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| Schmidt: Don't Blame Schools for Test Scores |
The president of Carl Sandburg College has what might be considered a radical idea in terms of improving education.
Education was the focus of Thursday night's community visioning session at CSC hosted by the City of Galesburg, and discussion ended up being centered around a concern that students might not much care about their futures, and might not be as ready for college and the working world as their elders are.
Panelists agreed that parental involvement in their child's education will be key. And Tom Schmidt says too much emphasis is put on how well the education system does, and not enough on how the student does. "As a culture, we're holding schools accountable for private performance. We're holding teachers responsible for what should be private performance," Schmidt said. "And from my perspective, it's upside-down. We're holding the wrong entities accountable."
Schmidt says unfortunately that can't be helped under the federal No Child Left Behind law, but he says he wishes it could be. "Are we a nation of guaranteed opportunities, or have we become a nation of guaranteed outcomes regardless of our inputs?" Schmidt asked.
Schmidt says with the country being right in the middle of a global economy, if that kind of thinking continues, in his words, we'll have a harder road to hoe.
Schmidt says making mistakes it not only a good thing, it should be encouraged.
Download audio from the sessions by CLICKING HERE.
(The group assembled at Thursday night's Community Visioning assembly watch the panel discussion prior to break-out sessions. WGIL News story and photos by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 03 20 09 by Newsroom |
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