Sidwell School "recognizes and respects different learning styles". Public schools can not.

[madfloridian]

I am not criticizing the goals of Sidwell Friends school...in fact I think they are very right.

I just wish that under this administration public schools would be allowed to do the same thing...recognize and respect different learning styles.

Sidwell School philosophy

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 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.

Those are great and worthy goals.

Why not allow public schools to have the same goals and individualize teaching to a student's learning mode? Why not, indeed.

We used to do that all the time. But as the high-stakes testing has taken hold, there is no room for individuality. There is THE test, and all things are geared toward it. Teachers can be fired, so can principals. Students can be held back a grade indefinitely. There is zero tolerance for learning problems. Many states are now unable to make any accommodations for those with even the most severe learning problems.

What is good for Sidwell School in theory should be practiced in public schools.

High stakes testing is taking individuality and depth of learning from students.

The reliance on one single test formulated by a company in a proprietary manner has narrowed the curriculum to just what is on that test for the time leading up to the testing period. Every child is expected to pass it, no exceptions. That is not possible, and it has never happened that every single child passed a single test. It can not be done. It sets the schools up for failure.

It assumes that all children are equal in the innate ability to achieve. It assumes their brains function on the same level. It just doesn't happen that way.

Teachers I knew always tried to address the needs of the students. This one-size-fits-all test is making that impossible.

Most of the years I taught my classroom was set up to address the individual needs of those in the class. Most of us in the primary grades had reading sessions in small groups, and even when I taught fourth and sixth we did some of that grouping in various subjects. We had centers set up with books, assignments, and parents to help them get started. We used student mentors and tutors. We planned, we worked together.

Now the Secretary of Education is insisting that every single child pass a standardized test. No more teaching with individuality in mind.

Here is part of a moving letter from a teacher taking early retirement rather than put up with the new "reforms".

I have come to an important decision. I have accepted an offer to take early retirement from my school district. My conscience is at a crossroad. I can no longer deliver the methods of instruction as prescribed by my school district, the state of California and federal mandates.

..."When I began teaching there were still ideals that included teaching to the whole child, bilingual/bicultural education, content mastery, equality, quality education, developing children into problem solvers and critical thinkers. Since then, the language has been hijacked by politically conservative think tanks and politicians. Now, the quest for quality teaching has been replaced by the quest for best test scores. Scripted lesson plans, rote memorization, English-only education, drill and skill instruction and overzealous test preparation now dominate teaching.

I commend Sidwell and other schools who are able to individualize their teaching and treat each child with respect.

I remember when we in public school were allowed to do that also.

More from the teacher retiring because of the ridiculous new system in place. She speaks for many teachers who have been treated shabbily by this administration.

.."One major problem with these arguments is that rote memorization and drill and skill instruction do not amount to higher quality learning. Another problem is that if you look at high performing schools in affluent communities they teach critical thinking skills and problem solving, while people of color and poor people receive higher doses of rote memorization and drill and skill instruction.

.."The U.S. produces huge numbers of scientists, engineers and intellectuals in comparison to the rest of the world and cannot be compared to countries that do not have the same multinational characteristics as the U.S. The reason that jobs for scientists, intellectuals and engineers are being exported to other nations is not because there are not enough of them in the U.S., but that scientists, intellectuals and engineers in the third world work cheaply.

..."I have argued this point, written letters to the editor, joined in the letters to Obama, written to my congresspersons, shared my research, argued with my administrators and defied policies by teaching critical thinking skills, art and culture. My hands are tied in the classroom.

I do not know what is next. It is a bittersweet reality for me. I am sad and feel relieved at the same time. I am also uneasy now that I do not have a job. What's next? I don't know.

Teachers and principals are being fired, parents and students are feeling the pressure.

It is time to stop pretending that all children are alike, that they are little automatons. Sidwell School most certainly does not do that, and it should not be demanded of our public schools.

[villager]

1. It should absolutely, *absolutely* be demanded of our public schools...

A hearty K & R...

[NotThisTime]

123. It never will, it takes a lot of money, a lot of involvement, and a lot of compassion

You can't force an entire community to care about the kids who reside there or for the teachers that must teach using different methods, or creating smaller classes to do it. Every child should get that education, but they won't, not when we look at education as we currently do and have for many years now. It's extraordinarily sad.

[villager]

142. so it's back to triage? Each family/child fending for themselves?

...only a few lucking out with humane "educational" journeys?

[NotThisTime]

173. In most cases, yes... it's wrong, but yes. Until education and educators are valued we're SOL

[madfloridian]

2. I must make it clear. It can't be done in public schools...

as long as the one-size-fits-all test is God.

[Luminous Animal]

8. Yep. "As long as the one-size-fits-all test is God."

[mmonk]

50. Some of us ran a very effective campaign a couple of decades ago

by going to board meetings with the learning disabled children we represented and when it came to our turn to speak, we had the kids give them size small T shirts that read "one size fits all". At that time, we were able to get more resources available.

[Dappleganger]

84. A good shirt would have been...

"One size fits most. The rest get to FAIL."

[villager]

143. So it's the test mania that must be toppled first...

Well, count me in.

[AnArmyVeteran]

148. Standardized Testing = Teachers forced to teach the answers to the test.

Teachers are prevented from teaching children how to think and learn when all the focus is on standardized tests. When I was in school I didn't have standardized tests, but I learned a lot more than kids are learning today. Teachers are being attacked from every side. If they try to have discipline in their classrooms parents whine about their poor little Johnny. It wasn't always that way. Teachers were respected and parents sided with teachers because they wanted their children to learn. I don't know why anyone would go into such a thankless profession like teaching. They are overworked, underpaid and attacked from every part of society. It's sad how the people who believe they know more about teaching than teachers have never stepped foot in a classroom to teach.

[Radical Activist]

3. Isn't that what many public charter schools are designed to do?

They allow different teaching and learning methods beyond the regimented factory schools.

[Luminous Animal]

9. Nope. Most charter schools are set up as conduits to pre-packaged education methods.

Thus, funneling public funds into the coffers of the rigid expectations of private sector learning materials. Educators have no freedom beyond the mission of the charter and the corporate produced materials that they are mandated from which to teach.

[Radical Activist]

12. Except the ones that aren't run by corporations

and work to involve the community in forming their approach. Like in Chicago.

[rpannier]

14. You mean like this article points out

Duncan was in charge in Chicago from 2001 to 2009, or 8 years. During that time, Chicago public schools’ 4th-grade math NAEP scores slowly rose from 214 to 222 (out of 500), or 8 points. In Washington, they went from 205 to 220, a rise of 15 points. The average large city math score went from 224 to 231, a 7-point gain.

During that time, Chicago’s 8th-grade math NAEP scores went from 254 to 264, a rise of 10points, DC’s 8th-graders went from 243 to 251, a gain of 8 points, and the average for large US cities went from 262 to 271, an increase of 9 points. I doubt that those rises are significantly different from each other – even to a statistician. So Chicago public school students don’t seem to have improved as much as Duncan’s hype might suggest.

http://gfbrandenburg.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/arne-duncans-cloudy-legacy-from-chicago-public-schools/

Heck of a job there Arnie

[Radical Activist]

19. A few cheap shots in that link but nothing about Chicago charters. n/t

[rpannier]

22. Cheap Shot -- Hardly

Arne is Secretary of Education
RTT is based on what he did in Chicago

From the Chicagoist:
Sharkey] said that after a fight at a charter school in March, 19 kids showed up at Senn with letters saying they had been "dis-enrolled'' from the school. Charters "are allowed to kick people off the island,'' Sharkey said. "We're supposed to take all children. How is that fair?"

Duncan claimed the CPS would investigate the incident, but as "charters are allowed to create and enforce their own disciplinary code," we're not exactly sure what he's going to find out as they don't seem to be technically in the wrong.


************
So basically it's a let's screw public schools and give charters whatever they want.
Then blame public schools for the problems

[Radical Activist]

23. That wasn't at the blog post you linked.

Care to share the link for this emotionally compelling anecdote?

Oh, and since I read things I noticed the cute little trick in that blog. It said Chicago was a failure for not improving as much as other cities, but left out the detail that Chicago still had better scores than most other cities it was being compared to. Sneaky.

