I recently read an article about a teacher who when he retired, wrote a letter on his Facebook about what is happening in teaching today. This gentleman had been a history teacher for 47 years, most of which he spent trying to inspire his student with the love of learning. Unfortunately he had to spend his last few years teaching his students how to pass a standardized test. To me this is heartbreaking. I, like many kids, may not have enjoyed every class or every day of school, but overall I took many things away from my years in school. My love of reading started in 1st grade and 40 odd years later is still with me. I've always loved history, but my interest in archeology and anthropology started in 4th grade because my 4th grade teacher gave us a week long presentation on King Tut.
If teachers today are forced to only prepare their students for what is on a standardized test then where does the inspiration come from to go out and find out about this wonderful world of ours? The disservice that is being doing done to kids today is a tragedy. Drop out rates are higher now than ever and we are also losing great teachers as well. For one of the most wealthy countries in the world, why are not more of our American children going on to University?
Do I have the answers? No. But I do have the concern for what the future will look like for children in the future. The hard questions need to be asked, is "No Child Left Behind" actually leaving more children behind?
K.W. Green
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