So, how do they educate the children at Stilwell Friends, where Obama's children are attending?

[JDPriestly]

Are Obama's children being administered the same tests as the children who attend public schools? After all, he claims to be a firm believer in those infinite infernal tests that children have to go through in public schools these days. So, what about Sidwell Friends where Chelsea Clinton and Obama's children attend? What is the program there:

Here goes:

Sidwell Friends Lower School is dedicated to educating the mind, body, and spirit of each child with special emphasis on the Quaker principles of dignity, self-worth, and reverence for life. We treasure our diverse backgrounds; we stress acceptance of differences; we emphasize cooperation with and concern for others; and we encourage a sense of commitment toward the larger community. Above all, we prize the unique worth of each individual.

We seek to provide a challenging curriculum with flexibility to meet the needs of each student. We believe that to be effective, education must be founded on secure mastery of basic skills, taught not only in isolation but also in integration with one another. We place strong emphasis on reading, personal expression of ideas through speaking and writing, and the mastery of computational and problem solving skills. We also encourage scientific exploration, artistic creativity, physical activity, second language acquisition, and technology as a tool for learning. In every area we stress independent thinking and judgments balanced by receptivity to the ideas of others.

Our high expectations for academic achievement are balanced with a growing awareness of others. We seek to develop in our students a broader sense of the world and the obligation to perform service to others. We want children to realize the importance of standing up for their own beliefs, as well as the value of quiet reflection.

Our school atmosphere is informal and friendly. Although the styles of teaching vary, we recognize and respect different learning styles and are united in our commitment to reach each child. Our faculty is excited about education and constantly learning and growing. They show children a caring community by working together and respecting one another. In addition they strive to reach consensus on issues that affect them.

We believe in the Inner Light in every individual and hope to nurture well-rounded, curious, self-respecting, and friendly children.

http://www.sidwell.edu/lower_school/academics/index.asp...

When I googled Sidwell Friends and test scores -- I got their page on sports scores.

And when I looked further, this is what I found:

Sidwell Friends School is instituting ImPact baseline testing to detect concussions in our high school student-athletes.
The ImPact Sports Concussion program will be led by Dr. Gerard Gioia,
director of the SCORE Concussion program at Children's National Medical Center. He will work closely with you and Sidwell Friends School certified athletic trainer, coaches, school personnel, and your designated primary care physician. While we do not want to overly alarm parents or student-athletes, a concussion is a serious injury to the brain that must be treated properly. This program strengthens our commitment to keeping your student=athlete safe.

more

http://www.sidwell.edu/data/files/gallery/AthleticsFile...

Maybe the Sidwell Friends students are tested and they just don't publish the scores or talk about it on their website.

But what is good enough for America's public schools ought to be good enough for Sidwell Friends, don't you think? I'm sure the Sidwell Friends students would score at the very top of the nation. Considering who their parents are for the most part, that should be the case. But still if the Obamas want to test America's children, wouldn't you think they would want to test their own????

I'd like to see how they would react if their children were being taught how to take tests rather than how to learn and develop themselves as individuals.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. That's totally unfair of you to post

The rich are different than you, me, and the other lesser people in society. Race to the Top is for our sort of people.

[dflprincess]

2. I just hope they instill the Quaker value of pacifism in the Obama girls

and they can go home every night and harangue their father about the evils of war, torture, indefinite detention and special rendition.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Is there a Race to the Top at Sidwell Friends?

[Hannah Bell]

54. those folks *are* the top. the "race" for the rest = hamster wheel.

[Bitwit1234]

4. I think if you will recall, when making the decision it was because

of the _ location_ and the ability of the school to keep the children in an atmosphere of calm and keep out publicity seekers. They did a good job of sheltering Chelsea Clinton and so Obama and Mitchell picked that over a pubic school. Where it would have been harder to protect the kids. I don't know what this is all about now. It was gone over First when Chelsea went there and then when it was picked for the Obama children.

[DFLforever]

5. It's about resentment....which never dies.

[Raineyb]

10. Gee I can't imagine why. The nerve of someone pointing out that the President's

children aren't being subjected to the same fuckery as public school children in the same city are being subjected to! What are they some kind of egalitarian who thinks the children of the rich and powerful should be treated with the same disdain as those who are forced to attend public school?

[DFLforever]

14. You prove my point.

[Hekate]

23. Crabs in a bucket, pulling each other back down, cursing the one that got out.

Old story.

