| Published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sunday, May 6, 2001
Education
is part of the solution; it is not the problem
By Robert D. Koob, president, University of Northern Iowa
A recent survey quoted in newspapers across the country claimed
that more than 90 percent of parents with school-age children expect
them to go to college. This rise in expectations for educational accomplishment
was not a surprise.
Consciously or subconsciously, most Americans today realize the positive
relationship between education and income. Fewer may be aware that college-educated
citizens enjoy greater civic involvement and an accompanying sense of
participation in today's society. I am not the first to notice this.
"Time" magazine, in a story over a year ago, worried about the development
of an educational "overclass" in American society. In the same way that
high school graduates of my generation dreamed of being a part of the
nation's great middle class, today's generation aspires to be a part
of the nation's educated class.
This is what has been at the heart of expressed discontent with American
schools.
There is no data to support the concept that American schools have somehow
failed. More students successfully exit our school system than ever
before. If there are failures, they are failures of the distribution
of the educational opportunity, not failures of the overall system.
What American schools have failed to do is to keep pace with our expectations.
Our school system was designed in an industrial age when the largest
percentage of graduates were likely to enter jobs not requiring college
experience of any kind. It was created to separate students into categories
that matched workforce needs.
Our discontent arises from the observation that workforce needs have
changed faster than our schools. This realization has profound implications
for how we deal with our schools.
What does this mean for Iowans? It means we have to educate an increasingly
greater proportion of our population to a level at which they have the
skills, values, knowledge and wisdom of a college graduate or beyond.
We need teachers who understand how to draw the greatest possible achievement
from all students.
But it is unreasonable to expect teachers educated in a previous generation
to have the necessary skills for this endeavor without offering them
regular and ongoing professional development opportunities.
Successful learning happens when qualified, motivated teachers encounter
receptive students. Adopting the latest curriculum craze or throwing
tests at every teacher and student in the system is largely irrelevant.
Iowa is fortunate to have colleges and universities that turn out qualified
and motivated teachers. It's imperative that Iowa determine how best
to support those teachers and their students in light of our vastly
increased expectations.
Our society, business and government are all under pressure from the
rising expectations of the American family as well as from the new economy
that is looking for a college-educated workforce. It's clear to me that
we need to focus these pressures and remember that education is part
of the solution -- not part of the problem. |
