Promise and Hope of Education in American Public Schools

          After many articles, videos, and discussions I have been asked to reflect and focus on the promise and hope of public school education to develop practices rooted in the values and beliefs that ensure a socially just and rewarding educational experience of every student.

         A promise of education should be to provide a safe learning environment that nurtures every type of learner. Every classroom teacher has come to the realization that not every student is the same. We can no longer line our desk into rows, be the sole provider of knowledge, and give worksheets to increase the rigor to teach the students that walk into our classrooms. Teachers must first  acknowledge the diversity of each and every single student to successfully create a learning experience that displays the diversity and uniqueness of each child. The way to begin this process will require much training and empathy from teachers. It also requires a curriculum that does not focus on one culture. Another requirement is for  those who make policies to prioritize whether standardized testing is more important than students truly learning. Many students graduate high school having learned the three branches of government and Pythagorean theorem, yet they not once learned how to file their taxes or how to assure their credit score remains high. There are many things that need to change in our education system that can ensure our students have a type of learning environment that recognizes every students strengths and helps them grow. If we as teachers share, collaborate, and communicate with each other we will be able to build best practices that will help our students learn.

       

        A hope of public school education is to develop an educational system that is truly equal to all students no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status. The inequality that has and is still currently happening within our public school system is simply sickening. 

We can start by balancing the resources that are at each school. Yes I understand this sounds easier than it actually is however with a bit of research I found Texas currently spends an average of $90 million each year on the standardized STAAR test. Of those $90 million seventy are used on the paper that is used to print out the test booklets students receive. With those same $90 million we could buy 532,544 chromebooks in one academic school year. This current contract with Pearson was made for five years. If each one of those five years we spent money on chromebooks we would be able to purchase 2,662,720 million chromebooks. Although the ratio of technology would not be one to one considering the enrollement of students in public school here in Texas, it would be pretty close to a one to two ratio. This isn't even considering the technology that some schools ready have. Instead of handing students a test booklet that only increases anxiety and decreases self esteem we can hand students a resource. Technology is a resource that allows for a rigorous learning experience in which our students can have the opportunity to grow academically and personally.

The goal of every educator is to see every child succeed. There are many pathways that lead to their success and we are here to help students learn, shape, and walk their own pathway to their success.

Want more details on the cost of STAAR and the enrollment of students here in the state of Texas? Click the following resources: KUT, NBC5, and TEA.