Hekate

[Raineyb]

37. You couldn't be more wrong if you were a Republican.

This is about the teaching philosophies that Obama is pursuing in public school versus the teaching philosophy of the school he sends his children to. All children deserve to be in schools where the student is treated as an individual not some mindless automaton. Apparently you don't think that's good enough for public school students.

[snot]

47. No; it's about whether B.O. wants others to have what he wants for his own.

[Hannah Bell]

57. your metaphor has some unpleasant implications which reflect badly on obama;

maybe you'd like to reconsider it.

[Raineyb]

31. And you prove mine.

You seem more upset that someone might actually want the type of learning environment for their children in public school that the President ahs for his children in private school.

People have a right to be angry at how their children are being treated and you have the nerve to just write it off as resentment? Yeah I think people would be resentful. The difference is YOU seem to think that there's something wrong with them for feeling the resentment. I do not. No one should have to be treated like shit then told they shouldn't be pissed at it because they're in the wrong tax bracket.

This is supposed to be a Democratic board why the fuck do I have to explain something so god-damned fundamental?

[SammyWinstonJack]

39. +1

:applause:

[SammyWinstonJack]

40. dupe

[Hannah Bell]

58. +100. disgusting, elitist, anti-democratic hypocrisy & arrogance.

[leftstreet]

72. +1

[Hannah Bell]

56. ....

[JDPriestly]

24. No. It's about whether the goal of education in the school the Obamas

picked for their children should also be the goal in the public schools of our nation. It's about whether children in public schools should be subjected to punitive, demoralizing tests year in and year out while the Obama children are learning to be themselves, be what they were born to be rather than to be guinea pigs who have to pass tests molded for one size fits all.

Why did Obama pick the Sidwell Friends School for his children considering its rather liberal philosophy about the purpose of education while Obama's Secretary of Education is imposing a very different philosophy in public schools across the nation?

What does Obama really think education should be about in America in the 21st century? The school his children attend, or the Race-To-The-Top schools that the children of ordinary Americans attend. If you ever took an education course, you will immediately recognize the difference.

I obtained an education degree but never worked as a public school teacher so I'm not writing from self-interest. I am writing as a mother of grown children who got excellent educations in the public schools here and overseas.

Sidwell Friends School sounds like a great school, a school that offers opportunities and education I would want for my children. So why isn't Sidewell Friends Obama's model for education across the country? Why is his model test after test? Asking that question is what this post is about.

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. No it's not.

:eyes:

[Hannah Bell]

55. yeah, really, how dare anyone point out that elites are ever-ready to subject

the peons' children to conditions they'd fight to the death against were they imposed on their own little darlings.

hypocrisy, it never dies. nor apologists for the inexcusable.

[Gormy Cuss]

79. Damn straight it's resentment.

Resentment that people who send their kids to private schools think they know what's best for public school students. Maybe if they had a more immediate stake in the public schools they'd have to admit that relying on standardized tests as the only measure of success for students is a waste of money and doesn't improve education.

[laughingliberal]

11. I don't see what that has to do with whether they are subject to standardized testing. nt

[pnwmom]

27. On the other hand, I think that the Obamas are unrealistic about what works in

the public schools. For one thing, their daughters come from an optimal home, and are healthy and happy. For another, they have always gone to elite schools (their previous school was a lab school for The University of Chicago.)

It's too easy for parents who have had a relatively easy time with their children to think it should be that way for everyone. Too bad they didn't have several more children. Even in families like theirs, if you have several children you're bound to have at least one that's too round to fit in the square holes.

[Hannah Bell]

59. the policies at sidwell friends are NOTHING like the reign of discipline & punish obama's pushing in

public schools. NOTHING LIKE.

your post doesn't even make sense. obama thinks "it should be that way for everyone"? what way, the sidwell friends way?

then why is he pushing high-stakes testing? why is he extending nclb?

[eridani]

30. No one is criticizing Obama fort this--just pointing out

--that the philosphy of Sidwell Friends should be for everyone, not just privileged kids.

[daligirrl]

6. Just, wow!

nt

[Mojorabbit]

7. My hubby just went to a staff meeting

re the concussion testing today. It sounds wonderful and hopefully will prevent lasting injuries in kids who get a concussion.
I am guessing all schools will have this testing ability pretty soon. He said they have found that concussions while young are more dangerous than when older and that having more than one increases the odds of some serious damage. After the concussion, they test the child the day after and at certain intervals and if there is an abnormality in the test they are referred to the hospital to be looked at.

[JDPriestly]

25. The concussion testing is a great idea. I hope that all schools institute it

in their sports programs.

