Educational Quotes

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.  ~Roger Lewin

Children should be given the opportunity to explore and discover the answers to questions on their own. Our job is to make sure they have the opportunity to explore and to lead them to the right path of discovery when necessary. 

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.  ~Stacia Tauscher

It is important to acknowledge that children are little people trying to make sense of the world around them.  The best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to discover, ask questions and to discuss with them the world around them.  Let the children play, that is how they make sense of the world.
You can learn many things from children.  How much patience you have, for instance.  ~Franklin P. Jones

Children are so enlightening.  Take time and observe the children in your lives. You will learn what they think about the world and the people in their lives, sometimes it is a real eye opening experience.

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing.  What!  Is it nothing to be happy?  Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long?  Never in his life will he be so busy again.  ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

Children learn through play.  Play is not a mindless activity. Perhaps it is adults that need a lesson in learning.

Children seldom misquote.  In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.  ~Author Unknown

I love this quote. Children are like little tape recorders.  They are always listening and learning, so becareful of what you say and do. YOu are the role model for children.

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

What can I say about this quote?  It says it all.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.  ~Frederick Douglass

The time to make a difference in the lives of the human race is when they are small.  If we enstow in them what they need to develop healthy minds and souls they will grow to be fine individuals.

If you haven't time to respond to a tug at your pants leg, your schedule is too crowded.  ~Robert Brault

Children deserve our attention, arrange your schedule to give them what they need; time, love and patience.

Testing or Intelligence?

As a student of the public school systems I feel it important to say that the education that I received was excellent.  I began school in 1978 and graduated in 1991, the only “standardized tests” we incurred to my recollection was the California Achievement Tests.  I believe that my teachers gave me the education that I needed to make a career for myself without all the pressures of testing.

With this being said, I believe that there has to be a standard education system throughout the country. Children in the rural parts of North Carolina should be receiving the same education that children from urban Michigan are receiving.  The problem that I have with testing is, it will take at least one generation to make all children all over the United States on the same level.  We must take into consideration that all children are not coming to the public schools at the same developmental levels.  They do not and have not had the same experiences and therefore it is unfair to expect children from all regions to miraculously “get on the same level”.

 As a teacher I struggle everyday with leveling the playing field for my students. The “No Child Left Behind” ideal is a nice thought.  But how are we going to teach our curriculum and get children where they need to be when we have some children that are developmentally years behind the others.  I am expected to teach particular concepts in x-amount of weeks and no more.  If the students do not understand it then we will have to revisit it throughout the year.  This is ridiculous in my opinion.  If my students as a whole are having difficulty, then I should be able to make that call for the sake of my students.  Instead I must push forward and teach new concepts.  Testing has put so much pressure on schools and teachers that we are not doing what is best for the children, because in the end there are some students that we have to “leave behind” so that we meet our required percentages in testing.

Do I believe we should be held to certain standards, yes indeed.  All students worldwide should be taught the same concepts at the same age. Do I believe that standardized testing is important? Yes I believe it is important that there are checks to be sure our students are learning the required skills.  However at the same time it has made teaching and even learning a rush to the finish line.  Teachable moments are wonderful, but as a teacher we had better pray that it fits into our deadlines.

Standardized Testing In Europe 

Beginning in the late 1970’s in the United States, high schools began using exit examinations to ensure that students were meeting the minimum state requirements for graduation.  By 2001 all states were implementing some type of graduation exam.  Today testing is based on the curriculum and performance standards have been developed in all fifty states. 

In European countries, examinations based on state standards have been common. Different regions within Europe, however, handle the testing differently.  In France they are set by the state and conducted and scored by the schools. In the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Romania and Slovenia the tests are also set by the state, however they are conducted and scored by external or semi-independent agencies.  The Russian Federation not only conducts and scores their tests, they are also set by the schools.  There tests are in accordance with the government guidelines but there has been no attempt to standardized them or make them comparable.  The tests are strongly curriculum based, since the objective is to certify that individuals have reached a specified level of learning.  Students are allowed to retake the tests if they fail, and the tests are created at medium-low stakes.  In the Netherlands, the weightings are 50-50 with in school performance and examinations. This allows students to show their skills in ways that are not easily measurable in the examination format.

Gale Encyclopedia of Education. Encyclopedia of Education. Testing: Standardized Tests and Educational Policy. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc.