So, You Want to be a Teacher?
Winter, 2006
Some people say that power follows money. If you think this might be true and if you are interested in educational reform, it might be a good to know how the educational system is funded. You might be more effective as a reformer if you can influence school finances in meaningful ways. And even if reform isn’t high on your list of priorities, you might be a better teacher if you know how spending decisions are made within the school system.
Our objective for this portion of the program is to
understand where the money for schools comes from, how it is spent and how we
as parents, educators and taxpayers might influence the raising and spending of
moneys for schools. We will begin our study by looking at the economy,
specifically how economic decisions are made in both the private sector and,
since most schools are publicly owned, in the public sector. We will then look at systems of
taxation, especially those systems that are generally used for school
finance. We will close with a look
at finance and budgets in practice, with the State of
Course Format
The material will be presented in lecture/workshop format. Since there is no book available that deals with this information in the way that we desire, the faculty will do more talking than in most of our workshops. A typical workshop session will include a short lecture, an exercise that gives students a chance to work with the material and a debrief session, where we can answer questions and clear up any ambiguities. Students will have to take careful notes and will have to review those notes between class sessions. Faculty may ask to review students’ notes during the quarter.
Exam Questions
As a way to reinforce learning, we are asking that students develop exam questions after each class meeting. This is intended as a way to encourage review of the material and to afford a means for intellectual engagement with the material. You will have to decide what the important concepts are and how best to frame exam questions that get at the key ideas. Faculty will draw most of the final exam from student questions. There is an incentive for you to develop good questions; if your questions are chosen for the exam you should have no trouble getting a high score on the final.
In preparing questions you may use multiple choice, true/false, short answer or essay formats. The requirements are as follows for each class session:
10 true/false or short answer questions, or
3 multiple choice questions, or
1 essay question.
You must provide the answer(s) for the question(s). In the case of essay questions, this means a paragraph or two of text for each question.
Questions are to be posted on WebX by 5 pm on Friday following the class session. Each student must then respond to the questions of two other students by the following Monday at 9 am. In your responses you should comment on the appropriateness of the questions, whether or not they focus on key ideas, if the answers are correct and how well the questions are written. You should make suggestions for improvement.
Final Note
Since there is no book for this portion of the program, you will have to be sure to understand the material as it is presented. Be sure to ask questions if things are not clear. And be sure to review your notes regularly so that things stay clear in your head as you add more and more information.