[JDPriestly]

27. The problem is that test scores reveal nothing about the quality

of education that a child is receiving. The Sidwell Friends school philosophy declares what education is about. The standardized test model is diametrically opposed to the Sidwell Friends model.

My youngest daughter excelled in a public school Magnet classroom in which she was simply handed a math book and told to go for it. Boy, did she go for it.

Another child with a different style of learning might need to learn math in a group with other children. If my child and these other children are all being drilled to take the same standardized test, my child will be left behind. She will not be given the opportunity to learn everything she can learn.

She will sit there while others struggle, bored, her mind wandering, learning nothing.

If the preparation for the standardized test is done at a level and pace that fits my child, the kids around her will be lost. So one size does not fit all. Sidwell Friends recognizes that.

The prep to the test system or be charterized that Obama's Department of Education is forcing on our public schools does not permit education for individual children. My child would have been held back. Another child will be left behind in Obama's system.

Obama can change this. It's his Department of Education. He needs to look at what is done at his daughters' school and make sure that every child in America gets a similar opportunity.

[rpannier]

28. There's nothing sneaky about it

R.I.F.
Reading is Fundamental
If the program is that great it should have shown more improvement
Especially since these schools have the ability to kick out kids they don't want

Here is your link: (Had you gone to the Chicagoist and then looked for Charter Schools you'd have found it very quickly)
http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/18/chicago_charter_schools_face_critic.php

[Luminous Animal]

15. Chicago's charter schools are, overall, a failure. You have been given the facts many times

and you refuse to address them. I will not have any discussion with you because you spout nothing but right wing corporate education propaganda and when presented with facts, you drop out of the conversation altogether. You are not a radical or an activist.

[Radical Activist]

18. No, I don't think you've posted anything specific about Chicago charters.

I recognize this familiar refrain. It's funny. There's no other topic on DU where I'm so consistently told to sit down, shut up, and stop asking questions because I don't have the facts. Yet, these facts aren't posted. Only referred to. I'm amazed at how often specific facts and detailed questions I post receive no response other than personal attacks like yours.

No, I never spouted corporate education propaganda. I don't favor corporate charter schools. I'm a union supporter. I simply oppose the misleading, manipulative persecution narrative that distorts Obama's actual proposals.

[msanthrope]

120. You forgot the journal links.

Seriously. Haven't you been given the "journal links of proof?"

Because I'm sure the teachers on this thread, when they ask students to defend their theses, accept links to Livejournal and other websites....

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. You mean the ones Arne helped his AList friends get their kids into?

The charters that used to be neighborhood schools that are now closed to the kids in the neighborhood who weren't lottery winners or friends of Arne? Those charters?

[Hannah Bell]

157. what crap.

The powerful backers of school reform claim that the shortcomings of the Chicago plan are outweighed by its successes. Which are--what, exactly? Even the school reform zealots of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago concluded last year that test scores only rose because state officials lowered the standards. And the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago concluded that closures of "failing" schools simply pushed students into similarly challenged schools, with little or no benefit.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/04/05/chicago-school-reform-fraud

[JDPriestly]

26. I don't think you are correct, Radical Activist

Besides, if charter schools have that freedom, why can't public schools? Is the whole race to the top thing just about destroying public schools. I suspect so.

[madfloridian]

36. I think you are right.

Arne's plan is to "turnaround" or transform 5% at least each year of the schools. The 5 lowest percent. The speed with which it has been happening is amazing.

[sulphurdunn]

81. At the rate of an annual 5%

transition to the charter school model through NCLB, public K-12 education would take a very long time to charter. That's why race to the trough is so important to the corporate barbarians. It has the potential to accelerate the transition exponentially. :freak:

[LWolf]

34. A few are. The point, though, is in the last part of your sentence:

"regimented factory schools."

WHY are there ANY "regimented factory schools?" What, exactly, is their purpose?

One of the purposes of charters is to offer SOME students different teaching and learning methods while keeping others in "regimented factory schools."

Those "regimented factory schools" are regimented by policy from the top, not by the preferences of the teachers following mandates.

Why not allow ALL PUBLIC DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS the flexibility offered to charter schools that use public money but operate outside of the public system? Why not offer FULLY public schools the opportunity to allow different teaching and learning methods? Set them free of the regimentation?

There would be no real reason for "charters" then, would there?

[JDPriestly]

55. My point, precisely.

Why not allow ALL PUBLIC DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS the flexibility offered to charter schools that use public money but operate outside of the public system? Why not offer FULLY public schools the opportunity to allow different teaching and learning methods? Set them free of the regimentation?

There would be no real reason for "charters" then, would there?

My children attended Magnet schools. They were public schools. The teachers organized their classrooms and curriculum to fit the students' learning styles and their own teaching styles. Everyone was happy. My children blossomed. That's what I want for every child in every school in the United States. Some charter schools will say that is what they want. But you can tell from the way they go about selling their schools that what they really want is control over the classrooms. The classroom should be the domain of the students and the teachers with helpful input from parents. Everyone else including administrators should stay out except to facilitate the work of the students and teachers in a positive manner and to intervene in real emergencies.

The problems in our schools are really problems in our culture and in our homes. Schools just reflect society and the families the children come from.

Changing schools is like putting a rubbing alcohol and a bandaid over a skin cancer. It makes you think you are doing something when you have misdiagnosed the problem.

[LWolf]

58. You nailed that one.

"The problems in our schools are really problems in our culture and in our homes. Schools just reflect society and the families the children come from."

[elleng]

43. Yes, exactly.

[suffragette]

47. Actually, Duncan's in favor of regimented systems, at least for the poor

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-02-2738760309_x.htm
Chicago leads in public military schools

"These are positive learning environments. I love the sense of leadership. I love the sense of discipline," said Arne Duncan, chief executive of the Chicago school system.
Duncan said the academies' attendance rate is 94 percent, versus the district average of 85 percent. But aside from that, success is difficult to gauge.

~~~

The district said it does not track how many academy graduates go to college.

At Army-affiliated Carver Military Academy High School, created in 2000 out of one of the lowest-performing schools in Chicago, the graduation rate climbed to 71 percent in 2006, up from 55 percent in 2003, district spokesman Michael P. Vaughn said.

Test results have been mixed. About 32 percent of Chicago's public high school students pass state achievement tests. Army-affiliated Chicago Military Academy is slightly higher, at about 34 percent. But Chicago's Phoenix Military Academy, also connected to the Army, is well below average at 14 percent, while Carver is at about 9 percent.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/26/a_look_at_arne_duncans_vip
{b]A Look at Arne Duncan’s VIP List of Requests at Chicago Schools and the Effects of his Expansion of Charter Schools in Chicago

AMY GOODMAN: Jitu, I wanted to ask you about the militarization of the schools in Chicago. Perhaps in Chicago they’re the most militarized in the country. Five public schools have been turned into military academies. I think there are 10,000 students in uniform, over three dozen junior ROTC programs in Chicago’s high schools. Duncan said, in 2007, “I love the sense of leadership. I love the sense of discipline.”

JITU BROWN: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Well, to us, it’s an indictment, because, one, many of our young people, after being underserved by the public school system, end up going to the military because they feel they have no other choice, because the quality of their education hasn’t really prepared them to go on to college, or they don’t have the resources. So they look to the military as a last resort. I experience this every day, try to talk young people out of it.

But one of the major issues is that they are throwing millions of dollars of resources into militarizing our schools and not putting those same resources into making public schools better, because there are examples of regular public schools in Chicago that serve low-income African American and Latino youth that are good schools. Beethoven is a good example on the South Side. This is a school that’s right now at about 80 percent of students reading at or above reading level. And we don’t want to just go on test scores, but if that’s the indicator, they have strong community involvement. So we feel like the priority is not to make sure that our young people have the opportunity to do better than their parents, but that the intent is to prepare young people for the armed services. And so, that’s an issue for us.

http://www.truth-out.org/062909T
The Chicago Model of Militarizing Schools

Monday 29 June 2009

by: Brian Roa, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

For the past four years, I have observed the military occupation of the high school where I teach science. Currently, Chicago's Senn High School houses Rickover Naval Academy (RNA). I use the term "occupation" because part of our building was taken away despite student, parent, teacher and community opposition to RNA's opening.

Senn students are made to feel like second-class citizens inside their own school, due to inequalities. The facilities and resources are better on the RNA side. RNA students are allowed to walk on the Senn side, while Senn students cannot walk on the RNA side. RNA "disenrolls" students and we accept those students who get kicked out if they live within our attendance boundaries. This practice is against Chicago policy, but goes unchecked. All of these things maintain a two-tiered system within the same school building.

~~~

The unbalanced funding presents an incredibly difficult decision for many parents, as Marivel Igartua, mother of a cadet inside the Naval Academy, told me. She didn't want to have to send her daughter to RNA, but she felt squeezed into the choice because her area school was in such bad shape. The unequal allocation of resources, which favors military academies, can serve as a form of economic coercion upon parents.

If public schools were given the resources they need to improve, then we could offer parents a more real choice.

[JDPriestly]

56. Army-affiliated schools. I'd like to see what Obama would say

about placing his daughters in those schools. Actually, I'm sure the schools would be delighted to have them as students. Far cry from Sidwell Friends. Far cry.

[suffragette]

68. It is a far cry from Sidwell Friends, as far from it in philosophy

as is possible.

[madfloridian]

4. Too many will defend this terrible education "reform" no matter what.

And that's a shame.

[yurbud]

5. sad but true. We are privatizing public schools with charters, but forcing regular public schools..

to do what no one would pay for a private school to do.

[madfloridian]

6. Exactly.

And taking a punitive attitude toward the public schools instead of a helpful thoughtful one.

[yurbud]

118. yep

[Luminous Animal]

7. Every teacher that I know has advocated for individualized innovative solutions.

For the most part, they are stymied by admin. The average parent or student have no clue about the creative and intellectual freedom afforded by a Sidwell style education.

There is not one person here that would deny the Barack's children an extra-ordinary education but with Obama's "Race to the Top" education model that relies on standardized testing, we deny the most basic individualized education.

[madfloridian]

10. The powers that be have forgotten that children are individuals.

[Luminous Animal]

13. The powers that be see their own children as individuals. Our children? Not so much.

Their children are individually special. Our children learn on an assembly line.

[ljm2002]

33. +10000 n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

93. I don't think the Powers That Be WANT children to be individuals.

They're looking for good, obedient corporate slaves.

And this admin seems to be helping them realize their goal.

[Luminous Animal]

11. Those who unrec this? I can conclude that you believe that only the Barack children deserve this...

The Barack children and other children of the wealthy powerful. The rest of us? Our children our merely square pegs in round holes.

[cjbgreen]

16. bullseye

Great point and might I add that Florida before NCLB was a leader in reform and innovative teaching! I'm not from Florida but was awed by many of the innovations.

[madfloridian]

69. Yes, I have to agree. We did some creative stuff in teaching here.

But it changed when Jeb came into the picture. Our area is very very strongly Republican...so strongly hard right that hubby and I usually just keep silent rather than invoke the wrath of our neighbors.

People worshipped Jeb, and anything he wanted to do to schools was just fine and dandy. Now that this administration is having the same goals, it is almost too late to fight it now.

[laughingliberal]

17. K & R nt

[dkf]

20. I thought it is about using different teaching styles to customize to how kids learn

But with the goal of the child eventually learning the same thing as other kids which is then tested for. My cousin's daughter went to a very expensive school where they tested how the child learns best eg verbal or visual. Then they put them in different classes with teachers that taught to the child's style of learning. She was very happy with the results.

[Luminous Animal]

21. You'd first have to assume that every child can eventually learn what the testers...

think that they should learn. I am an advocate of no tests and no grades but rather a continuity of communication between teachers from one level to another. That is, team teaching to the student.

Fortunately for the Obama girls, we'll never know if they are stupid compared to public school standards because they will never be tested to public school standards. They'll get individual attention.

[madfloridian]

30. That is the idea, but public schools are too busy practicing one test.

So they don't have the ability to individualize anymore. On that one test depend teachers' jobs, principals' job, and children's futures.

Sidwell is rightly proud of individualizing instruction for the children of the elite.

We in public schools used to do it for our students as well.

[JVS]

24. I demand they fire 1/3 of their teachers immediately.

Fucking hippie freeloaders!

[JDPriestly]

25. Thanks. People think I am attacking Obama for placing his

children in that school. To the contrary, I applaud him for it. I want all American children to have similar opportunities for developing as individuals in their public schools.

Let teachers teach. Help parents learn to be better parents. That is how we can improve our schools.

[madfloridian]

29. Correct, it is about a double standard here.

It is a safer and better thing for the president's kids to be in a such a school.

My problem is that he is demanding almost the opposite from public schools....test to the test, forget individuality, treating teachers and students disrespectfully by making it sound like they are not worthy.

Let the public schools have the same standards as that private one.

[Blue_Roses]

160. where do you get this shit from?

"My problem is that he is demanding almost the opposite from public schools....test to the test, forget individuality, treating teachers and students disrespectfully by making it sound like they are not worthy."

NCLB was LAW under Bush. While I agree that it does need a whole hell of a lot of "tweeking" and red ink, it takes schools, teachers, administrations, parents, students, etc., to help implement these changes with constant dialog and ideas.

It starts at the local level.

[alcibiades_mystery]

31. M-O-N-E-Y...yes, we SHOULD throw money at "the problem"

Nobody in education pretends that children all learn the same way. Everybody knows that individual attention is the road to broad-based achievement. Nobody with a lick of sense has any faith any longer in what was essentially a factory model of education, based on the mass production systems of modernity.

There's just one big problem: the kind of education we NEED is goddamn fucking expensive. So, we can drawdown $300 billion from defense, and we should. Let's do it. Good luck.

We can increase property taxes, or develop some way to pay for public education that is not local income dependent. Good luck with that.

We can build thousands of new schools and hire - well, somewhere in the area of 150,000 new teachers, and train them well and pay them well and provide support and sabbaticals and other things that teachers need. Good luck with that.

And the result of all this - at least one result - is that the already privileged and advantaged and wealthy and powerful will have accept more competition against their own children for high end universities, graduate schools, and jobs. Because everybody is always hoping that their own children have a harder time achieving what they want, right?

Good luck with that.

[JDPriestly]

59. How about the each one teach one method.

How about teaching parents how to teach their children at home -- not as a substitute for public schools but as a support.

Why not make homework in the first four years of school a parent/child activity. Require the parent to participate in the child's after school learning experience. When I lived in Austria, most of the mothers sat with their early elementary school children for several hours each day supervising the child's homework. It was a bonding experience as well as a good learning experience.

As you can see here, the impediment is that American moms are out working the full 40-hour week. That's the real problem with our schools. Nothing wrong with mothers working. But why, with such high unemployment, do we still have a 40-hour work-week. It makes no sense. Why not give everyone one more hour per day to spend with family. That could make a big difference in the lives of our families and children.

After all, corporations claim that the productivity in the U.S. is growing fast. Why shouldn't our families and children benefit from that increased productivity?

[LWolf]

35. I notice that the Sidwell school/s recognize and address factors

we aren't allowed in public education.

The Lower School:

Individual class sizes range from one teacher for every ten students in the lower grades to one teacher for every sixteen students in some fourth grade classes.

Research-supported class sizes that aren't supported nor funded for public schools.

The Middle School:

The rigorous curriculum focuses on basic skills, a disciplined manner of inquiry, individual creativity, and good study habits. Students are encouraged to cooperate rather than to compete and to share their special gifts and talents.

Inquiry-based education; the single most powerful teaching method I've ever used, but I found that it's ineffective when it's not part of a school-wide philosophy.

The entire public system is saturated by competition. Under NCLB, schools compete with each other to get better test scores. Under Obama, teachers will have to compete with each other, instead of cooperating and collaborating for the good of all.

The Upper School:

The curriculum provides a broad foundation in the humanities and sciences, develops critical and creative thinking, stresses competence in oral and written communication and quantitative operations, and stimulates intellectual curiosity. Each student's personal and social growth is fostered by promoting self-confidence and self-esteem and by stressing personal integrity and physical fitness.

The faculty offers students opportunities to develop self-reliance and to undertake independent study and strives to promote world citizenship, multicultural understanding, and peaceful conflict resolution.

