I am definitely out of the educational loop, and I suppose most if not all of your comments make sense. However, my next door neighbor was talking to me about her kids. Her senior year daughter is in a program where she is taking college classes. The plan is for her to return to high school next year and continue with this program which will lead to her getting her Associates Degree at the end of next year. I am thinking that is two years of college that the school is paying for. I guess? But the concept seems unique, I wonder how many schools are doing this. And her younger child (age 8iish) has learning disabilities and is in a separate school program that Mom feels is helping him. I don't think alternative classrooms are that unique,; in my social work profession, I have met a number of kids that are in special programs. So are these the things that you are talking about. How best to help our kids? And after reading you words, I wondered, "so he has the questions, but how about some answers as to how we can meet his goals/suggestions regarding education."
I think those programs you mention are somewhat rare, but also they’re rare in the sense that only some kids participate in them. I wish there were more schools that had those programs, or at least more kids participated in them.
I think one solution is to loosen some of the constraints that get in the way of schools doing new things. Maybe that means ESAs, maybe expanding charter schools, maybe allowing traditional districts to experiment more. Who knows? But I think it’s less important to come up with solutions and more important to let others have more freedom to think up unique solutions that will help in their own communities.
sorry, but ESA's? -not sure I know what that means. And then saying 'who knows'? if you are criticizing something than I will challenge you do figure out who 'should' know. So how do we get more kids to participate in these programs?
ESAs are education savings accounts. It’s a newish policy that puts money into parents’ hands, which they can then use to pay for tuition, tutoring, homeschooling curriculum, etc.
I think it’s perfectly legitimate to say “who knows?” I’m removed from the day-to-day operations of schools, including the one I used to teach at. Therefore, if I started recommending specific changes, I’d be making suggestions to people I don’t know based on circumstances I know nothing about.
That said, one way to get more kids to participate in these types of programs is by having a more expansive idea of what a school is. That means empowering school leaders to innovate by reducing regulations that get in the way of their making changes, pushing back against union opposition when union opposition needs to be pushed back on, electing school-board members who allow school leaders to do better by getting out of their way, encouraging colleges to get creative with how they assess incoming students to avoid privileging those who went to accredited high schools, etc. Most of these reforms are broad ideas and could be implemented differently in different situations, depending on how local communities vote and think about education. The general idea is to give local schools more freedom to tinker with their structures—i.e., to let a thousand flowers bloom. These are not top-down solutions. Those types of solutions (see No Child Left Behind and the Common Core) tend to backfire in part because they are issued from Washington and don’t allow for local communities to do what they please. They won’t always make the right decisions, but at least they’ll feel empowered to make changes and not hemmed in by distant yet overbearing guidelines.
it is weird that schools and education have very little variability across the nation. physically and systematically. you would think there would be more, just given the diversity of regions. not so. due in part to no desire to do something different - and risk being singled out. that's a powerful concept which is used all the time as people do not want to rock the boat - they'd much prefer to fade into the background. the power of unions can't be underestimated either as you point out. they ultimately exist for themselves even though they purport to represent their members. laurence peter (of peter principal fame) said, "bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status." funny and seems particularly apropos here.
I am definitely out of the educational loop, and I suppose most if not all of your comments make sense. However, my next door neighbor was talking to me about her kids. Her senior year daughter is in a program where she is taking college classes. The plan is for her to return to high school next year and continue with this program which will lead to her getting her Associates Degree at the end of next year. I am thinking that is two years of college that the school is paying for. I guess? But the concept seems unique, I wonder how many schools are doing this. And her younger child (age 8iish) has learning disabilities and is in a separate school program that Mom feels is helping him. I don't think alternative classrooms are that unique,; in my social work profession, I have met a number of kids that are in special programs. So are these the things that you are talking about. How best to help our kids? And after reading you words, I wondered, "so he has the questions, but how about some answers as to how we can meet his goals/suggestions regarding education."
I think those programs you mention are somewhat rare, but also they’re rare in the sense that only some kids participate in them. I wish there were more schools that had those programs, or at least more kids participated in them.
I think one solution is to loosen some of the constraints that get in the way of schools doing new things. Maybe that means ESAs, maybe expanding charter schools, maybe allowing traditional districts to experiment more. Who knows? But I think it’s less important to come up with solutions and more important to let others have more freedom to think up unique solutions that will help in their own communities.
sorry, but ESA's? -not sure I know what that means. And then saying 'who knows'? if you are criticizing something than I will challenge you do figure out who 'should' know. So how do we get more kids to participate in these programs?
ESAs are education savings accounts. It’s a newish policy that puts money into parents’ hands, which they can then use to pay for tuition, tutoring, homeschooling curriculum, etc.
I think it’s perfectly legitimate to say “who knows?” I’m removed from the day-to-day operations of schools, including the one I used to teach at. Therefore, if I started recommending specific changes, I’d be making suggestions to people I don’t know based on circumstances I know nothing about.
That said, one way to get more kids to participate in these types of programs is by having a more expansive idea of what a school is. That means empowering school leaders to innovate by reducing regulations that get in the way of their making changes, pushing back against union opposition when union opposition needs to be pushed back on, electing school-board members who allow school leaders to do better by getting out of their way, encouraging colleges to get creative with how they assess incoming students to avoid privileging those who went to accredited high schools, etc. Most of these reforms are broad ideas and could be implemented differently in different situations, depending on how local communities vote and think about education. The general idea is to give local schools more freedom to tinker with their structures—i.e., to let a thousand flowers bloom. These are not top-down solutions. Those types of solutions (see No Child Left Behind and the Common Core) tend to backfire in part because they are issued from Washington and don’t allow for local communities to do what they please. They won’t always make the right decisions, but at least they’ll feel empowered to make changes and not hemmed in by distant yet overbearing guidelines.
it is weird that schools and education have very little variability across the nation. physically and systematically. you would think there would be more, just given the diversity of regions. not so. due in part to no desire to do something different - and risk being singled out. that's a powerful concept which is used all the time as people do not want to rock the boat - they'd much prefer to fade into the background. the power of unions can't be underestimated either as you point out. they ultimately exist for themselves even though they purport to represent their members. laurence peter (of peter principal fame) said, "bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status." funny and seems particularly apropos here.