Reading

I am currently reading, "Why Don't Students Like School," by Daniel Willingham and since very few people ever find this blog I can write about what he says about tracking without fear of being discovered.

"I don't accept that some students are "just not very bright" and ought to be tracked into less demanding classes. But it's naive to pretend that all students come to your class equally prepared to excel; they have had different preparations as well as different levels of support at home, and they will therefore differ in their abilities. If that's true, and if what I've said in this chapter is true, it is self-defeating to give all of your students the same work. The less capable students will find it too difficult and will struggle against their brain's bias to mentally walk away from schoolwork. To the extent that you can, it's smart, I think, to assign work to individuals or groups of students that is appropriate to their current level of competence." (Willingham, p. 16-17)

Differentiation of instruction. If this became common practice, excellent practice, thoughtful practice, might some tracking be done away with? What if teachers were given the time to actually reflect on current practices with other teachers? Might this be accomplished?

While adding wild random thoughts. . .I have heard it said that there is no more important work in schools than what teachers do in their classrooms every day. As I sit here typing, the thought leaps to mind, then why are teachers paid far less than administrators. Even if we are of equal value then our pay should be closer to equal??? What if teams of teachers ran the schools and taught? Developed budgets, disciplined, counseled, and taught according to skills acquired through graduate classes? Time for reflection.