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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]kids in the middle always get screwed - that's what there is so much of a push to get them into level IV (and why the county pretends so many kids are gifted). On the low end, there is pressure to general track kids who (often through no fault of their own) act as anchors in gen ed classes because of either behavior or just an inability to move at the requisite pace. On the other end, there is pressure to pull away gifted kids an let them go at an advanced pace. If you have an above average (or even average kid), your choices are to pressure the school to get them into AAP, let them fall behind where they are capable of being because the teacher spends too much time dealing with kids who don't belong in the class, or going private. The end result is bloated AAP, disgruntled gen ed parents, and privates picking up those who can afford it

was getting long agree with this 100%

again with tracking you handle all of this in the classroom, it's fluid so kids can move in and out, problem solved.[/quote]

Never have I heard sympathy from a teacher saying how advanced my child was and that they were truly sorry but they didn't have time to teach at that level.  All we've ever gotten are guilt trips about how lucky we are and promises to hand out some worksheets to do on your own.  If I wasn't able to provide the supplemental knowledge and tutelage at home, who knows what might have happened.  Tracking doesn't work because teachers don't care about smart kids - in fact, I've found that the dumbest teachers feel threatened by their lack of acumen on subject matter and put down perceived uppity kids in front of the class for asking acting relevant questions requiring intellectual depth of knowledge.  Smart teachers are the ones who say thay they don't know and will get back to them when they find out thte answer.  [/quote]

As a teacher I agree with this sentiment 100% The best teachers are generally empathetic and encourage independent thought and questions, while at the same time challenging everyone in the class to do their best and behave appropriately. The worst (hopefully not too many) will make kids feel that learning for learning sake is a waste of time.

At the same time it is very difficult to teach effectively in today's schools. Teacher autonomy (in terms of curriculum and teaching/testing ratio) is at an all time low, and many parents have extreme expectations while at the same time not doing enough to support teaching and speaking up on their behalf to administators. It does feel that every year the act of teaching is incrementally reduced from what it once was years back.

So I agree with you that teacher quality is an issue, but it's only part of the bigger problem. For that to change, schools and administration need to change priorities to provide solid education to all groups. That means raising the bar and demanding excellence in every classroom, and not just in name only (e.g the watered down AAP environment that schools constantly tout as advanced on paper, but which often in practice is really no different than the rest of the classrooms). And the only way that can really change if our community is vigilant about excellence in education and really thinks hard whenever there is an opportunity to vote in the people who make the decisions.[/quote]

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