I wish I was living in a bad dream. The fact that our education system is being dismantled from the inside is all but true. The fact is that the Governor is supposed to uphold the state laws, not create them. This is what started the downward spiral from basic rights to educational ones.
The fact that we are living in a state straight out of the book, 1984, by George Orwell should wake people up. Those who are staying silent about the current situations in the state (educators and state legislators) are to blame for not speaking up. If you been on social media lately, parents are appalled by how the education is decreasing. Parents are not waiting to find out what the school board of education will do and are withdrawing their kids from the public school system one by one.
As a public educator, I do not blame the parents for their decision. It is not an easy decision to just remove their child (or children) from a school where they have grown to (re)connect with friends and teachers.
There is always a difference of opinion when new procedures are implemented. In 2018 (approximately), Standards Based Grading came into the Illinois school system where grades were dependent in two areas: formative assignments and summative assessments.
Standards Based Grading (SBG) is a way to track student achievement based on mastery of a subject. Students are not penalized for not completing the formative work. Additionally, revisions are encouraged to master the skill(s) prior to the summative assessment.
Using SBG in school does not harm the students ability to learn but rather takes away the pressure with missed or low scored homework assignment(s).
However, there’s been discussions about teachers eliminating zero’s or giving a 50% on summative assessments that were not completed. Ultimately, if a student does not complete any work, he/she may still be able to pass if one assignment is completed with a passing grade.
The question remains: what are we teaching the students? Are we preparing them to fail after school?
Side note: if you have not picked up a copy of the Illinois Family Institute Voter Guide Election 2022 - Illinois Primary, I suggest you do. It has all the federal and state candidates position on the recent bills (both current and opposing candidates). Please check out the following sites:
Voter resources: llinoisfamily.org
Candidate Information: ivoterguide.com
We have 26 days until the Illinois primary election. Make the right choice.
To donate / Volunteer, please visit Koppers for ROE24
Best,
Kristen Koppers, MA., MA. Ed., NBCT