asset in any classroom is a capable teacher. Everything else is secondary. The TEACHER is the part that makes the difference! |
| Name: | Amy C. |
| Town or district: | Nebraska |
| Comments: | I stumbled upon your website and was alarmed by it. Wow! Line after line of anti-education! If you desire to make changes, do it more diplomatically! You are creating mistrust by parents. That is NOT the answer!!!!! Every "EduTerm" has a negative connotation. Not a few. Not 5 or 6. But EVERY SINGLE TERM!!!! And, I might ask, where is the research that SUPPORTS any of your ridiculous claims!!!! All the research I've read SUPPORTS the terminology used in schools! I am a nontrad education major in college AND a parent. Your website is SCARY!!! Please look into your values and assess your motives. You're NOT pro-child, pro-parent, pro-teacher, pro-administration, or pro-research from what I see. Riling up everyone around you is an indication of illness on some level. It's funny you all found yourselves to make up such an antisocial group!! What were the odds?????? I hope you find what it is you're seeking, and hopefully you are fulfilled without harming too many children, parents, and educators. : ( Editor's Note: As far as we can figure out, "Nontrad education major" is referring to our page on education buzzwords which starts out by saying, "Here is a quick guide (with a healthy dose of dry humor) ..." |
| Name: | Mom of a 7 year-old |
| Town or district: | south suburbs of Illinois |
| Comments: | Hi, I was living in France for the last 2 years where my child attended kindergarten and 1st grade. The French have a national curriculum in the schools where it gaurantees every child is getting the same education no matter if you are poor or rich. In 1st grade, the French national curriculum emphasizes addition,subtraction,geometry, memorizing a poem per week,
a spelling-b with 10 new words every week, cursive writing everyday, reading everyday, once a week the following courses: science experiments, music, art, history, gym. Homework in math, poetry, reading, writing are sent home every evening. Now he is attending 2nd grade in Illinois and I can see the big difference. THere are no high expectations in any of the subjects being taught. He finds school easy. Schools here are not challenging our children. Where are the high expectations, equal education for all the children of Illinois? |
| Name: | A sub and a parent |
| Town or district: | Grayslake CCSD 46 |
| Comments: | Hi, I'm relatively new to Illinois and I have two children who attend the local school district. I grew up in Virginia and I can't believe the differences in how the schools are organized. Most importantly, how many school districts there are.
In Virginia the schools are run by the county. I'm not sure how exactly they are funded but I can definitely say that they do not rely so heavily on personal property tax. A $300,000 home in Northern Virginia has a property tax of around $1500. Compare that to $6000+ for a $300,000 home in Grayslake (info from personal experience and homes for sale on the internet). In Illinois you really have to be careful about where you live if you want your kids to go to good schools- 5 miles can make all the difference. I have never seen a place so divided by the haves and have nots! In Virginia you could live anywhere in the county and know that your kids are getting just as good an education (among the best in the nation) as the children of US Congressmen and Senators that live in the suburbs of DC. Here we had to pay more for a house than we had orginally planned just to get our kids into a fairly decent school district. However, the school district had just gone through a rough period where they had taken away PE, music, and art but reinstated it the next year. That's insane! We paid less in property taxes in Virginia, the school's there are known for excelling, and the school district was very large yet they never have had to remove programs or extort money from property owners. So, why are small school districts supposed to be so good? To me it appears that the money is just not being directed well in Illinois. You have Unions putting pressure on tiny little school districts that can't deal with the influx of students as populations expand- especially with the amounts of ELL students. For every school district (there are two in Grayslake for 8 schools!!!!)you have to pay a superintendant some exorbinant salary, which would be justified for a larger school district. You also have to pay for all of the district's employees that run the day to day operations of the tiny little district. How can this be justified? I read the articles and I still don't get it. Oh, and before someone says it, we can't just go back to Virginia! I am grateful for the time we have in Illinois. Besides the schools and the property taxes its a beautiful state with friendly, wonderful people. I just don't think you realize how good other states have it! |
| Name: | Mark Montgomery |
| Town or district: | EdVantage Consulting |
| Comments: | Hello.
I stumbled upon your excellent website this morning. I was impressed by the wealth of information. Given my own background, I was especially pleased to see such a thorough treatment of the issue of textbooks in education. So many reform organizations totally ignore this aspect of curriculum and instruction, and I commend you for giving it the attention it deserves. I blogged about your site today, and I hope that many more folks from around the country find your site. You can read my post at http://www.textbookevaluator.com/?p=69. Warm regards, Mark Montgomery EdVantage Consulting www.edvantage-consulting.com |
| Name: | Dr. Tom King |
| Town or district: | Nebraska |
| Comments: | Wow. This is a weak site for scholars.
Who is editing this stuff? Tk |
| Name: | What is going on?????? |
| Town or district: | Homewood District 153 |
| Comments: | My daughter's friend (5th grade) was showing her how she was learning to multiply. She called it the lattice method. The poor girl did not understand what she was doing and it was the most confusing, ridiculous "method" I have ever seen. Can't believe parents are accepting this...how sad for their children.
