Critical Issues
School climate, standardized testing, and technology are three critical issues Julie believes current educators face today. These issues are what schools feel like, how they are structured, and what they have to offer. School climate, now more than ever, is impacting the way teachers do their jobs. Julie and Pestalozzi shared the idea of creating schools characterized by a pervasive climate of emotional security (Gutek, 2011, p.170-171). In order to create a safe, nurturing, and student-centered environment, all school leaders and stakeholders must collaborate to create initiatives, opportunities for parental involvement, and increase support of teachers. Standardized testing is what many teachers feel that they can no longer teach the curriculum based on achievement and individual’s
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They now must teach “the test.” These high stakes tests carry a lot of weight for students and teachers as promotion/retention and performance based salaries are often tied to them. Teaching the actual items on a test is counterproductive for the practical reason that it makes valid inferences about student achievement almost impossible (Bonds, 2008).
Technology is ever changing. The technological needs, schools are sometimes struggling to keep up. We all know that our students will be competing globally for jobs in the future. The struggle to keep pace with other countries in the area of technology is a constant race. From Julie’s viewpoint, teachers have tried to improve school climate by beginning in their classrooms. There are behavioral incentives, character education, and parent outreach activities at schools. These activities are trying to improve the look and feel of the school for students and teachers. She also believes through education unions. Teachers have voiced their concerns regarding high stakes testing for years to no avail. In order to meet student needs, teachers are continuing to meet curriculum and