EduShyster posted an essay by a guest blogger named Steven Thomas. He attended one of the celebrated no-excuses charter schools in Massachusetts called The Academy of the Pacific Rim. He was in trouble continually. He got demerits; he never won merits. He hated school. He began to think he was just a “bad kid.” He was eventually pushed out and sent to a school for “bad kids,” joining the school-to-prison pipeline. Fortunately, he managed to make his way back to a regular public school. His life turned around. He won a scholarship to college. He is not a bad kid.
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Hmmm… So kids never leave or drop out of traditional public schools anymore? Only charter schools? That’s amazing!!!
But seriously…. I am glad that he was successful upon returning to public school; Although just because that school wasn’t a good fit for him, does not mean that all charter schools are bad.
Choice is what parents and students need. What would be so wrong with allowing students and parents a choice in what they would like to see their children’s school and education provided to their children to look like and to ensure that they are literate and allowed to achieve to their potentials?
Does choice mean one child getting a Lincoln and another getting a used fiat? Or does choice mean all students having equal access to what works for them. Thus far, choice means more for the kids in charters and less for the kids in the public schools who,are forced to do with less when they lose numbers. Are we really willing to pay for equitable choices? Who will vote for more taxes?
Roy Turrentine: Funny you should use that analogy… Seeing that is EXACTLY THE 2nd class EDUCATION that to many children stuck in SPECIAL EDUCATION seem to be provided in traditional public schools!!!!
My son was only offered a used Pinto while others were provided the new Lincoln!!!!
And just curious, which school equates to your analogy?
Is the charter school the used Fiat or the Lincoln?
Because if you are stuck in Special Ed you never seem to close the gaps in public schools! You will be forever left behind!!!! Predetermination provided by those that write you off do to coming from poverty or classified as Learning Disabled; yet the real disability is the TEACHING DISABILITY that allowed students to be passed through every year while being taught to their level of disabily rather than remediated and taught to their cognitive ability level!
M,
Yes, we have heard that students in special education who attend charter schools are CURED of their disability. Why don’t they accept more such students so no one has a disability?
My point was that the presence of choice has shown no improvement in the situation you describe. Choice is costly, and no one wants to pay. It is cheaper to ignore the kids that have trouble learning. Charters ignore them by “counseling them out”. Public schools cannot fund the help needed to give them attention.
Roy Turrentine :
Public schools are OBLIGATED to provide these children FAPE under IDEA, 504 & ADA!!!
Plus it’s the whole basis for NCLB!!!!
So then, public and charter school’s are ALLOWED a free PASS on FAILING to EFFECTIVELY INSTRUCT students, identified as needing remedial instruction????
Plus it is not an issue with the students learning difference, it is then indeed an issue with the DISABILITY of teachers and schools to provide them with effective instruction!!!!
That then is a CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION, is it not?
Then why should parents send their children to ANY OF THESE PUBLIC SCHOOLS that FAIL them?
M – re: your 2nd comment which focuses on SpEd. It sucks that your kid(s) experienced SpEd as a 2nd class ed that left them behind, & they were stigmatized as poor &/or LD. But this is a function of your district & perhaps your state. SpEd services provided– & the sch culture in which they’re provided– represent a wide spectrum nationally.
I raised my kids thro the NJ pubsch sys in the ’90’s-’00’s. 2 out of 3 boys were classified. [And even the 3rd did not fit the mold, but fortunately we have a ’70’s-founded alt hs sch-w/in a sch, which was crucial in helping him to succeed]. The district today spends just shy of 17k per student, so that tells you it takes plenty of $ to support the ideal of equal access. [We even had a ‘bridge program’ for devptly-delayed hisch kids, & more recently the district initiated a PreK/1 classroom for autistic kids, designed to continue thro elem– so far much more cost-effiecient than sending them out-of-district].
SpEd classification made the all the difference for my kids. I think they would not have attended (& succeeded) in college without it. But I have to credit the success to a state which took the law seriously & put extra bucks behind ed for LD, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, autistic, handicapped– as well as regular & gifted kids. and not least to a district that had ample resources & lavished them on its pubsch sys.