Editor's note: There is more about "lattice multiplication" on our math issues page. |
| Name: | Ron Dernick |
| Town or district: | Gurnee |
| Comments: | Although SOME educators have higher salaries than some of the state political leaders you should also condier the $$ and other perks (present cases now in court) many of our CEo's and political leaders have rece. and continue to rec. In addition, the Gov. of IL continues to under fund or take monies out of the State Pension Fund (Peter to pay Paul) so he can start "new programs." It should alos be noted that the majority of state pension funds throughout the USA are in trouble. No doubt we need some degree of reform but considering the track records of our Gov. and President I think they're over paid! |
| Name: | Concerned Taxpayer |
| Town or district: | Homewood District 153 |
| Comments: | Does anyone know anything about the "Sitton" or "Sutton" spelling program? My public school is adopting this and I'd like to know more about it. Thanks |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | To Kimberly
We have family in Hinsdale, not far from Downers; my nephew goes to Hinsdale Central. You're lucky to be relocating in the general vicinity of either Hinsdale or Naperville; I know that the older sections of those towns consistently score very well and have some of the best schools in the state; and I think some high schools are nationally rated. There should be a link on the Loop for school report cards in Illinois, and you can check out the test scores. Make sure you pick the better district, if you choose Hinsdale or Naperville, because there's a big difference in test scores. Good luck! |
| Name: | m.b. |
| Town or district: | europe |
| Comments: | I believe that there should be structured national curriculum like they have here in Europe. Children need structure and discipline in all their subjects. |
| Name: | Kimberly P. |
| Town or district: | West Chester, Ohio |
| Comments: | Can anyone help me? I need info on schools around Downers Grove, ILL. We may be moving to that area of IL. and I need to know what schools have the best academics. What communities are good and which ones to stay away from. Looking for strong Jr. High and High School curriculum.
email: kimberjp63@yahoo.com |
| Name: | Peg Tyre |
| Town or district: | New York, NY |
| Comments: | I'm a writer at Newsweek and I recently did a cover story about the mismatch between boys and schools and the ways boys are falling behind.
I might have an opportunity to revist this topic. I am hoping to interview some teachers, principals and parents of boys who might be able to share insight with me about boys and education. Kindly phone me at 212.445.4586 or email me at peg.tyre@newsweek.com Thanks so much for your help. Peg Tyre |
| Name: | laurenw |
| Town or district: | chicago |
| Comments: | documentary on homeschooling
an independent documentary production company seeks chicago-area homeschooling families for a not-for-broadcast documentary. we would like to interview the primary educator in the family as well as briefly interviewing other family members. participants will be compensated for their time. if interested, please answer the following questions and email your responses to laurenw@digprojects.com, along with your name, city, and preferred method of contact. 1. are you currently homeschooling at least one of your children? 2. what motivated you to homeschool your children? 3. would you be available to participate in a filmed interview at your home sometime between the dates of june 6-14, 2006? thank you for you time. |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | To Jane:
Unfortunately, most public schools are solid with Whole Language, despite its gigantic failure. The unions -- along with their susidiary, The PTA -- and the education colleges are hell bent on preserving the status quo. Therefore, when their racket is exposed, they'll serve up all their usual excuses to defend the WL philosophy in all its glorious flakiness. If you really want to see superior results (and the vast majority of kids, even 4 or 5 years of age, can learn to read quickly by decoding sounds) buy a copy of Sam Blumenfeld's "Alpha Phonics." It's about $30 and available at HOWTOTUTOR.ORG or AMAZON.COM. |
| Name: | jane |
| Comments: | What reading program is most effective for a suburban, middle-upper middle class community. This district has traditionally been solidly whole language, but are in the process of adopting a new program. Open Court is not in the running. What programs should be avoided?
Thanks Jane |
| Name: | Kellyn |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | Phonics is NOT a component of the Whole Language reading instruction!
True phonics instruction is intensive and systemic and requires decoding: it takes time and effort. It's hard to teach phonics. Whole Language is a proven disaster and it's cruel and heartless to continue this insane technique. And I don't need a teacher or union member to tell me I'm "misinformed." It is what it is. Repeat after me: Phonics is NOT a component of the Whole Language reading instruction! Parents, beware! |
| Name: | JoLynn |
| Town or district: | Bloomington |
| Comments: | Interesting site. Extremely biased, yet passionate for the cause you take up (are you Saxon reps?). I have been in schools that have done Saxon, and, on the flipside, I have worked with Mathematics in Contect and Connected Math. I have been given some fairly "traditional" texts, and some texts that broaden mathematical thinking further than making students drones. I have heard parents and teachers complain about both ends of the math teaching spectrum. Ultimately, the curriculum is only as strong as the teacher, balanced in methodology and passionate about the subject and the age level. I would love to see how long some of these reserachers (if at all) have taught middle level mathatmatics in the trenches. Personally, I want my students to do more than what an $8 calculator can accomplish. |
| Name: | Erin Falconer |
| Town or district: | Sparta Mi |
| Comments: | I am writing this as a concerned mom of three. Homeschooled for 8 years, and now this year in public school. SCARY! My 9th grader had a private tutor last year for geometry, this year he is measuring his finger, his stride, working in groups, and FAILING! He used to love math, now hates it. There are more words in his math book than numbers.
