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Dr. Kathleen P. Loftus Columnist EducationNews.org

Dr. Loftus is a professor of Special Education for Concordia University Chicago, and the Director of Outcomes Educational Services, a parent and student advocacy organization in the Chicago area. Being both an experienced school district administrator and State monitor of special education compliance, Dr. Loftus is recognized as an outspoken whistleblower of violations to students' educational rights at both the school and State levels. She was directly responsible for much needed policy changes at Chicago Public Schools and the Illinois State Board of Education. Dr. Loftus' doctoral research addressed the lack of required training in Special Education by school principals. While actively working to improve education for all children, she continues to conduct research and provide commentary on contemporary issues in American education that are serving as barriers to both student learning and the growth of our nation.  Her book, "Set Up to Fail: 100 Things Wrong with America's Schools" is available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Content Posted by Dr. Kathleen P. Loftus Columnist EducationNews.org

School Reform requires a Reality Check - An Open Letter to Bill & Melinda Gates, Jonathon Kozol, Rev. Meeks, & Oprah Winfrey:

Dr. Kathleen Loftus
Columnist EducationNews.org
As a seasoned educator I witness firsthand every day the problems with our current educational system that are not simply the result of racially-biased education, but of a bureaucracy designed to ensure the success of only one group of students. I have identified what I believe to be the five greatest problems affecting America’s schools today, as well as five corresponding and achievable solutions.

Chicago Schools

Dr. Kathleen Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
Chicago Public Schools CEO, Arne Duncan, this week announced his plan to close eight underperforming CPS schools, while dismissing all of these schools’ teachers and administrators, as a solution to the schools’ “underperformance,” based on current NCLB standards.

Trading

Dr. K. P. Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
With the onset of NCLB, today’s students are no longer “aged out” of their elementary schools, regardless of the inappropriateness of their continuing to languish with students 3 or more years younger than them.

Helping Our

Dr. K. Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
It would seem that the latest scapegoats for what's wrong with today's schools are the discipline deans. The recent shooting in an Ohio alternative high school has been attributed to everything from too much to too little prior discipline intervention.

Poor Performing Student Athletes

Dr. Kathleen P. Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
A recent online debate was published by Inside Higher Ed following the last-minute rejection of a previously-admitted “star athlete.” (Aug. 8, 2007.) The article was followed by an emotionally-charged online debate

Where are the Helicopters?

Dr. K. Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
Schools and hospitals in America's most affluent areas share an equally high caliber of state-of-the art facilities and practices. Even hospitals in the most densely populated poverty-stricken areas boast superior medical trauma centers, while our more rural areas manage to survive most of their routine medical needs with less sophisticated health care. They have little to fear because, at the beginning of the 21st century, most Americans know that any needed advanced trauma care is never more than a quick helicopter ride away. Sadly, this is not so with our schools.

The Problem with Local Control

Dr. K. Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
While we regularly acknowledge the shortcomings of both state and federal government when it comes to managing America's schools, we seldom recognize the failures of the local school boards. Almost without exception it is these governing bodies who are the final authorities in all matters concerning schools, from expenditures to curricula. Too often, however, these largely non-educator authorities are elected more on their popularity than on their capacities to make sound educational decisions.

The Problem with Merit Pay

Dr. K. Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
It goes without saying that there needs to be some greater responsibility imposed on teachers and schools with regard to students' measurable academic performance outcomes. In no other service or industry in America is a product foisted upon communities, with the failure of the citizens to partake being subject to criminal penalties, while no particular quality controls or consumer feedback determine future practices.

Schools

Dr. Kathleen Loftus
Columnist EdNews.org
A 2/23/07 Associated Press article out of Washington entitled, "Seniors Post Good Grades, Low Test Scores," bemoans how "large percentages of high school seniors are posting weak scores on national math and reading tests," while questioning the validity of these scores, due to the students' higher "earned" letter grades, indicating higher achievement, in the same subjects.

Head of America

Dr. Kathleen Loftus Columnist EdNews.org
On this morning’s televised broadcast of The McLaughlin Group (2/25/07) Mr. McLaughlin had as his guest, U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. I sat back with my second cup of coffee expecting to gain some true insight into our government’s upcoming plans for improving its schools. Instead, as Mr. McLaughlin presented Secretary Spellings with the latest in a series of very sobering statistics comparing the performance of America’s students to those of other nations, she seemed sorely ill-equipped to respond to these grave concerns.

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