So You Want to Be Education Secretary . . .

President-elect Barack Obama with Arne Duncan, the nominee for secretary of education, who has been widely praised for his work as chief executive of the more-than-400,000-student Chicago school system, the nation's third-largest. (Pool Photo By Ralf-finn Hestoft)

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University System of Maryland

The Student

There should be more extensive training so that teachers are better prepared for the demands of their jobs. Teachers should be assessed in a learning environment before being hired. In order to attract more teachers to inner-city schools, incentives should be given to teachers that work in high-need areas.

Standardized tests . . . don't accurately assess what material should be taught in a curriculum, such as grammar and writing skills. The standardized tests should be refocused so that they assess more than test-taking skills. . . .

The new secretary of education should support and encourage the funding of programs that focus on early childhood education. I think that if children are well educated at a young age, they will be more motivated to continue and excel in their studies.

-- Emily Aronson, sophomore,

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