Ch. 2 Policy Cycles and Insitutional Trends

The idea of a perfect public education system is a controversial one. Everyone has their own ideas of what schools need and the types of reform that need to occur. It's a never ending circle that keeps turning and turning. Often policies are put into place and given time to take effect. If the policy seems to help improve scores, the policy sticks. If it doesn't, it goes away. Often when this happens, old policies are put back into practice to see if they now have an impact.

I honestly believe that the way the current situation in public schools are, we are only going to see more and more declines in standardized test scores and more and more problems for teachers, administrators, parents, students, and politicians to criticize and complain about.

One of the biggest problems I find is the lack of discipline and student responsibility. Today, teachers are required to do so much. Its almost as if you have to ask yourself, "What more can I do". Students have had their hands held from day one and continue to expect that even in high school. In the past, students had more responsibility. It was their job and duty to go to school, do their work, behave, and respect their teachers and fellow classmates. Many kids cannot grasp that concept of school is what they are supposed to do. Every child goes to school, their parents did, their grandparents did, and now they do. There is no other question about it. It's just part of life and it is simple as that.

In the past, if students misbehaved, they were punished accordingly and help responsible for their actions. Today, discipline is a joke in schools, and often in homes as well. Students know they can get away with so much and will push the limits every time. Why should they do what they are told when they can do whatever they want?

What I am trying to get at is that I think part of school reform needs to bring back some discipline policies. I feel that if there was less behavior problems and better punishment for students, they would focus on their schoolwork more. This may be wishful thinking, but I do believe the heart of many problems in today's schools is discipline.