I have written everyone, called everyone, met with everyone, and still I am told I am the ONLY one that doesn't like the math. My son wants to be an engineer, well, good luck with what he is learning right now! I could take my kids out of school and homeschool. That means the district would lose 6,000 dollars per child. I have 3 kids, so that means 18,000 dollars. What an education I could give my kids for 18,000 dollars!!! Thanks |
| Name: | PCI-Study |
| Town or district: | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Comments: | Hi,
We are researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and currently doing a study on parents' involvement with children's homework. This study is builds on a recent study we conducted in which we found that girls (but not boys) were sensitive to parental intrusions with math homework. The article came out recently in the Journal of Sex Roles (http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/05/0726math.html). ----------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a daughter in sixth or seventh grade? ----------------------------------------------------------- We are recruiting families with at least two children (one needs to be a sixth- or seventh- grade girl) to participate in a research study about parent-child interactions involving math and English homework. Families will have a chance to win one of ten $100 cash prizes! Contact Ruchi Bhanot or Jasna Jovanovic at 217-244-7247. BHANOT@uiuc.edu or JASNA@uiuc.edu URL: http://www.hcd.uiuc.edu/ Ruchi Bhanot - bhanot@uiuc.edu Human and Community Development University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Name: | Cheri Powell |
| Town or district: | Geneva, IL |
| Comments: | After reading your anonymous author's article called "Thank You Whole Language," thanking his wife for demonstrating to him all the fallicies of Whole Language because of her errors in reading, I thought, my, he sure knows which names and organizations' names to drop ....however, he is much misinformed if he thinks that those groups have advocated to eliminate, do away with, forget about phonics instruction, because anyone who knows reading theory of any type knows that phonics is a large part of reading instruction in Whole Language...just delivered in a different format than he is used to. I learned reading with heavy,heavy phonics instruction and I would be happy to explain to him what weaknesses I have because of the over-emphasis. I wonder why he thinks that all those people and organizations that have studied reading are wrong and his way is the only correct way. I would have asked whether his wife needed to have her eyes checked rather than assume it was her reading instruction.
My suggestion is that if he is going to "bash" a theory that he truly understands it before jumping to conclusions. |
| Name: | Pat Duffy |
| Town or district: | no resident |
| Comments: | i forsee more schools using the internet to enhance their corriculae. beside the usual search engines, there are many sites dedicated to instruction[about.com], accurate facts[C.I.A. fact book] and various science[lpod.org & space.com]. i'm so glad Illinois is taking the lead on this. |
| Name: | Lindsay |
| Town or district: | Michigan |
| Comments: | Talk to some teachers that teach on an alternating block schedele. I love it! I teach high school math - upper and lower levels. I have time each day to answer homework questions,I can introduce a lesson with an activity and then teach the lesson. Usually there is some time at the end for students to begin an assigment - they can actually ask questions before leaving class and understand how to do the assignment.
It's an adjustment, but worth it. Don't give up on it too quickly! |
| Name: | Karen |
| Town or district: | Glendale Heights |
| Comments: | 3/8/06
HI..........I would like to know if there is a rule in the ISAT that states one book and one test cannot be used in the same special education room, so one teacher can read the test to the same class. If it does not say that, where can I find that information....................and if it is indeed legal to have the same booklet in one class...........please let me know that too. Thank you............... |
| Name: | Clarisse Ng |
| Town or district: | Singapore |
| Comments: | The presentation of some of the ideas on this site seems unnecessarily biased in tone to me, which is a pity since the ideas themselves have some validity. As every good teacher knows, the art of teaching involves blending the various theoretical approaches into an effective practice, and any approach, no matter how good in theory, can be rendered useless by clumsy thoughtless application. My point: why throw the baby out with the bathwater? |
| Name: | lmh |
| Town or district: | 56 |
| Comments: | I looked through your website in hopes of getting straight information, but this site is very biased. Although my school district does not currently use Everyday Math, it appears that many of the top ranked schools in Lake County do. Apparently, students are learning MATH as proven by the ISAT scores. |
| Name: | Lin |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | Everyone who thinks teachers are underpaid, please read the new book EDUCATION MYTHS by Jay Greene. Facts speak louder than emotions. |
| Name: | Cathy Henleben |
| Town or district: | D47 Crystal Lake |
| Comments: | Our group, Crystal Lake Friends of Gifted Education, is having a used Children's Book Sale. Almost all of the 22,000 books we have collected from the community will be sold for 25 CENTS. This is a wonderful opportunity for teachers, parents, and home schoolers.
The sale will be held at the Algonquin Township Hall, 3702 Route 14 in Crystal Lake on Friday, January 27th from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. and on Saturday, January 28th from 9a.m.-5p.m. Please help us spread the word to make our sale a success and help our goal of bringing affordable books to all the children in our community. |
| Name: | Dan Fouts |
| Town or district: | Naperville |
| Comments: | I am a classroom teacher of 14 years and have spoken with several superintendents. Additionally, I started a business 7 years ago-- so I am somewhat familiar with both 'mentalities". I see CEOs and Superintendents to be very similar in function-- the biggest difference being that the measurement of a school district's progress is much more nebulous. Education can't be measured like businesses. It's not about the bottom line. It's about nuturing other human beings to succeed in life. Test scores don't go very far to measure that. So, both of these individuals have very unique challenges to face.
Additionally-- and this is something that only people who actually work in education can truly understand-- Superintendents are in some ways the least powerful people in a school district. The teachers hold much of the power-- through the union. CEOs generally have more leeway to impact change. food for thought |
| Name: | Melissa Jenkins |
| Town or district: | Chicago |
| Comments: | A recent NASSP article shares research findings on middle school block scheduling and the impact that this has had on math. I would suggest that you investigate and integrate such findings into your website (unless, as it appears, you want to remain very one sided in the treatment of educational issues on this website). Editor's response: We took up your challenge, and did a Google search ("math middle school block site:nassp.org") on the NASSP website and found nothing resembling what you describe. I'm afraid your comment sounds much like the typical "research has shown" claim when scratching the surface finds no real research was done. If you have a specific citation or URL, post again and we'll see what we see. And yes, we do take positions, but certainly no more than do entrenched preserve-the-status-quo groups like the NASSP. |
| Name: | Christine Carlson |
| Town or district: | Lake County Illinois |
| Comments: | Oh yes, and garbage collectors make around $50,000 a year. A GED is the only education required. |
| Name: | Christine Carlson |
| Town or district: | Lake County Illinois |
| Comments: | To the frustrated taxpayer who thinks teachers are overpaid:
I went back to college full time, quit my secretarial job at the age of 30, to become a teacher. I finished college at the age of 34 in 1999. I thought teachers had it made too, but when I saw what little time teachers had, especially beginning teachers, and experience being a student teacher, I was shocked at the workloads and responsibility most teachers have put on them on a daily basis. The only people I see complain about teachers being underpaid, are people who don't personally know any teachers or what they have to do every day. To be a good teacher, they must plan their curriculum and lesson plans weeks ahead of time, find materials and activities, do tons of paper work, decorate their class rooms, communicate with parents before and after school, attend parent teacher conferences, participate in extra curricular activities for students. Most of the work you DON'T see goes on behind the scenes - after school hours, outside of classroom hours. Homework is brought home almost every day, cutting into their personal family time. Before the school year starts, many teachers go in a few weeks ahead of time to prepare books, decorate the classroom, do paper work, and attend meetings. Days off are spent doing more planning and preparation or paperwork. Many teachers take extra jobs because they need the money, not for fun. The average starting salary for a public grade school teacher is only $30,000 a year. Private school teachers make even less money. Compare that to the average starting salary for an administrative assistant at $36,000 a year (you dont need a college degree to be a secretary). There is no overtime for extra hours put in. The only extra money is a stipend for teachers who help with extra curricular activities such as cheerleading coaches, chess clubs, sporting events, etc, etc, which usually only comes out to maybe a $500 bucks extra per year, depending on the school's budget. Somes schools even REQUIRE that teachers put in this extra time, only added to their time off from family and planning for their classes. In Illinois, all teachers who hold state teaching licences must takes at least 6 credit hours of classes every 5 years in order to keep their teaching licence. Sometimes the school pays for this, sometimes not. It depends on the school's budget. Many teachers want to get their Master's degree, so they can get a little better pay rate. However, they must juggle taking intensive college classes while still working and doing all their required activities. This usually takes another 2 years of study. My husband is a letter carrier with only a GED. He makes more money than the average teacher. He didnt have to spend a dime for college or any time or effort to make a good starting salary in 1990 that was much better than what teachers were making. He also gets lots of little holidays off just like the school teachers do, and after 16 years of service, he gets 20 paid vacation days. He also gets overtime, at time and a half, and doesnt have to bring any work home with him. Get to know a good teacher who has taught for a few years and ask them what their daily schedule is. In fact, volunteer to help a new teacher for a few weeks and you will see what I mean. |
| Name: | Kelly |
| Town or district: | Illinois |
| Comments: | Everyone has someone very special in thier life.
That person is thier children. We try so hard and so many different ways to keep the society safe and clean but today our children suffer more then we had to by the things they not only see in public or on T.V. but hear about. To me that is like punishing our children for something that never happened. Our children has feelings of course as well we do to. Another last thing when the law got into their creative Ideas and started adding to our commandment that was wrong. When they also allowed children to DIVORCE the parent that was to me a sin. I like to say it's a big shame everyone just can't work Togeather in this world. |
| Name: | Kelly |
| Town or district: | Illinois |
| Comments: | My oppion on todays laws is we
actually are looseing our rights. No matter what the issue to me is the World has become it's own nightmare.The way Peopple take but yet can't do the least of one thing and return,Share,or give.I got to thinking one other thing concerning Court.We are put to under outh to tell the truth. But for the ones who take the stand " HOW DO WE ACUALLY KNOW THE TRUTH IS SAID !" Information gets out and spreads evryone is aware of that I'm sure of. If stop and think ,knowing the jury is not at the Incident or our selfs that acually make their word to the jury a hear saay as well. To me at klesat every thinks and understands different |
| Name: | Joseph R. Beetes |
| Town or district: | Paris, IL |
| Comments: | I wonder if it is possible to post the salaries of all the major corporations ceo's and managers to see how they compare with educators? Of course I understand that the importing of all of our goods from China and selling them at a healthy profit is the American way and certainly more important than teaching our children. GO Wallmart!! You truly neither know, nor do you understand teaching at all. May God have mercy on you, considering the great disservice that you do to teachers. |
| Name: | L. Nicolas |
| Town or district: | Elmont, NY |
| Comments: | I have to say, it's nice to finally find a website in which many of the views I have personally felt are expressed. Thank you for allowing me to see that I am not insane. Sincerely, a NYC Public School Teacher, desperately seeking to work in an environment in which "authentic" i.e. traditional education with "tried and true" results, STILL takes place. |
| Name: | name withheld |
| Town or district: | Chicago |
| Comments: | CPS teacher for 7 years and frightened by poor decisions the BOE is making. Schools in the CPS system have about 3 choices for reading textbooks and 3 more for math. I am now using Connected Math, and it is horrible! It has created a classroom management nightmare, and the kids just don't get it. I piloted Saxon Math, and had great success. Saxon is not on the "approved" list for math materials. CPS is investing a lot of time and money into a rotten math program. Since fads seem to come and go quickly within the system, maybe Saxon will be in fashion again in the next year or two. |
| Name: | not misinformed |
| Town or district: | Chicago |
| Comments: | Quite frankly, explicit phonics instruction is for children who are below average or have been given little exposure to reading. In order to comply with NCLB mandates to beef up phonics, and to save money, local schools now teach all the kids phonics all the time. My child went to kindergarten decoding on a 3rd grade level, and comprehending at an end of first grade level. A, apple, aaaa is a complete waste of his time at school. He doesn't get the choice though. Either I have to pony up the money to send him to a different school, or explain to him that the other kids (or is it the teacher?) are just plain stupid and he can learn at home. I think Spellings and her cronies from Texas should adopt a new saying: "Phonics, just the right intervention for knuckleheads like our President!" no thanks, I'll take a teacher who doesn't think she has "The" right approach. Oh, I forgot, the people shoving this policy down everyone's throats are able to send their kids anywhere they want to, because they are in the top one tenth of one percent of all wage earners. They would never dream of sending their own child to a public school.
