Responsibility for learning is on every shoulder

I appreciated the front-page article that was printed in the Daily

Pilot on Dec. 4 (“Won’t stand for SATs”). The problems in our

educational system need new direction, and community interest and

support are mandatory.

I was present at the No Child Left Behind meeting at Corona Del

Mar High School and should like to commend Marisa O’Neil, the news

reporter from the Daily Pilot, for her accurate description and

reporting of the event. The students and speakers at the meeting were

not attempting to denigrate any of their teachers. In fact, as was

reported, they made the point that there are incredible teachers at

Corona Del Mar. Their message is a positive and needed one.

The educational system is antiquated and requires revisions so

that each child leaving a study session understands the subject

matter being taught. If he or she does not, then the teacher should

be obligated to do his or her best to rectify the students’

bewilderment. “No child should be left behind.”

The school also should be congratulated for encouraging students

to engage in this type of activity. It is not a common occurrence in

schools. Unfortunately, there were very few teachers at the meeting.

It is so important that they, parents and students give support to

improve the education system as was suggested by project leader

Amanda Rubenstein, teacher Claire Ratfield and many of the students.

I hope that this group and many others like it can continue their

efforts in the future. Again, I want to compliment the Daily Pilot

and reporter Marisa O’Neil for bringing the meeting and its contents

to the public.

JOSEPH LEBOVITZ

Mission Viejo

With respect to Marisa O’Neal’s Dec. 4 article entitled “Won’t

stand for SATs,” as an instructor at Costa Mesa High School, I feel

compelled to refute some of the points made in the article.

The gist of the article appeared to be that many of the failings

in the public education system rest with the instructor rather than

with the students. This is brought out in a interview with Amanda

Rubenstein, a 17-year-old senior at Corona Del Mar High School. First

of all, let me acknowledge that Amanda appears to be a very bright

and capable individual who has made the most of her public school

experience, as evidenced by her 4.0 GPA in advanced placement classes

and SAT scores.

However, her contention that “things are shoved down their throats

and they’re not allowed to think analytically or critically” is a

naive view of a student’s education at this time or in any previous

time. The idea that teachers merely “require regurgitation of facts

and figures” rather than encouraging learning suggests that students

can automatically have critical and analytical thinking without first

being provided with the facts or bases in any particular discipline.

Before students can perform in chemistry, they must first learn

and memorize the periodic table of the elements. Before one can

master geometry or algebra, students must learn the formulas and

hypotheses that are the bases for their respective disciplines. Even

in the social sciences, which perhaps lend themselves more to open

discussions, without memorizing some facts associated with historical

events and/or political processes, no one can have a meaningful

discussion.

Therefore, Amanda’s contention that classrooms are for

“encouraging discussion and thought and analysis” has no meaning if

students do not have the basic tools to use as building blocks in any

such discussion.

As far as utilizing the test scores from SATs to help evaluate

students, this too, is part of the learning process and preparation

for later challenges in life. The fact that teachers use the testing

process at all is not just a means so that they can “sit in the back

of the class not interacting with students.” The tests are an

instructors’ means of gauging he progress of the students, and no

amount of “open discussion” in some type of stream-of-consciousness

format will further the analytic/critical thinking of the student.

Finally, consistently bad test scores cannot be simply placed at

the foot of teachers. I am getting a bit tired of the current trend

of what I refer to as “teacher bashing,” which blames teachers for

the lack of student success. While it is true there may be some bad

teachers, as is the case in any profession, it is, however, up to the

administration to weed them out. No, in the majority of cases the

failures do not lie with the teacher, but with many of the students

who have not been adequately prepared or encouraged at home to come

to school to learn. All the computers, progressive educational ideas,

reduced class sizes, etc., will not advance the cause of education

until the responsibility for learning is placed precisely where it

has always been in the past -- with the student.

KENT M. PAUL

Teacher, Costa Mesa High School