President suggests longer school sessions for students

[Fran Haring]

then the return to regional circuits, with a comminity based, weekend only activity overall,.............

Do you suppose that Could happen Anytime soon?

Fran

[euphononium]

Woodwinds will have to be allowed because they cannot teach them how to play brass anymore... kinda the same reason for the new stuff.

uh, no. that's hardly the issue at hand. that's another excuse to foster mediocrity in this country and that's part of the problem with our education system today. teachers and staff would be required to teach their students more efficiently and effectively in a slightly shorter amount of time... aka DO THEIR JOBS.

if anything, corps would have less of an issue helping students play brass instruments because they will probably be drawing more college-age students who have already specialized in a brass instrument or taken brass classes for their ed major.

[Michael Boo]

Just to keep balance, this was also in the attached article:

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While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

When I spent a little time in Japan a few years ago, I was at a handful of high schools and learned something that was rather interesting. While the official school day isn't what we would consider long, the typical Japanese student stays at the school well into the evening, working on various class projects, homework, and band. It almost seemed like they only went home to sleep. Learning doesn't stop when the official school day ends. It was a totally different mindset than what I had been exposed to in the U.S.

DCI will have to get very creative with the housing, or just start doing shows on weekends, like DCA. (The DCI corps would rehearse all week at some "home base" and then travel to a show on a Friday, stay overnight Fri/Sat/Sun and then find another "home base" or drive back to the original home base.)

In the "old days" when I marched, ALL our shows until the end of the season were on weekends. You raise an interesting point in that the competition model might change if year-round schools or even just longer semesters become the norm. Still, corps from some areas of the country would still have to tour longer to find enough shows as there aren't many shows in certain parts of the country.

I hope if doesn't come to this, but it's something all need to be aware of just in case it does. I heard the California year-round school calendar discussed at DCI directors meetings quite some years ago, so the awareness is there.

Housing certainly could be an issue, as you pointed out.

This will be an interesting thing to watch.

[JimF-LowBari]

1. No. Time during the school day is not spent productively. Bad teachers should be fired.

As the in-law of a elementary teacher in a rural area have to give the other side in this.

More and more in PA the focus is on meeting standards so the school distrcit gets as much funding as possible. Translation: More and more time spent on making sure the kids get a high score on the standardized tests and less time spent on teaching what is really needed in life. Have nieces in NC (Elementary/Jr High) and they spent two days prepping for the standardized tests with little else being done. Here's your productive time right there.....

Now how about firing bad School Board members. In my area the #1 criteria to be on the school board is to get more votes during an election. Knowledge of education means nothing and sound bite of "no wasted money" means everything. My in-law did Reading Recovery which catches reading problems early on which is better for the kid and SDs pocketbook. One "expert" on the school board wanted to eliminate RR because "Why waste money on dumb kids?". When told reading problems like dyslexia(sp?) have nothing to do with intelligence, she got a blank WTF look.

To answer Mikes question: "Leaders" in DC and the state capitals should be smacked around until they realize that "One Size Fits All" (IOW Standardized Testing) does not work for human beings. And if the kids do not have a home life that helps the education process, there is only so much (or so little) the school or teacher can do.

As for effect on DCI: Touring corps become totally College aged. And hit the regional non-touring corps even harder because less free time.

Edited September 28, 2009 by JimF-3rdBari

[Perry S]

It is not a President's job to dictate the length of a school year. That is up to the states.

While this is technically true, my wife is a pre-k - elementary teacher/service provider, the feds have a way of using "withholding" goverment funding to get their way.

[Perry S]

As the in-law of a elementary teacher in a rural area have to give the other side in this.

More and more in PA the focus is on meeting standards so the school distrcit gets as much funding as possible. Translation: More and more time spent on making sure the kids get a high score on the standardized tests and less time spent on teaching what is really needed in life. Have nieces in NC (Elementary/Jr High) and they spent two days prepping for the standardized tests with little else being done. Here's your productive time right there.....

Now how about firing bad School Board members. In my area the #1 criteria to be on the school board is to get more votes during an election. Knowledge of education means nothing and sound bite of "no wasted money" means everything. My in-law did Reading Recovery which catches reading problems early on which is better for the kid and SDs pocketbook. One "expert" on the school board wanted to eliminate RR because "Why waste money on dumb kids?". When told reading problems like dyslexia(sp?) have nothing to do with intelligence, she got a blank WTF look.

