Report: Schools, Teacher Ed Programs Ignore How Kids Really Learn

We are including this article not because we feel the teachers are ignoring how our children learn but to stress the importance of quality teachers in our classrooms and an Administration that values teachers and their abilities. To discredit Neil Kinnon's belief, monkeys can not (and should not) be teaching our children. Our children deserve only the very best teachers and staff members. Much research has been done documenting the importance of having quality teachers within our schools. This is where Mr. Kinnon's lack of experience and credentials outside of MVRCS has very negative, long lasting implications on our children. Again, please know that we are NOT criticizing our teachers, we know that our school is very fortunate to have many of them. We also know that just as we all want to be the very best that we can be, so too do they. In order for them to be the very best educators they can be, they must have a highly qualified Administration and Board that values their profession and dedication to our children.
In the financial reports the school spends an impressive amount of money on professional development and travel (which we would hope was related to professional development of the teachers - anyone know of staff doing any travel?) yet we must question what the content is based on and who is delivering it. We've heard of too many instances of the current Administration standing before the staff reading from either a power point or handout for hours. We have also heard that the staff are so incredibly uninspired and uninterested in the content that they are typically doing other things (we even heard of one training session where John Baglio fell asleep). Again, we stress, OUR TEACHERS (AND CHILDREN) DESERVE BETTER!

Report: Schools, Teacher Ed Programs Ignore How Kids Really Learn

Report: Schools, Teacher Ed Programs Ignore How Kids Really Learn    10/07/10 by Wrightslaw

“If we do not integrate what we know about how children grow and learn, we run the risk of losing another generation of learners.
…a growing amount of developmental research confirms that as many of half of all students become chronically disengaged, contributing to the high dropout rates and achievement gaps that have plagued our schools for a generation.”
Research shows that learning improves when teachers address students’ emotional, social, and cognitive needs. Unfortunately, this research is not widely used.
“What can educators and schools do to help students from challenging family backgrounds, or those who simply lack the motivation to learn?”

James Comer and Robert Pianta found discouraging answers to that question in a new report commissioned by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education released this week.
Despite the understanding of how children and adolescents grow and learn, schools are not applying this knowledge. Neither are teacher preparation programs.
“If teachers don’t know how to address their students’ emotional, cognitive, and social needs, they face an uphill battle in improving student achievement, especially among at-risk populations facing persistent achievement gaps.
Report: Schools, Teacher Ed Programs Ignore How Kids Really Learn
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/research/report-schools-teacher-ed-prog.html
Read the complete article by James P. Comer, associate dean of medicine at Yale University and co-founder of the Yale Child Study Center School Development Program, and Robert Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. They co-chaired a panel on developmental science issues for NCATE, responsible for assuring the quality of programs that educate the nation’s teachers and school leaders.
NCATE Initiative on Increasing the Application of Developmental Sciences Knowledge in Educator Preparation.
http://www.ncate.org/public/IncreasingDevelopmentalSciences.asp