Waiting for Superman

1. According to the movie, what are the problems in education?

2. To what extent are parents and families responsible for student success? What evidence do you have to support your position?

3. To what extent do you agree with the movie’s argument that teachers are the main factor behind school success or failure?

4. To what extent to you agree with Ayers’ argument that student poverty and lack of school funding play a major role in school success or failure?

5.In Waiting for “Superman”, we travel with five families on their journey to enroll their children in public schools where students are challenged and supported in programs that prepare them for college. What is your vision of a great public school? What are the key characteristics of a great school?

6.What needs to happen in your community to create more public ownership of your local public schools?

7.In the film we see several examples of schools characterized by a culture of low expectations and low achievement. Are there schools in your community that fit this description? What do you believe are the root causes of these chronically low-performing schools? What is being done to improve them? What should be done?

8.In the film, the idea of teachers unions and tener where discussed heavily. Do you think that these institutions and policies protect bad teachers or good teachers more? How could getting rid of tener and unions help schools? How could it hurt the good teachers? Do you think there are more good teachers or more bad teachers in education?

9.Research shows that what happens outside of school – such as neighborhood violence or inadequate health care or housing – has a significant impact on classroom learning and student achievement. In your experience, what is the relationship between neighborhood quality of life and student achievement?

10. Overall, what do you believe are the main problems in education? Why?