To answer Mikes question: "Leaders" in DC and the state capitals should be smacked around until they realize that "One Size Fits All" (IOW Standardized Testing) does not work for human beings. And if the kids do not have a home life that helps the education process, there is only so much (or so little) the school or teacher can do.

As for effect on DCI: Touring corps become totally College aged. And hit the regional non-touring corps even harder because less free time.

This is also the Main issue. Teachers don't teach (creativity, love for learning, exploration) anymore. They "teach" how to take and pass the standardized tests. The principals and department heads now keep a tight rein on this so the test scores are high and the schools get their funding.

[Dave_G]

Ha... I was just going to post something, but it was all politics... we need a current events forum

We had one for a while. While there was some good discussion in there from time to time the overall results... were not pretty.

I was one of the most active posters in there and even I wouldn't recommend opening it up again.

WRONG! Shorten classes. Classes are too long and kids aren't learning because they are burnt out. 90 minute HS classes? REALLY? College classes are 55 minutes to 1h15m max usually. HS kids can't be stuck in a class for 90 minutes and expect to learn anything. They'll shut down.

Classes need to be shortened and the semesters need to be shortened and the kids will flourish. The dumb kids will fall behind, but that's how we can identify who really needs the extra time and those extra hours during the day can be used to remediate those kids that REALLY need the extra time. The smart kids go home and then the other kids have something to aim for......learn, master, leave early.

Won't disagree with that at all. Where I went to school in NY they had 55 minute class periods, it worked well. When I moved here and went into these 90 minute ones I was bored out of my mind. The pace the class moves at is too slow and students as a whole are learning less then they do in shorter amounts of time. Could just be a difference in the schools I attended but I've noticed this to be a pretty universal trend in this state.

edit: I can see where people are coming from in regards to music classes with this. But music classes are more an exception to the rule in that regard.

[Patrick_D]

uh, no. that's hardly the issue at hand. that's another excuse to foster mediocrity in this country and that's part of the problem with our education system today. teachers and staff would be required to teach their students more efficiently and effectively in a slightly shorter amount of time... aka DO THEIR JOBS.

I'll chime in. I know that you are simply one of several people blaming teachers for things... but I'll tell you that unless you ARE a teacher yourself (and maybe you are), then you have no right to claim them as the group to be fault. (Not as a blanket statement anyway... yes I realize that there are plenty of "bad" teachers out there).

Unless you have been a teacher and been given standards to achieve with no financial backing, no administrative support, no parental followthrough... etc... then you have no right to place blame.

Unless you have been a teacher, and been forced to comply with "no child left behind" while trying to maintain high standards... then you have no right to place blame.

Unless you have been a teacher.... well... you have no right.

There are so many issues right now in the "system" that it is easy to place blame. Sure SOME teachers "don't do their jobs." There are also Parents who "don't do their jobs," Governments who "don't do their jobs," people in every facet of life that "don't do their jobs."

In response to the OP... I don't see this as ever happening. It comes down to money, just like everything else, and more time = more money... which Obama would rather give to the Car Companies.

Edited September 28, 2009 by Patrick_D

[cavies79]

This is also the Main issue. Teachers don't teach (creativity, love for learning, exploration) anymore. They "teach" how to take and pass the standardized tests. The principals and department heads now keep a tight rein on this so the test scores are high and the schools get their funding.

As a band director for 25 years, I think our educational system is being unfairly judged. If you look at the scores of other countries, they only count their top students. We are one of the only countries that educates everybody. In those countries, they don't give everyone an education. So, the reality is their scores are going to be higher. Where I teach (border city in Texas), we have students move in who barely speak the english language, parents are uneducated, they live in poverty, etc. They are going to have a more difficult time with these standardized tests than others. For example, our school has done well on the TAKS (Texas Assessment of knowledge and skills) except for those who are special education and LEP (limited english profiency) students. Those students bring down our overall scores. I had to get this off of my chest. Have a good day.

[CVQuesty]

I think this whole idea is a non-starter.

Our school systems are furloughing teachers as it is because they just can't afford to have them on the job as many days as they are now. And they think more days will happen/help?

I don't think we'll see this happen.