Discussion Panel Roles

Hi Andrea,

 

On Wednesday in the panel discussion, you will be a visiting state representative with liberal views around education and who believes that standards and incentives do not necessarily lead to more teacher and student motivation and achievement. You also feel that the community resources and school resources play a key role in providing the best educational opportunties for children. The panel discussion will be a town meeting of various community, school, and district/state representatives to address concern over increasing student failure to meet requirements on basic skills competency tests. The discussion will deal issues such as the following:

 

Who or what is to blame for student achievement declines in the public school system?

Who should be responsible for student achievement on minimum competency examinations?

What role does the school play in student achievement?

Are the miniumum competency (basic skills tests) fair?

Are they (tests) tough enough?

Should individual teachers be held responsible for students who don't meet minimum competency requirements?

Should individual teachers be rewarded for student achievement?

Should schools be evaluated in terms of the overall (mean) level of school achievement, or should they be held responsible for every child performing at a certain level? For instance, if a large proportion of students are performing at basic level or higher, does this suggest that the school is overall doing a good job? Or does it mean that the school is not accomodating to the needs of all students? For instance, are there certain students who have lower abilities or who are less motivated then others regardless of teacher or school factors? Should the individual student be held most responsible for their academic progress?

Or, do parents play the key role their children's success?

Should parents be held accountable for their children's educational performance more or as much as the individual teacher or school?

 

Remember to take advantage of personal as well as academic/scientific/popular media resources. Also, you can see the webpage for some perspectives about these issues to help you think about possible points of contention.

 

See you in class!