Tonight we had the pleasure of listening to a discussion by two members of the Decorah school board. I never really knew what a school boards functions were, so it was very interesting. I learned they really only have two functions:(1)Create policies (2)Hire the superintendent. However this takes up a good amount of time and should not be looked down upon.
Many questions were asked regarding their views on the NCLB act, and their answers were fascinating. It was refreshing to finally hear some good things being said about the whole policy. They feel as though the Decorah school district has truly embraced NCLB and it has worked in many positive ways for the teachers and students. True, it makes things a little more costly, but in the end, they are evaluating and have a more solid ground to work from when creating policies and putting teachers into classrooms.
Jim brought up the rising concern of the United States falling behind in academics, compared to many eastern cultures. Immediatley I was annoyed. I hate bringing so much competition into education. However, I really enjoyed the response given. Eastern countries grow children to be academically sound, and that is about it. In the United States there is more focus on the student as a whole. We create more well-rounded people. Academics, social connections, and activities are all stressed as important, instead of only one main focus in academics.
All around, the discussion went very well, and kept my attention. It gave me hope for the schools I will soon be teaching in!
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I completely agree with you when you talked about competing with other countries - it should be a competition! And I also loved their response to that question. I wrote about it, too!
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