I dunno. You certainly seemed to be disagreeing with me above when you insisted I was willing to let kids fall through the cracks.
I don't think parents should just be encouraged to be involved. I think they should be expected to be involved.
I also disagree with any implication in this thread that low-income parents can't or won't be involved, so they shouldn't be expected to be. I don't know whether it's possible to get every single parent involved, but I don't think it's any more likely that schools will be able to provide the basics to every single child without parent involvement.
I doubt either solution by itself is going to reach every single kid in this country. But as a practical matter, I think the latter is much more feasible. I see no sign that my district is going to be able to provide the resources to get every kid up to speed anytime soon. Therefore, if it's going to happen, parents are going to have to be part of the process. When I look around at the schools that are making headway in my district, they're all doing it with the expectation of parent involvement.
You've never seen kids in your district succeed without active parental involvement? Admittedly, it's usually because of kicka$$ teachers and exceptionally self-possessed deprived children rather than district policy, but it can and it does happen. It happens often enough to me give hope.
No need to be so snide. I would not like the school telling me not only WHAT to teach my kid, but how to teach it. If my kid is supposed to learn her math facts, I expect her to do so and to ask for help if she is having a problem. In the early grades, I would also expect the teacher to alert me if the kid was having a problem. Telling all parents to flashcard their kids seems to assume that all the kids are having a problem learning their math facts on their own with the teacher's help.
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I dunno. You certainly seemed to be disagreeing with me above when you insisted I was willing to let kids fall through the cracks.
I don't think parents should just be encouraged to be involved. I think they should be expected to be involved.
I also disagree with any implication in this thread that low-income parents can't or won't be involved, so they shouldn't be expected to be. I don't know whether it's possible to get every single parent involved, but I don't think it's any more likely that schools will be able to provide the basics to every single child without parent involvement.
You've never seen kids in your district succeed without active parental involvement? Admittedly, it's usually because of kicka$$ teachers and exceptionally self-possessed deprived children rather than district policy, but it can and it does happen. It happens often enough to me give hope.
"You want to say it's impossible to involve parents, at least parents who aren't middle class and educated. "
Quote one of my posts where I have said any such thing. No, never mind, you can't do it.
Edited 3/4/2009 1:56 am ET by rollmops2009
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