Hey friends. It is Sunday and and time for another edition of the Depressed Kitchen. Today I want to write about education reform. There has been quite a bit of discussion about exactly what shape education reform will take under the Obama administration. I for one am worried about any type of reform as I teach some of the most underprivileged students anywhere. What I am happy about is that there seems to be room at the table for everyone to voice their concerns. Plus we can't talk education without some yummy after school snacks.
For my two cents I think that merit pay is a bad idea. I see no way in which this can be done equitably. There are just too many variables when calculating who gets what. No matter what the scale teachers like me (alternative ed teachers, special ed teachers, and migrant teachers) are going to be left out in the cold. Our students will always under achieve, thus we are never seen as doing a good job. Merit pay also serves to pit teacher versus teacher when we should be working together cooperatively. It sometimes even enhances school rivalries within a district. My school is stigmatized enough, do we really need to add to this?
This brings me to after school snack #1 which comes to us from a 1944 edition of Your Share from Betty Crocker:
Quick Apple Cake
2 Cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
4tsp baking powder
1 egg well beaten
1 cup milk
4 tbs shortening
Spread into an 8x8 greased pan. Press apple slices into the batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, or drip your favorite jam over the top. Bake for about 30 minutes at 375.
Another issue I have is with tracking. Sometimes tracking is a good idea, but sometimes it only serves to bias the opinions of future teachers. Envision this scenario: in third grade little Jack is labeled by his teacher as disruptive and defiant. This reputation follows him through several grades because it is now in his records. Each successive teacher treats him as a defiant child; seats him with other defiant children, teachers have less patience with him because they are biased by his transcripts, he is always given less challenging work, etc. This continues until he believes he has no academic skills. He gives up on education and his school then tracks him off into an alternative education center. The child ceases to try because he has already been inculcated as a failure. Yay tracking. I face several periods of Jacks every day.
This brings me to after school snack #2. These muffins come from a late 1940's cooking pamphlet published by Spry vegetable shortening. These are quick and easy and use what you have on hand. You could use butter, or other shortening depending on what you have on hand:
Orange Marmalde Muffins
2 cups sifted flour
3tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg well beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
Orange Marmalade (or other favorite jam)
Combine wet and dry ingredients separately. Combine and mix until all is moistened. Fill muffin cups with one tablespoon of batter, then one teaspoon of marmalde, then top with remaining batter. Shoot for each cup to be one third full. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until done.
What about national standards? Actually I think that is a workable idea. One test that all must pass to achieve a high school diploma is logical. Those that do not pass the test should require remediation or to be put into a certificate of completion program. This would depend again on a cooperative relationship between schools, as well as the input of special education teachers. Yeah those guys, the ones whose students will always under achieve.
Here finally is after school snack #3. This was my young son's own creation and we make it quite frequently. This can be made with either scratch choc chip dough or from a pouch mix, purchased at the rock bottom price of course:
Choconut Bars:
Chocolate chip cookie dough
1 tbs peanut butter
1/4 chocolate chips
Press the cookie dough into a 8x8 greased pan. If you have made the dough from scratch work about 1/4 cup of peanut butter into the dough. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. When the sides start to brown, pull out the pan and plop the peanut butter right on top. Come back in 5 minutes and the peanut butter should be all melty. Spread across the top of the cookies. Zap the cocolate chips for about 30 seconds. Stir quickly until smooth. Drizzle over the peanut butter. Let cool then slice into bars.
What is your take on the education reform talk? Is it just talk?
crossposted at lavidalocavore.org