ipl-logo

Purpose Of Education In The Central Dauphin School District

576 Words3 Pages

The question of what the purpose of education is a littered debate between readiness for the future workforce and growth as an individual. Neither answer is incorrect; education may prepare students for a career, college, or technical school while it can also be argued that education enlightens and builds an individual’s character, philosophy and citizenship. While observing a fourth-grade class in an elementary school in the Central Dauphin School District I have seen both perceptions of education go head-to-head. The district focuses on preparing students for the future workforce while my mentor teacher has adopted a progressivist view focusing on the whole child. The difference in the belief of education’s purpose causes tension between the administration and teachers which can be seen in the classroom in a variety of ways. …show more content…

The district, like most schools, is focused on standardized tests as they are the key to receiving sources of funding. Part of a teacher-focused essentialist view on education is a strong emphasis on a core curriculum centering around science, math, reading, and writing. Essentialism focuses on, “accuracy and thoroughness from each student” teachers are expected to push “for an overall higher standard for all students” in the core curriculum (Figures, 2012, n.p.). This philosophy is great, however, because the district is pushing it at the teachers through rigorous testing for their students and copious amounts of paperwork for teacher accountability there seems to be a disconnect between pushing all students to strive and creating a learning environment that fosters

Show More
Related
1505 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout history schools have served an important purpose; they aim to educate children and improve society by giving children the necessary skills needed to make advancements when they become old enough to make contributions. Although, schools are often criticized, by politicians, parents and in some cases the general population, for not serving their purpose properly. Often the people making these judgements are unaware of what is needed in schools. Society has been making judgements towards the education system for centuries and in some instances, it has been for the better. The thought behind the purpose of schooling hasn’t evolved as much as it has been broadened to include the vast majority of the population and along the way it has

Read More
647 Words | 3 Pages

If teachers did not have to spend so much of their time focused on covering each topic that the state will test on, they would be able to create a safe space for students to try, fail, and ultimately love to learn. Sadly, this is not the

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

From No Child Left Behind to Common Core education has taken a complete turn. It is no longer controlled by people that actually take part in the routine day to day, yet maybe it never has been. New people come into the office for the board of education and change education to what they think is best, even though they have never been in the classroom themselves. When it comes time to change the standards once again because the current standards are no longer working, a real teacher needs to be placed in the situation to decide how and what students learn. It is time to take the democracy out of teaching.

Read More
1147 Words | 5 Pages

School has been around for many years now. Countless of people every year attend this place in order to gain knowledge and grow as a person. The education an institution provides can vary from literature, philosophy, language, and so on. Willona M. Sloan has done research upon the purpose of education and found that it has to do with “[supporting] children 's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community” (pg 9). Although education serves a role in a person’s life, is the material provided to educate these students sufficient though?

Read More
1594 Words | 7 Pages

Meredith Broussard explains how standardized testing does not prove a child’s general knowledge nor creative in-depth thinking by stating, “Standardized tests are not based on general knowledge... they are based on specific knowledge contained in specific sets of books: the textbooks created by the test makers” (Broussard). Miner also states that standardized testing, “... leads to a dumbed-down curriculum that values rote memorization over in-depth thinking, exacerbates inequities for low-income students and students of color, and undermines true accountability among schools, parents, and community” (Miner). The assessment of a child should encourage a child to want to learn for the sake of learning. Alternative assessments could address a child’s development and learning process. These evaluations can determine why children are more likely to read behind grade level, instead of highlighting their inabilities.