All this only to say: my experience shows SpEd can be a slam-dunk when the community is wealthy & is dedicated to its pubsch sys. No way kids were just ‘passed thro’ when the encountered difficulties. When my youngest flunked math on the jr yr practice HSPA [our hs exit exam pre-PARCC], he was reqd to drop an elective so as to take 2 back-2-back math classes sr yr [he passed the math HSPA].
To me, this is the model that should prevail: a pubsch sys devoted to providing best ed for every type of student. What is lacking to make it happen? Sufficient funding for every district. When a district is underfunded we see bandaid solutions like charters & vouchers. They are sold as providing equivalency, but they do not deliver.
Bethree5—-
Unfortunately your school is the exception then.
I have spoke to families throughout this country who have experienced the struggles that we’ve experienced.
It’s not just one school, not just one district, not just one county, not just one state!
It’s a nationwide problem!
Hence why Decoding Dyslexia chapters exist now and why we are speaking up about the failure to educate 1 in 5 students effectively and as early as possible! Third grade and beyond is too late to start instruction in a manner known to be most effective in teaching them to read and it does not include LLI/F&P or whole word/language methods.
Children can reach higher academic bars when they bar is not buried so deep that they couldn’t even trip over it accidentally!
M
Dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia are cognitive disorders that are, for all intents and purposes, ignored by public schools. Out of sight, out of mind – unless you are the child who struggles through no fault of their own – or the parent who has to live with the frustration of knowing that their child is not getting the services that can help. Even worse, a parent of any one of the hundreds of thousands of undiagnosed but otherwise intelligent children who are falsely labeled as failures. This issue is unquestionably the “dirtiest little secret” in the public school picture.
Well, M, you just said the magic word (dyslexia). A quick google scan supports what you & Rage say about the neglect of these very specific– & in the case of dyslexia, very common– conditions. In fact the situation enrages me.
My stepdad had it & 2 of 3 siblings inherited. I’d thought things had done a 180 since my brother was young, since my sis just 7 yrs later (mid-70’s) was dg & instructed so well by my home upstate-NY distr that she carried the torch further as a SpEd teacher, then head of the dept, now an asst hs principal. That district is not wealthy but it’s a uni town w/huge community support of the pubsch sys. And in my NJ town, apparently exceptional as you suggest, a friend’s 2 children were dg early, 1 w/dyslexia, the other with dyscalculia) & received excellent support. None of it was a breeze; lots of parental advocacy req’d. However in both districts the school initially flagged the kids (including mine, w/different issues) for evaluation.
What an embarrassment & shame on US pubsch sys & how far backward we’ve come in the reform era that dyslexia generally remains undg, untreated. And all about the unwillingness to corral resources to address long-known very common issue!
From the Decoding Dyslexia website;
Decoding Dyslexia is a network of parent-led grassroots movements across the country concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia within the public education system. We aim to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children and inform policy-makers on best practices to identify, remediate and support students with dyslexia.
We are advocating for the following policy goals:
• A universal definition and understanding of “dyslexia” in the
state education code
• Mandatory teacher training on dyslexia, its warning signs and
appropriate intervention strategies
• Mandatory early screening tests for dyslexia
• Mandatory dyslexia remediation programs, which can be accessed
by both general and special education populations
• Access to appropriate “assistive technologies” in the public
school setting for students with dyslexia
Why it took a grassroots organization lead by parents to do this is simply shameful and inexcusable. Billions for testing yet nothing to help the many students who struggle in reading, writing, and math because of a diagnosable cognitive disorder.
This is a case where the system has failed our children.
I think all who responded here ignored the statement I made that no one wanted to fund the solution to the problem. My point was that charters were effective only in making the public sector poorer, and obviously his would lead to a job done even worse. No teacher in either school that is responsible for 140 students a day can effectively minister to the needs of students who need special attention.
