Sunday, April 17, 2011
Module 11 Questions and Concerns
Concern: After both studying this course and EDLE 5603 (Intro to Leadership), I am concerned that with all the emphasis on standardized testing and those tests being tied directly to much needed funding, public schools will fail to educate the whole mind of a child. My concern is that schools will continue to emphasize only the skills needed to pass exams, and take away from programs that teach creativity, real-world problem solving, and application. Concern: I am concerned that policy regulation and oversight will be placed more and more in the hands of the federal government to the detriment of not only the states but more importantly local municipalities. Schools not only serve as educational organizations, but also have the role of socializing kids to successfully function in the community. While increased regulation may not have much of a social effect in large urban areas, increased oversight could be crippling to small rural districts. For example, imagine if small farming communities had to take funds away from their agricultural programs in order to meet federal mandates. Question: I know that the principal is the highest paid individual in the school building, but how does assistant principal pay compare to the principal and other teachers? If one enjoys being the assistant principal and does not want the stress and responsibility associated with being a principal, is it possible to be a career assistant and does this "look bad?" How would it effect the career of an assistant who is asked to be a principal but turns it down because he/she prefers being an assistant? Question: There is no doubt that schools MUST be teaching students how to utilize technology to be productive workers. Besides keeping up with and knowing what technology should be taught in classrooms, what technology skills do principals need to directly do their job effectively? How do you see advanced technology effecting the every day life of an administrator?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Kyle, I think your concerns about the accountability system are well justified. No one in education (that I know of) is pleased with the intense testing we are required to do. It is squeezing the life and joy out of education. If you want to know what I REALLY think, go to http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2007/04/teachers-please-find-your-voice.html
ReplyDeleteYour concern about federal regulation of education is a concern, but I'm not sure how the feds are going to get past the 10th Amendment that reserves education to the states. The localization of education is so important; what one group of children need is not what another group needs. And parents need to be in the decision-making loop. Considering the fact that more and more of the tax burden is being shifted to the local districts, I think the state and nation are both on shakey ground when they want to start mandating what happens (but they don't seem to have noticed this--yet!)
ReplyDeleteYour question about the adminiistrative roles in the building was interesting. I have supervised a number of assistant principals who stayed at that level their entire careers and were very happy with it. They liked dealing with kids and didn't want the hassle of running interference with central office and all the paperwork. For myself, I found that after about 4 years, the AP position became routine and I was ready to move on to something else. But that is not true for everyone, and there is no stigma attached.
ReplyDeleteConcerning technology and administration: you really need a strong foundation in technology--not the detailed programming or hardware kinds of knowledge, but how to use a word processing program, a data base such as excel, presentation software, and some kind of conferencing software. The most important thing is the ability to learn new programs specific to education and individual districts. If your district uses Columbia, you need to master it. If you change distrcits and they use Skyward, then learn that. You should be able to run your own reports. Model good technology usage for your staff and they will be more willing to learn it themselves.
ReplyDelete