Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I currently live in Lexington and used to live in Newton before, and my kids are currently in the public school system. So here are some of my observations about Lexington school systems:
I agree with semiurbanite and other posters that mentioned Social-economical status is the most predictive indicator in educational attainment. That, however, does not mean other factors are not important. So I will comment on some of the other factors I see in Lexington public school.
- School: In terms of curriculum, I think it's fairly standard, at least in elementary school level where my kids are at. Sometimes they will have more challenging, additional work if kids demonstrate ability, but mainly to keep them interested. Very minimal homework, frankly. Schools are reasonably well funded, and a lot of parents are active in volunteering.
- Teachers: A lot of experienced teachers, but some new ones too. One thing I discovered is your teacher is critical in your child educational experience and there is some randomness into it. So no matter the school district, if you have a good teacher, it makes a big positive difference. Or vice versa.
- Extra-curricular activities. Tons of activities. From academic to music to after school cooking class. There is international affair, science night, literacy night, etc. The science fair has some pretty advanced stuff given the families, but lots of kid participated and it's great fun too.
- Peers. At least in elementary level, mostly down to earth. There are goofballs, and there are kids who are more focused on academics. It really depends on who your child gravitate to. One thing I will say though. From observation and personal teaching experience, a lot of teacher time and attention will be focused on the kids that need most help. That is natural. Buy if you have good peers around your child, they challenge each other, motivate each other, and learn from each other. That is important.
- Other Parents. Very well educated, and at least in this stage, not a lot of pressure. Most of them are actually very cool and fun families. Lots of international exposure.
One last thing - about the NYT article, it was a big deal in town when it came out, given the high profile nature of it. For me, it's actually a positive development. It's much better to learn the school system acknowledges an issue, and is actively managing student stress in order to help them. I am pretty sure all high achieving school districts (in fact, probably individual high achieving student) are facing the same problem, it would be naive to assume otherwise. But I am not sure if all the high achieving school districts are focused on the issue and tries to do something about it. In this regard I think it is comforting to know the school system is on the problem.
That's my 2 cents. I hope it facilitates more understanding beyond SAT scores and hyperbole. Please PM me if you want more information.
The thing you're overlooking is that if you have a child with special needs, they're going to be addressed in Lexington. In a high poverty rate city school, half the school is special needs in one way or another. If you fall behind, it's all over. Socioeconomic segregation by town provides an enormous boost for the 'have' towns because of this. They tend to have relatively few special needs students so the school systems can spend a lot of resources on them.
The thing you're overlooking is that if you have a child with special needs, they're going to be addressed in Lexington. In a high poverty rate city school, half the school is special needs in one way or another. If you fall behind, it's all over. Socioeconomic segregation by town provides an enormous boost for the 'have' towns because of this. They tend to have relatively few special needs students so the school systems can spend a lot of resources on them.
Not necessarily true, different districts spent vastly different amounts per pupil. Cambridge spends 28k while Lexington spends 17k for example. Districts with more high needs kids can also be more efficient because they are serving more kids.
There are also several anecdotal posts here that suggest otherwise too, here is one perosn who left Weston because they didn't have enough experience dealing with special needs kids: http://www.city-data.com/forum/massa...preschool.html
If anything I would think that the wealthier districts are more likely to have special needs students, since wealthy parents are more likely to diagnose their children and demand accommodations.
For example i'm willing to bet that the percentage of students taking ADHD medications is much higher at Lexington then it is in Lynn.
Not necessarily true, different districts spent vastly different amounts per pupil. Cambridge spends 28k while Lexington spends 17k for example. Districts with more high needs kids can also be more efficient because they are serving more kids.
Cambridge proportionally has a heck of a lot more special needs students than Lexington. They have the enormous tax base so they have the money to spend. You think Springfield or Lawrence or New Bedford can do that?
Another thing to consider is that the families attracted to high scoring districts simply care more about test scores and prepare their kids. Many other highly educated households don't care, and feel that MCAS is a distraction that results in their kids learning less because too much time can be spect preparing for how to take the test instead of really learning. It actually dissuades many people from moving to high scoring districts. Even more importantly - teachers overwhelmingly agree.
So are they teaching for the tests or is it just a correlation with household income? I was under the impression that the better a district does, the less time they spend studying for standardized exams. Ive heard bad thing about Lexington public schools, but never that they spent too much time studying for standardized tests.
Quote:
Originally Posted by semiurbanite
Socioeconomic segregation, which is exacerbated greatly by people fleeing urban areas when they have kids, is one of our nation's biggest problems.
I think you only consider socioeconomic segregation “one of our nations biggest problems” if you aren’t faced with any real problems. You might be able to say it contributes to some problems, but in itself it’s something a small fraction of the country even really wants.
Socioeconomic segregation, which is exacerbated greatly by people fleeing urban areas when they have kids, is one of our nation's biggest problems.
So are you blaming these parents who fled urban life for the problems in inner city schools?
I would only raise a child in the suburbs. And part of that is that I wouldn't want my child tainted by the city influences, such as the poor speech patterns of immigrants and the ebonic style of speaking by the blacks. And why would I want my child to be surrounded by other students who aren't interested in academic excellence? Why should I sacrifice what is best for my child in order to uplift the children of such bad parenting or lesser educated parents?
One of my husband's friends is a Chinese American who grew up in Brookline. Early on as a child, he was fascinated by the ways of the street. Even as an adult in his thirties, he still talks like a ghetto person. Maybe his mom didn't care, but in my family, we all speak proper business English. And that's what I would want my child to grow up to speak.
