My Views Are My Own
By Lisa Schonhoff, Ed.S.
2/4/2025
With NAEP (National Assessment of Education Progress) scores being posted last week, I decided this is a pertinent time to discuss my top five strategies for solving the education crisis our country is facing. While there have been many studies and articles published over the past several decades, the Policy Circle provides well-rounded context to show that “Over the past few decades, increases in educational spending have not led to improved educational outcomes, nor have they closed achievement gaps.” I will be the first to acknowledge that there are numerous social nuances contributing to these numbers, such as the drastic increase in students in one parent households, to children being raised on screens, to the influx of students who speak languages other than English in the home. My top five strategies are based on what can be done in schools with very little expense.
5: I’ll begin with 5 and do a countdown. The majority of teachers are leaving the field due to student behaviors. Our schools have become increasingly chaotic over my time as an educator. One child is allowed to cuss, spit, throw furniture, bite, kick, and hit, while the teacher is required to remove the rest of the class and disburse the rest of the students to other classrooms until the disruptive child has calmed down. The education of the entire class is disturbed along with all the classrooms that those students had to be disbursed to, while there are little to no consequences for the disruptive student. This type of classroom management is a result of PBIS being implemented in schools across our state and nation, accompanied by ongoing training by the Crisis Prevention Institute. These soft disciplinary approaches are proving to have a negative impact in classrooms across our nation. Let’s get back to the basics with Harry Wong’s tried and true methodology…clear, high, and consistent expectations. Teachers are there to teach, not to deal with excessively disruptive behaviors that need to be handled by the parents in partnership with school administrators.
4: Our college Education Preparation Programs (EPPs) are failing our educators. It is clear that teachers coming out of our universities are not prepared to teach kids to read – and haven’t been for as long as I have been an educator. I am speaking from experience and observation. I learned everything I know on the job. As a result of our faltering universities, we operate under the false premise that extremely costly curriculum companies can train our teachers and teach our students. I believe it’s clear by now that this model is not working. We must have highly qualified instructional leaders in every single building that are capable of delivering ongoing training and feedback to our educators. As for our universities, I recommend looking into the work that the University of Florida has implemented.
Stay tuned next week for the top 3 ways to solve our education crisis.
Only a handful of education schools are teaching the science of reading to their students. Education schools take their cues from the fads circulating down from the Dept. of Education and relevant state department of education, as well as what passes for scholarship in academic journals. If you haven't, check out the resumes of instructors currently serving in Nebraska's education schools. The stables are full. Cleaning them will be a job for a wild-eyed optimist.