Teachers to Blame for Poor Student Performance?

I just read an article on our President's stand on education. Below you will find an excerpt from that article:

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Tuesday sharply criticized
the U.S. public school system and outlined a strategy to reward
good teachers and fire bad ones..."Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though it can make a difference in the classroom."

Click on this link to continue reading: http://www.startribune.com/politics/41064092.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUec7PaP3E77K_0c::D3aDhUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

I think I could spend some time talking about all of the pros and cons about this proposed approach to education. I will say that I completely disagree with Obama;s view on teacher pay depending on student performance. There are too many variables. If you want to discuss this, leave a comment or email me and I will respond in more detail.

I recently was listening to Zig Ziglar (audio book) and he was discussing the differences between American and Asian students when it came to academic performance on assessments. To sum it up, American students have continued to decline in performance for some time and Asian students continually improve performance over the years.

The question is why?

Well, as far as I can understand, Obama wants to put the blame on educators. However, Zig Ziglar explained some interesting facts that may tell a more accurate story.

FACTS:

1. Asian students spend approximately 3 hours a day studying outside the classroom. American students spend a little less than 30 minutes a day studying outside the classroom.

2. An Asian high school graduate has spent more time in the classroom than an American college graduate.

Now, don't get me wrong. I do understand that there are poor educators out there. I understand that our educational system is not perfect. Nonetheless, it seems that intelligence, teacher ability, or curriculum design is not our problem. It seems that our problem is in our work habits. We are not getting out smarted, we are getting out worked! We need to change the work habits of our students if we wish to change the results we have been getting.

"The definition of insanity can be summed up as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

- Albert Einstein