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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > April > 12 > Entry
Awaiting Oprah’s solutions
Some more impressions after viewing yesterday’s Oprah show on education for a second time on TiVo last night:
- I’m glad Oprah is using her her bully pulpit to highlight the problems of education. This nation needs to have a real serious conversation about how kids are taught.
- Are we at the beginning of a trend toward more urgency about education? First there was John Stossel’s Stupid in America report sounding alarms in January. Now Oprah. Is education about to return to top billing in the national conversation? You might remember education was a top issue in many states through the late 1990s and a big campaign issues in the 2000 presidential race. Then came Sept. 11, 2001. One of the things I remember thinking that day was, “how long before education can get back on the front page again?” It’s been a long four years.
- Tuesday’s show pointed out some serious problems that need attention, but did not offer solutions. I’m expecting the solutions will come today and I am interested to see what Oprah thinks will work. I fear she will just highlight a few successful programs and proclaim generically that “it can be done!” I also believe the kids can do it and that the nation can do a better job teaching them. But widespread fixes that make a difference for everyone are hard to come by. We’re in the middle of one idea for improving schools called No Child Left Behind. Is it working? Is it the best way to make things better? Does it focus on the right things? These are tough questions and there is no consensus on the answers.
Oprah’s second education show is today at 4 p.m. on WDTN in Dayton. I’ll post some more thoughts after the show.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By charm
April 12, 2006 3:31 PM | Link to this
I think the media attention is a start. One of Oprah’s statements really rings true with me— why AREN’T parents marching in the streets? Research shows that many parents, particularly low-income parents, have a lot of faith in institutions, especially schools. So they don’t often ask questions or seek out the data that shows how schools are doing. And this applies to all schools— public, private, and charter. Many are great, most can afford to do better. If parents get angry and refuse to accept poor quality, then school administrators and district administrators will be forced to listen. This is about education— not just of kids, but of parents and community members as well.