How would you handle the issues created by the No Child Left Behind act?
The idea of bridging the achievement gap is a basic tenet for every American school. However, to fit Kansas’s schools, No Child Left Behind needs to be fixed. If elected, I would advocate for less standardized testing and more local authentic assessment. Presently, we are testing our children to death. We are seeing teachers teach more for the test than for understanding. With NCLB we are seeing the development of a narrow curricula that doesn’t educate the whole child and are judging schools on how well students filled in ovals on one given day. Though NCLB sounds good, it is doing more harm than good in its present form. I believe we need to move away from paper and pencil testing and explore a comprehensive performance assessment system that provides for different learning styles and alternative methods of showing what a child knows, believes, and can do.
What do you believe the board’s role should be on school safety issues?
The foundation for learning rests on our school system providing a safe and orderly classroom where students feel secure and teachers can focus on teaching. First, the school itself should be a safe environment with proper safety measures in place. Second, our classrooms need to be free from bullying and sexual harassment. To me, it is the role of the state board to see to it that both the school and classroom have firm and consistent policies, equipment, and personnel to keep our children physically and psychologically safe.
What are the three greatest challenges facing education in Kansas?
I believe our three greatest educational challenges deal with equity, curriculum, and personnel. First, we must strive to maintain equitable and adequately funded public schools in each community. Here, we should develop a system of fiscal accountability that ensures school funds are spent efficiently to support student achievement in the classroom and create effective administrative policies that value local control and develop consensus building. Second, we must ensure each Kansas child has access to a 21st century curriculum that truly prepares them for an ever-changing society and develops work-force values. We should move away from high stakes testing and develop performance assessment systems that provide for different learning styles and alternative methods of showing how our schools are actually doing. Here, also, we also need to expand alternative school structures within the public school system that increase the use of technology and different methods of teaching the curriculum. Third, we need to make sure there is a quality teacher in every classroom. With looming teacher shortages, we must maintain quality teacher preparation, recruitment, and development that ensure an effective teacher in every classroom.
What changes or additions need to be made to curriculum requirements?
We should always continue to examine key curriculum questions to fully prepare our children for an ever-changing world: What should be taught? How should it be taught? How should it be evaluated? It is highly important that each Kansas child has access to a 21st century curriculum that truly prepares them for an ever-changing society and develops the certain work-force values as persistence, responsibility, and mutual respect. Our schools have to go beyond the basic 3 R’s to prepare kids with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to be successful in a future with ever-increasing demands.
Why should voters elect you instead of your opponent?
I want to use my experience to return reason and pride back to the Kansas Board of Education? As a former teacher, coach, administrator, and local school board member, I have worn many hats and know the complexities of creating effective classrooms. Now as a professor who “teaches teachers.” I know the special needs of our Kansas schools, teachers, and children in our district. Over the years, I have also gained valuable experience in managing budgets as a long-time board member of the Kansas Teachers Credit Union and have shown the leadership skills needed to develop new programs such as the Kansas Early Career Teacher’s Academy and the Kansas City Alternative Certification program. Overall, I have developed a broad educational knowledge base and gained a professional reputation by being invited to present at over 50 national and international conferences. I want to use my background and knowledge on the Kansas Board of Education to be a strong advocate for our children’s future.
Prioress (anonymous) says...
I like the comments about assessment. NCLB is well-intended, but poorly designed and too reliant on standardized tests. Students need to demonstrate their learnings in many ways, and using "real world" applications is the best way to do this. We need to go beyond slavish attention to test scores, which results in narrow teaching and too much emphasis on teaching students to take the tests. Also, it would be nice if the Federal Government actually funded their mandates. They are at least $40 billion dollars in cumulative (non)funding compared to what they "promised" in 2001 to get the bipartisan support for NCLB.
October 19, 2006 at 10:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )