I read an article yesterday that got me thinking about the different ways Americans think about educational policy. To be honest, the article really ticked me off. Here's thee link:

Report: Kids less likely to graduate than parents

The article focuses on the ever present issue of school accountability. It seems that ever since No Child Left Behind was implemented, the focus has been on "hold(ing) schools accountable" for test scores and graduation rates. Obviously it is important for us to have standards for quality schools, and I don't mean for this to be a rant about the backwards policies NCLB; that topic would be better addressed in a book than a blog post. The issue I take is with media and political perspectives on why our education system is failing so many children, and what needs to happen to fix the problems. When politicans or the press talk about education, the focus is always on school accountability. If students are not succeeding, then the schools are failing.

In reality, this is only part of the big picture. Society is failing them. Their communities are failing them. Their families are failing them. Their parents are failing them.

Schools have more resources and teachers are better educated than in the past. Why then, are more students dropping out of the system? Because schools are now expected to take more responsibility for a childs development than is reasonable. The attitude of many is that schools are the sole party responsible for a students educational success. Unfortunately for children who live in a society with this perspective, schools have no control over what students are doing in the 17 hours from 3pm to 8am.

I could say more, and I was going to talk about the fuzzy (at best) math that Libby Quaid cites in her article, but I imagine that would just bore anybody who has read this far.

There are only two ways I can see the situation for many of these children improving. The first, better, and completely unrealistic idea is that parents turn off the tv and take responsibility for raising their kids. The second, more realistic, idea is to provide more opportunities for students outside of school hours. Support for homework, mentoring, and community engagement through extra curricular activities are going to be necessary if today's student is going to have a chance.