Editor's note: We agree that it is regrettable that you would have to "pony up the money" to send your child to another school that better meets your needs and goals, when you are already paying tax dollars for that education. As far as your additional comment is concerned, politics should have nothing to do with telling a parent how their child will be taught reading, and indeed, we have MANY people working for research-based reading instruction who undoubtedly feel the same way about politics that you do, along with many others who would disagree with you. |
| Name: | Rose Zuk |
| Town or district: | Galicia |
| Comments: | Illinois gets a B in Science instruction, according to this report: http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/05sci_il.pdf.pdf
excerpt: Steady progress is interrupted at the higher levels. In grades 9 to 10, for example, students are expected to "Use kinetic theory , wave theory, quantum theory and the laws of thermodynamics to explain energy transformations"--- a most unlikely burden of learning if meant literally. But then, in grades 11-12, "analyze reactions (e.g., nuclear reactions, burning of fuel, decomposition of waste) in natural and man-made energy systems." As a reviewer remarked, , "Quite a comedown". Still, if the physics materials were reorganized for logical access and convenient cross-referencing, this would be an excellent set of standards. |
| Name: | Arthur Raske |
| Town or district: | Lewiston, MICHIGAN |
| Comments: | The invitation to do this has a couple caveats that coulk make the effort a futile one: Illinois residency and ban on extended essays. Education's disarray is complex, its problems are almost infinite and attacking individual problems seems an impotent way to change a systemic problem, i.e.,a pathology.
I'd like to start some conversation about education's ails and would do my best to stay within the parameter about length of posts. I am a seriously senior citizen (84), a former businessman, family therapist, Lutheran pastor, Marine and Fuller Brush salesman. I believe that the test of a good idea/concept is to beat on it until it breaks. If it doesn't break, it's a good idea. If we agree on basic matters we can probably talk to our mutual advantage. If we don't agree, we can argue to our mutual advantage. Whaddya say? Wanna talk? Merry Christmas Art Raske |
| Name: | Subgum Gaipan |
| Town or district: | Shanghai, Pimples Republic of Broken China |
| Comments: | I support Dumbing Down! It's the best damned thing since sliced sensuality! We need more dumbing down. Our politicians have been waaaay ahead of us, for a change, on this one. Yessir, dumbing down. There's no global warming. If you're a Patriot, you'll support the "Death of Your Civil Rights Patriot Act". The Hell with the Environment! The Democrats are "Tax and Spend" and the Republicans, by passing endless tax breaks for the super-rich and cancelling programs for children, education, nurses, police, firefighters, the indigent and elderly, AND, as a special added attraction, creating the largest deficit since the end of WWII, the Republinazis are the GOOD GUYS. Yup, I believe it, don't you? So let's dumb down. Then we don't have to think or worry about the sorry mess this bunch of traitors have left us in. Let's teach in crumbling schools, pay our teachers a pittance, abandon our kids, wildly increase the gap between the haves and havenots, oh, boy, I'm a-lovin' it. Thank you, Neo-cons, and Cheney, the Real President. |
| Name: | Maxwell P. Flanagan IV |
| Town or district: | Edwardsville, IL |
| Comments: | I find that whole learning, whole reading, holistic, holabird, hula, hilly, ha-ha, hoo.
Whale wumpa, willy wonka, whoopdeedoo, all over you. My opinion is so malleable, frangible, tangible, fructose, obtuse, insane, whooping crane, lois lane, brain drain, loopy lame. George W. Bush is simply a damned liar, don't you know? I think that each child has his/her own learning style except for those who can't pronounce "nuclear". No Child Left A Dime! is his slogan. Slogan is a gaelic word meaning battle cry. Mission Accomplished. Then more than 2000 of our children dead. Oh, it's "some children left behind" in their graves? |
| Name: | Mary D |
| Town or district: | chicago |
| Comments: | I teach literacy to students from age 4 through adults.
