For parents, educators, and lawmakers, the promise of preschool is that children will enter school ready to learn, but, in reality, the results are mixed.
Standards are necessary, of course, and so is accountability, but are schools being backed into a corner? If they continue to live by test results, will they die that way?
Why do 30% percent of new teachers– 50% in urban areas– leave teaching within five years? Is the problem one of recruitment or retention?
The gap that exists between the vision of a bright-eyed graduate of a school of education and the reality of a first year teacher with his or her own classes is one that must be faced and crossed by all beginning teachers.
Where do children learn their moral values? Who is responsible for teaching them? And what message are our schools sending if they try to avoid the issue entirely.
