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No.. but let's not be nieve here.. For example.. can you say that BUSH peformed much better than someone else to have gotten into the college he got into? Or did he get into those schools because of his families monetary value to it? Or the students that get into a school because their wealthy parent was an alumni. It's nieve to think that when a school hits capacity and lines have to be drawn that those who have more money will be shut out over those who have less. Neppitism is alive and well in this country as well and to believe it wouldn't trickle into education in a privitized system would be nieve.
You see a downside; I see opportunity. Either more private schools can open to meet the demand (much like the learning center industry has skyrocketed: Score!, Sylvan, Huntington, Kumon, etc.), or the public schools can improve their academics to try to lure students back to retain their funding.
You see a downside; I see opportunity. Either more private schools can open to meet the demand (much like the learning center industry has skyrocketed: Score!, Sylvan, Huntington, Kumon, etc.), or the public schools can improve their academics to try to lure students back to retain their funding.
And as Greatday asked.. what happens to the students in the meantime.. while we wait for more private institutions to come to fruition. ... what happens to the students who are stuck in the "poorer" performing schools who in turn loose their funding because it was pulled from them to a private instituation and those "privledged" few actually get into?
I see this as an opportunity for the U.S to take stock and a hard look at our public system and make the needed improvements and adjustments.. I think improvement is a less painful transition.
And.. I said it a few posts back. WE have to take a long hard look at our culture and the culture that our children are a part of to really see how academic achievement has decreased.
Just one example.. internet and texting jargon has leaked into school papers causing poor spelling abilities because our children spend so much time on this "new" language on a daily basis.
There is more time in front of the TV and less time in front of books.
There is a heavier dependency on technology than on finding the answer on your own (in regards to mathmatics and calculators)
I can go on and on and on. I truly believe that there is a generation that kind of got lost.. and I think it's time we take stock and pull our teaching methods into the new century rather than try to go back to the 1960s...
We need to learn how to engage and interest our kids in education again.. so that they are more excited by Science and math then they are by the latest hapenings of Hannah Montana. Until we do that, whether schools are privitized or public will not make any difference AT ALL.
Would a massive private school effort result in schools for profit increasing? Schools for altruistic purposes increasing? Cultural/Religous schools increasing? Would there be a private school for everyone or would there be a void in availability for some?
We need to learn how to engage and interest our kids in education again.. so that they are more excited by Science and math then they are by the latest hapenings of Hannah Montana. Until we do that, whether schools are privitized or public will not make any difference AT ALL.
I think the best approach would be to teach through games/hands-on projects A LOT more...to make learning actually fun.
You see a downside; I see opportunity. Either more private schools can open to meet the demand (much like the learning center industry has skyrocketed: Score!, Sylvan, Huntington, Kumon, etc.), or the public schools can improve their academics to try to lure students back to retain their funding.
This makes me think of the possibility of huge chains of private schools operating for profit....that would be about the money, not about the kids.
More expert research from the guru on ability grouping to assist you in the discussion. Ability Grouping in Elementary Schools.
Slavin concludes that schools and teachers should use the methods proved most effective, such as within-class ability grouping in mathematics, nongraded plans in reading, and the Joplin Plan. The review recommends that schools find alternatives to the use of ability grouped class assignment, such as assigning students to self-contained classes according to general ability or performance level.
You really have to be careful with Slavin's analysis and recommendations. He's expecting teachers, who already complain about being stretched too thin, to now provide lessons entirely different in pace, content, and level to several different ability-based groups within the same class.
How many teachers are going to be willing to prepare 3 to 4 different plans for each lesson? Also, this splits the time a teacher can devote to any particular group within the class to 1/3 or 1/4 of class time. Everyone gets a fraction of the instruction time they should be getting. Bad idea.
A better idea:
"In a notebook on her desk at Rock View Elementary School, Principal Patsy Roberson keeps tabs on every student: red for those who have failed to attain proficiency on Maryland's statewide exam, an asterisk for students learning English and squares for black or Hispanic children whose scores place them "in the gap." Roberson and the Rock View faculty are having remarkable success lifting children out of that gap, the achievement gap that separates poor and minority children from other students and represents one of public education's most intractable problems. They have done it with an unusual approach. The Kensington school's 497 students are grouped into classrooms according to reading and math ability for more than half of the instructional day." Montgomery School's New Take On Ability Grouping Yields Results - washingtonpost.com
Whether meeting Maryland's standards is a rigorous enough goal is doubtful, but the point is that all students, even the struggling, made SIGNIFICANT gains when placed in ability grouped classes.
This makes me think of the possibility of huge chains of private schools operating for profit....that would be about the money, not about the kids.
You think public schools aren't about the money??? They suck money like a mosquito sucks blood - relentlessly. I'll give you two quotes from school board members in a newspaper article I posted earlier in this thread...
"We're spending more money, and it's not getting us better performance," said Tim Millar, school board president in Palatine Township Elementary District 15, who campaigned on a taxpayer platform. "The culture is to talk about lack of money rather than return on investment. It's really frightening."
"The system is not efficient, and it's anything but high-quality," said Chris Jenner, a school board member at Cary Elementary District 26. Jenner is part of an informal group of a dozen suburban school board members who meet occasionally to talk shop, and believe the public school system in Illinois is fundamentally flawed. "The complete and utter focus is on funding, not on how the money's spent, but on getting more money," Jenner said. "People should be outraged." Daily Herald | Chapter 10: Only 1 in 5 high school graduates are ready for college
You think public schools aren't about the money??? They suck money like a mosquito sucks blood - relentlessly. I'll give you two quotes from school board members in a newspaper article I posted earlier in this thread...
"We're spending more money, and it's not getting us better performance," said Tim Millar, school board president in Palatine Township Elementary District 15, who campaigned on a taxpayer platform. "The culture is to talk about lack of money rather than return on investment. It's really frightening."
"The system is not efficient, and it's anything but high-quality," said Chris Jenner, a school board member at Cary Elementary District 26. Jenner is part of an informal group of a dozen suburban school board members who meet occasionally to talk shop, and believe the public school system in Illinois is fundamentally flawed. "The complete and utter focus is on funding, not on how the money's spent, but on getting more money," Jenner said. "People should be outraged." Daily Herald | Chapter 10: Only 1 in 5 high school graduates are ready for college
My argument was that we need to move AWAY from this direction with the public schools. I believe the public schools spend way too much money and could actually spend LESS and get BETTER results. There needs to be some state agency reviewing every school district for efficiency.
My argument was that we need to move AWAY from this direction with the public schools. I believe the public schools spend way too much money and could actually spend LESS and get BETTER results.
Oh - got it! I'm right there with you!
Quote:
There needs to be some state agency reviewing every school district for efficiency.
Okay, you lost me on that because now you're right back in the money pit, er black hole.
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I'm right there with you!