For those with children

[rjohnson]

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060510/NEWS/60510001/1002

Appears Mississippi is doing better than most think. We've only have 2 schools being restructured right now. Maybe we're finally showing that we are not a bunch of dumb inbreds down here, something we've known all along.

[Ducks be us]

Ill scare ya bit...outta 23 kids in my wifes kindergarden class, 4 have BOTH parents at home

[cody's guide]

how about this scare.
i coach my sons 8 yr old baseball team.
i have 12 kids on the team and usually there is only 4 parents at the practice. including me, my assistant coach and 2 other parents.
the other parents either drop their kids and leave or sit in the car and never approach to watch or get involved in any way.

[crow]

Hey, guys, MS is doing a lot of really great things in the state DOE these days. They are getting good results in terms of student achievement and literacy. Problem is, they had such a long way to go and were so far behind when they finally got the right people on board. They really are working hard and doing good work. Gov. Barbour is pushing them like crazy and they are responding.

The kids are not going to be on top next year because they started near the bottom. But, I think in the next 3/4 years MS is going to pass several states in student achievement.

There are a bunch of things in No Child Left Behind that are pure crap. but one thing I will agree with. The act has gotten the states looking at hard data and forcing some changes based on that data. The law will not allow schools to get by on the "feel good" basis anymore.

Long way to go and some difficult times left, but please be proud of what the state of MS and its DOE is trying to do in the public schools.

crow

[rjohnson]

Last year my wife was still in school at DSU and she had to go observe some delta elementary school teachers, not sure of which schools. One of the teachers had sentence cards, whatever those are, on the walls and she said half of them didn't use proper grammar. The same teacher also couldn't pronounce Corduroy, like the bear in the children's book. She reading it to the kids as Cottery, like pottery with a C. This was at the onset of the NCLB stuff. No wonder we were so far behind the times.

[Wildfowler]

the other parents either drop their kids and leave or sit in the car and never approach to watch or get involved in any way.

Jeeze, that sucks.

Wouldn't it be better just to not have any, than to have no involvement?

[sallymae]

we are doing better but i believe its a generation thing as soon as parents promote from an early age the benefits of education and set standards for their children then a pattern will develop i think it all starts at home and carries over in the school

[tunica]

how about this scare.
i coach my sons 8 yr old baseball team.
i have 12 kids on the team and usually there is only 4 parents at the practice. including me, my assistant coach and 2 other parents.
the other parents either drop their kids and leave or sit in the car and never approach to watch or get involved in any way.

I coached kids over 15 years ago and guess what...the same thing then...did you not know your a sub for daycare

[cody's guide]

they need to drop their kids off somewhere else and quite taking up my time with their misfits. i don't really want to coach kids that don't want to be coached. but it is the rec league and i have no choice..

[Drakeshead]

As far as these State test go, I am not buying it! Reason why? Our 6th grader just finished up his test a week ago. Well, Friday May 5th was the day before his birthday so we took cupcakes for the kids to eat. When my wife and I go into the office to get our visitors pass, sitting in another room that I was able to see into were two teachers going through the test and ERASING answers and correcting some of the test! Yes, at first I thought I was wrong so I asked my wife to go back and take a look. She came back and said I was seeing EXACTLY what I thought I was seeing.

I can't remember what grade he was in at the time, either second or third, but he said that the teachers were being nice during the test and "helping" them out. I asked him what he was referring to. He said that the teachers would walk around and say "You might want to check that answer." While saying that they would tap next to the correct answer. To the students the teachers were being "nice"; to the rest of us they are enabling our youth to continue on a downward spiral of illiteracy.

Also, and I can only speak for one school in the Vicksburg, MS area, but the teachers/school are just teaching the test. Our son never took a math exam the entire school year, only the weekly or bi-monthly Benchmark Exam. The teacher would teach would the exam would be testing on and the grade you received was what you made on your Benchmark. Our son finished up his math class the day that they took the State test. On that day they turned in their books and everything. He said that they just go to the class now and sit around.

My opinion on this is teach the students what they need at their specific grade level and they will past their exams. When I was growing up we were never taught the California Achievement Test, but the teacher taught you what you needed at that grade level then you should have no reason, except your own, not to do average on the test. If you were a student that excelled, then you may do better than average.

[QUACKERS]

this is somewhat concerning to me? One of my boys is in 3rd grade and has struggled in reading,spelling and math at times, at times its due to him not wanting to do it. I have approached the teacher about holding him back and she seems to think that he is doing fine and deserves the 4th grade. I am not sold on the fact as of yet to let him go on?

A big problem that I will face is explaing why on paper he passed with A's B's and been an honor role student until this last semester he had a C. I may be over concerned but I want whats best for him and his reading and spelling problems have me very concerned.

[rjohnson]

You should have reported exactly what you seen to the Board of Education in V-Burg. That was grounds for revocation of the teachers' license which they should have been revoked. My wife teaches and they had a monitor in each hall that would peak in about every 5 minutes and watch for a second. They couldn't sit down at any point and pretty much had to keep her arms crossed all day. As far as after they turn in the tests I don't know how they could have gotten away with that.

[Drakeshead]

rjohnson,

They had the test all stacked up. You could tell that they asked the students to slide their answer sheets into the test and hand them in so that they could make one large stack. The teachers in the room were taking the large stack and removing the answer sheets and then making two stacks, answer in one and test in the other. They also had the large erasers in hand and were going through the test and answers. I know that if I were to ask what they were doing they would have said "Just using our erasers to clean up the stray marks" but when I also seem the going back and looking through the test with the answer sheet and marking on the test, there is a problem!

Quackers,

I know what you mean. Several years ago when our daughter was in the 7th grade she had brought home a few low grades. When we went to speak to the teachers about it they were like, "She isn't failing, and so what is the problem." The PROBLEM!!! The problem is that teacher’s think that as long as the grade is above a 69 all is OK. Not to me it isn't! If my child slips, I want to know so that the problem can be addressed early on before it becomes a real issue.

I am not ancient by any means, but back when I went to school our teachers would still be in the classroom working on the next days stuff or doing some type of work until 4-5pm. Nowadays it seems as though the teachers are running to the door just as fast as the kids are to get out of there. If a child was slipping up, the teacher would ask the child to stay after school to assist the child in his/her development. I do not see this taking place anymore.

I do not make these comments towards any particular teacher of individual. This is my perspective of what I have noticed over the years dealing with teacher's that my kids have been in contact with. Some of the teacher's have been great, but I can't say that for the majority.

[rjohnson]

I agree most of the teachers are slingin' dirt and rubber leaving everyday. My wife got pissed because I told her she had no reason to go to the school on the weekends and waste the gas and time (Pearl to Madison in an SUV). She said she had stuff to do. I said you can stay longer in the afternoons and save a little money and time. I got the silent treatment for an hour. They do need to spend more time up there tutoring kids that need more help and improving themselves through homework of their own. I'd like her to make more money but she won't until they all, her included, put more into it. They are getting better results, valid or not, but won't work any harder whether they get a raise or not.