Darling-Hammond: Final Chapter

1. Meaningful learning goals- Darling-Hammond (2010) mentions that curriculum wars need to end. She mentions that "content and skills need to be considered together." There is no right or wrong answer. Both sides have valid point. She also mentions that even though standards are useful for teachers to have a guideline, materials and general expectations, effective teaching is important. The curriculum should give room for teachers to differentiate with in their classroom.  Darling-Hammond writes that it is important for teachers to be involved in making assessments for their students. They should also use portfolios to help students prepare for college and a career. 
2. Intelligent, reciprocal accountability systems- In this part of the chapter Darling-Hammond mentions that educators must be held to higher standards just like their students. Educators need professional development and evaluations to achieve high quality teaching.  Schools also need to be responsible for student outcomes. They need curriculum that is challenging and gives teachers flexibility. School districts should be responsible for hiring and supporting teachers.  
3. Equitable and adequate resources- Darling-Hammond (2010) writes "federal Title I funding gives more to states that spend more, reinforcing rather than compensating for unequal resources across the states." She believes that there should be a federal law that states that students should have adequate access to the curriculum. 
4. Strong professional standards and supports- One plan that she mentions is that the federal government should have a service scholarship to help cover costs for continuing education. She also believes that there should be an assessment on "teaching skills in the content areas" (p 315) for new teachers. Also mentioned was having high-quality professional development. She believes there should be money in place for teachers to be well trained. Teachers want effective leaders to work under. They will work more effectively if there is a qualified principal over a money incentive. 
5. Schools organized for student and teacher learning- In this last section she mentions that schools need to have principals that are ready to lead 21st century schools, and not the past design. The principals should also have assessments to guide their progress and professional development. 

“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must we want for all children in the community. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy”
 Our educational system should be nothing but the best for the students. If it is not the highest quality then students are not going to be ready as an adult and might not contribute to society. Darling-Hammond spells out a great sample of how the educational system could change. She is looking at it to help the students. The students should be the focus of any educational program. If we are not teaching to our students needs then we are not helping the students learn. The state and federal governments need to set up grants and other ways to fund educational programs, including teacher and administrator professional development. If these things could be in place teachers would have a better platform for teaching the 21st century learners. We need to teach students how to think, everything is in the palm of their hands (they can just Google it). But we want students to be thinkers. We want to be able to teach them to ask questions and think outside of the box. As teachers we need to know how to teach beyond the basics. If we followed Darling-Hammond's plan we possible reach this goal of better educating our students to prepare them for the future.