Why not offer the resources, and formulate the policies, to allow ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS to offer the same quality learning opportunities that Sidwell School does?

Beyond the obvious fact that it would cost a lot of money the government is not willing to invest in educating the masses, what other reasons might their be?

[JDPriestly]

61. Over-emphasis on competition is a huge problem.

Recently, I have had to undergo physical therapy.

And, this morning, as I was doing my exercises, I thought back to the physical education courses that I took as a child and how I hated them. The strange thing is that I love physical activity. I even love my physical therapy. I am learning new things about my posture, how to use my muscles. In just a few weeks of therapy, I am able to move comfortably in ways that I has forgotten were even possible.

Then I realized, physical education was so painful because it was always about competition. I was nearly two years younger than many of my classmates and always, always the tiniest in the class. I could not win at any game, ever. I loved to run, but I could not outrun anyone in my class no matter how hard I tried.

Back then, it wasn't about loving movement. It was only about winning. What a terrible thing to do to a child -- to teach them that everything is about winning. It simply is not. Sometimes it's all about doing something as well as you can and feeling great pride in that accomplishment.

It occurred to me as I was doing my exercises that perhaps some of the excessive obesity in our country is due to the fact that so many people think physical activity, sport, exercise is about winning and not just about feeling the joy of your moving muscles.

The obsession with competition is unhealthy. President Obama needs to stop spreading more obsession with competition in the schools. Learning should be about the joy of discovery and the sense of work well done, not about winning and losing.

[LWolf]

65. I couldn't agree more.

I've come to realize that competition is embedded in almost EVERY aspect of American culture. I say "almost," because I'm sure there are some aspects I haven't examined.

Economic system? Capitalism = competition.

Government? Not proportional representation, but "winner take all," a big sports battle between two mega-teams every election.

"American Idol." "Survivor." "Battle of the Bands."

SPORTS.

It goes on, and on, and on. In every arena, there are "winners" and "losers," feeding the American bully mentality. As long as I can beat you at something, I'm better than you are. My self-esteem is intact. And if it isn't, I can always find someone to put down to give myself a boost.

Competition doesn't belong in public education. In order for there to be "winners," there have to be losers. Competition is the antithesis of what public education is supposed to be about. How the hell are we supposed to create safe, respectful, spaces to nurture intellect, creativity, academics, curiosity, inquiry, logic, integrity, respect, responsibility, empathy, a social conscience, and social justice for all students, when our culture demands losers?

[JDPriestly]

126. Some competition is good. It's good in business. It is probably

good in the justice system. Violinists compete for their seats in the orchestra. Artists compete for sales. A certain amount of competition is necessary.

I would say that we overdo it. But we will always have and probably need to have a certain amount of competition in many areas of society. We just shouldn't be so obsessed about it.

We have a good friend who was always an excellent violinist. He, however, did not pursue a competitive career. Instead, he taught grade school in a small town out in the middle of nowhere.

Now, he has found a pianist and begun to make private recordings. They are great. He could have competed and become a professional. He chose not to.

By the way, he does not live in the U.S. but rather in Europe. Their culture is different. Winning in the competition of life is a value, but not the supreme one. It's much healthier.

[LWolf]

133. Competition is part of being human.

It's just not the most important part, and not the part that should drive everything we are, and do.

I think there's just as much value in teaching grade school in a small town than in being a professional violinist. But then, I'm biased. I AM a K-8 teacher in a small town. :D

Winning in life might mean achieving health, writing a book or a song, throwing a pot, tending a garden, helping people, making the world around you a better place...it does not have to be a competition. It can just be growing, learning, and sharing.

[JDPriestly]

136. Agree 100%.

[LooseWilly]

128. All we need to do is de-stigmatize losing.

Easier said than done, perhaps... but "better luck next time" goes a long way... and a real understanding and internalization of the fact that losing is as much a part of life as winning/succeeding might go a long way toward combatting the increasing need for "happy pills" like lithium for the general population.

As Tyler Durden says in Fight Club: "You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you." Likewise, one must digest the truth that there will be winners and losers. To be a loser is simply to have competed... unsuccessfully. No reason not to compete again, and no reason to feel any worse than the Jamaican Bob-Sledding team... who also lost.

[LWolf]

134. Why have to divide people into "winners" and "losers" at all?

Why not just be people sharing the journey that life is?

Why have to rank those lives?

[LooseWilly]

145. We don't *have* to divide thusly... but inevitably we will...

The same human foible that leads to the notion that "the grass is always greener..." will inevitably lead to judgements of something being better than something else (job, dwelling, spouse, neighbor's flavor of ice cream... there's always something), and whenever there is that judgement, "winner" and "loser" will be created in minds. It's just human nature.

The notion that competition for "winner" status is so important that one might be led to think it's worth arranging a lead piping over (Tanya Harding), or disenfranchising poor/minority voters (Florida, Ohio, 2000, 2004), or even killing over (Cain, Genesis) is, however, not necessarily human nature.

It just seems like a more ... "pragmatic" (?) ... approach to the issue of winning and losing, to simply de-couple "virtue" from winning, and "worthless" from losing. There're always those that didn't compete to elevate even the losers above. Presumably, those who didn't compete won't feel the same de-valuation of self-worth over the issue, otherwise they would've competed, right?

The solution of eliminating competition seems a little too "rubber baby buggy bumper" for my personal tastes. I like to think that humanity isn't that fragile.

[LWolf]

146. I don't think we should remove competition

because we need to protect the weaker among us, although I'd certainly like to see us, as a species, no longer victimizing or scapegoating the weaker.

Competition is simply wrong for public education. We are supposed to be offering equal access to a high quality education to every student. Setting up "tiers" of education, setting schools and teachers to compete against each other, insures that all students don't have that equal access.

[LWolf]

175. I came back to this idea because

of a conversation I had with my (adult) son today.

He plays in a park & rec softball league in his town. They had a game last night. They were down a player, who was sick, so a friend volunteered to fill that spot. A friend with little experience.

They were up by 7 and ended up losing. The friend made many errors, but the regulars did as well. At the end of the game, my son was embarrassed, and pissed, to see his team-mates throwing fits about the loss, and blaming the substitute. He said that while a loss like that is disappointing, the point is to have fun playing, and that "sore losers" take all the fun out of competing. He expressed that thought to them, in his usual blunt style (he comes by it honestly.) Some were embarrassed, because they saw the point. Some were offended, because they had to play the "blame game" to excuse a loss.

I thought this fit what you were trying to say pretty well.

CAN people de-couple "worthless" from losing? Really? Obviously, a few can. But, in general, as a species, can we?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

79. I hated PE too.

I was a year and a half younger than everyone else and tiny. But I was coordinated.

I hated volleyball because I would get banged up and bruised just attempting to serve the ball, because I have small bones and a small frame. It was painful. They didn't teach me how to serve properly. They taught me to hit it with the inside of my wrist which would make my whole arm throb, turn red and hurt, instead of with my fist. There was NO protective gear for hands and wrists. And they would put 8 kids on a side instead of six because there was not enough time to change into your gym uniform and play and there would be sixty kids in a class. I learned to get out of the way of the big girls so I would be injured less often.

The big girls (Six feet tall, over 200 lbs., really stupid) would hit me in the head with a basketball when the teacher wasn't looking, and refuse to do anything with me. They tried to kill me at Red Rover by scooping their arms down and TRIPPING ME BY THE ANKLES so I would fall flat on my face, and knock the wind out of me.

Of course the extremely masculine but allegedly female teachers would ignore all that. I refused to catch a softball because I was in orchestra, and refused to jam a finger or break a finger. That would be the end of my musical career. I argued with a teacher about that and told her to please call my mother and speak to her about my orchestra activities -- I played first violin -- if she wanted to know more about why I wouldn't do anything to stress my hands. As far as I know she never called Mom for an explanation.

They'd put me out in left field and I'd sit down in the 95 degree heat & 100% humidity in Texas. The little gum smacking cussing-like-a-sailor slut who was team captain would get mad and throw me out of the game. I would say "Good, I don't want to sit out there in the heat and I'm not gonna catch a ball".