The black community could solve so much of their problems by keeping ebonics at home and with friends, but knowing how to speak business English for school and work. The African nationals that do so well at US universities and in their successful careers all speak beautiful business English. Not even American English, but UK English. And they all dress very stylishly in a professional and business manner. No athletic sweats and hoodies for them.
Much of success in any situation is about the presentation and the packaging.
Socioeconomic segregation, which is exacerbated greatly by people fleeing urban areas when they have kids, is one of our nation's biggest problems.
Many of my co-workers in Boston are parents of kids that go to urban schools. And the problem I see is that the parents are the "problem" by not motivating their children to excel in academics or helping to show their children the value of styling themselves in a more presentable and professional manner.
But I put "presentable" in quotes, because the feedback I am getting from the parents, teachers and articles on future job forecasts... is that it's a huge mistake and a waste of resources to herd every single student into a STEM career path.
1. Not every child (and their family) wants to grow up to become a medical professional or engineer or coder or IT developer.
2. The US is forecast to have a huge shortage in the SKILLED trades. We're not talking about day laborers, but high skill level work that pays very well.
3. Teachers are very frustrated with their current mandate to have to have all of their students excel in subjects like higher math. Subjects which they don't see their parents or their role models using in daily work or life situations.
And I think it very elitist of liberal America to stereotype the trades as dirty unskilled work that only recent immigrants should be doing. What's wrong with preferring working with ones hands in a trade to sitting at a desk on the computer or being in the sciences? No job is for everyone.
And I know how this feels, because my family really wanted me to be a surgeon. But I just never had the calling to heal people.
And I have had discussions with my immigrant and black co-workers about what they want for their children. And mostly, they want their kids to be happy, find love and make an honest living. They are fine if their children don't become software developers or doctors. And the most ambitious parent has hopes that her sons excel in college football and then go pro, even though I pointed out the risk of permanent brain damage. They just aren't all driven like the suburban parents who want their kids to get into Harvard or Yale. So why push the dreams of the suburban parents onto the rest of the school children? Is it some sort of white guilt thing?
“You get politicians in Lansing who have never been in a classroom telling me I have to teach a certain way. And every few years, things would change. When you go from one testing idea to another testing idea and then back to the first, it’s the definition of insanity.”
Leep said he grew frustrated being given the same standards for all students, and students are all judged on the same tests, like the girl from the broken home and the banker’s son are as interchangeable as the cuts of poultry Leep’s workers prepare each morning.
At Chick-fil-A, every chicken breast weighs the same, is battered in the same mixture and is cooked for the same number of minutes, Leep said.
“We’re successful because of the recipe and the consistency,” Leep said. “But students are different. Some want to go to college and I applaud that. Some want to go into a trade and I applaud that. Some want to go into the military. As an educator, I wanted to find what’s inside that kid and bring it out.”
“College isn’t for everyone. If you want to go to college, you’re going to accrue a lot of debt. You’re not sure if you’re gonna get a position after you graduate,” Bernarding said.
He’s getting paid $40,000 a year while some of his buddies in college are racking up debt.
And there's no reason that any young person can't leave the trades and then go to college. I think that more young people should not go to college straight from high school and instead mature some more and explore the world first.
IMO what high school students need is some solid training in pertinent life skills. Like math that would involve personal accounting and how to save for long term goals. How to avoid racking up credit debt and maintaining a good credit score. And math for firefighters and building contractors. Just make it really relevant material. Meanwhile, I used algebra for a real life situation for the first time just six months ago!!!
Oh yeah, and stop telling your children to follow their passion. Worse life advice ever!!! Instead, tell them to "stay curious".
So are you blaming these parents who fled urban life for the problems in inner city schools?
I would only raise a child in the suburbs. And part of that is that I wouldn't want my child tainted by the city influences, such as the poor speech patterns of immigrants and the ebonic style of speaking by the blacks. And why would I want my child to be surrounded by other students who aren't interested in academic excellence? Why should I sacrifice what is best for my child in order to uplift the children of such bad parenting or lesser educated parents?
One of my husband's friends is a Chinese American who grew up in Brookline. Early on as a child, he was fascinated by the ways of the street. Even as an adult in his thirties, he still talks like a ghetto person. Maybe his mom didn't care, but in my family, we all speak proper business English. And that's what I would want my child to grow up to speak.
The black community could solve so much of their problems by keeping ebonics at home and with friends, but knowing how to speak business English for school and work. The African nationals that do so well at US universities and in their successful careers all speak beautiful business English. Not even American English, but UK English. And they all dress very stylishly in a professional and business manner. No athletic sweats and hoodies for them.
Much of success in any situation is about the presentation and the packaging.
...what? So many things wrong with this post I don't even know where to begin.
...what? So many things wrong with this post I don't even know where to begin.
Really? Basically, the problem IS with having a diversity of CULTURES in the urban areas, the children will be exposed to some that the parents don't want their children to be exposed to. Or at least, not in the way that goes against how they want their children to grow up to be. Such as picking up ebonic speech patterns and behaving like a hood rat... because all the kids think that is cool to do. Or accept teen pregnancies or baby momma drama because it's no big deal.
You know that there is so much more to being influenced by the school teachers when a child goes off to school for the day, beginning from when that child leaves the house.
And what is wrong with any parent to want THEIR child or children to grow up turning out just like them and the family that they came from? What's wrong with parents wanting their child to speak just like them and to have the same moral compass? And it IS made much more difficult to do so when their child is surrounded by other children from vastly different cultures and upbringing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
