Students Speak Out: Minnesota
NY uses technology to bring parents into education, should we?
Here's something that sort of combines a number of things we've been talking about. It's called the Parent Link. The NYtimes had an article about it recently. It allows parents to track attendance, test scores etc.. and compare those to similar schools. It also makes clear what different math, reading, etc.. levels actually mean.
One thing it does is tells the parents how likely the student will pass the state test based on the city test. This I worry about, because as we're talking about in the "fresh start" conversation, teaching to the test might not be beneficial and this might even encourage that more.
This is an integration of technology into education allowing parents to get far more involved on a daily basis. Is this something Minnesota schools could benefit from?
One thing it does is tells the parents how likely the student will pass the state test based on the city test. This I worry about, because as we're talking about in the "fresh start" conversation, teaching to the test might not be beneficial and this might even encourage that more.
This is an integration of technology into education allowing parents to get far more involved on a daily basis. Is this something Minnesota schools could benefit from?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nora on -
The Minneapolis Public Schools currently have a system sort of like that, but on a smaller scale. It is called the Parent Portal and it allows parents to track their child's grades in each class and on each assignment. Students can also access their grades through the Student Portal. I find that helpful for me and don't generally have a problem with my parents being able to see my grades, but I know that other students feel differently about that.
I think that having how likely it is that the student will pass a state or city based test is going overboard.
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Permalink Reply by george mayer on -
With the system you currently have, do you find that your parents or other parents use it?
The NY system is also designed to help parents understand what is going on (e.g. difference between test levels). Does parent portal do that at all. I had something in my high school, but it was more just for my parents to check my grades. I think the cool thing about the NY site is that because of its comprehensiveness, it encourages parents to actually get involved.
I do agree that predicting whether a student will pass or fail is going a little too far. In fact, I think it might either discourage students or a sense of false security. Also I think it yet again puts further emphasis on testing rather than real education.
Anyway, I guess the thing a really like about it is that it makes education transparent for parents. The way testing is administered is pretty confusing and I think any way to get parents more involved in education is great, as I believe that encouragement at home is really important for student success. Are your parents or your friends' parents pretty involved? is this a good way to achieve that?
Why aren't parents involved at a higher level? Too hard? confusing?
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Permalink Reply by Nora on
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I think what we have is more like what you had in high school. There is nothing about understanding the difference between test levels or anything. I understand your point about the NY system getting the parents more involved in the student's education, but I wonder how much more it will really get the parents involved. The parents that will use the system to get involved in their child's learning are generally the parents who are already pretty tuned in. Do you think that the parents that don't know much about their child's education are really going to use the system to learn more?
I believe that what is done at home greatly impacts how a child performs in school, so I think it is important for parents to know what is going on in their kid's education. But a lot of parents are very out of touch in that area. What can be done to change that?
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Permalink Reply by george mayer on
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Well here's a great article about getting parents involved. It's not easy, but it's doable. One teacher said he set a goal of getting face-to-faces with 100% of parents and got all the way to 98. Which is pretty impressive. All sorts of suggestions are offered in this article, but what I gleaned most from it is that it is persistence. A whole bunch of little things equals parents involvement. It's a long article, but check it out, it's pretty interesting. What do you think would work in your situation? http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev124.shtml
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