I agree that whole language/ look-say is a disaster but phonics instruction by itself does not create competent readers. I have taught for over 30 years and used many different approaches to reading instruction. What I have found works best is phonics instruction as a major component of a program that includes reading real books (not controlled vocabulary, contrived texts that don't use normal syntax and that don't tell interesting stories). Reading is much more complex than decoding or sounding out words. Teachers have to help students develop the skill to comprehend what they are reading. It is important to remember that writing instruction complements reading instruction and should be part of literacy education. It is also essential to remember that what works for one child may not work for another so teachers must not depend on any one method of instruction but must use the best strategies from many theories of instruction. Perhaps instead of being amused by his wife's phonics deficiency (and apparently severely limited vocabulary and imagination) the writer should invest in a good phonics/ spelling workbood series such as EPS' Explode the Code or McGraw-Hill's Spectrum Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study books. |
| Name: | Beth S |
| Town or district: | Wisconsin |
| Comments: | I could not believe what i was reading!
I think that the opinions on this page are not considerate of different learning styles or the best ways that students learn. Do some research on what children need, enjoy, and learn from. |
| Name: | Kathy |
| Town or district: | Toronto, Canada |
| Comments: | I have 8 more years of teaching in the public school system still to go before I can retire and I feel more optimistic that I can make it since finding your website. You are a most welcome antidote to the insanity!! I need the laughs, the insight and the sense that I'm not alone which your website provides and I've only explored a little. Many thanks!!!! |
| Name: | antony |
| Town or district: | London, England |
| Comments: | As a university lecturer in education and an education consultant, it's very good to see a common sense, no-nonsense approach to schooling. Thank you - it's so refreshing!
In England, we have a real dumbing down of standards. Only this week, our government have woken up to the fact that pupils' course work rarely belongs to the pupils. So often it is the work of parents, internet ghost-writers and (with our mis-aligned league tables)teachers! Simple straight forward exams would seem to be the solution - the kind of assessment tool we used to employ before the trendy liberals came upwith their trendy liberal ideals. I must say, the standard of student we get these days coming into university, particularly on our undergraduate courses leaves much to be desired. The type of graduate that we churn out, also, very often, leaves much to be desired. But our political masters get another soundbite regarding the ever-increasing number of examonation passes so everything must be o.k. There was a distinct turning point in our education system when it became more difficult to fail a degree than it was to pass one. As an educational researcher, I loved your section on jargon and particularly that on research jargon. Keep up the good work! |
| Name: | Vance Hart |
| Town or district: | 60 |
| Comments: | Paraprofessionals do not feel they are below teachers. Most of us are too smart to become teachers working for wxplosive principals. No one is above anyone but GOD. I love the one on one or the small group.I do not yell like a maniac at small children. Children are little adults and yelling at them sends the message, thay you are "out of control." The teachers have so many workshops and forms to fill out, that they do not have the time to teach. The paraprofessionals are the real teachers. We have time to teach and most of all, we care about the students. |
| Name: | Robert Hamm |
| Town or district: | West Linn, Oregon (but formerly of Urbana) |
| Comments: | In this area...
If The World Were Like the Public Education System by Kevin C. Killion If the computer industry were like public education: You (and everyone else) would pay a huge tax in order to fund Microsoft, **IRREGARDLESS** of whether you owned five, one, or no computers. You would have no control over what gets sent to you from Microsoft, how it works, or even whether it works. The Microsoft programmers would be protected by lifetime jobs, whether they are competent or not, and they would be encouraged to add experimental features to your software even if they caused your system to crash. ...the poor writer apparently doesn't know that there is no such word as "irregardless." Perhaps he should go back to school.... Editor's note: You're correct, or course, and the error will be fixed immediately. Having gone to solid instructivist schools years ago, we should have known better. Parents would be hard-pressed today to FIND a school that teaches this distinction. |
| Name: | tommy |
| Town or district: | wanganui |
| Comments: | I am so thankful that I found your site. I am surrounded by educators that believe in Multiple intelligences - Everytime someone talks about it where I teach everyone thinks it sound perfectly logical. To me everything about it screams of BS. Someone where I work was testing students for learning styles and one of the questions on the test was - You would rather listen to books on tape than read an actual book. Now there is a scientifically acurate test to figure out whether or not a student is a audio learner. |
| Name: | (removed) |
| Town or district: | ST.CHARELS |
| Comments: | HI EVERY BODY! I JUST GOT BACK FROM A DANCE. THE GIRL I WENT WITH I RELLY LIKE. BUT SHE SAID THAT WE ARE GOING AS FRIENDS!!!! I BOUGHT HER A LOT OF GIFTS. AND IT COSTED ME A WHOLE BUNCH OF $!AND A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER BOYS DANCEING WITH HER AND IT MADE ME MAD. HOW DO I GET HER TO LIKE ME MORE? |
| Name: | Bridget Kelly |
| Town or district: | Millbrook, NY |
| Comments: | I want to tell you how happy I am to have found yours and mathematically correct's websites. It is so refreshing to see how many concerned parents and professionals see the need to get our children back to basics in education. My own education growing up was very fundamental, thanks to the nuns in 1960's Connecticut. I became a teacher at the age of 42, after having spent well over 20 years in the working world. I can honestly say that the foundation I had from my education has always served me well. As a teacher of remedial math to 7th to 12th graders, guess what I teach them-- how to divide, how to work with fractions without a calculator, so that they will be able to function in algebra. |
| Name: | Carol |
| Town or district: | New Jersey |
| Comments: | Is your children's school doing this good is non-standard English. Shame on you.