A school that cannot teach children in a manner that is effective is not exactly a school that can provide FAPE for them then and therefore the student should be allowed an alternative placement if that is he case!
After I read this, I was reminded about how all the stack rankings and tracking of students cause students and families needless stress and trauma. Having worked ELLs from poor countries, I was reminded how interesting and sometimes challenging it was to work with non-traditional students. In my school district, I was lucky to work in an elementary school district where there was a staff that tried not to rush to judgment and that tried a myriad of interventions before a student was tested and classified. For ELLs we waited at least two years to give them a chance to adjust. However, high stakes testing may be rushing the process. Responding to the stress of high stakes, teachers may rush to a judgment that may have long range, perhaps even life altering, consequences for students. What I know is that we should try to accept individual differences in students before we start making decisions that may limit a student’s access to educational opportunities. Sometimes we have to classify or change a placement for a student; there is no other option. I have made that decision too, but it shouldn’t be a knee jerk “solution” to a problem as this decision has widespread implications.
I disagree. At least in my northeastern area, academics were already being pushed down to into K in the early ’90’s, well before annual 3rd-8th-gr stdzd testing. Early evaluation & IEP were crucial to slow the rate of falling behind for my kids. IEP’s were reviewed & re-negotiated annually, & testing re-done every 3 yrs, which could & did result in changes, even to dg w/one of my kids. Besides my kids & my siblings I’ve been teaching PreK specials (for-lang) around the region for 15 yrs. Severe adhd is obvious at that age & dyslexia becomes obvious in K. Even w/ESL kids, tho a teacher may not understand the issue, that 1 struggling kid in a group of 20 should be flagged for assessment & extra help, no?
This is a tough one. We want to classify kids early so they get the services they need, but overclassifying causes damage too. I disagree that these things are obvious in ELL students. Most of our ELL students have never or rarely been to school. Many teens are illiterate in their home language. Most have been through many moves and extremely traumatic situations. They have to learn about shopping, paperwork, bus schedules, etc. after coming from places where they didn’t have electricity and sometimes even running water. There are so many other things going on that could be classified as a learning disability, but really isn’t.
On a geographic note, HOW is a school called “Academy of the Pacific Rim” in Massachusetts,which is 3,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean? Makes no sense.
Not a coincidence. Across the Pacific Ocean are workers who studied all day and night to become silently obedient company town residents, trying pay for their own retirements that will never come. No collective bargaining. No bargaining. 14 hours a day for peanuts. Education Deform goes hand in hand with TPP for corporate America.
Ya, Academy of the Pacific Rim in Massachusetts, also known as Academy of Geographic Gibberish.
Well, thank goodness he had the back-up public system. I’m glad it was still standing despite best efforts by ed reform politicians to eradicate it.
The Obama Administration found a public school program they approve of.
Is this a first for them? 50 states, thousands of schools and they finally turned up one program in one district to compliment. I suspect there are more than one- they may want to consider getting out more.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hover-bike-new-smartwatch-an-inventive-summer-school-sparks-new-ideas/2016/08/04/903c48d0-59b5-11e6-9767-f6c947fd0cb8_story.html?postshare=6121470411348743&tid=ss_tw
If you have just 30 seconds
or if you have 5 minutes:
or if you have an hour and 13 minutes the whole session at the New Schools Venture Fund 2016 session on “School Discipline: It’s Complicated”.
Worth a watch.
Yikes. The posting stripped my links to specific spots in the video… specificially #t=2076s and #t=968s and made them all start at the beginning… Ah well, you’ll need to find your own favorite moments…
Stephen,
NewSchools Venture Fund is the billionaires’ organization that funds charter schools across the nation. It is supported by billionaire Bill Gates, billionaire Eli Walton, and a bevy of others who don’t like public schools.
I am sure you know this.
Please help us fight privatization.
“I am sure you know this.”
Yeah, interesting to see what some of what goes on behind the closed doors at that “annual invitation-only gathering”. Thankfully, we can watch the video of every session:
http://www.newschools.org/about-us/summit/summit-2016-2/
I aim to watch more.
