Cant disagree with Dobbs essay. After all, its what everyone wants even thought they dont agree on how to get there. But like most Dobbs fails to recognize that its the thinking processes inherent in our electives (music, art, languages, etc) that best help develop a child's mind and prepares him or her with the mental skills needed to tackle the other subjects successfully. Dobbs' failure to understand is symptomatic of a Nation that's been bamboozled into thinking higher standardized test scores are the ultimate goal, rather than a highly educated citizenry.

"... eliminate every extraneous program in kindergarten through eighth grade that does not focus on reading, literature, writing, American history and civics, mathematics and natural sciences."

I agree with you CountyMan. As a local high school teacher, I think that students must be well rounded, which includes having a variety of electives that foster a student's interests and abilities. All of the subjects are important, including the electives. Very well said, CountyMan.

It agree that we need to be providing students with a well-rounded curriculum. At the same time we need to have objective performance measures to determine how well we are doing. To simply critisize standardized testing without offering alternatives doesn't address the problem. A very high percentage of our children are advancing through social promotion rather than real educational accomplishment. It is amazing that we have high school seniors that have passed all their classes but can't manage to get a D+ on a middle school level english and math exit exam. We have large, urban school districts with dropout rates greater than 60%.

What I hear from educators is a lot is complaints about standardized testing. But what is evident is that these problems existed well before these testing programs were created. The testing isn't the problem, it only exposes the problem. Eliminating the testing won't solve the problem, it will only bury it. And frankly, many parents are concerned that elimination of standardized testing would simply end accountability for poor performance.

The issue of student achievement (in general and on standardized tests) has been raised many times. As a high school teacher, I have seen so many of the problems getting students in their tenth year of education.

The biggest problem I see is that students are not held accountable during the first nine years (K-8). They are passed along to the next grade whether their skills are ready or not. If students have difficulty reading, cannot complete their times tables, show a lack of CA history knowledge, or cannot display basic health skills, in 4th grade, they can still go to 5th grade. This creates two extremely large problems for them and their teachers in high school.

First, students do not have the prerequisite knowledge in a given subject. Many high school classes are "College Prep" classes, meaning that they are designed to be challenging classes to prepare students to attend college. To get that designation, schools must get the classes approved and then cover all topics promised during the approval process. English teachers in 9th grade do not have time to teach students how to write basic coherent sentences; their job is to teach students ways to analyze themes and compose critical thinking essays. Math teachers cannot worry if students know how to work with fractions and percents.

Secondly, students who are never held accountable do not know how to study. For nine years they found that by just being a warm body in class, they got to go to the next grade. In high school, if a student does not have enough credits, they do not get a diploma. Period. It is a shock when students who were allowed to skate through the primary grades realize that automatic promotion is over. But after nine years, it is difficult for students to sit and complete two hours of homework a night (30 minutes in each of the core classes) if they have not worked their way to that point.

Students who are pushed through the system and given a "Happy C" are put at a disadvantage when they arrive in high school. This is just the observation of one teacher. Hopefully it sheds some light on why some (not all) students are unsuccessful when they reach high school.

One reason kids dont know how to study is because there's no room in STANDARDIZED teaching for STUDYING. If its not in the curriculum mandated by the State then its probably not allowed in the classroom.

I agree with Alan. Social promotion in our schools is a serious problem and it has to be address way before kids get to high school. If we are to have standardized testing then it should exist at every grade level to make sure that kids have mastered basic skills before advancing to the next grade. If a child is falling behind it is better to address it in the 3rd grade than waiting until the 12th grade to try to do anything about it. By then it is probably too late to do anything other than have the student cram in hopes that they will pass a middle school exit exam and squeak by.

All of this needs to start in elementary school. And when students start to fall behind they can be identified and targeted for tutoring and other focused efforts to get them back up to grade level. It is unfair to hold high schools accountable when elementary and middle schools are just passing along their problems.

Lou Dobbs is on TV and he reads a script someone else wrote for him. We live in a day and age where if you are on TV people believe whatever you say and even blog about it. Well I guess if Lou said it, it must be true, I mean after all , he is on T.V.!

Jimmy,

If you disagree with Lou Dobbs you are free to post facts of your own. Or is it easier just to attack the messenger?

What attack? He is on T.V. and he does read from a script, no? I agreed with what he said, he is on T.V., so what he said has to be true.

Just because somebody is on T.V. doesn't mean they are telling the truth, but it also doesn't mean they are lying either. Which still leaves unanswered my original question, do you have anything to contribute to this discussion or do you just have something against television?

The comments of Lou Dobbs sadly show why the "silver bullet" has not bee found in education. In his ramblings Dobbs denigrates and blames every educational professional for the "failings of the system." In the end he offers several "points" to fix the problem - not one of them can be done without a stable source of funding or re-allocation of funding. In addition, Dobbs does not recognize that you can't simply compare the U.S. 40 years ago from today - migration patterns have vastly changed the edcucational landscape. Finally, and probably most important, is the American phenomenon of the erosion of the family (from 40 years ago), including parent roles, discipline, role-modeling, and the like. As a hard working, dedicated teacher I can speak from first-hand knowledge about this. Nearly half of our school's students are from single parent families, 2/3's are on free and reduced meals, and nearly 10% of our student body speaks limited english. THese are the facts, and many other schools share these same demographic and statistical data.

Schools are not all cookie-cutter, identical places. They reflect the community and the values of that community. I don't think you can say the same thing about educational systems in other parts of the world. In the U.S. ALL children are eligible to be educated, while in regions such as Europe and Asia, only the "cream of the crop" moves on the their educational systems, while the remaining become the blue collar force - a much different picture than in the U.S.

In summary, Dobbs has many flaws in his simplistic view of education (being he is NOT an educator). It would be like me telling the journalism world how to "fix" the industry with my "expertise" and opinions - probably would not fly. And neither do most of the ideas and "facts" proposed by Dobbs.