The Board of Education Lecture

This past week our ED Psychology class was visited by two members of the Board of Education. It was very interesting to hear about the jobs and responsibilities of a board member, about their feelings concerning their roles, and especially their thoughts about the education system in Decorah. One major point that I took from the "question and answer" lecture was the fact that the school board has very little contact with the schools themselves, with the teachers, and with the students. The main responsibility of the school board is hiring the Superintendent, rather than defining goals for the curriculum, or certain standards for the schools to achieve. Our class asked many questions concerning the No Child Left Behind Act, and were given a different answer about the program than the Decorah principals had offered the week before. They explained that they felt that the laws were beneficial in a place like Decorah where there was little diversity and little poverty, and small amounts of students on free and reduced lunch. The school board member explained that he felt that the NCLB program somewhat helped the schools by putting goals and achievements in writing, but the system is somewhat flawed. He also explained that he thought test scores do not test everything about a student's current levels or knowledge, and that test scores are not the only defining factor of a highly qualified teacher. As a future teacher, I really appreciate hearing all viewpoints, and getting to look at all sides of the spectrum concerning the education system, especially NCLB.