“Please help us fight privatization.”
By:
a) for-profit corporations?
b) private 501(c)(5) corporations?
c) private foundations?
d) public charities?
e) all the above?
f) a, c and d?
Stephan Ronan,
e) all of the above.
https://twitter.com/nsvf
Gosh, they spend an awful lot of time promoting ed tech product on their website.
I don’t mind salespeople but I think it’s only fair they identify themselves as salespeople. It would be a shame if they were pushing product while presenting themselves as some kind of “databased” nonprofit that people could rely upon for objective opinion.
“e) all of the above.”
I see. I would be happy to be of assistance to you, Diane, in fighting privatization by for profit corporations.
In respect to private 501(c)(5) corporations and public charities perhaps I am less inclined than you to extirpate the influence of both. It seems that the former may play a useful role, particularly in respect to students achieving moderate academic success in middle class or wealthy neighborhoods (not to mention in national politics). And public charities whose role is wisely regulated by public authorities appear especially helpful in respect to disadvantaged youth in those low-income areas where private 501(c)(5) corporations are struggling to meet public hopes and expectations.
Stephen,
I oppose a dual school system. Both publicly funded. One accountable, the other not. One under democratic governance, the other not. One that must enroll all, the other not. One bound by state and federal laws, the other not.
Stephen,
And the subcontractors and other for-profit businesses with which charter nonprofits are connected? Follow the money all the way. And do you like segregation? How about the fiscal impact on true public schools? Are you one of those conservatives who for some twisted reason believes collective bargaining is unfair to multimillionaires? You can’t just say you support charter schools because you support charity work. It’s far from that simple.
“Stephen, I oppose a dual school system. Both publicly funded.”
Is that true for just grades pre-K to 12? Do you oppose federal funds, such as Pell grants, supporting students at private nonprofit institutions of higher education?
Where you refer to a “dual school system,” I see a more complex set of circumstances…
Here in Boston, for free public primary and secondary school opportunities for residents we have, for example, exam schools, pilot schools, in-district charter schools, traditional district schools, turnaround schools, the Compass, and McKinley Schools (*Focus on emotional, behavioral, and learning needs *Highly structured behavior management system *Intensive clinical supports), METCO (“a voluntary program intended to expand educational opportunities, increase diversity, and reduce racial isolation, by permitting students in certain cities to attend public schools in other communities that have agreed to participate”), and Commonwealth Charter Schools.
“One accountable, the other not. One under democratic governance, the other not.”
There are a variety of entities each is accountable to. There’s a Mayor and appointed school committee in Boston, elected school committees with an oversight role in respect to some of the METCO schools, State-level appointed Board/Office to which the Commonwealth Charter Schools are accountable. “The increased freedom available to charter schools coupled with increased accountability, infuses all aspects of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s oversight of charter schools, beginning with the rigorous application process that groups must go through to receive a charter.” http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/ While the closely monitored schools most likely to be shuttered if they’re not more than moderately successful are obviously the Commonwealth Charter Schools, I would disagree with you if you assert the others, the BPS and METCO schools, are entirely unaccountable ;-).
“One that must enroll all, the other not.”
I understand the theoretical point, but the reality on the ground is that none of the schools must enroll and keep enrolled any and every one regardless. Most, like the Commonwealth Charter schools have admission by lottery. At METCO, at exam schools, the McKinley schools… admission is far more selective. There are dropouts at pretty much all the schools. And there are both district schools and Commonwealth Charter schools in the region intensively focused on assisting students most severely at-risk of dropping out. And, lest we forget, attrition is relatively low at the Commonwealth Charter Schools compared to the traditional school system. And there’s a private 501(c)(5) corporation or two strenuously fighting against a more simplified, unified enrollment system.
“One bound by state and federal laws, the other not.”
Not sure what you’re referring to there…
Stephen,
Read my last two books
S Ronan,
…privatization by
g) mayors (Cory Booker), governors (Christie), state commissioner of Ed (Christopher Cerf)
LeftCoastTeacher: “How about the fiscal impact on true public schools?”
