In Another Life...

For the final week of the book club my group decided to split the chapters unevenly, I mean how do you split 11 chapters among 3 people right? So don't let this throw you off in any way! Seeming how I was the Discussion Director I was given the task of preparing questions for my group to see if we can have a productive conversation and maybe tied up loose ends to the book. Below are the results! 

1) (pg.169) What are some ways practicing for a test can be a problem in a child's life? -> Testing so much can cause anxiety, doing it for the moment (as in they would only be learning to pass the test so the information given to them is temporary and becomes useless after the testing) loss of passion, HUGE impact on self-esteem.

2) (pg. 199) Who were the TFA and what was their purpose? (Teach For America)- they wanted to build by boosting education in low income communities, they were not always certified. -> Teaching program trying to close the achievement gap, in need of actual trained staff.

3) (pg. 216) Ravitch mentions how the testing showed many kids going into high school without a firm grasp of basic skills, why do you think that is? -> Teachers might not be aware of the child's lack of ability in specific subjects or subjects might have been glossed over, the children could have also gotten pushed forward instead of being held back so that they can actually learn what they're having trouble with, little to no parental involvement.

4) (pg. 234) Ravitch sees public schools as a well organized democracy, do you agree? If you came from a different type of school, what would make you think differently? -> Yes because many PTA's  (Parent Teacher Association) are organized giving the parents the freedom to voice the changes they want to better shape the future of the kids attending these schools, it is a service where parents should be able to voice their concerns without the threat of their children being kicked out.

5) (pg. 240) Ravitch goes into details on how today's "reforms" will never be as great as we want them to be and how teachers will always be blamed, what are some solutions you think might help? Does not need to be realistic-> Start addressing things, looking into international school systems to see why their system works and use them as a model, find a curriculum that fits everyone, less talk more action!

Some reoccurring themes...

1) High stakes testing is not beneficial

2) Making America able to compete with other nations in the market no matter the cost!

3) Testing does not work, find a better solution!