SCHOOL DAYS:
By: William Biggerstaff,
Recently, at the annual joint
Missouri School Boards Association and Missouri Association of School
Administrators Conference, your
In 1988, he joined the nationally
recognized Iowa Business and Education Roundtable. Once a harsh critic, he is now an articulate
champion of
Public education has accomplished so much, but our teachers and administrators are told – mandated – to do more not just teach our children, but raise them. They cannot do this alone.
We need all children to unfold their full potential; education is now the key ingredient for personal, community, and national success. Now is a moment of enormous opportunity for our public schools. We can harness the energy and use it to support our teachers and educate our children.
1. Teach basic reading, some writing, and arithmetic skills, and
2. Cultivate values that serve a democratic society (some history and civics).
The founders of these schools assumed that families and churches bore the major responsibility for raising a child. Gradually, some science and geography were added, but the curriculum was limited and remained focused for 260 years. At the beginning of the 20th century, society began to assign additional responsibilities to the schools. Politicians and business leaders saw the schools as a logical site for both the assimilation of immigrants and the social engineering of citizens of the “Industrial Age.” The trend of increasing the responsibilities of the public schools has accelerated ever since. Here are examples of the increases:
From 1900 to 1910, we added
l nutrition
l immunization, and
l health to the list of school responsibilities.
From 1910 to 1930, we added
l Physical Education, including organized athletics,
l the practical arts,
l vocational education, including home economics and agricultural education, and
l school transportation began to be mandated.
In the 1940’s, we added
l business education
l art and music
l speech and drama
l half day kindergarten, and
l
school lunch programs appeared (We take this for
granted today. It was, however, a
significant step to shift to the schools the job of feeding
In the 1950’s, we added
l expanded science and math education
l safety education
l driver’s education
l expanded music and art education
l foreign language requirements were strengthened, and
l sex education was introduced (topics continue to escalate).
In the 1960’s, we added
l Advanced Placement programs
l Head Start
l Title I
l adult education
l career education
l peace, leisure, and recreation education.
In the 1970’s, the breakup of the American family accelerated, and we added
l special education (mandated by Federal Government)
l Title IX programs (greatly expanded athletic programs for female students)
l drug and alcohol abuse education
l parent education
l behavior adjustment classes
l character education
l environmental education
l
school breakfast programs appeared (Now, some
schools feed
In the 1980’s, the
flood gates opened, and we added
l keyboarding and computer education
l global education
l ethnic education
l multicultural/non-sexist education
l English-as-a-second-language, and bilingual education
l Teen pregnancy awareness
l Hispanic heritage education
l Early childhood education
l Jump Start, Early Start, Even Start, and Prime Start
l full day Kindergarten
l pre-school programs for children at-risk
l after school programs for children of working parents
l alternative education in all its forms
l stranger/danger education
l anti-smoking education
l sexual abuse prevention education
l health and psychological services were expanded, and
l child abuse monitoring became a legal requirement for all teachers
In the 1990’s, we added
l conflict resolution and peer mediation
l HIV/AIDS education
l CPR training
l death education
l expanded computer and Internet education
l inclusion
l Tech Prep and School to Work programs
l gang prevention education (in urban centers)
l bus safety, bicycle safety, gun safety, and water safety education.
In the first years of the 21st century, we have superimposed upon everything else
l a layer of high-stakes, standardized testes
And in most states we have not added a single minute to the school calendar in five decades!
All of these added items have merit, and all have their ardent supporters, but they all cannot be assigned to the schools. No generation of teachers in the history of the world has been asked to meet this goal.
Americans in every community must come together to answer two essential questions: What do they want their children to know and be able to do when they graduate, and how can schools and the entire community be organized to ensure that all children reach the stated goals.
None of this negates the need for
change. We must change what, when, and
how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a
post-industrial society. But these
changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission, and active
support of the surrounding community.
Schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs, and the health of the communities
they serve, and therefore improving public education means more than changing
our schools, it means changing
Parents play one of the most essential roles in the educational process. They provide the environment in which students learn the discipline and dedication needed to be successful, not only in school but also in life. Parents must instill in their children a deep respect for hard work, achievement, and learning.
John Dewey once wrote, “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must be what the community wants for all its children”.