(no subject)
Well, I thought I'd shock everyone by posting... Let's see... I'm kind of anxious right now because it seems there is still a lot left to do on the house. I'm so ready for it all to be done, even if we can't move right away. But, the siding is looking good, and the house does look a lot better than it did two years ago. Many thanks to all those who have helped recently, including, but not limited to, Terri Lynn, Brandon, James, Ron, Derek, Doug, Rachel, and Steven. This list is in no particular order.
So, I'm not sure if the average western Kentuckian grasps the major education problem we have right now and what it means for the future. Currently, Muhlenberg Co. spends over $20 million dollars on slightly over 5,000 students (Headstart thru high school). Let me tell you briefly about my experience at Greenville Elementary last week. I worked mainly with the slower kids (third to fifth grade), even though some were in regular classes at times. What I found was that not only could NONE of the special ed kids read or even sound out basic words, but a significant number of the "regular" kids could not do so either. I helped out in a regular third grade Language Arts class, and found that some of the kids couldn't even copy sentences off of the board. During a math class, I was supposed to be assisting with two to three digit addition and subtraction which included "borrowing." These kids couldn't add and subtract without using plastic bears and counting everything out the long way. Nothing had been memorized. I'm saying they couldn't even tell me what 5+2 or 4-1 equals. Needless to say, by the end of the day I was very disheartened. I talked to two of the teachers about this predicament--one was a special ed aid, the other a regular third grade teacher. Both felt very powerless to change anything. The third grade teacher let me know she has been incredibly frustrated because she expects the kids she gets to be at a certain level, otherwise they wouldn't be in the third grade. However, this is not the case. Instead, she is held responsible for what the kids didn't learn in their previous three to four years of school. She let me know that she was scared to retire in Muhlenberg County, or anywhere in the area if this is our future.
So what is the future of these kids and the society they are part of? What kind of jobs can they get if they can't read and do basic math? What kind of companies want to move to an area where the population is increasingly undereducated? What does this mean? One teacher told me things would never be right until we took care of the drug problem. I believe this is a large part of it. However, no matter what kind of home life a kid comes from, isn't education the great equalizer? When I was in school, kids that were behind went to mandatory afterschool tutoring. I voluntarily went to math and science tutoring in high school so that I could do well in the subjects I was weak in. Anyway, a lot of these kids need one-on-one or smaller group attention. But, no one is willing to do this.
I volunteered at one of the high schools and one of the middle schools in the county to be a free after school tutor to anyone who needed it. Do you know what I was told? "We don't need that here." One of the middle schools uses an extra hour at the end of the day as "tutoring," or what they call "CATS (testing) Preparation." During this time, students watch movies, work on silly worksheets, and sit in the gym eating snacks while a handful play kickball or dodgeball.
Big deal you may say, there's still a majority coming out with an education, right? Actually that may not be true. Plus, even if it were true, what is to be done with my husband's 13, 14, and 15 yr. old cousins that still can't read or do basic math? One of them says he will join the army or work construction. Unfortunately you have to be able to read and do basic math in order to get into the army or get hired for construction. You can't build a house with no knowledge of numbers. It is very sad. I have kids in middle school and high school telling me that they'll just "collect a check." Where is all this money going to come from?
Anyone have any solutions? I have thought of writing Gov. Fletcher or perhaps our senators. But, I wonder what good that would do. I thought of trying to get a task force of educated professionals in the area to volunteer their time tutoring, but we would need the support of the administration which denies there is even a problem. Very sad.
So, I'm not sure if the average western Kentuckian grasps the major education problem we have right now and what it means for the future. Currently, Muhlenberg Co. spends over $20 million dollars on slightly over 5,000 students (Headstart thru high school). Let me tell you briefly about my experience at Greenville Elementary last week. I worked mainly with the slower kids (third to fifth grade), even though some were in regular classes at times. What I found was that not only could NONE of the special ed kids read or even sound out basic words, but a significant number of the "regular" kids could not do so either. I helped out in a regular third grade Language Arts class, and found that some of the kids couldn't even copy sentences off of the board. During a math class, I was supposed to be assisting with two to three digit addition and subtraction which included "borrowing." These kids couldn't add and subtract without using plastic bears and counting everything out the long way. Nothing had been memorized. I'm saying they couldn't even tell me what 5+2 or 4-1 equals. Needless to say, by the end of the day I was very disheartened. I talked to two of the teachers about this predicament--one was a special ed aid, the other a regular third grade teacher. Both felt very powerless to change anything. The third grade teacher let me know she has been incredibly frustrated because she expects the kids she gets to be at a certain level, otherwise they wouldn't be in the third grade. However, this is not the case. Instead, she is held responsible for what the kids didn't learn in their previous three to four years of school. She let me know that she was scared to retire in Muhlenberg County, or anywhere in the area if this is our future.
So what is the future of these kids and the society they are part of? What kind of jobs can they get if they can't read and do basic math? What kind of companies want to move to an area where the population is increasingly undereducated? What does this mean? One teacher told me things would never be right until we took care of the drug problem. I believe this is a large part of it. However, no matter what kind of home life a kid comes from, isn't education the great equalizer? When I was in school, kids that were behind went to mandatory afterschool tutoring. I voluntarily went to math and science tutoring in high school so that I could do well in the subjects I was weak in. Anyway, a lot of these kids need one-on-one or smaller group attention. But, no one is willing to do this.
I volunteered at one of the high schools and one of the middle schools in the county to be a free after school tutor to anyone who needed it. Do you know what I was told? "We don't need that here." One of the middle schools uses an extra hour at the end of the day as "tutoring," or what they call "CATS (testing) Preparation." During this time, students watch movies, work on silly worksheets, and sit in the gym eating snacks while a handful play kickball or dodgeball.
Big deal you may say, there's still a majority coming out with an education, right? Actually that may not be true. Plus, even if it were true, what is to be done with my husband's 13, 14, and 15 yr. old cousins that still can't read or do basic math? One of them says he will join the army or work construction. Unfortunately you have to be able to read and do basic math in order to get into the army or get hired for construction. You can't build a house with no knowledge of numbers. It is very sad. I have kids in middle school and high school telling me that they'll just "collect a check." Where is all this money going to come from?
Anyone have any solutions? I have thought of writing Gov. Fletcher or perhaps our senators. But, I wonder what good that would do. I thought of trying to get a task force of educated professionals in the area to volunteer their time tutoring, but we would need the support of the administration which denies there is even a problem. Very sad.