A child's insurance

            When I was in school, I remember that, in most cases, the students who performed the best had involved parents. I usually knew their parents by name or face (as well as a number of awkward stories they told about my friends); and I knew friends who complained because they didn’t get to watch their favorite cartoon because of “first homework, then T.V.” rules and other acts of parental involvement (we’ll call them APIs).

            My mom performed regular APIs. I can’t remember if she had a “first homework…” rule, but I do remember she helped me with my homework, willingly attended teacher-parent-student conferences (even if they were uncomfortable, as mentioned in my previous post), and – when her work schedule allowed – volunteered for field trips.         

I had other friends, too – students whose parents, for both reasonable and unreasonable reasons, seldom performed regular APIs. While some of these students excelled in spite of this, many of them didn’t.

Would you agree that the parents' role was a crucial factor in who succeeded and who didn’t?  Parents have to provide and support their children emotionally, physically, mentally and financially, ensuring they are safe, fed, nurtured, happy and well-educated. And a parent’s role should go a step (or several) further than that. From a young age, parents should be setting a foundation to ensure their children can survive school.

Let me explain it a different way. Shortly before graduating college (let’s say, a-day-before short) I married my then-fiance. It was a fun day that led to a fun week in Corpus Christi that led to a fun, frantic month of searching for a home and job. 

            Once we had all of that worked out, we entered the unlooked-for world of realizing and acquiring everything we needed insurance for – health insurance, dental insurance, renter’s insurance, vehicular insurance, insurance on my prized “the Office” DVDs (OK, not really…).

            It was a little overwhelming (not to mention expensive), and I was glad when we got it all worked out.

             

            A parent has a similar role. When they have a child, they have to consider what they need to do to “insure” their child. Just as health insurance allows you to pay medical bills should your health not be completely satisfactory, a firm foundation helps “insure” a child should his or her education system not be completely satisfactory. 

            Who else is able to make sure that a child has a strong moral compass, firm critical thinking skills and the tools to find what they need to complete tasks? Who else can best teach a child how to learn, not to mention to love to learn?  

            On another side of this argument is the parent-teacher relationship. 

            In former Dallas ISD’s Superintendent Linus Wright’s “Restructuring Public Education for the 21^st Century” his eleventh point is to, “Require every school to develop and implement a parent involvement plan, i.e. PTAs, PTOs, Advisory Committees, mandated parent/guardian/teacher conferences.”
           Statewide, PTA membership has dropped from 713,217 to 523,859 in the past 10 years, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The same publication reports that PTA membership has dropped more than a million people nationally.
           Some might argue this trend is a shame. While PTA isn't the only avenue with which parents and teachers can work together (i.e. parent-teacher conferences, etc.), as a team, parents and teachers can provide information the other entity doesn’t know to get a clear picture of what hinders their child from succeeding and how to improve their situation.

Kathleen Porter-Magee of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute puts the teacher-parent relationship this way.

‘A lot of education activists, like Alfie Kohn and Diane Ravitch, like to argue that urban schools should copy the instructional practices of elite private schools …

… What they are missing is what happens outside the classroom: the heavy reliance on parent involvement to help teach their students the key skills, knowledge and abilities they need to succeed. Teachers in these schools can, after all, assign hefty reading and writing assignments as homework because the typical middle class or affluent student goes home to a place where homework is valued and where parents can serve as a teacher-in-residence. That allows for much more flexibility in the school day and takes the pressure off getting every transition perfect or focusing every discussion toward an instructional end.”

            Now, I need to clarify. Some parents are what you might call “helicopter parents.” When I mention supportive parents, I’m not referring to this. I certainly don’t approve of parents who are so overbearing they hinder their child’s social growth or education. And these types of parents would certainly get in a teacher’s way of helping a child. These parents get in their own way of raising their children.
          But with the right balance in every district, it is possible education could improve. What do you think?

         Now, you might observe that some parents don’t have time to commit, and for good reasons. They are typically among the lower class, have long commutes to and from work and physically taxing jobs. Sometimes, these people also have trouble providing food or other essentials for themselves, and can barely gather the energy to get their kids to school in the morning. These barriers can keep parents from providing stimulation for growth, and from actively playing a role in their child’s school district.

            These parents might also speak English as a second language, or do not speak English at all. This barrier can keep parents from helping children with schoolwork and communicating effectively with teachers.

            Wright has provided his solution for these scenarios, and I’ll touch on pros and cons of that plan next week.

            Until then, feel free to comment, or email me at jscott.dykowski@gmail.com with thoughts and questions.  

The (scary) teacher or the system?

I first knew of my dissatisfaction with public school at the "mature" age of eight. My mom and I attended a parent-teacher conference one evening to discuss an alleged wrongdoing, and I was both indignant (how naive I was) and scared.

Feeling small in my short chair, mom (who I thought was extraordinarily tall) took her position next to me as concerned parent, but also as comforter; and together we sat across a moon-shaped table from my teacher. Turning toward my mom, the teacher told her I lied (which wouldn’t be that hard to believe) about completing a reading assignment.

Mom knew I had finished the homework, and defended me.

To our shock, the teacher then accused mom of lying.

I decided that day that something was wrong with the teacher.

Looking back, I’m sure the teacher knew my mom was young and economically disadvantaged. Subsequently, she assumed Mom didn’t care about my education.

Today, I realize my second-grade self was wrong. The teacher isn’t to blame as much as a faulty system.

While I would argue that the Texas education system has its strong points, the unfortunate truth is that it is failing our kids. This is why I have created this blog; as a forum on how to strengthen what works and improve the weaknesses.

I said “our kids” but to be honest I have none – yet. Why then would a 22-year-old journalist with virtually no stake in public schools care about this issue?

I care because it’s possible to see how these weaknesses are contributing to a depressing trend (more on that in a minute).

Please understand that public education benefited me in many ways. I had several inspiring teachers; my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Dillon, helped me earn commended on my math TAAS test through diligent tutoring. Mrs. Lowry, my middle school history teacher, talked me through an awkward adolescence and taught my class what a teacher who loves teaching – and especially loves students – can accomplish. (To her credit, she also shared a lot of candy.)

Unfortunately, devoted teachers such as these can’t fix the problems alone. Teachers face many obstacles, such as poorly executed standardized testing, favoritism toward athletic excellence and economically- and time-challenged parents.

These obstacles, and others, contribute to a 30 to 40 percent drop out rate in the United States, according to the Milton and RoseFriedman Foundation.

At this rate, close to half of our population will struggle to read, write, budget or hold a job, among a number of other essential skills. Are overwhelmed teachers, discouraged students or overworked parents to blame? Or is the system at the core of this offense?

For good teachers’ care to be most effective, change is needed.

Consequently a former superintendent of Dallas ISD, Linus Wright, recently published some interesting ideas on restructuring Texas’ education system. These ideas include early childhood education, more rigorous teacher training and exploring proper compensation and benefits for teachers, as compared to the private sector.

I plan to discuss the pros and cons of Wright’s 13-point plan during the next thirteen weeks. Expect, around Fridays, thoughts on extending the school year, early childhood education and even eliminating the senior year of high school, (yes, that does mean cutting a whole year of football.)

Check back often, as I’ll post on other topics, as well.

Naturally, the purpose of blogging is to solicit comments – after all, the only way we can improve what doesn’t work is to speak up.