I would think that the impact would vary from location to location depending on how much, if anything, the traditional public schools are indemnified to assist them in the transition, and how competently they are able to adapt as enrollments alter over time, either up or down. Here in Massachusetts, I think there may be the most generous payments anywhere in the country to traditional public schools for increased loss of students to public charter schools. This is what was planned: http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/finance/tuition/Reimbursements.html
But there have been occasional shortfalls that may in recent times push the total under 200% of a year’s tuition per newly emptied seat.
Is that too much, too little, the right amount? I don’t have a solid and certain grasp of that.
Dear Stephen,
What?
Sincerely,
LeftCoaster
It’s past time for federal funding, for private universities, to cease. Legacy admission policies are the antithesis of the intent of U.S. law.
The nation should also consider the elimination of all private K-12. The private system has metastasized, producing graduates that use government to enrich themselves. A half century ago, the rich in government, served the public good. They didn’t seek to steal it. The current system produces successive generations of students who suffer from affluenza, who deliberately isolate themselves from the melting pot of citizens that made this country a powerhouse and, who are unproductive, as evidenced by the financial sector’s drag on GDP and the wasteful influence peddling firms in the state and national capitols.
OK, Mr. Ronan, I had to take a second, third, and fourth look at what you wrote and try to figure it out. If I understand you correctly– and I’m not sure I do — you’re saying that the state should pay public schools for students lost to charter scams? So, the taxpayer has to pay for each student TWICE?! What?!? That is the kind of corruption and inefficiency upon which civilizations decline and fall.
LeftCoastTeacher: “OK, Mr. Ronan, I had to take a second, third, and fourth look at what you wrote and try to figure it out. If I understand you correctly– and I’m not sure I do — you’re saying that the state should pay public schools for students lost to charter scams?”
Close, but not quite. I think it makes good sense for the state to provide cash assistance to traditional public school districts while those are losing students to high quality charter schools, and for a period thereafter, but not forever. Though I might hope to see adjustments being made meanwhile that would protect the traditional schools’ longer term budgetary health. As I’m sure you’re aware, often when public schools lose a few students they’re unable to immediately recoup much in the way of savings from having fewer. And we would not want expansion of the charter school sector to hurt traditional public schools. Quite the opposite, we’d want a positive impact, yes?
“So, the taxpayer has to pay for each student TWICE?! What?!?”
Not on an ongoing, indefinite basis. This is just to assist during transitional phases. In Massachusetts the plan was for the traditional public school system to be paid 100% full tuition for the emptied seats the first year and then 25% for each of the next 5 years. If you scroll down to the last chart here you’ll see the amount by which the “reimbursement” has been underfunded in some recent years.
http://www.massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=Charter-School-Funding,-Explained.html
And of course, such a plan only makes sense if the charter schools are really effective, as they allegedly are hereabouts: “The results for the typical student in a Boston charter (about 13 percent of the state’s charter students) were even more pronounced, equating to more than twelve months of additional learning per year in reading and thirteen months greater progress in math. At the school level, 83 percent of Boston charter schools have significantly more positive learning gains than their district school peers in reading and math, and no Boston charter schools were found to have significantly lower learning gains.”
Click to access Mass2013PressReleaseFINAL2.pdf
Now, of course, learning isn’t everything. Catching up on sleep is also important.
Stephen,
You are describing a dual school system. I think the Supreme Court banned that in 1954.
This is a site to discuss better education for ALL, not for SOME.
Please explain how charter schools can “succeed” if they have to enroll kids with disabilities, kids who don’t speak English, kids who are troublemakers. They don’t, you know, they don’t accept them. Or if they should enroll, they get rid of them.
Separate is never equal.
Diane, You know all too well that there is a currently a dual school system in place now. It’s Special Ed vs General Education and the majority of public schools are failing with those same demographics you note (kids with disabilities, kids who don’t speak English, kids who are troublemakers.)
