Quote:
Originally Posted by dahermit
I would hire a group of sociologists, psychologists, statisticians, to study the problem and determine what the causes of the failure of public schools actually are, without the popular assumptions like blaming the teacher's unions, etc.
Questions like: Why do the worst of the students always change when subject to the rigorous discipline of a boot camp environment?, should be explored. What are the definitive factors present that determine a bad school as opposed to a good school?
After the real reasons for poor schools or student behavior have been identified, make recommendations that could possibly work.
Most opinions of persons not in the school environment are commonly misconceptions built upon misinformation.
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Well, the problems have been studied ad nauseum. I know, I've read plenty of it. Much of it is right on the point. Most of it points to a few key ideas and the reasons for students not learning, which is different from failure. It is important to make that distinction.
Some of the key ideas that usually come from these studies:
1) Educational level of the mother correlates to the achievement of students
2) The number of conversational interactions with adults and the vocabulary of young students has a direct tie in to the ability to learn in kindergarten.
3) The number of books that are available in the home has an effect on learning.
4) Exposure to large amounts of television viewing affects learning
5) Amount of un-structured free play time affects learning
6) Amount of sleep affects cognitive abilities and growth
The reason I listed these is simple. They start at home. Are schools culpable? To some extent they are. But, these are simple things that can be remedied except for #1.
1) But mothers can do a number of things to compensate for lack of education.
2) Parents need to have conversations with their children and build their vocabulary.
3) Parents need to buy books. My two sons' favorite place to go is Barnes and Noble. We spend $15 a month on books for them. We pick up cheap books at yard sales, etc. These things are available to most people in the US.
4) Turn off the damn TV and go to number 5.
5) Children need supervised but un-structured play time. They become more creative. They interact. They argue and then solve their problems. They play cowboys and indians and hide-and-go-seek.
6) After letting them play then put them to bed early. What in the world is going on at 9 pm that a 4-year-old needs to be up?