Editor's comment: There are at least three problems with this observation:
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| Name: | Tony Clifton |
| Town or district: | Homewood, Illinois |
| Comments: | I read that the public school system wants to raise $1.7 million for air conditioning. I'm 83 years old and lived most of my life in this town. It is a pretty dark day when youngsters and teachers can't get though the first month of school with air-conditioning. My kids went to St. Joes school in Homewood. Great learning environment, great education and no air-conditioning.Maybe your instructors need to be more focused on getting the kids to learn. I don't see where the air-conditioning is going to change that. Open a window! |
| Name: | taxpayer- aka "Big Boy leader" |
| Town or district: | Homewood District 153 |
| Comments: | $1.7 miliion for air-conditioning!! What? Our beloved Supt; Dale Mitchell feels the learning process is lacking the first month of the school year because there is no air-conditioning. The real problem is lack of discipline and lack of a unified core curriculum. Doc Mitchell indicates that a advisory committee made up of administrators and parents/teachers strongly encourage providing air-conditioning. This committee is made up of cronies and and board members friends and relatives that kiss their backsides to maintain keeping them in office. Homewood resident's with children in 153 and Seniors citizens WAKE UP your wallet is speaking to you. Bank of 153 awaits your deposit..
I would strongly advise that everybody in Homewood attend the 153 School board meetings and ask more about your money that they want to spend. After the Grade Center debacle,and the huge addition on James Hart that they called A new school,your would think that was enough of a mountain of debt now they wnat more!!! Stop them before they spend again...Good grief air conditioning, open a window and buy a fan at Home Depot. WAKE UP!!!! |
| Name: | taxpayer |
| Town or district: | Homewood 153 |
| Comments: | In the newspaper today, our district announced they need $4.6 million. They state they get nothing from the federal govt., when in fact, they get approximately $500,000. Also, of the 4.6 million they "need" $1.7 million of it is slated for air-conditioning... |
| Name: | Thankful Parent |
| Town or district: | Matteson, Illinois |
| Comments: | I am so thankful to have found this website. I am in the process of trying to decide where to send my child for high school. I look forward to finally having some substantial information to evaluate critically to help make this important decision. I will report back on what I find. |
| Name: | Happy Parent |
| Town or district: | Homewood, IL |
| Comments: | continued:
*higher standards for academics and behavior *Daily Oral Language/Grammar Drills weekly in all GRADES! *Accelerated Reader program is part of grade *Science projects are part of grade (not an optional fair) *Math drills on a daily basis in all grades! *Much higher grading scale than public schools. *Mistakes are circled and graded accordingly. *Emphasis on the core subjects. *Graded papers are hung in the hall. Incentive to do better! *Excellent communication through web-site. I can check every day and see what the homework is. *Family parties/events. No dropping off kids and expecting others to supervise. I could go on and on, but I won't. The tuition expense is worth every penny and then some. Oh, and 1 building from K-8. A real family atmosphere with challenging work and super educated and dedicated teachers. I love St. Joseph in Homewood, IL |
| Name: | Happy Parent |
| Town or district: | Homewood, IL |
| Comments: | In the past 10 years I have read hundreds of articles and/or books on the educational system in this country. After having my children attend public school and now a catholic school, I can say without question the differences are unbelievable. It is like a different world.
I'm always amazed when I read articles about school reform and the state of public education that the "catholic school model" is never mentioned. I know all catholic schools are not excellent or perfect. However, in my experience the three differences are the following: |
| Name: | jayjay |
| Town or district: | Moline |
| Comments: | The article by Nancy L. Ganstrom distresses me. I have taught and love middle school students and find that what is happening in her school district distressing. It is obvious they do not understand the philosophy behind middle school theory which is to take a student from where they are to as far as the student is capable of going. Middle school theory is about students, teachers and parents cooperating to meet the needs of individual students and to help students excell and go beyond what they think they can do. She needs to ask her school board what research was used to change the middle school philosophy. She also needs to ask who was part of the planning and how long the district took to plan the change. It sounds like they just jumped into this "theory" without taking the time to plan and study. |
| Name: | Mary Shouse |
| Town or district: | rather not say at this time LOL - NE IL |
| Comments: | Hi. I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction for information, pros and cons, regarding the Terra Nova test.
My friend, who happens to be the President of our PTO, called me last night to ask about my child's Terra Nova test results from last year and the year before (1st & 2nd grades). Our school uses the Terra Nova tests as the sole criteria for student entry into the Advanced Education Program. Students who more than qualified for the AEP last year do NOT this year - their scores fell by approximately 30 points! And this was testing done after a full school year in the AEP! My child is also in this program, didn't qualify for Math AEP due to low scores (qualified for language, though) but does qualify for the math program this coming year because the Terra Nova math ROSE 30 point! From low 60s to 99. I also noticed that the math scores from 1st grade made no sense - 65, 63 and 64 in the 3 math categories with overall math score of 99. Any help would be appreciated! marykaye@blossomstreet.net |
| Name: | Ed Harris |
| Town or district: | Los Angeles |
| Comments: | Open Court Resources.com, http://www.opencourtresources.com celebrates its two year anniversary this month by becoming the largest collection of free K-6 Open Court Reading Resources on the internet.