:wtf:

:banghead:

[JDPriestly]

125. We must be twins. One difference only that I can think of

(I even played the violin): I loved softball. I loved it so much that I practiced throwing a ball in the air and hitting it with a bat for hours -- by myself. But of course, all my persistence and practice did not get me chosen for the team.

[midnight]

37. Use this sensitive model for all American schools.

[ThomWV]

38. I can not help but wonder how so many old folks who suffered ridged educations fared so well

I know and have known many people who were educated during the dark times in small schools where sometimes several grades were packed in together, where the ciriculum was fixed with no flexibility what so ever who are indeed very well educated. Now can that be? Their teaches could have been fired on a whim for the most part, they certainly had little funding - often books were even hard to come by. So how come?

[Hello_Kitty]

40. *cough* parents *cough*

Whoops, sorry, I forgot. Mustn't bring up that factor.

[madfloridian]

41. This is about public schools finally becoming profitable.

It is not about children, though some pretend it is. It has nothing to do with good or bad or mediocre teaching, though they pretend it does.

It is about grabbing the field of education so that the Billionaire Boys Club can make more money.

[Joe Fields]

73. That's not what you talk about upthread. You know, the point

that you so relentlessly beat about standardized testing.

[Blue_Roses]

158. what a laugh...

:rofl:
"This is about public schools finally becoming profitable."

do you know how many teachers actually BUY their own school supplies because of budget shortfalls?

[elleng]

42. I think you're describing different situations, lumping them together.

'Dark times, small schools, several grades packed together' HAD to have the flexibility to teach each student according to his/her abilities, did have the flexibility, and if fired, was not on a whim.

[Joe Fields]

75. As a boomer, the classrooms that I attended during elementary and

high school had class sizes of no less than 40 students. We were taught by rote and had standardized tests. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. What madfloridian wants is something that is wholly unattainable nationwide.

[elleng]

83. I'm a 'boomer' too, but maybe older than you (65?)

My public high school classes had (guessing) no more than 25 students, elementary somewhat larger, some rote but not all, and few standardized tests I recall (except for NYState Regents exams.) I DO think there's something wrong with it, and I agree that its difficult (if not wholly unattainable) nationwide.

[Lorien]

45. "Old folks" usually went to schools with class sizes small enough that they could receive

individual attention. My grandmother was a grade school teacher in the 1930's and she spent time giving most of her students one on one tutoring.

[Joe Fields]

76. my personal experience was with class sizes of roughly 40 students.

Give or take a few.

[Hannah Bell]

159. lots of low-end jobs in an economy where wages were keeping up with productivity increases.

v. fewer low-end jobs in an economy where wages are falling in relation to productivity increases.

In 1986, the bottom 50% took 17% of national income & the top 1% took 11%.

In 2005, the top 1% took 23% of income & the bottom 50% took 11%.

That's the difference; not the education system.

The education system has become the scapegoat for the wrecking of the economy by elites.

[treestar]

168. Simpler times. You're also probably thinking of the middle class

another thing about those days is that they could just refuse to deal with tough students. They had no concept of learning disabilities and simply labeled those students to be lazy or stupid. Now, the schools have to educate everyone, and that is what seems to add the complexity.

[elleng]

39. Yes, all schools should, and where is it most likely, now? Charters have the 'authority.'

Sorry if this is not in accord with your pov.

[Greyskye]

52. Exactly. The non-corporate charters in this area aspire to many of the standards that the OP lauds.

Yet many here would have them abolished simply due to the fact that they are charter schools.

:crazy:

[madfloridian]

60. Very odd critique of my post. Missing the whole point.

Very odd indeed.

Arne is the one pushing public schools to take more high-stakes tests. And pushing the lack of individualization. AND then saying turn them around into charter schools.

[Greyskye]

63. And you completely missed my point as well.

The majority of 'anti-charter' posters at DU refuse to acknowledge the existence of public non-profit charters that go a long way to accomplishing the very things lauded in the OP.

:shrug:

[madfloridian]

64. There is a reason for that.

Many of the schools that call themselves non-profit charters are really not. Here is an example of a for-profit called Victory Schools perhaps converting to non-profit...I wonder why?

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/07/victory-schools-hire-converting-to-non_20.html

But then again Imagine Charter Schools already calls themselves non-profit even though they are officially for-profit.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6057

And then there is profiteering through loopholes as in Philly where 13 were being investigated.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/90130872.html?viewAll=y

There are charter schools that actually are good ones, but the corporate takeover is pretty massive.

For example there is one set of charter schools I know of in Florida that claims to be public, non-profit. It is geared to religious views and was founded and is run by a right wing state politician. It spends public money quite freely, as in tens of thousands to treat their teachers to training week-ends at resorts.

They do not keep children who do not produce and whose parents are not cooperative.

[Greyskye]

66. I rest my case.

Any claims of decent, non-profit charters are immediately countered with examples of corporate skulduggery. Fine. Fix those problems, and stop tarring with a broad-brush all charters.

I agree with you - shut the sham non-profits down. The corporate takeover you fear simply doesn't exist in the area where I live, however. And my wife and I have been heavily involved in local area charters across multiple school districts and counties for the last nine years. We're not ignorant tools of the right-wing agenda, as many here have claimed. :eyes:

[madfloridian]

67. Well, I never claimed that. I don't know you at all.

So don't take it out on me.

[Greyskye]

72. Nicely sidestepped.

I'm taking nothing out on you.

I'm simply tired of the predictable demonization of all charters on DU.

[madfloridian]

77. Now wait. They are harming public schools to get charter caps lifted.

And I will continue to speak out on it.

There have been some attempts in our area of charters done by special ed teachers and a company providing support. It is a good idea but they should be under the control of the local school board...not deregulated.

There is a theme going through what I write. It is the theme that Arne has billions at his disposal to change the education landscape....and he is surrounded by Gates and Broad people while he is doing it.

I have consistently been saying that the effort to lift caps on charters is harming public schools as their funding is taken away.

I am sorry you take offense at that, but it is the truth.

[Greyskye]

78. Where I live they are under the control of the local school board.

The school district is who holds the charter.

I'm sorry you can't comprehend that, but it's the truth.

Edited for accuracy: I originally said that the school board holds the charter, it's actually the school district.

[madfloridian]

80. You are taking my posts personally. I wish you were not.

I have too often had to teach the kids that magnet, charter, and other schools of choice refused to keep because they did not meet standards.

I have seen what it does to their self-respect. These were capable smart kids, many of them. Some came back to us because their parents did not cooperate, not because of them.

My posts are not about you and your schools. They are about the drastic movement by this administration to look for any excuse to close a public school and do a "turnaround."

I have never forgotten that Obama and Arne both praised the superintendent who fired all the RI teachers at one school...even the ones with good evaluations. It was like nothing mattered but being punitive.

Perhaps you need to fix it so you don't read my posts. Most people here already do that.

[Greyskye]

82. I've heard this so many times.

It's not about the schools that I'm familiar with. It's about the schools that you are familiar with. That's fine, and I wish you all the best in fixing the problems in your area.

But the whole charter debate is much too complex for a mantra of 'all charters are evil corporations'.

Sorry, I'm not going to plug my fingers in my ears and go away. There needs to be at least a semblance of a balance of opinions here. Maybe you should ignore my posts instead.

[madfloridian]

86. I don't keep you from posting your opinions.

I also never said "'all charters are evil corporations'."

It is a complex issue, but Arne is now bribing states during a recession/depression to form more charters and close more public schools.

That makes me angry and scared for the future of education in this country.

[Greyskye]

87. I'm sorry that you are angry and scared.

And I wish that you could see what is being done by non-profit public charters in my area. Charters that are school district, parent, and teacher controlled. Charters that use a lottery system for enrollment due to their popularity in the community, have attendance taken daily for state funding purposes, use double accredited teachers, etc.

Just because you don't see it working, doesn't mean that it isn't.

Peace.

[elleng]

88. And it is too bad that some states/districts can't/don't do it well, when they could.

[Luminous Animal]

113. Are you talking about San Francisco?

The reason I ask is that I see that you have "Hot Club of SF" in your sig line.

Anyway, if so, your edit clearly contradicts your assertion that school boards oversee charters. Yes, in San Francisco, as in many districts, it is the district that holds the charter allowing charters to sidestep transparent & democratic control that an elected school board affords.