But get this. Unlike the picture that is painted by you and others here on this site, there are charter schools in the county across from mine that accepts mainly those demographics of students ((kids with disabilities, kids who don’t speak English, kids who are troublemakers!) And those students are attending the charter school because of their behaviors and academic struggles.
We looked at one when I was looking at possible alternative programs, but I still found the program to be too distracting for my ds, because even though they had conduct rules, there was still a looser classroom setting and less structure than what our ds needed.
Besides that, my lovely public school district would not allow a different placement for a Special Ed student, because “they could meet the student’s needs there”.
(Yet ironically if we were to have signed ds out of special ed, the charter school would have been able to accept the student then, as they would not have had to get any sign off for a gen ed transfer. Isn’t that ironic?)
So, I’m sorry, but your description and generalization of charter schools not accepting students with such demographics as you previously noted (kids with disabilities, kids who don’t speak English, kids who are troublemakers), fails to ring true about the few charter schools we even have in the surrounding counties in our region.
(Maybe you should visit. I’m sure they would be glad to show you around their school!)
M,
There is ample research on charters and their demographics. Typical.y they have only the kids with the mildest disabilities; the most expensive to educate are not welcome. They have much smaller proportions of students learning English than the district public schools. They kick out the kids they don’t want. They are more segregated than nearby public schools. Check out Helen Ladd’s research on NC charters. Havens for segregation.
Diane,
Hmmm…
Only a comment about the charter school demographics?
How interesting you chose not to comment on the dual school system in place in public schools: Special Ed vs General Education … you know, that analogy regarding used cars vs new cars … Because it is reality for so many students that are left behind every year… even when they have been identified as in need of proper literacy & numeracy instruction and sitting under the IDEA umbrella…. epic failure. And it’s not due to not enough money being thrown into the schools. Our state ranks consistently within the top of the list for the educational cost per student! And extremely little to show for it!
“Please explain how charter schools can ‘succeed’ if they have to enroll kids with disabilities, kids who don’t speak English, kids who are troublemakers. They don’t, you know, they don’t accept them. Or if they should enroll, they get rid of them.”
I would be pleased to discuss that with you. To illustrate our points, can we start by attempting to compare the demographics of:
* Boston Latin School (an exam school)
* The English High School (traditional public school)
* Weston High School (a suburban METCO possibility for Boston kids)
* MATCH, a Boston charter school
* Robert F. Kennedy School (Westborough) – Operated by the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, Inc., the center was the first Massachusetts juvenile correctional facility operated by a private provider.” (as per Wikipedia)
These are all free, public options for Boston residents (some rather more selective than others). The last of those is under the jurisdication of The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS). MATCH is under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Weston H.S. under the jurisdiction of the town of Weston. And the Boston Latin School and English High under the jurisdiction of the City of Boston.
Sure doesn’t feel like a “dual system” to Boston kids and their parents.
Which, Diane, do you think has the greatest enrollment of “kids with disabilities, kids who don’t speak English, kids who are troublemakers”.
In respect to the population served by the charter school, the second chart here may provide all you need for now.
http://www.matchschool.org/about/annual-letter-2015/
But if you would like additional statistics, I’ll try to find ’em for you. Then again, I suspect you’ll decide your time is better spent on other pursuits at least prior to The Reign of Error arriving here (shipped… arriving Aug 11 – Aug 16. )
– Stephen
It’s not only Charter Schools. It’s in your standard public schools that hide behind diversity. Poke your head into daily detention room. A Student is their for not getting a test signed (got a 100%) and another student for bullying. The good news is there are equal numbers of students with color and without color.
In most environments labels are damaging, and they can hurt students’ options in life. We should all try not to pigeonhole people and students are no different. In a charter or public school open minds work better for all. We should try to give all students the best access to opportunity as possible.
Here’s a related article:
https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/educational-malpractice-the-child-manufacturing-process/
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Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process
Posted on November 5, 2014 by Christopher Chase
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“Asking kids to meet target on standardized tests is like making them meet a sales quota. Our kids are not commodities.”
