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How would you rank them from 1-6?(with 1 being the most important and 6 being the least)
- Parenting
- Competitiveness school environment
- Qualification of teachers
- Family income/wealth
- IQ
- School funding
I would rank them like this:
1. Competitiveness of school environment(competition and comparing yourself to others can work wonders. The people around you shape your personal expectations and the expectations of you.)
2. Family income/wealth(If you have parents, cousins, aunts/uncles with a lot of education then that automatically becomes your default standard. Plus, you also have to worry about maintaining the quality of life that your used to as an adult and that'll take more effort for someone from a highly skilled background. Financing college/tutoring is obviously much easier for more-affluent people.)
3. Parenting(most people will probably put parenting as their number one most important choice. Personally, I can't identify with that since I had parents who rarely pushed me at all, couldn't give two craps about how I did in school and would constantly argue and create a hostile environment but i've still managed to be successful in school all the way up to completing my college undergrad curriculum very recently [on time w/honors]...Who knows, maybe i'm just an outlier?)
4. Natural Intelligence(sometimes people are just born w/less natural intellectual abilities. I still think enough effort&drive can correct this).
5. School funding(of course schools should have adequate funding to take care of basic operations but throwing money at the problems has little benefits).
6. Qualification of teachers (I think this is almost completely irrelevant. I've had so many teachers who were fresh college grads who were AMAZING and incredibly effective; while a lot of my tenured teachers with decades of experience and qualifications have been absolutely horrific).
EDIT: I would define success as performing above your grade level by national standards. As for college standards, I would say 3.0-3.5 Cumulative GPA or higher (of course depending on your major).
Last edited by MemoryMaker; 05-27-2014 at 09:57 AM..
It's hard to define the parameters of "success" since it's so subjective.
I would define success as performing above your grade level by national standards. As for college standards, I would say 3.0-3.5 Cumulative GPA or higher (depending on your major of course).
School funding is the least important for students but the most important for union bosses, the school board, and other politicians.
Mark Zuckerberg "made it rain" on Newark, NJ public schools in 2010, to the tune of $100 million. What did the students get for it, not in terms of "stuff" but in terms of success?
I would say ''stability'' which is a combo of many of what you stated above. Financials and family are incredibly important. If you can afford textbooks and a tutor (and don't have to work over 20 hrs/week) you are golden. Parents can be a big help too. If your parents are poor, then they more than likely don't see the ''immediate'' benefits of pursuing an education. They will be more or less concerned why you aren't working at a McDonalds to bring extra income in.
The ability of all those things listed to work together instead of at cross-purposes. And by the late-middle-to-high-school level, individual motivation.
3) Family wealth/income (although I'd venture to say this is actually more of a reflection of the IQ and education level of family and that is what drives this)
HUGE GAP
4) Competitiveness of the school
5) Teacher qualifications
Big gap
6) School funding
__________________
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School funding is the least important for students but the most important for union bosses, the school board, and other politicians.
Mark Zuckerberg "made it rain" on Newark, NJ public schools in 2010, to the tune of $100 million. What did the students get for it, not in terms of "stuff" but in terms of success?
How would you rank them from 1-6?(with 1 being the most important and 6 being the least)
- Parenting
- Competitiveness school environment
- Qualification of teachers
- Family income/wealth
- IQ
- School funding
I would rank them like this:
1. Competitiveness of school environment(competition and comparing yourself to others can work wonders. The people around you shape your personal expectations and the expectations of you.)
2. Family income/wealth(If you have parents, cousins, aunts/uncles with a lot of education then that automatically becomes your default standard. Plus, you also have to worry about maintaining the quality of life that your used to as an adult and that'll take more effort for someone from a highly skilled background. Financing college/tutoring is obviously much easier for more-affluent people.)
3. Parenting(most people will probably put parenting as their number one most important choice. Personally, I can't identify with that since I had parents who rarely pushed me at all, couldn't give two craps about how I did in school and would constantly argue and create a hostile environment but i've still managed to be successful in school all the way up to completing my college undergrad curriculum very recently [on time w/honors]...Who knows, maybe i'm just an outlier?)
4. Natural Intelligence(sometimes people are just born w/less natural intellectual abilities. I still think enough effort&drive can correct this).
5. School funding(of course schools should have adequate funding to take care of basic operations but throwing money at the problems has little benefits).
6. Qualification of teachers (I think this is almost completely irrelevant. I've had so many teachers who were fresh college grads who were AMAZING and incredibly effective; while a lot of my tenured teachers with decades of experience and qualifications have been absolutely horrific).
EDIT: I would define success as performing above your grade level by national standards. As for college standards, I would say 3.0-3.5 Cumulative GPA or higher (of course depending on your major).
I would rank them the same except I'd flip natural intelligence and parenting and I'm not sure parenting ranks that high. I think a parents biggest contribution is choosing where their child will grow up. This limits their selection for peers. I think peers are by far the strongest influence when it comes to outcomes both good and bad.
Peer pressure is a very strong thing. Put a child in an environment where their peers strive to succeed and it often rubs off on them.
Family income gives a student something to strive for. They've seen success. They've grown up with it and they don't want to lose it when they are older.
I would put natural intelligence next. I think it trumps parenting.
As I said already I think parents make two major contributions. They choose where their child will grow up and they are role models. If mom and dad are educated and successful (goes with family income), the kids most likely will be too. Parents set the stage WRT a child's attitude about education.
School funding and teacher quality go hand in hand. It's hard to teach without the right resources and it's hard to use the resources if you don't have the ability.
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