The FOCUS Program

By Sean Scarpiello

In New York, the Liverpool School District is implementing the FOCUS program for the 2011-2012 school year. The program is being implemented to raise the 81% district graduation rate. The new program will be held in a recently closed elementary in the district and is expected to have approximately 50 students enrolled in the program by the fall. This program is designed to focus on students who have trouble in high school by personalizing classes and giving students more individualized attention. Although the program looks like it will be successful, many parents are skeptical and feel that it is not a prudent investment.

The program has good intentions and will definitely raise the graduation rate. It is important to personalize education for students that struggle, especially in high school. As society attempts to educate more and more people, education is becoming less personal. When students have less individualized attention, many begin to struggle because they have different learning styles, ineffective teachers, or because they need more time to grasp information. As educators find successful methods of educating more people in a shorter time, it is important to remember to keep education personal to some extent.

The FOCUS program however looks as if it will find success only at a high cost. The fact that the district is reopening a school for 50 students is a bit ridiculous. It costs a lot of money to reopen and maintain a school. The original idea to shut down the elementary school in the first place was to save money. Reopening the school for a small group of students is not efficient. When it comes to educating students in a public school, districts try to limit the amount money being spent on each student. My high school spent about $9,500 a year to educate me. This included everything from books to my share of teachers’ salaries. When the FOCUS program is implanted, the majority of students will have a similar amount of money being put towards their education, but there will be 50 students with much larger amounts of money being put towards their education.

In all, the FOCUS program will be good for the students who need it but there are easier and more efficient ways of carrying the program out. The only problem which really seems to upset the district’s taxpayers is that the local elementary school is being reopened. If the FOCUS program could be carried out in the high school, the program would be perfect. This would reduce a lot of the costs that accompany reopening and maintaining a building for a small number of students. Perhaps the administration will recognize this after the first year of implementing this program. The current state of the economy forces school districts to use their money wisely and the best way to make this program cheaper and efficient is to use high school classrooms.

Source:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/liverpool_prepares_to_launch_f.html

United States vs. Europe: Higher Education

By Sean Scarpiello

The American education system is constantly getting a bad reputation when it is compared to the rest of the world’s education system. Although there are some flaws in parts of America’s education system, the United States definitely has the best higher education system, especially when compared to the systems in many European countries. In Europe, schooling is very cheap or even free, yet college professors teach large numbers of students and remain relatively detached from their classes. Classes are typically held in buildings scattered all around cities and there is no real campus where students coagulate like in American Universities. How exactly does America have the upper hand when it comes to higher education?

First and foremost, the United States is home to most of the world’s best universities. These universities graduate the best leaders, business people, lawyers, doctors, and more. Also, a large percentage of Nobel Prize winners work at these universities. So overall, the United States has universities with solid professors and a quality education. Even though America has strong professors, the way the system is set up also gives the United States an edge when it comes to higher education.

European universities do not typically have main campuses. Along with this lack of a common area for students, European universities have fewer clubs, sports teams, and other social gatherings. Plus, professors at European universities do not really interact with their students. They usually give there lecture and hand out exams. There is no guidance or help given to students by professors in Europe. Even in some of the largest American Universities, there is still some sort of interaction whether it be a question and answer session or office hours. The point is that education is more than memorizing facts and grasping concepts. Education is a growing process that must be built from sources other than a lecture. Clubs and social interaction among students helps to build education. Students can learn just as much from each other than from a professor and this decreased amount of social interaction in Europe. Even the lack of feedback from professors in Europe is a problem. Students will know what they get wrong, but nobody tells them how to fix their mistakes.

One last way European universities fall short in higher education is how they are cheap or free. At first, little to no cost education sounds great; however, there are some flaws hidden within this system. Many students finish up their education and prepare to enter the workforce and discover that it was great being a student. This leads to many students staying in school because it is easy being a student and it allows people to put off working in the real world. This causes many problems with the government, employment, and the education system itself. In the United States, large college tuitions limit the amount of time students stay in college and give them reasons to hurry up and graduate. Once students do graduate, they can begin to pay off college loans by entering the workforce. For some students, the pricy tuitions motivate them to graduate in less time than previously thought.

Although America is weak in some areas of its education system, it is easy to see that higher education is unparalleled. Even though the education is not free or very efficient, in the long run it proves to be the best. People from all around the world get college educations in America because it is more than just an education. Higher education in America is an experience worth having.

Celebrity Tutors

By Sean Scarpiello

A friend of mine who recently immigrated to the United States from India was talking to me one day about the differences between life in the United States and India. When I asked him how high school compared in each country I was shocked to hear his comparison. He described that in India, school work always comes before fun, but in the United States, sometime fun can come before school work. This really made me think about the types schooling systems there are in other countries of the world. Currently in Hong Kong, there has been a lot of fuss about tutors who are treated much like celebrities. How exactly are these celebrity tutors affecting Hong Kong and will the rest of the world adapt these methods one day?