— ~ K.L. Nielson
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CHRISTOPHER CHASE:
“In many nations around the world there is a struggle currently going on between two very different paradigms for educating children. The dominant system has been in place for over a hundred years. It is sometimes called the “factory model.” This is where schools are set up to administer “essential knowledge” to large batches of same-age children simultaneously. After instruction has been completed the children are tested, to see how much of the knowledge they were able to understand and remember.
“This system is based on the way factories and scientific experiments were designed at the beginning of the last century. While on the surface this approach seems to be about transmitting “knowledge” to children there is also an unspoken “hidden curriculum” being taught. As John Taylor Gatto has written, such schooling teaches youth to obey authority, to comply with instructions, to be willing to engage in difficult activities that often seem meaningless, and to accept that society is comprised of people with different levels of talent and social status.
“Over the last decades, research in education and child development indicates that the factory model is based on several faulty assumptions. It assumes that learning can be measured by standardized tests, and that all children will learn at the same rate and in the same manner. This is just not true. The fact that children learn best when something is meaningful, enjoyable and interesting for them is ignored. The importance of learning in groups and from slightly older children is also not considered relevant.
“As Ken Robinson has described in his TED talk “Changing Education Paradigms“ (with over 12 million views) …
” … the industrial model of education is a form of social engineering that has created many problems in our world. It does not fit with the natural way children actually learn. It does not reward creativity, innovation, independence, compassion, intuition, confidence, cooperation and many other essential character strengths, instead fostering social dysfunction, alienation and (for countless people over the last hundred years) a sense of personal failure and incompetence.
“In a somewhat subversive way, the love of learning and natural curiosity that children bring into this world is being re-programmed, so that they can be taught to work hard in order to please others, and to do things for utilitarian reasons, to obtain external rewards and status, rather than intrinsic happiness.
“Factory schools are designed to divide children into the categories of winners and losers, thereby creating a social “underclass” of potentially bright learners, who become unmotivated and unskilled. Those with low skills, status and self-esteem are then drawn toward harmful activities, such as gangs, crime and illegal drugs. Just as troublesome, “approved” drugs are now being given to children to force compliance and attentiveness in schools, the future consequences of which are unknown.
” … ”
“To emphasize a successful learning approach at home and an ineffective system in schools is foolish. The research evidence is there. We know what we have all observed in our own lives. We’ve seen the success of Montessori schools, Finland’s approach, the programs of educational leaders like James Comer, Hank Levin, Howard Gardner and others.
“What then is the problem?
“To continue with high-stakes testing and the socially dysfunctional approaches of the factory model borders on educational malpractice, in my opinion. While corporate leaders, test-making companies and government leaders want to update and maintain this model, the majority of parents and teachers know better.
“With it’s authoritarian emphasis on compliance, competition and testing the factory model is obsolete, undemocratic and de-humanizing. It’s a relic of our past, that needs to be dismantled and retired as we move into the 21st century.”
Stephan Ronan,
I love the choice argument. I attended my neighborhood public schools. My parents both worked and private schools were beyond their means. They supervised my homework and provided me with extracurricular activities. Why do the choices offered children growing up in poor neighborhoods consist mainly of no excuses charter schools? Why don’t they open places at Delbarton and the other schools the children of the rich and powerful attend? What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Stephen
Sorry!
“Why do the choices offered children growing up in poor neighborhoods consist mainly of no excuses charter schools?”
Check out the METCO program I referenced above…
“METCO stands for the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity. Founded in 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts, the program is the longest continuously running voluntary school desegregation program in the country and a national model for the few other voluntary desegregation busing programs currently in existence.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METCO
Lots of private schools do have excellent scholarship programs of course. But fall far short of the need.
