I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments and opinions, but like with our public policy makers, the perspective of an actual teacher is missing.
What everyone is forgetting in this argument over who to help, the low or high achievers, is that a teacher's job is to help both! Especially in elementary school, where everyone is lumped in together, and where all this "low achieving" starts. As a teacher, I cannot just focus all my time and energy on the high achievers, while some of my 3rd graders still don't know how to read. Nor can I ignore the increasingly bored high achievers. What is the solution? More time and more resources. I wish I could clone myself and give everyone my full attention, but that's not possible, so we need the $$$. We need reading specialists to combat illiteracy and overcrowded prisons. We need vocational classes/schools to combat dropout rates and overcrowded prisons. We need more teachers and smaller class sizes to reach more students and combat overcrowded prisons (seeing the trend here...) And last, but not least, we need enrichment programs for our brightest few, so that they can be the leaders in the the arts, literature, science, technology, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments and opinions, but like with our public policy makers, the perspective of an actual teacher is missing. What everyone is forgetting in this argument over who to help, the low or high achievers, is that a teacher's job is to help both! Especially in elementary school, where everyone is lumped in together, and where all this "low achieving" starts. As a teacher, I cannot just focus all my time and energy on the high achievers, while some of my 3rd graders still don't know how to read. Nor can I ignore the increasingly bored high achievers. What is the solution? More time and more resources. I wish I could clone myself and give everyone my full attention, but that's not possible, so we need the $$$. We need reading specialists to combat illiteracy and overcrowded prisons. We need vocational classes/schools to combat dropout rates and overcrowded prisons. We need more teachers and smaller class sizes to reach more students and combat overcrowded prisons (seeing the trend here...) And last, but not least, we need enrichment programs for our brightest few, so that they can be the leaders in the the arts, literature, science, technology, etc.