In Hong Kong, there are currently a hand full of tutors who are famous for their teaching skills and regarded as celebrities. They pretty much live the celebrity life style and have nice cars and big houses. Parents are willing to spend a lot of money on their children’s education and hire these tutors so that their children can do even better in school. But, is this good for the education system of Hong Kong? In my opinion, it is good in moderation for more than one reason. First off, when tutors are suddenly being viewed as celebrities, a lot of the fame and fortune can get to the tutors heads. This can later cause a decreased quality in education for these students. Also, tutoring needs to be implemented in moderation because it is possible to have too much of a good thing. If parents are hiring a tutor, it should be to help the student in one or two subjects where the student is weak. In Hong Kong, some parents are having their children tutored in several classes. This is not tutoring. If a student is constantly struggling in more than two academic subjects, it is probably best to just accept that the student will not be able to succeed in an education system as brutal as that of Hong Kong. This just turns in to unnecessary stress.

Since there is such a large amount of students and a low college acceptance rate, it may be best to come to the realization that not everyone is cut out for college. This may be hard to grasp for some parents but the world still needs plumbers and electricians to function properly. I am in no way down-playing these jobs, but really I am describing how these occupations are just as important as jobs which require years of education. Also, I am not saying that a quality education is not important. Quality educations are important, but there should be no shame in having an occupation that comes with little prestige. There are some blue-collar workers out there making a lot more money than some lawyers.

Is there a possibility that the United States will one day have these sorts of celebrity teachers? There will probably be some celebrity educators but only to an extent. There will not be celebrity tutors to the extent that there are now in Hong Kong. This is not because American students do not want to learn, but this is attributed more to the way the United States education system is made up. The United States has more colleges with more spaces for students. There is a greater opportunity for students to learn in the United States. Some of the students who are accepted into American colleges may never come close to getting into college if they lived in Hong Kong. However, parents in the United States still drop large sums of money on their children’s education and if an educator were to step up and create a successful learning program that is personalized for students, much like the tutors of Hong Kong, there would be a bit of a fuss. America would still find many benefits that Hong Kong has found, just not to the extent. There is definitely the possibility for tutors to become popular in other parts of the world where the education system is harsher. Some parts of Europe and Asia would find a lot of success with tutors. At this point, there really needs to be someone who steps up and creates tutoring programs for students around the globe.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/some-tutors-treated-like-celebrities-in-hong-kong-2011-05-30/4D99C0CD-4ABA-4B2D-8702-EA27BB317C70#!4D99C0CD-4ABA-4B2D-8702-EA27BB317C70

What Makes a Good Teacher?

By Sean Scarpiello

As teaching gradually becomes a popular profession, more and more people are looking to be teachers. We currently have the highest number of people qualified to be teachers than ever before. Although there is such a large amount of people to pick from, most of these people would probably be terrible teachers. Even of all the people currently employed as teachers, a lot of them are simply poor educators. It takes a special kind of person to be a teacher. A good teacher needs to have a particular personality and qualities. So what kind of qualities make a good teacher?

We have all had bad teachers. They come in all different forms. There are the popular teachers that everyone likes, but cannot teach their subject. Likewise, there are extremely well educated teachers that cannot get their point across. These teachers just do not know how to teach. Many teachers do not pay much attention to their lesson plan and curriculum and that is very obvious to the students. Good teachers do not get enough credit for the hard work that they do put into their time in the classroom. Good teachers are able to put themselves in the mindset of their students whether they are in 2^nd grade or seniors in high school. A lot of critical thinking goes into teaching. Many teachers either underestimate or overestimate the intelligence of their students. Many high school teachers are notorious for overestimating their students’ intelligence. For example, many math teachers have several struggling students a year. In math, many students forget some of the basic principles which direct complex math equations. While a handful of teachers assume all the students remember their basic math skills, good teachers take some time during class to review these simple concepts.

Finding this balance in each class is difficult but the best teachers always find this point in their students’ intelligence. The good teachers are also able to stimulate the brains of the smarter students while still being able to attend to the students that have a difficult time learning. Too many teachers pick one of the two extremes of students to target. Often, teachers target the smarter students in the class and cause even the average students to become lost. Some teachers which target the students which learn slower find just as many problems as teachers which focus on faster learning students. The smarter students quickly become bored because they are not being challenged. Therefore, many students lose interest in the subject being taught and even the smarter students' grades begin to drop because they put in less effort.

Everybody has also had a teacher being unfair, unreasonable, or one that just cannot be pleased. These are probably the most frustrating teachers to have as a student. More often than not, students struggling with C’s or D’s in a class are putting in more time than students with A’s. It is extremely difficult to be a student these days and students put in more time into their studies than it may seem. The best teachers recognize this and motivate their students to keep up the good work. Many teachers call home if there are problems in class. What teachers should do is call when students are doing a good job. As a student, it feels good to know that your hard work and effort is not going unrecognized. Even if the student has a less than spectacular grade in class, a phone call home telling mom and dad that there is an obvious increase in effort will motivate the student to keep working hard. Even in high school, students like to have their hard work recognized by both their teachers and their parents.

