Levels of education in America

[SHRED]

1. Working class schools- these schools have ultra regimented curricula, worksheet driven, standardized test driven, militaristic, and definitely no alternative thinking is allowed (the concept is to teach a focus on the "basics" so that it'll kill any notion of asking questions). The facilities are usually abysmal or about to fall apart.

2. Middle class schools- these schools emphasize getting the right answer, are slightly less worksheet and test driven (though that is changing with NCLB), and tend to use group work to emphasize cooperation for the future workforce. Facilities are in good shape, but holding on.

3. Professional class schools- this is where the future doctors and lawyers go. Focus is on high quality research and assignments, teachers are less hands on and more of an advisory role. Facilities are excellent with large libraries, gyms, etc. to get these kids used to their place in society.

4. Elite class schools- future CEOs and other capital class go here. There is creative thinking, open-ended assignments, NCLB doesn't really matter because test scores are tied to social class, thereby preserving the privileges of this group. Kids can come and go as they please without asking permission. The climate isn't anarchistic, however, it just allows these kids to determine what they want to do. Facilities are top notch.


http://www.pipeline.com/~rgibson/hiddencurriculum.htm

[fasttense]

1. I always thought this but could never find data to support it.

"Jean Anyon observed five elementary schools over the course of a full school year and concluded that fifth-graders of different economic backgrounds are already being prepared to occupy particular rungs on the social ladder."

What rung were you prepared for? The high school I went to kept pushing me to take Business classes (in other words secretary). I was a rebel and took academic classes (pre-college classes). The teachers did not approve.

[SHRED]

2. I was middle to upper middle

My schooling was very strange.
I graduated high school in 1974.

Our middle (6 to 8th) and specially our high school were one of the very few "experimental" schools in the nation.
My HS had college like scheduling with block scheduling, "free" time in between classes, and open campus. As you can imagine this led to lots of groups forming in the halls (which were outside...SoCal). I hung around the musicians. We had acoustic guitar folk music playing all the time over at our group...Neil Young, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell, etc...we had some talented players and this inspired me to become a guitar player.

On retrospect, that is too much 'free time' to give students. Not enough structure. I am not saying they needed to be hardcore but the free time should have been for study and what not.

They ended that "experiment" shortly after I graduated.
It actually worked when the school was much smaller and produced high level students, but when I got there it was starting to get out-of-hand.

[ixion]

3. my HS was the same way

it was in the mid-west. We had an open campus and free periods between classes. The school was in good shape, and the classes were fair to midland.

However, in my Freshman year in college I suddenly realized that they had done a woeful job in building study skills and had to ramp up quickly.

[Cassandra]

8. Not to be a phrase nanny but...

the expression you're looking for is "fair to middling". It's hard to correctly write idioms when you rarely see them spelled out. I see this sort of thing in threads a lot; it's not just you, I'm sure I've done it myself, as well.
And yes, I went to an elite, but liberal, private school. I graduated in 1972 and my school went through an experimental phase which had started when I was in 10th grade. This downgraded the quality of the school for a number of years before it developed a better balance of freedom and work.

[ixion]

13. thanks for the correction

I'm usually pretty good about making sure I get those right, but every now and again I guess one slips through. :hi:

[Cassandra]

14. Thank you for being gracious about it.

Perhaps you just had Bush's childhood on the brain. ;-)

[Kindigger]

4. Pretty bitter here

Class of '76...I really feel like my HS was segregated by "class or perceived class". The town was small enough to know who's family owned what. These people were automatically pushed into the college bound courses. Then there were the lucky? few who somehow got in with those people. Back then there weren't really segregated neighborhoods like there are now (a rich family could live next door to a poor family, and the poor family could appear to "keep up with the Jones'"). Of course, the cheerleaders and athletes were an automatic shoo in.

My disadvantage was my cousin. He was a football star, and dirt poor. He went on to become a nuclear physicist. College wasn't ever discussed as an option in their house, anymore than it was in ours.

I was very individualistic. I dressed as myself, and didn't really care what anyone thought. I was always drawn to others who were left out. I felt the need to make sure they had friends too.

I doomed myself to failure because I wouldn't play the game, and eventually dropped out in 11th grade. They didn't even notice I was missing. Nobody ever called my parents. I was automatically enrolled in classes that I never showed up for.

I didn't know one could get loans for college until several years later! I finally got a BS in 1995, graduating with a GPA of 3.8.

[William Bloode]

5. Sounds just like my school.

On career day the rich and middle class went to see films about college and college recruiters. Poor working class kids like me went to see films about the factories, and augmented by military recruiters.

Because i tested with an i.q of over 120 i was grudgingly allowed to attend 2 A.G. (academically gifted) classes a week. If i had have had a decent education, and the proper motivation i might have attained my dream of working in the field of Archeology.

[MountainLaurel]

12. Working to middle

And that's only because our consolidated high school's catchment area included the more upscale (for WV, at least) suburbs next to the county seat. Perhaps 25 percent of the high school's graduates went on to college, and the vast majority of those went to the state college in the county. I was lucky: I managed to get to the state university 30 miles away. The rest: blue-collar jobs, many of which don't exist anymore, convenience store clerks, and, of course, the military.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. A running thread throughout all levels of schools: the quality of teachers.

You can have the greatest school with a teacher who wastes your time. Despite my attendance at an "upper" public school system, undergrad and grad at elite, and later, professional, I still managed to have 16+ years of education before I learned how to construct and write a simple, cogent paragraph. That is pathetic. Over $100,000 and all that time invested before you get information that should have been imparted in second or third grade.

I learned from kindergarten on to question my teachers especially on their opinions. That is not a popular stance in my cases. But I realized that they were not the authorities they claimed to be. I relied on the library to do my own research esp. in matters of history and science. (I had a valid apprehension of not graduating from undergrad b/c I perpetually challenged the chair of my department.)

My point: You are selected by the school (teachers and administration), by your parents, the economy with respect to your destiny to some degree. You can accept it or use opportunities for self education and skills to give you more choices.

[LWolf]

11. There is always someone who has to do this.

Bring out the "blame the state of public ed on the teachers" crap.

Yes, there are some teachers weaker, some stronger. There are some teachers I've worked with that I thought should choose a different profession. That's because we are real people. We aren't cookie cutters produced by a university assembly line, and we don't bring the same experiences and perspectives to our profession. Frankly, some students love and thrive under teachers that others don't, and vice versa. Regardless of qualifications, teaching and learning happens between people, and the relationships built between students and teachers are a factor.

What never seems to be acknowledged in the "teacher quality" discussion is that teachers do not go into a classroom with the power to decide what they will teach, what emphasis, they will put on each thing they teach, what resources they will use, etc.. While there are some things left to professional discretion in some places, teachers in public schools are working within the parameters set for them by politicians, admins, and taxpayers. If you don't like the parameters, talk to the people who set them before you target the teachers.

If you don't like the factory model public ed is based on, then let's hear a loud drumbeat across the nation from communities, from parents, from all voters for things like reduced class size and individualized instruction, and flexible curriculum and school calendar.

Given the structure and resources, many of the teachers you think less of would suddenly improve.

[theboss]

7. Isn't this more about neighborhoods and school funding?

I didn't get much out of this article.

And I have no earthly idea what the difference is between "professional" class and "elite" class. Does every kid in a professional class school go to law school? Where do the elite class kids go?

[Cassandra]

9. It can be but...

it's also about the expectations of the teachers and the administrators. There are schools in poor areas that believe in the potential of their students and challenge them to do great work and they do. There are also elite schools where the teachers feel they can afford to be careless with students who will coast to success on the strength of their connections.
Professional class kids these days may go to business, medical or law school. Elite kids may not have to go anywhere because they'll inherit so much anyway. Depends on the parents; if they've raised there kids decently, this may give their kids the freedom to do lower paying but useful work because they don't have the pressure to earn.

[LWolf]

10. My experience

as an educator:

There have been efforts to bring less regimented drill and kill, more open-ended, constructivist experiences to working and middle class students in public ed. Those efforts are met with huge resistance from both sides. From the elite power holders that don't want the lower classes to be independent thinkers, and from the communities themselves, who look distrustfully on anything that isn't "the way we did it when I was in school." When the working class does not value intellectual pursuits in their daily lives, they tend to think of school as a chore to get out of the way as quickly as possible so that you can go back to your life. Those habits of intellect are not integrated.

Currently, NCLB is the vehicle making sure that all students in the US outside of elite public schools that the future elite attend, and private religious schools that tend to regiment drill and kill curriculum even more than public school, will get the working or middle class version you reference above.

Democrats support NCLB. They are fully compliant. Yes, they talk about "full funding." "Full funding" means full funding for mandates that support the class leveling you've presented.