Teachers, and the Students Who Need Them FAFMD (10/11/08)

What is the job of a Teacher? To teach? To help students learn? To give students experience? To motivate? ?

Are we responsible for what a student knows/can do a year from know?

Jobs? Nearly 75% of high school graduates enter college, but only 12% of these students will complete a significant college degree. (US Dept. of Ed) For students who complete high school, only six in 10 will obtain a job For students who drop out, only three in 10 will obtain a job. (Alliance for Excellence in education)

Salary? Assuming that each works until age 65 and earns the average salary A high school graduate will earn nearly $333,000 more than a dropout, A student with a college degree will earn $538,000 more than a high school graduate (Alliance for Excellence in education)

Salaries US Department of Commerce Average Earnings in 1999 Average Earnings in 2004 High School Dropout $21,035 $19,000 High School Graduate $28,184 $26,200 Some College $29,221 $27,757 College Associate Degree $32,638 $33,400 College Graduate with BA $44,985 $52,593 Professional $75,000 $88,904

Only one in five repeat freshman graduate high school (Kenton County Numbers)

Why do Students Drop Out The number one reason “I wasn’t learning anything” The number two reason “I hate school” Nine in ten students say they would work harder if their high school expected more of them. (Gates foundation)

Why do Students Drop Out 50 percent said they left school because their classes were boring and not relevant to their lives schools did not motivate them to work hard Four years later, 74 percent of high school dropouts said they would have stayed in school if they had to do it over again (Gates foundation)

Rigor

Gender Gap Special Education 70 % 30 % 4 Year Degree 43 % 57 % Male Female Special Education 70 % 30 % 4 Year Degree 43 % 57 % Master’s 42 % 58 %

Gender Gap Boy vs. Girl Attention Deficit 4 Times Greater Drop Out 30 % More Likely Violent Crime 85 % More Likely Suicide 6 Times as Likely

Teaching VS. Learning

Is this us? Not really.

McREL Needed Time 15,465 Hours Available Time 9,042 Hours

Teachers struggling to teach an overloaded curriculum!

Which Choice Should We Make? Teach all the standards Teach what standards we can fit in Teach interesting lessons which hit standards Teach what we want and don’t worry about the standards Teach what we think we should-according to the textbook, our gut . . .

In schools the status quo persists!

Sometimes, I feel like I know less today than I did yesterday.

CTBS-9th Grade CTBS-6th Grade

A’s & B’s?

What are the Students Saying? They love pathways The facilities at the school are awesome They believe their teachers care about them They really like their teachers Nice Caring Funny

What are the Students Saying? There are slackers in the classroom who are just allowed to slack To many students who talk back to the teachers and get away with it Most of our quizzes are on Friday When is tutoring? What is the homework hotline?

What are the Students Saying? 45 minutes is not enough time Our teachers often rush through stuff We rarely do hands on/real-life activities We don’t get many examples (especially in math) 90% of most classes are paper and pencil “I know why we have to do the stuff, but we are often bored” 90 minutes is too long, unless we break it up with activities or have a chance to move around 60 to 70 minutes would be perfect

Ask Yourself How did we get information in the past? How do we get it now? How will we get it in the future? Is it more important to know information or know how to find it? Is it more important to recall information or be able to use it? How important is it to educate each and every student? How important is content?

What to do? What to do?