(Edited for space) |
| Name: | Russell Scattone |
| Town or district: | Tacoma, WA |
| Comments: | I curious if someone would please post the document regarding the Linguistic Department at Cambridge University dismissing the importance of Phonics. I have been searching for the paper or study on this and have yet to find it. I would greatly appreciate it.
Editor's reply: There is no "study" along the lines of what you describe, but there is a paragraph that makes the rounds of the Internet purporting to show that phonics is unnecessary for reading. A while ago we asked some local reading mavens about it, and their comments are quite informative and enlightening! Click here: "Aoccdrnig to rscheearch by the Lngiusiitc Dptanmeret..." |
| Name: | D. Wallace |
| Town or district: | Rockford, IL |
| Comments: | To: Kevin Killion I am concerned about the possible misrepresentation of the circumstances surrounding a reading Program in one of the Rockford Public Schools...
In my e-mail to you in April, 2005 regarding your concern that "...What are the prevailing opinions about the drama at Lewis Lemon school (Rockford Public Schools), where a highly successful Direct Instruction reading program was disbanded in favor of questionable ed theories?..." http://cf.rrstar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=4828 I said "...You may be right about "whole language/balanced literacy/direct instruction" but I also believe you are not considering what looks to be "possible" incompetence and insubordination by the Principal Tiffany Parker... I had hoped to hear back from you on my suggestion you may be participating in a witch hunt... Could be unintentional but from my vantage point it's a witch hunt nevertheless. One teacher posted in the Resgister Star forum noted above a very serious concern of mine: What happens if the Teacher who made the following comment turns out to be correct about principal Parker? "...do not know the ins and outs of the Lemon program, but I do know the principal. I would never send my children to a school she was at either as a teacher or principal..." If this is a fair assessment of Principal Parker. she might have been treated poorly but then again, maybe she had it coming... I believe it would be an unfair representation of what actually went on at Lewis Lemon to just leave it your description of "READING MASSACRE AT LEWIS LEMON, Rockford, IL... If the main issue actually was Principal Tiffany Parkers performance and her insubordination by her blatant disregard for the chain of command in Rockford Schools... then the issue of what is the best reading program is secondary to the sound bite created by the nice sounding "READING MASSACRE AT LEWIS LEMON, Rockford, IL... I'm sorry to accuse you of conducting a witch hunt but I honestly believe that to be more the case then not...You still may have very valid concerns when it comes to the debate over "Whole Language/Balanced Literacy/Direct Instructions" but I don't believe Lewis Lemon to be the battle ground you seem to imply on your website... It would be nice to add some sort of footnote that at least leaves the question open: Was the main debate over the Principal Parker's poor performance and insubordination or was it truly over implementation of "Whole Language/Balanced Literacy/Direct Instructions." If Teachers hold Ms. Parker in such low regard to say: "...do know the principal... I would never send my children to a school she was at either as a teacher or principal..." the primary problem is dealing with the principal and then take on the question of pro's and con's of Direct Instruction reading program... |
| Name: | W.A.S. |
| Town or district: | Orange |
| Comments: | I think that what Robin of SK is missing is the comprehensive whole of education. Yes, she is right. A child can learn from a project. However, the project based learning which we have in place now in the US takes so darn much TIME, that very little time is left over for learning ALL THAT A CHILD NEEDS TO KNOW.
As for credentials, well, I don't know the credentials of the author of the website. But MY credential is this: PARENT of a cumulative 27 years. In that time I have seen a lot of damage done by the schools in their supposedly "progressive mode". What I can't understand is why on earth are those in the educational establishment the last to know that schools simply are not working under these progressive ideas we have in place now. Parents understand it and see the results every day. Maybe things are different in Canada, for Robin of SK......but in the US we have big problems. Kids simply are not learning all they need to know. |
| Name: | Catherine Johnson |
| Town or district: | Westchester County, NY |
| Comments: | I'm one of the co-founders of Kitchen Table Math & we love your web site.
Illinois LOOP was a huge help to me when I first discovered constructivist math one year ago, and continues to be a huge help today. FYI, I was raised downstate, in Lincoln, IL. My folks are now in Evanston; my IL nephew & nieces go to school in Chatham, IL. My own school district here in New York state adopted MATH TRAILBLAZERS last year. So I've been spending a lot of time at Illinois LOOP. (We're posting as much as we can about the TRAILBLAZERS grade 5 book at ktm.) |
| Name: | Robin |
| Town or district: | Yorkton, SK |
| Comments: | I am curious to know the website 'author' credentials. Perhaps I have overlooked a 'background' information page. Regardless, it seems to me that whoever is trying to provide 'insightful' rhetoric about MI theory and brain-based learning in classroom practice has NEVER been part of the actual process. Children are not objects, nor can all of their learning be 'objectively' and 'quantitatively' assessed. Promoting the idea that projects created by children (nurtured and developed by trained educators who understand curriculum requirements) do not constitute true 'learning' is a farce. Projects do NOT have to be the idea of the teacher, something that is directly set up in order to get a mark. What is 'research', if not a project supported by colleagues, theory, ideas, etc? Where would we be without it? Perhaps you need to go and see some practically examples of these theories at work. Chances are, though, that if you have already closed your mind to their effectiveness, you would never 'get' the open-endedness of student-generated work. |
| Name: | JMW |
| Town or district: | Bergen County, NJ |