I found this article by Meira Levinson exceedingly interesting, and pertinent to your question… but it’d perhaps be marginally less of interest to those of you not in the Boston region:
“The Ethics of Pandering in Boston Public Schools’ School Assignment Plan”
https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/12991704/Levinson%20Ethics%20of%20Pandering%20TRE%20FINAL%202%20.pdf?sequence=1
I suspect you would love her book (compiled together with Jacob Fay) where an adapted version of that article appears together with a variety of commentary by other authors: “Dilemmas of Educational Ethics Cases and Commentaries”
http://hepg.org/hep-home/books/dilemmas-of-educational-ethics
Slouching is a more comfortable way to sit for long periods. Exhibit A, the sofa. If discomfort actually aids learning, then by all means take away the chairs and make people kneel all day, or stand at a standing desk.
Or saw one back leg off each chair.
No excuses charter schools seem to ignore any and all research about how children, particularly black boys, learn best. As a parent of a black boy who briefly attended a no excuses charter school, I realized early on that if I wanted my son to learn to regulate his OWN behavior, make choices in his OWN best interest, and learn and grow in freedom- I had to take him out of that situation. It is not lost on me that in these kinds of schools, there is an obsession with the physical control of children. Standing, sitting, walking, speaking, and working in a particular way, does not seem to be preparation for life; it is preparation for prison.
Bravo to this young man and his parents for being able to tell the difference between chicken salad and chicken spit.
shouldigobackin? :
The young male ended up in a sort of juvie program PRIOR to returning to public school….. I don’t think he’d be re-enrolled back in a charter school after being in a juvie program…
But he turned his life around after that and that is why it was a great story of resilience, growth and beating the odds!
Also, maybe I am more open to a more structured behavior code in schools due to having attended both public and denominational schools back in the 70’s+… but believe it or not, many parents know their children well enough to make a determination that they sometimes need more oversight, structure or accountability than they find in a public school setting, and they may already be fearful that their child might end up with the wrong crowd if they stay in a school that is lax with oversight and rules, and see them on a path leading into trouble that could land them in “juvie” if they don’t change up their child’s social and academic setting. (In this case, it apparently didn’t make a difference, and the child ended up in a setting that was similar to/ if not actually “juvie” by the description.)
Again, more educational options and greater school choice should be allowed….Plus if parents are not in agreement with the rules of the school program they are looking to place their child in, they should find another program that’s a better fit; or homeschool their children even, because moving might not be an answer if all the schools in the region are run similarly and with the same philosophy and culture.
There were a number of comments by a public school middle school teacher on the original EduShyster post (& the post is over a year old) that I’d like to comment on. I am a retired sp.ed. suburban public middle school teacher–worked all grades 6-8 as an LD Resource Teacher (I’d also taught SC Primary & ECE-SpEd, as well as K, & was an afterschool & summer school preschool {reg. ed.} admin). The suburbs covered by my district are middle to low income (one of the poorest suburbs in the state). A very large number of ESL students are in the schools, as well. Yes, I’ll grant you that grades 6-8 adolescents can be difficult & challenging, especially given some of their home lives, gang influences & hormones. That having been said, “no excuses,” regimental charters are NOT the answer. Teachers and administrators who truly care about the students (notwithstanding those damned {sorry, Diane} “standardized” tests & endless test preps)
can and DO make the difference. I’ve seen & experienced it. What the kids need are tough, caring instructors, not drill sergeants who demand constant eye contact and silence during times reserved for socialization (lunchtime, recess–& is there EVEN recess?).
Trust me, I was there for 13 years (at 4 different middle schools). Steven Thomas–& so many of our students–are living proof that public schools can–& do–work.
To M
Your arguement does not sway me towards supporting school choice. If our society would stop stacking the odds against kids in the first place, fully fund and support our public schools in all communities, and stop the infestation of these no excuses charter schools, we would not need to celebrate this young man as such a great story of resilience, growth, and beating the odds. His story would be the norm and not the exception.
shouldigobackin? : I highly doubt anything I write on this forum will ever change anyone’s mind. I’m only posting an alternative view to the bubble many of you apparently reside in….
M,
You can always go to the charter friendly bubbles. There are many of them. Start with The 74, Ed Post, Ed Next, Fordham Gadfly, and lots more.
This site is unusual because it supports public schools. Not too many like it. And it has way more readers than the pro-charter sites.