One last key quality which good teachers possess is respect. This means the teacher respects the students and the students respect the teacher. If the teacher respects students, teachers will have a better time teaching. They will quickly learn the strengths and weakness of their students and help each student work to fix their weaknesses. Students will recognize this and will become motivated to work harder in school to prove to themselves and others that they can improve. If students respect their teachers, teachers will be taken seriously and will have more authority in class. Many substitute teachers have a tough time demanding respect from students. Thus, they are taken advantage of and walked all over whether they realize it not. It is rare that a substitute teacher comes into class and has even a little control over the class. Substitute teachers need to lay down the law quickly in the beginning of class and set the tone for the rest of the time in class. This is easiest if the substitute knows the classroom policies and implements them right away.

These are only a few of the key differences which set the great teachers apart from the average teachers. From a student’s perspective, these aspects are very important because students like to have attention and feel important in class. Many students also like to be motivated and need an authority figure to push them to reach places that they once thought impossible.

Reaching Out to Others to Save Money

By Sean Scarpiello

As the government continues to cut education funding, schools are forced to come up with new ways to save money. School administrators in Waco, Texas have reached out to the parents of students, as well as the rest of the community for ideas to save money. People could submit their suggestions online which were then categorized and counted. There ended up being 115 different suggestions; both good and bad ones. Currently, the school district’s financial advisors are reviewing this list to see whether or not any of the ideas could be implemented in schools.

In general, I feel that this is a great idea. It is a very wise move for administrators to reach out to parents and the community for a number of reasons. First off, some parents may have good ideas for cutting costs but simply cannot have their ideas heard at the district’s board meetings. The school district really has nothing to lose because of the 115 suggestions a few of the ideas should be able to save money. It also takes some pressure off of the administrators because parents will then realize just how difficult it is to come up with creative ways to save money. This process gives everyone a voice, so there really is no excuse for parents whining how they cannot make a difference when they have good ideas. In reality, most of the ideas are probably useless because they are either impractical or simply cannot be executed without a decrease in the quality of education. It is vital that the district has the ideas reviewed by its financial advisors because most of the good ideas that seem to work still may be unable to be implemented due to several reasons.

More school districts across the country should also try this technique to gather ideas for cutting costs. They may be surprised to discover that there are some good suggestions out there for saving money. One other way districts could look for crafty ways to reduce costs would be to look at the ways other school districts all over the country are finding ways to save. Schools all across America have faced cuts in federal funding and if school districts can learn from each other, then they can get more bang for their buck.

It will be interesting to see if any of the 115 suggestions can actually be used in the school district. I feel that the results will be promising. At college, professors and courses would always be graded at the end of each semester in order to make changes for the next year. The college used the feedback given by students and courses would be restructured then every few years to ensure a high quality of learning. It is good to see how other institutions are adopting the same technique of reaching out to others for ideas to improve. This should definitely be practiced more in the education field and schools all over should by saying, “Help us to help you.”

Source: http://www.kxxv.com/story/14680592/parents-list-their-ideas-to-save-waco-isd-money

Keeping Cursive in School

By Sean Scarpiello

There has recently been a running debate among educators on the usefulness of teaching cursive in elementary schools. Everybody remembers spending countless hours in second and third grade perfecting their cursive. Today, teachers are thinking about cutting it from the curriculum for several reasons. Educators are not calling to question the importance of cursive, but some feel that it isn’t worth it. There are several pros and cons for educating today’s youth cursive.

First, the major problem that arises with teaching cursive is the opportunity cost. Teachers ask, “What else can I be doing in class during the time that it takes to teach second graders cursive.” This question makes many teachers think because there is a large chunk of class time dedicated to teaching cursive. Students practically are relearning the alphabet in a more fancy and complicated style. This means they need to spend a lot of time constantly writing out their cursive over and over again. For me, cursive was practiced first thing each morning for about an hour over a time span of about three to four months. Each hour of dedicated to cursive can add up over time and this time could have easily been elsewhere.

Another problem that accompanies the instruction of cursive is that cursive is a dying art as technology is quickly taking over. Many argue that people never use cursive to write letters as email has taken over. Even in the workplace, documents are typically typed and if not people just print because it is easier. Therefore, it seems preposterous that schools spend a lot of time on cursive when it is used little, if at all, in the future. This especially holds true when teachers see that time teaching cursive can be changed to time teaching students to use computers and other technology. In the long run, it would definitely serve students better if they were taught to use the computer and type rather than learning to write in cursive.

On the other hand, there are still many arguments for keeping cursive in school. For one, students need to learn it for signing signatures in the professional world and even in their daily lives as adults. Cursive has always been regarded as professional and practiced only the well-educated individuals in society. If there is an end to cursive, many people would come across as being flat out dumb. Even today, too many students do not know how to professionally sign a letter or signature. It is still important to not completely cut cursive from curriculums.

The best alternative to this problem would be to assign cursive as homework. Also, cursive could be done independently over summer. This would give teachers more time in class to teach other important things that may be overlooked when trying to squeeze cursive into a full curriculum. An advantage to cursive is that it easy to learn and can easily be picked up by students on their own at home and independently. This advantage should be taken advantage of by teachers. Especially when there are subjects taught in classes that are not as easy to grasp for second and third grade students.