Read More
1719 Words | 7 Pages

He argues that "…too much emphasis is placed on standardized tests, and not much is being done to develop teachers in providing a balanced teaching and learning experience for learners" (139). Cordeur backs up his statement by saying that teachers are being taught to teach the test, which leads to inflated test scores (139). However, while test scores have risen, he believes that educational standards have decreased (139). The article then takes a closer look at standardized testing specifically in America, and Cordeur explains that many teachers have abandoned teaching material outside of the test material due to pressure from the District of Education and other outside sources to increase their scores (142). What standardized test scores are not measuring, and therefore what the teachers are not teaching, are the educational standards mentioned.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

In fact 70 percent of educators surveyed in 2015 say that tests are not developmentally appropriate. Furthermore many students suffer a great deal of stress because of standardized tests. What’s most shocking is that instead of lower income schools getting better after tests were implemented they have actually gotten worse. School could essentially be taught by robots. At this point most teachers in my district have to teach a curriculum that is developed by the state instead of their own curriculum.

Read More
584 Words | 3 Pages

In the field of education there is going to be multiple things that you as a teacher are going to have to worry about. One of the things that you are going to have to deal with is standardized testing. Standardized testing is one of the things that teachers and students worry about. Standardized testing in my opinion is not as important as others make it out to be. Multiple things are wrong with standardized testing, such as, stressing out younger students, unfair to non-English speakers and students with special needs, also standardized tests are an imprecise measure of teacher performance but the test scores are used to punish and reward teachers.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

Standardized tests have caused so many teachers to be labeled due to how their students performed on tests. If their class performs well, the teacher is deemed to be a "good" teacher ; if their class does not perform so well than the teacher is often labeled "unfit" . Teachers dedicate so much teaching time to standardized tests and state exams when in all actuality, they are harming students more than they are helping them. For this and many other reasons, I believe that standardized and state tests do not measure educational quality and should not be a requirement. From pre-kindergarten until students have received all of their credits, they are required to take state test and exams, which have no reflection on how they 're

Read More
831 Words | 4 Pages

To be able to do that, the teachers have to go along with academic standards. The Common Core Standards were made without the inclusion of teachers, and teachers themselves say that these standards are not good for the students and teachers. Recently, students in New York took their annual tests and only a third of the students were successful

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

Even after the bell rings, there is constant work happening to keep the school district running. The Council of Learning definitely hit this point home for me. In their twenty page document on student progress, they not only explained the importance of academic progress but the importance of pushing for a safer school climate for their students. Outside of the report they addressed the difficulty of excessive testing requirements and how it is putting down students. Only having had the perspective of a student, it was reassuring to see educators seeing a problem and actively seeking a way to fix the problem.

Read More
600 Words | 3 Pages

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” Education can be utilized to help a person become more authentic, helping other people and himself conquer the troubles in life. Education is a mandatory but beneficial element in the lives of many Americans, especially myself. At a young age, my mother incorporated a strong

Read More
1283 Words | 6 Pages

Recently, the Common Core State Standards were developed and kids were going to be tested more than ever. However, all of this education reform has been a failure because our testing scores have not improved, the testing makes children suffer, and it doesn’t improve how teachers teach. Education reforms has had little effect on our testing scores. The average score for a 17 year old student doing a reading test in the beginning of school is 285 and over 40

Read More
924 Words | 4 Pages

There is no need for standardized testing in today’s schooling, due to the amount of work the students already have a lot of work on their plate as it is and something like that is the last thing they need. One major problem I have with this is that teachers have to build there syllabus around a test that depends if you’ll go on to the grade. Since the early ages of school, they make it seem if you do not pass this your life is over and nothing else matters except for passing this standardized test. According to Diane Ravitch, a historian of education, she states in her essay The Essentials of a Good Education, “An educated parent would not accept a school where many weeks of every school year were spent preparing for the state tests.” (108) In schools over America they spend weeks of school focusing on standardized testing and how that time spent away from learning the material is taking away from the students

Read More
742 Words | 3 Pages

The purpose of education is to create the “catalyst”, - the interest, the imagination, the self-confidence, the enthusiasm for further knowledge that helps a person grow beyond what they believe they can be. Education should help develop skills and knowledge, so students can be productive members of society. The more knowledge you have, the more opportunities you have in life. I think back to my childhood and the teachers that made an impact in my life. I want to be that catalyst for students.

Read More

More about Purpose Of Education In The Central Dauphin School District

Related Topics

Open Document