[Hannah Bell]

60. we don't have sports programs anymore. no time, too much testing.

no money either, the banksters got it all.

they needed it for their kids' tuition at sidwell friends, yale and harvard.

[izzybeans]

8. I guess the Clinton's recommendation persuaded them?

Huh?

All states have standards and all schools must abide by them. But of course you knew that. Or are you that obtuse? You also probably know that student test scores are confidential.

Private schools can operate on discretion in public but can lose accreditation upon review of scores, curriculum, and classroom visitation. But again, you probably knew that.

[SugarShack]

13. Yes, but the overall school score is posted from the tests...and schools are graded now.

Individual scores may be private, but not the overall school score.

[izzybeans]

15. So we know that sidwell tests its kids like every other school. eom

[Hannah Bell]

61. no, they don't.

[JDPriestly]

26. Do you think that Sidwell Friends administers the same tests that

are administered in the L.A. Unified? Sidwell Friends says nothing about its test scores on its website. I doubt that they test the children with the same standardized tests that are being thrown at children in our public schools. And I doubt even more that they test he Sidwell Friends students with the same frequency as they are testing kids in schools in Los Angeles.

Here is a report on API scores in a school which is not in my neighborhood but is in Los Angeles.

http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2010/2009BaseSch.aspx?allcds=19647336016687

Here is an explanation of California's API testing.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ay/documents/overview10.pdf

This system is quite a distraction in the schools. It is oppressive for the teachers, students and parents alike. I seriously doubt that Sidwell Friends School has to publish its test scores as do the schools in L.A. The teachers at Sidwell Friends can encourage their students to become good human beings in an atmosphere that considers individual students and does not provide a one-size-fits-all education. If you don't pass the test, you are a failure is a horrible teaching philosophy. Each child is a worthy human being, and our schools need to teach that more than any other lesson.

Constant testing over-emphasizes the test-taking aspect of academic achievement, and I say that as a parent whose children had no problems taking tests. Children need to develop creativity as well as basic reading and math skills. At Sidwell Friends, that is the philosophy of education.

But in Obama's Department of Education, it's just about tests and not teaching the whole child. That is the point of this post.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Same shit, different Democratic administration

Every time a Democrat who has kids of school age gets in office, it's the Same. Damn. Thing.

--d!

[asdjrocky]

12. We are not, nor will we ever be, in that club. nt

[wordpix]

34. your kids can go to Sidwell on financial aid if they qualify. The school is not just for richies

For decades the school has given financial aid to deserving kids in DC's "inner city" and also regularly supports programs for the homeless and the poor. (Also ASPCA and other groups). Students, alumni and parents all get involved.

It is very competitive to get in, though, but that's the same with all the well established private schools in the DC area.

[Lorien]

46. The OP really wasn't about getting into that school. It's about "doing as I say

not as I do." What the Obama administration believes is best for America's public school children is not what he wants for his own kids. Double standards aren't acceptable.

[Hannah Bell]

65. "if they qualify" "deserving kids" -- are there undeserving kids?

evil, demon spawn?

[madfloridian]

16. "we recognize and respect different learning styles"...oooh

But the president and his sidekick Arne won't let public schools do that.

Shameful.

I always did that. All our teachers did...now they won't let teachers do it.

[Electric Monk]

17. Osmosis? Telepathy?

I give up...

[enough]

18. I am as disillusioned as any other old-time liberal Quaker, but please,

let's let the parents make these complicated decisions about where to sent their kids to school without all of us piling on.

[madfloridian]

19. Then they should let teachers treat students as individuals.

The double standard here is amazing. They are forcing public school teachers to teach in a cookie cutter fashion with zero tolerance...and they send their kids to be treated individually.

They need to quit treating teachers so shamefully.

[JDPriestly]

28. I agree. And if wealthy parents can choose to send their children to schools

with a philosophy that emphasizes developing the entire person and not just test scores, then all parents should have that choice. Now, if a parent sends a child to a public school, the state and federal governments dictate how many times a year the child must take an absurd standardized test. Those standardized test encourage teachers to teach to the standardized test, not teach the child. Every child learns in a different style. Sidwell Friends respects that fact. All teachers should be free to respect the different learning styles of his or her particular students.

The education philosophy in the Obama Department of Education needs to be changed. Obama's Department of Education needs to adopt the philosophy of Sidwell Friends School. Sounds like a great school.

I am happy that Obama's children attend that school. I want every child in America to attend schools with the same philosophy as Sidwell Friends. End the mandatory testing at every grade level.

[Riftaxe]

20. At $32,069 each

I would hope the answer would be very well. :P

[LWolf]

44. $9089.98.

