News and information for staff members and the Madison community
Vol. I No. 5 - March 29, 2006
April, 2006
SEE DICK RUN. SEE JANE RUN. SEE SPOT RUN. These are the first sentences that were used to teach most of my generation to read. This approach worked for me and many others. But, it didn't work for everyone.
The stakes were much lower then. There were good family-supporting jobs for people with minimal reading ability, and for high school dropouts with a strong work ethic. Those days are long gone.
If today's children are to be successful as adults they must have good reading and math skills. They must be technology savvy, critical thinkers and problem solvers. When I graduated from college those skills got you the best jobs. Today, these skills are necessary to get any job.
K-12 education is now challenged to meet these new demands for high levels of education for everyone - not just some. We are all learning how to make this a reality. New educational research, from neuroscience to sociology, continues to better define how children learn.
The academic researcher and the classroom teacher collaborating together to apply the research to teaching individual children has moved us forward toward providing appropriate education for every child.
However, we are only at the beginning of the changes that will occur in our understanding of how children learn. The partnership between basic research and practice will continue to improve our teaching and children's learning.
The ever-changing and improving landscape of education places the heaviest burden on the classroom teacher. The changes that affect children can only be made at the classroom level. "Run, Spot, run" was easy. But, because every child in a teacher's class is different the teacher can't teach in only one way if our goal is that they all learn.
The teacher must continually determine where each student is in his or her learning and why he or she is there, and then use a variety of teaching methods to enable that student to be successful.
While teachers are using this complex approach to ensuring that everyone is learning, they are also being asked to continually revise what they are doing and change their practice. Just as professional firefighters, doctors, lawyers, nurses, and accountants are learning new ways to improve in their profession, teachers are learning new ways of practicing the profession of teaching.
It is easy to write about these changes. It is much more difficult and demanding to be the teacher who is charged with continually changing the fundamental way instruction is delivered. Children arrive at school each day to learn and can't be placed on hold while the teacher changes his/her approach. The changes have to occur while the student is engaging in daily learning.
Despite these challenges, the MMSD is blessed with outstanding teachers who are willing to stay on this moving train of educational change. They study, develop new methodologies, share with each other and keep the needs of children foremost. Through their commitment to all children, they are the people who are ensuring the future for the next generation of citizens.
Other Articles by Superintendent Rainwater
Last Updated: Wed Apr 26 07:48:48 2006
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