Let's push to change the host of factors hurting education
I read the opening installment of the five-part series "A Question of Quality" (Feb. 2-6) with great interest. I would like to add a few ideas, which probably need to be researched further, that are contributing factors to the decline of our schools. The following items are not in any particular order, but are all critical to the long-term welfare of the schools.
1. The content of degree programs for early childhood or elementary education is heavily loaded to the pedagogy and psychological foundations of managing classrooms (maybe because of all the problems in schools) and very light on math, science and language. We are doing a huge disservice to our future generations, putting many math-phobic teachers in the classroom early to turn children off of mathematics.
There are elementary math programs that should be required for anyone teaching mathematics. I like the ideas presented in the story showing examples of experts in domains interacting with young learners to encourage interest and excitement for these subjects that have traditionally been referred to as difficult.
2. In defense of teachers, they have some enormous social problems represented in the classroom to address, which leaves little room for substance. Teachers cannot solve all the world's problems. I know that I learned more from my parents than I ever did in any classroom.
How to solve a problem? How to write a letter? How to analyze a problem? These are all tasks that I learned by observing my father. Teachers spend a short amount of time with young learners; they cannot be expected to work miracles. Learning is a partnership between the student, families and teachers. I put teachers last, not because they do not play an important role, but because their role can be diminished a lot with little or no effort from the first two parts of the equation.
3. As a country, we have become conscious of the needs of students with disabilities at the expense of the learners who are gifted. We have cut funding to gifted programs and the good learners are supposed to make it on their own, or with minimal support. I know many school districts that provide extra support for one hour in the day to gifted students, and for the rest of the time the child is bored.
My family made some significant sacrifices to find the perfect school for our son, but many families do not have those options. I hope the PG continues to showcase what works and what does not. Also, nepotism and chronic issues can be exposed by newspapers when individuals cannot do it. So, keep up the pressure; change has to come in many arenas: homes, communities, schools, districts, states and the country.
KAY WIJEKUMAR
Leet
Editor's note: The writer is an assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Beaver.
Duquesne's answer
Congratulations to Post-Gazette education editor Jane Elizabeth and the education group on "A Question of Quality" (Feb. 2-6). It should go a long way in balancing the naivete of the public about how people become teachers and what the state's role in the process is.
One suggestion: Journalists should distinguish the requirements for elementary vs. secondary, early childhood vs. special education teachers, etc. There are different rules for early childhood, elementary, middle level and high school subjects.
Concerning the academic preparation of the different groups: At Duquesne University's School of Education, following a state mandate from 10 years ago and our own professional standards, every secondary education social studies major has taken exactly the same course work and met the same grade point average as an academic history major.
However, it is only in the last several years that we have required early childhood education and elementary education majors to develop an academic cognate (15-related credits in an area such as English, math, science, history, etc.).
We literally gave 15 credits' worth of course work back to the McAnulty College of Arts and the Bayer School of Natural Science and directed all our undergraduate elementary and early childhood education majors into academic cognates starting two years ago.
We did this to address the public, political and professional perceptions about the need to strengthen the academic training of our early childhood education and elementary teachers.
It's easy to claim that elementary majors should major in something, but what that something is seems in dispute. Duquesne's newest yet traditional answer is the academic cognate. This redesign of our entire teacher education curriculum, from undergraduate through graduate and doctoral programs, builds upon the state academic standards, the standards of the professional organizations and of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.
V. ROBERT AGOSTINO
Professor
Duquesne University
School of Education
Uptown
Get the job done
Regarding the series "A Question of Quality" (Feb. 2-6): Pretty simple answer. Who will get better education: a noisy disruptive, surly, uncooperative dropout or a willing, productive and focused student?
My position is that I don't care how the students learn, so long as they are educated. We pay far too much to have the results measured in drive-by shootings and controlled-substance abuse. Our teachers need our full support and the tools to get the job done right the first time.
CHUCK ELLIS
Monroeville
Speaking of 'uneven'
If you want to look at uneven teacher quality, you'd better look at the almost unbelievable lack of quality in the charter schools in Pennsylvania set up by former Gov. Tom Ridge and former Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok Jr.
The one-liner about these schools in the article "Any Consumer of Public Education Knows That Teacher Quality Can Be Uneven," (Feb. 2) is a laugher. The story said, "And some teachers in charter public schools are allowed by law to be uncertified."
And you better take a long look at the thousands of kids being educated through home schooling if you want to see an utter lack of any quality teaching at all. Then take a good look at the so-called "cyber schools" for another laugher.
After nearly 50 years in public education, I see errors, slanted views and a lot more to criticize in the series "A Question of Quality" (Feb. 2-6). It reminds me of the usual Republican philosophy on education that I have become so opposed to over the past eight years.
JOHN B. FARDO
Economy
The vocation of caring
Sister Ann Carville expressed very eloquently in her Jan. 19 Forum piece ("Healing Bodies, Caring Spirits") the philosophy of the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale as they ran their flagship hospital in Lawrenceville for 137 years. Through dedication and determination they fulfilled their mission of "healing mind, body and spirit" admirably despite enormous obstacles and challenges.
The demise of the St. Francis Health System is no less a shock and a source of sadness to the sisters than to the many patients they served and the health-care professionals who shared their ministry.
Although St. Francis was a large and sprawling hospital, the nuns succeeded in making it a caring place, a "homey" and comfortable place for a lot of people. Patients felt comfortable when entering the doors of the hospital and were greeted by one of the nuns with a smile and a prayer.
The workers felt secure in stable jobs that they held for years. Many of them were born there, went to school there, earned their first paycheck there and sent their children to study and work at St. Francis. Whole families were sometimes employees of the hospital. Everybody knew everybody, and everyone was part of an extended family. The nuns were very loyal to their patients, their employees and their community. This loyalty was reciprocated.
The physicians felt comfortable at St. Francis. The sisters fostered this family atmosphere among the doctors as well. St. Francis was often at the forefront of new technology applications in medicine, but this was always coupled with and balanced by the human touch. New additions to the medical staff were "taken in" and made to feel welcomed. They quickly became part of the large St. Francis family.
Sister Ann Carville's comments also demonstrate that medical care is as much a vocation as religious life. The dedication, the hard work, the long hours, the compassion and the selflessness of medical care without regard to monetary compensation can come only from a true vocation.
Unfortunately, such unrewarded dedication has brought on the collapse of such a large and fine medical institution. I am glad, however, to see that the closing of St. Francis has not brought an end to the medical ministry and activism of the sisters of St. Francis.
ELIAS Y. HILAL, M.D.
Fox Chapel
Pittsburgh, get over the inferiority complex
I could not agree more with Editor John G. Craig Jr. on his Feb. 2 column, "Brand-Aid for Pittsburgh."
I would probably be one of those young technology workers the Image Gap Committee would want to convince that Pittsburgh is a viable place to live and work. I am a former Pittsburgher living in Boston, and I am working on relocating back to the Pittsburgh area.
I have had a few phone interviews so far. I have been surprised by the potential employers who are surprised that I would want to move to Pittsburgh. I've heard this question one way or another: "You have quite an impressive background. Why would you want to move to Pittsburgh?"
In the past when I have interviewed for positions elsewhere, the interviewer tries to convince me that I should relocate to that area. Instead, in Pittsburgh, the opposite happens: I am convincing potential employers that I am not crazy and explaining why I would want to move to Pittsburgh.
BILL RUSHMORE
Boston, Mass.
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