That's what my state spent per pupil in the 2007-2008 year, the most recent I could find, from every local, state, and federal funding source except for Capital Project expenditures.

That's 28% of what is spent to educate Sidwell students, assuming that they operate on tuition paid by parents only, without any other sources.

I calculated the above by adding all the categories of spending and dividing that by the number of pupils; I got my figures here:

http://www.openbooksproject.org/OB_State_FinancialData.aspx

[Riftaxe]

75. $66,449 is what the average

public school teacher in my district earns...so pretty certain the local teachers not starving. However, since mostly funded by local property taxes, it is a bit disconcerting that every new toy we give the schools (football facilities, new track & field facilities, etc) student performance continues to deteriorate :(

Could probably dig out the cost per pupil, but teacher salary alone is an indicator that it might be more :)

Sadly, extracurricular activities for the last 20 years have taken center stage, over academics...


heh my late father taught at the high school for 27 years, as he used to say...should have started a football team in class of '73 (apparently there were some rather large students in that class) :P

BTW this is a regional public school district in rural New Hampshire :)

edited to add "local" since this is dealing with my district which i would imagine is a lot more generous then the average

additional edit to add info i found after this post.. itchy post finger, i was wrong on average per student.

Spend / Student
District average
$7,937
School Size
Compared to District
33%
Student Ratio
Students per teacher
13 : 1
Teacher Salary
Average for district
$66,449
Students 655

[LWolf]

77. I used state figures, not local, so the per-pupil spending

is an average for my state. An average salary like that for a district indicates a higher salary scale than those in the districts and states I've worked in, or a higher than average # of veteran teachers, or both. The average salary for any district, though, is relative to the cost of living in that district.

13:1? Is that class size, or does it include other staff not in the classroom? That figure usually includes counselors, sped teachers, speech teachers, etc.; those who provide specialized services to identified populations.

13:1 in the classroom is unheard of where I've taught.

[Riftaxe]

76. Since you seem interested as an educator

I should add, that originally the school district in the '70s and early '80s when i attended was one of the first open space concept schools, meaning no standard classroom walls etc. Was very interesting, if you got tired of latin class you could listen to the class next door easily enough.

[LWolf]

78. My kids attended a school without walls for a few years in the 80s.

At least, part of the school operated that way. It was in part because of rapid growth in the district; they couldn't build schools fast enough, and were housing schools in leased buildings. As long as they had a large open space to fit 3 or 4 classrooms into, they figured they'd give the "open space" concept a try.

It met with limited success, as that many young children all together with that many things going on at once proved to be really distracting. So they divided the space with cubicle "walls;" short enough for the teachers to see across the whole space, but tall enough that the kids could not.

Of course, they could still HEAR everything. ;)

That school did team teaching and flexible, cross-grade level groupings for various things, so a room with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade class saw a lot of movement between classes. All of them sharing the same space made that easier.

[Hekate]

21. All of you should have their safety in mind as well as the lives of public school kids...

The president's children are at risk for kidnapping or other harm, just as the president is at risk for assassination. Think what this means in terms of security measures and the teams of people necessary to secure school grounds and classrooms. This would likely negatively impact the school experience of the other students. The children of the president would be celebrities and objects of curiosity whether they wanted to be or not. Would you set your own child up for that?

Some private schools have wide-open campuses, but others do not. Sidwell's must lend itself to the security needs of the Secret Service, as well as providing a good education.

The issue of public or private school was gone over ad nauseam here at DU many months ago, and yet the same trash is trotted out at this late date.

What resentful garbage from so many here. Those girls are not pawns in your political games.

Hekate

[JDPriestly]

29. No one is criticizing the fact that Obama sends his children to Sidwell Friends.

I think that is great. What I am criticizing is the double standard -- an excellent educational philosophy at Sidwell, the school Obama's children attend and a different, draconian philosophy imposed by Obama's Department of Education on teachers, parents and students in the public schools of America.

There is too much emphasis on standardized test scores in Obama's Department of Education and too little on educating the whole child.

So you are misunderstanding the point of the OP. I can understand how you might. No one objects to the Obama children attending their school. We are objecting to the fact that children in public schools in America are not permitted to attend schools with the same educational approach.

Let teachers teach. Don't take so much of their time preparing for and administering standardized tests. It's a waste of children's lives.

[wordpix]

32. hold on, O inherited a bad public system. Sidwell can give him a model for turning

public schools around.

BTW, as someone who's taught in both public and private schools, the main difference is in the student:teacher ratio---private schools can give their students more individual time due to the smaller classes. Both public and private schools have good teachers and good administrators---and bad ones.