[Greyskye]

114. No, sierra foothills.

I simply happen to love the music of the Hot Club of San Francisco. :D

[Luminous Animal]

115. Off topic (sorry everyone)

but the old 2nd guitarist, Dave Rickets, has his own gypsy jazz band now called "Gaucho". Check it out... http://www.gauchojazz.com/

[Greyskye]

116. Excellent stuff!

I'm pretty sure Gaucho comes up on at least one of my Pandora stations below on a fairly regular basis. I appreciate the musical goodness though; I've got the Gaucho webpage streaming as I type. :toast:

You might want to check out Joe Craven, who is one of the two seeds in the Craven' Grisman station below; he has an album called 'Django Latino' which is pure genius. :fistbump:


We now return you to your regularly scheduled charter school brawl. ;)

[Greyskye]

98. "It is our party putting the finishing touches on the Reagan/Bush/Gingrich plans for education"

"That plan is for free market education."

Your words. This thread. This post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8875670#8879090

I do commend you though, that's much milder verbiage than is usually slung in charter discussions here recently.

[madfloridian]

99. Ask yourself why Gingrich travels with Arne?

Gingrich plans for free market schools are being implemented now after all these years.

[Greyskye]

100. Thanks for making my point for me once again.

My day isn't complete until I've been called a faux Democrat.

[madfloridian]

102. I said nothing like that at all. Here is my entire last quote.

"Ask yourself why Gingrich travels with Arne? Updated at 6:03 PM

Gingrich plans for free market schools are being implemented now after all these years."

I think you are attributing things to me that I am not saying, and it is getting way too personal.

I will back off from you now rather than argue. It is not safe to argue here anymore. Bye for a while.

[Greyskye]

107. Equating Democrats who do not agree with you to Gingrich and other republicans.

It's been quite the meme for the past few months, and is explicitly forbidden by the 'new' DU rules.

I'm sorry you feel threatened due to a dialog on a political forum. :hug:

[sabrina 1]

165. You were not equated with Republicans or Gingrich.

It was pointed out that Gingrich is supportive of Arne Duncan. Which he is and if that is not a red flag as to what their intentions are, than I do not know what is.

[Name removed]

149. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[elleng]

71. Thanks for all you do, Grey.

[Raineyb]

150. Ah yes, thank you for your contribution to the further destruction of the public school system. n/t

[elleng]

174. I suggest you read something about what Greyskye and family has IN FACT done for public school syste

[Raineyb]

176. Charter schools are designed to ruin public schools by taking the cream of the crop

and leaving the children with the most problems in schools with the least resources. Charter schools pick and choose whom they teach, they will willingly toss out children for whatever reasons they devise, which often include not being able to test well enough to fluff up their overall test scores and they steal resources from public schools to do so.

You help charter schools you are helping to ruin the public school system and NO amount of rationalization will change that.

[elleng]

179. Read Greyskye's facts; what you say is definitely NOT true everywhere.

[Phentex]

183. The charter school here IS the public school...

no other choice. They have to accept everyone who lives in the resident area. They also teach special ed.

So I guess this charter school is ruining itself?

[NashVegas]

151. "Non-Profit" - What a Joke!

The whole point of "non-profits" right now is to lift dollars out of gov't coffers, free from the burden of having to account to tax-payers.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100716/NEWS04/7160349/1970

The collapse of a Nashville charter school is increasing attention to the way new charters are managed and triggering changes to protect the school district against bad business practices.

Nashville Global Academy closed this month after sinking $500,000 into debt, leaving its 155 students to look for other options. The school still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to the district and has not produced financial reports requested by school administrators.

The debacle is making the district and new charter school providers more sensitive to what can happen when a charter is approved without proper planning.

Meanwhile, our state BOE overturned our local BOE's refusal to grant a charter elsewhere, while at the same freaking time, votes to adopt proposed nat'l standards. The push among those seeking to control our education system, right now, is to make sure the children from groups of people we don't like are "left behind."


http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/state-overrides-metro-rejection-proposed-charter-school
Drexel Preparatory Academy, a proposed charter school that was rejected by the Metro Nashville Board of Education earlier this year, will likely be approved after all.

The Tennessee State Board of Education, reviewing an appeal submitted by Drexel leaders, ordered the Metro school board last Friday to approve Drexel’s charter provided its founders address four concerns cited by the district’s nine-member charter review committee.

The state’s decision came more than two months after the Metro school board unanimously rejected the school’s charter proposal at the request of the district’s charter review committee.

Among other things, committee members said Drexel’s proposal lacked a principal with a proven track record, relied to heavily on philanthropic financial contributions and failed to offer a convincing curricular plan.

[madfloridian]

152. Good links. Also look at this "non-profit" charter in St. Pete. Owes 1 million

to its parent company.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6145

[Jax]

155. Link?

thanks in advance.

[KamaAina]

44. In other words, Arne is discriminating against students with learning disabilities

and cognitive disabilities such as autism.

THIS. MUST. STOP. :grr: :banghead:

[elleng]

46. It may be the case; often is, Arne or not, and yes, it must stop.

[suffragette]

48. Yet another area where the business approach of being data

driven and standardized does a disservice to the public.

Social programs, and public education is one of the largest social programs in existence, can not be run appropriately on a business model.

Sidwell clearly recognizes that and takes a social approach, one which is clearly valued by the parents who send their children there.

Agree with you that all children deserve an opportunity to benefit from a similar approach in our public education system.

[madfloridian]

49. Arne's push for more testing data is harming education.

He is bullying the school system for his buddies, the Gates and Broads and Waltons et al.

[suffragette]

62. Exactly. The focus on testing materails and data funnels

public funds, which would be more effectively spent on reducing class size and emphasizing education strategies such as those espoused and employed at Sidwell, to private corporations and CEO's pockets who provide those testing "solutions."

[cjbgreen]

51. We Need to Frame the Discussion

The media blitz on RTTT, which seems to have enormous Republican support, is based on telling the public over and over that schools are terrible and teachers are horrible. We the public should all be outraged that teachers do not want to be held accountable for our terrible schools. They are bad people and think they are entitled to a job even though are schools are terrible. And everybody knows are schools are terrible. Seriously! And if that is true (I'm amazed by all that schools do accomplish) the teachers (unlike doctors and nurses) are responsible for this failed system. School closures we are told by our leaders and the corporate media are teachers fault. Reductions in the school year has nothing to do with funding or learning, increase in class size is not a factor, and lack of resources should not inhibit great teachers who should be available 24/7. Teachers, we are told, do not want to be accountable.

According to Leonard Pitts Jr.,
" it is troubling to see teachers unions reflexively reject anything that smacks of accountability.
Rhee offered a significant raise and big bonuses for effective teachers in exchange for weakening tenure protections. She had to fight the union.
The White House put up $4 billion in grant money to spur innovation in schools. It had to fight the unions."
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-oped-0803-pitts-20100803,0,1961165.column&wsi=8b437dae48046b8f&ei=cbRZTN2ED5mMrAOXwY3sBQ&wsc=pr&ct=pg1&whp=30

Yep, those nasty unions also hate innovation. Unions probably hate mother grizzlies and babies. Lie number 1, teachers hate accountability. Lie number 2 teachers hate innovation. Lie number 3 teachers can't be fired.

[Starry Messenger]

53. We need some journalists on our side.

We need a big mouthpiece who will go to bat for us. Will anyone have the courage to try to turn the tide of opinion against us?

[madfloridian]

124. There doesn't seem to be anyone at all.

No major journalist, no major Democratic leader.

[madfloridian]

54. It is our party putting the finishing touches on the Reagan/Bush/Gingrich plans

for education. That plan is for free market education.

Yes, we need to frame the debate. However not a single Democratic leader will help us.

[nikto]

57. THERE WILL BE 1 GOOD RESULT FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS...

...It will weaken the country's competitiveness until The American Empire will finally collapse,
and the Elites will have to move to Bahrain or Paraguay to
avoid death at the hands of an angry, abused populace.

America's wealth will have to be re-built from the bottom-up-----BUT WITHOUT A CORRUPT WEALTHY ELITE
TO MANIPULATE THE PROCESS TO THEIR ADVANTAGE, AS THEY ALWAYS DO.

[DFW]

70. What a difference a generation or two makes

I went to Sidwell from the 6th to the 10 grade.

They had teachers and assistant principles walking around terrorizing the students, telling the boys their hair was too
long, telling the girls their skirts were too short, finding fault with everyone who wasn't a complete conformist to very
rigid norms they had arbitrarily set for themselves.

I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there, so when I was offered the chance to go to Spain for the 11th grade, I never
looked back.

It looks like Sidwell has come 180° which is definitely a good thing. It was not a nice place to be in the sixties.

[madfloridian]

74. Very very interesting, DFW.

I hope their website is right and that they have changed considerably.

Sounds like KIPP and its discipline methods.

Or like Harlem Success Charter and its discipline:

http://nymag.com/news/features/65614/index4.html

"New students are initiated at “kindergarten boot camp,” where they get drilled for two weeks on how to behave in the “zero noise” corridors (straight lines, mouths shut, arms at one’s sides) and the art of active listening (legs crossed, hands folded, eyes tracking the speaker). Life at Harlem Success, the teacher says, is “very, very structured,” even the twenty-minute recess. Lunches are rushed and hushed, leaving little downtime to build social skills. Many children appear fried by two o’clock, particularly in weeks with heavy testing. “We test constantly, all grades,” the teacher says. During the TerraNova, a mini-SAT bubble test over four consecutive mornings, three students threw up. “I just don’t feel that kids have a chance to be kids,” she laments."

And they don't like special ed or problem kids. More from the NY Magazine article:

"At Harlem Success, disability is a dirty word. “I’m not a big believer in special ed,” Fucaloro says. For many children who arrive with individualized education programs, or IEPs, he goes on, the real issues are “maturity and undoing what the parents allow the kids to do in the house—usually mama—and I reverse that right away.” When remediation falls short, according to sources in and around the network, families are counseled out. “Eva told us that the school is not a social-service agency,” says the Harlem Success teacher. “That was an actual quote.”

In one case, says a teacher at P.S. 241, a set of twins started kindergarten at the co-located HSA 4 last fall. One of them proved difficult and was placed on a part-time schedule, “so the mom took both of them out and put them in our school. She has since put the calm sister twin back in Harlem Success, but they wouldn’t take the boy back. We have the harder, troubled one; they have the easier one.”

Such triage is business as usual, says the former network staffer, when the schools are vexed by behavioral problems: “They don’t provide the counseling these kids need.” If students are deemed bad “fits” and their parents refuse to move them, the staffer says, the administration “makes it a nightmare” with repeated suspensions and midday summonses. After a 5-year-old was suspended for two days for allegedly running out of the building, the child’s mother says the school began calling her every day “saying he’s doing this, he’s doing that. Maybe they’re just trying to get rid of me and my child, but I’m not going to give them that satisfaction.”

[DFW]

91. I haven't set foot on that campus since 1972

A LOT can change in a small private school in that time--IF the people running it change,
and they want to go in a different direction. It appears that Sidwell did. Good for them,
and good for the kids that go there now. It wasn't the same when I was there. Things change,
not always for the worse.

[elleng]

85. Very interesting history, DFW, as we (DCers) have assumed Sidwell's ALWAYS been great!

[DFW]

89. It wasn't always great for those of us who went there!

But new management can turn a place like that completely around, and from the sound of it,
I was there under thee dying gasp of an old guard that has given way to a completely new
generation of school leadership, and if this is the case, I say more power to them. Nothing
need remain in a permanent state of cultural lethargy. I'm just sorry I missed it. On the
other hand, if Chelsea Clinton and the Obama kids had/are having a positive experience, then
more power to the place. In 1968, things were very different.

On the other hand, I've heard the my old English teacher, then a brilliant but very tough
20 something, is still there, still brilliant and still a very tough grader, and still appreciated
by most of her students.

[elleng]

90. Glad you were able to escape, DFW!

[DFW]

92. From the frying pan into the fire!

Spain was great, but I then graduated high school from the same place as George W. Bush and his dad: Andover.
(Bush, Sr. was my alumni interviewer!)

Interesting experience, but as W.C. Fields said, "on the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

[elleng]

94. Bravo DFW, a well-educated DUer!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[DFW]

95. Oh, yeah, I learned a thing or two

Like how NOT to enjoy school! LOL

Good thing Spain and college were more interesting.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

96. schools should be schools not factory farms

[elleng]

97. Keep in mind we need an educated population for MANY reasons, INCLUDING employment.

There were 'shop' and 'home ec' classes in years past, for a reason.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

104. I must admit Shakespeare wasn't very useful

[elleng]

108. You've used language/skills in your endeavors?

[Ka hrnt]

101. Not sold on learning styles...

Learning Styles Debunked.

[madfloridian]

105. I am sold on methods in which children learn.

They are going so far as to allow any testing accommodations for the severely disabled.

Some things are fact whether one agrees with it or not.

[Greyskye]

106. The sidebar of the linked page tells a different story...

Related Stories

Despite Popularity, Not Everyone Can Successfully Learn Through Online Courses (Feb. 28, 2008) — Since the 1990s, online courses have provided an opportunity for busy adults to continue their education by completing courses in the comfort of their own homes. However, this may not be the best ... > read more

Visual Learners Convert Words To Pictures In The Brain And Vice Versa, Says Psychology Study (Mar. 28, 2009) — Using functional magnetic resonance imaging technology, a new study reveals that people who consider themselves visual learners, as opposed to verbal learners, have a tendency to convert ... > read more

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E-Learning Can Have Positive Effect On Classroom Learning, Scholar Says (Dec. 9, 2008) — Traditional classroom teaching in higher education could learn a thing or two from online teaching, otherwise known as e-learning, according to a professor who studies computer-mediated ... > read more

The Skinny On 'Lean' Education (Jan. 3, 2010) — Educators should learn from the "Just-In-Time" and "Lean" production techniques used by the automotive industry if they are to add value to the student experience as quickly and effectively as

I'm not an auditory learner. Kinesthetic, absolutely. But auditory? Um, could you repeat that?

[elleng]

110. WRITE IT DOWN!!!

;-)

[elleng]

109. Learning styles NOT DEBUNKED!

STUDIES debunked! 'finds that although numerous studies have purported to show the existence of different kinds of learners (such as "auditory learners" and "visual learners"), those studies have not used the type of randomized research designs that would make their findings credible.'

Any observant person/parent/teacher KNOWS that learning styles exist, and differ.

[aikoaiko]

129. It's true that the data on learning styles is weak.

People have preferences, but the controlled studies don't show that "auditory learners" show better learning outcomes with auditory based information as compared to verbal based information, and like wise for "verbal learners".

Learning styles became very popular in education colleges just like Gardner's multiple intelligences, but the data are weak at best.

[MichiganVote]

103. As far as I'm concerned once Barak Obama placed his kids in a private school

he lost my respect for the goals his administration says that he has for the public school systems throughout America. If you ain't in the game with your kids, you got nothing to say and even less to offer.

[DFW]

111. I don't hold it against him

Much as it would have been noble to have his kids go to the local public school as a symbolic gesture,
if he could afford that private school, especially now that it seems to have come 180° from the
drudgery it was when I went there, then I don't blame him for being a parent first. Even a president
should look out for his kids' own interests before using them as symbols to make a public point.

[madfloridian]

112. I do hold it against him when he is forcing high stakes testing..

on public schools and not allowing for individual differences for the students in public schools.

[DFW]

141. I can see that point

But as a parent, I can understand his trying to separate his personal decisions for his kids, acknowledging
that the kids of a sitting president are in a unique situation, and necessarily divorced from national policy.

I have two daughters, too, and I sacrificed plenty to give them the best education I could afford. Luckily,
much of that was spent at home in Germany, but some was not, and none of their college education was in Germany.
Most of America is not in that situation, and has to be looked at with a more detached eye. I'm glad I don't
have to be the one who makes those decisions.

[madfloridian]

144. Everyone has a right to give their child the best education...

However he does not have the right to destroy what public education we have by testing the kids until they are sick with nerves and fearing failure.

If people can afford expensive private schools, fine with me.