Sidwell is special due to its emphasis on peace, international studies and environment. It doesn't just talk the talk, it walks the walk, too.

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. But if a public school in DC wanted to adopt those same programs,

they could not because they have to teach to the TEST. Peace and the environment aren't on the TEST.

[Recursion]

49. Actually, the School Without Walls has a similar attitude about a lot of things

They're a public magnet on the GWU campus. Nobody's forcing them to change their curricula for testing reasons.

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. LOL give it time

[Recursion]

52. Or, they realize teaching to the test doesn't work

It doesn't educate the students, and it doesn't even prepare them for the test.

[Hannah Bell]

66. or, they skim off the top 5% & give them an elite education to prove how the american

system "works for everyone".

school w/o walls has 500 students & ENTRANCE EXAMS.

[Recursion]

67. Yeah, I said it's a magnet

I don't know that the purpose of Walls is to "prove how the American system works for everyone".

[Hannah Bell]

70. the "deserving" poor can have a good education, doncha know?

in the "meritocracy" we live in.

[Hannah Bell]

64. school without walls has entrance exams.

[Recursion]

68. So does Sidwell Friends

Not all schools -- not even all public schools -- are open admission.

[Hannah Bell]

69. yes, my point entirely. only for the "deserving".

[Recursion]

71. I don't understand... are you against magnet schools?

Walls' purpose isn't to serve everyone in the District; it's a magnet targeted to high-achieving kids interested in public policy IIRC.

[Hannah Bell]

73. i don't see why "high-schieving kids" should get better schools than "low-achieving" ones, no.

i don't see why kids who do well on tests should get to go to the public equivalent of sidwell friends, while kids who do less well (99%) should have to go to "discipline & punish" factory schools.

[Hannah Bell]

63. lol. that has to be the most naive post today. HE DOESN'T WANT TO TURN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AROUND.

He wants to privatize them & subject them to market discipline.

[mzteris]

74. oh yeah - that would go over real well with the GP

I can just hear the outrage now about trying to change all the traditional public schools to a Sidwell model.

While it would be a wonderful idea, it would never ever fly.

[Raineyb]

33. You deliberately miss the point.

This is about the school's teaching philosophy and how it differs from the policies that Obama wants to implement for public schools. Why is a learning environment that takes the children as individuals good enough for his children and NOT good enough for ours. THAT is the point. NO one has said a bloody thing about any safety issues.

What's garbage is that your need to block any criticism of the president is great that you completely miss the discussion about EDUCATION to make this a story about resentment of the President. No one is resentful because he can put his children in private school. What people resent is that the policies Obama wants to put into place education-wise treats children like automatons and the teachers like cogs you can swap out when you've decided you don't need it anymore as though the education they invested in to be qualified for those positions mean so little you don't have to actually consult them on education policy because anyone with any old degree can step in and do their job for them. Meanwhile the school that Obama sends his children to does NONE of these things. So apparently that system of teaching is good enough for his children and the children of the wealthy who send their children to that school but NOT good enough for people who have to depend on public schools to educate their children.

And on that point the resentment is every bit deserved and the issues ought to be addressed. But apparently that discussion is not of interest to you because it might actually expose you to people who are angry with Obama.

Quick! Grab the smelling salts! Someone's got the vapors!

[Hannah Bell]

62. throw as much straw as you like, call as many names as you like.

it's bullshit.

if obama & the rest of the monied folks running the country think what they're foisting on the peons as "education reform" is good for children, WHY DON'T THEY DO IT TO THEIR OWN CHILDREN?

Answer: because they DON'T think it's good for children, & they'd never subject their own little darlings to it.

[bbgrunt]

22. amazing how none of the "rules" apply to those who apply the rules.

[SammyWinstonJack]

42. Isn't it?

:shrug:

[Sparkly]

35. What's "Stilwell?"

:shrug:

[wordpix]

38. The school's name is Sidwell Friends - the post-er got it wrong

[Sparkly]

41. Okay -- I didn't know if it was some inside joke I didn't get.

Of course I'm familiar with Sidwell Friends.

[xchrom]

43. Recommend

[Lorien]

45. Their children aren't being taught how to become worker drones who never

question authority.

[bvar22]

50. LOL, the RICH have never had a problem...

..sending their children to a good private school.
The only problem I have is when they want to remove funding from Public Schools to pay for ritzy private schools for their kids.

[Hannah Bell]

53. that's only for rich kids. poor kids don't deserve that kind of education.

punish & discipline!