But they should pay for it, not expect the money to come from taxpayers like is happening with vouchers and charters.

[msanthrope]

117. You should totally use a 9 and 12 year-old to make your point.

And you should do it 'subtly', so if you are called on it, you can claim that's not what you are doing.

After all, you're just trying to prove a point.

A point that apparently requires invoking minor children.

Minor children whose educational needs you know NOTHING about.

Minor children whose parents made a PRIVATE decision, that you feel comfortable opining on, publicly.



Which tells me all I need to know about how you regard the minors in your care, and their parents.

[madfloridian]

119. "I am not criticizing the goals of Sidwell Friends school...in fact I think they are very right. "

In the convoluted world that is going on lately, someone seems to think I am criticizing Sidwell or the Obama's for sending their kids there.

My first sentence:

"I am not criticizing the goals of Sidwell Friends school...in fact I think they are very right."

I am criticizing that public schools don't have the luxury anymore of individualizing.

[Greyskye]

132. "I am criticizing that public schools don't have the luxury anymore of individualizing."

Except of course for the non-profit public charter schools that are doing that very thing. The entire original concept of charter schools was to do the very thing that you are applauding.

I really hate with every fiber of my being the corporate for-profit entities that have hijacked the original, good concepts of charters for their own purposes.

It's undermining all of the great things public charters are doing, that people outside of the local communities don't hear about. Only the horror stories get media attention, while great work is being done all over the country that is being ignored, since it's not 'newsworthy'.

[LWolf]

135. You've got that wrong.

Charters are the 2nd round of efforts union-bust and privatize, since vouchers haven't been as successful as hoped. That's what they were designed to achieve.

If it were simply a matter of bringing good concepts to public education, it would have been done through the system, not outside the system.

FYI, the term "public" can be attached to charters because of the way charter legislation is written. The reality, though, is a corruption of "public" to mean "privately run using public funds." Private. Using public money, but not having to be standardized under the authoritarian regime public education is strangled by. An authoritarian regime that exists to make privately run schools look better. This sets up more tiers of education, denying equal opportunity to all.

The "non-profit" status of some charters are easily challenged, as well. Here's just one of many examples:

http://arizona.typepad.com/blog/2009/10/imagine-schools-when-is-a-non-profit-not-a-non-profit.html

[Greyskye]

137. In your opinion.

Like I said, the for-profit corporate charters can go to hell in a hand-basket as far as I'm concerned.

I'm defending the legitimate, community run and organized public charters that model many of the attributes that were so rightfully lauded in the OP.

[LWolf]

138. In my professional opinion, with 27 years in public education,

and personal, face-to-face time spent with local charter organizers, employees, students, and parents in two states.

It's not a charter that makes a school good.

Charters do, however, advance the conservative agenda to privatize, union-bust, and destroy public education.

[Greyskye]

139. My measly 9 years of experience tells a different story.

Direct interactions with multiple charters across multiple school districts and counties. And my wife has indirect experience with similar charters across the state.

Just because you personally don't see successful, community run public charters doesn't mean that they don't exist.

And you are correct. It's not simply a charter that makes a school good. It's the teachers, parents, children, and local community that do that. The charter merely gives them the opportunity to make it better.

Peace.

[LWolf]

147. We agree on one thing:

It's the teachers, parents, children, and local community that makes a school good.

I didn't say I'd never seen a good charter school. I've seen a few good, and more bad, and even more somewhere inbetween. The point is this:

Charters are harmful to public education in the big picture, for several reasons explained many times already. Harming public education harms students.

Schools don't need a charter in order to be "good." They need freedom from authoritarian standardization. I've spent much of my 27 years working for non-charter, in-district schools that had district permission to offer customized, rather than standardized, programs of instruction. They were inevitably successful regardless of what the focus was, just because there was buy-in and commitment from teachers, parents, and the community.

Those schools were diminished with the onslaught of the "standards and accountability" movement. As soon as one school in a district didn't make AYP, the district had to construct an "improvement plan" that standardized the entire district and diminished or abolished the things that brought the school and community together.

We don't need charters so that some schools are empowered and others are regimented. We need to do away with the authoritarian standardization and empower all schools.

[madfloridian]

121. AND I think Obama was right to send his girls there.

It is safer for them to be there now. They need a community like that.

Since there is so much misreading going on...I will again clarify.

I think the president and his Secretary of Education should stop pushing more and more testing on public schools and let them individualize teaching as well.

Good grief.

[Greyskye]

140. I agree with every single thing you say in this post. Seriously. Everything.

:toast:

[KoKo]

122. "recognizes and respects different learning styles".."Teach to Test" for the Rest of Us...

I guess that's what it is. The Top 1% deserve "More Freedoms" than the Serfs whose children will work for them for decades more.

Arne Duncan RULES!

[Unvanguard]

127. The reason for the double standard is ideological.

Private schools, thanks to the Market Fairy, are guaranteed to make the right choices for students, and don't need to be regulated. Public schools, paid for and run by the Big Bad Inefficient Government, must be constantly tested so as to be sure they meet the right standard.

The fact that there is no reason to believe that education actually works in accordance with those ideological presumptions--no reason at all--does not appear to trouble the advocates of "reform." :eyes:

[erodriguez]

130. The double standard

One thing goes for the rich and powerful, another thing goes for the rest of us.

It is sad that Obama wants a comprehensive education for his kids, but puts in policies that deny that type of education for everyone else.

[madfloridian]

131. True.

:hi:

[Blue_Roses]

153. There is so much WRONG and UNTRUE about this article...where

to begin...

First, this:

"There is zero tolerance for learning problems. Many states are now unable to make any accommodations for those with even the most severe learning problems."

is the biggest bunch of bullshit.

As a special education teacher in public schools and the mother of two children with dyslexia and AD/HD, I can tell you that not only is there MORE accommodations for varying teaching styles, but there is a criteria that DEMANDS IT!

We still have many improvements that can be made, but accommodations for those with different learning styles are being implemented and kids are learning. The update of IDEA 2004 set standards that are even more geared to the LRE (least restrictive environment) and student's having their rights in tact.

While our system isn't perfect, blaming the "government" for everything that is "wrong" isn't all we need to do. It starts with educating YOURSELF on what is really going on in our public schools. To generalize all public schools like this is not only ignorant but down-right stupid.

I get so sick of this tirade of bullshit:eyes:

[madfloridian]

154. I do blame our government for what is happening to public edcucation.

And in reference to your other comment, read this article from the Miami Herald.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/20/v-print/1737918/fcat-delays-also-weigh-heavily.html#ixzz0uGgzNvuK

[Blue_Roses]

162. it starts at a local level...

As a Special Education teacher, I would ask, "what is being implemented on this child's IEP to help him succeed," and "what were his annual goals,"? The ARD committee is responsible for this child's IEP goals and they need to go back to the table and figure out what they can change to help him succeed. If they are not getting the resources they need, then it has to be taken to the ISD for implementation and consideration. However, by law--FEDERAL LAW--this child is entitled to have everything he needs in order to help him succeed. Implementation comes from the local level.

Each case is looked at on an individual basis so to generalize by just saying, "it's the government's fault," is not incredibly ignorant, but wrong.

[madfloridian]

164. Did you read the OP at all? I am not "incredibly ignorant"...

nor am I wrong.

[Blue_Roses]

166. yes, I read the entire OP.

Public Law 108-446
108th Congress

Before the date of enactment of the Education for All
Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142), the
educational needs of millions of children with disabilities were
not being fully met because--
``(A) the children did not receive appropriate
educational services;
``(B) the children were excluded entirely from the
public school system and from being educated with their
peers;
``(C) undiagnosed disabilities prevented the
children from having a successful educational
experience; or
``(D) a lack of adequate resources within the public
school system forced families to find services outside
the public school system.
``(3) Since the enactment and implementation of the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, this title
has been successful in ensuring children with disabilities and
the families of such children access to a free appropriate
public education and in improving educational results for
children with disabilities.
``(4) However, the implementation of this title has been
impeded by low expectations, and an insufficient focus on
applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching and
learning for children with disabilities.
``(5) Almost 30 years of research and experience has
demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities
can be made more effective by--
``(A) having high expectations for such children and
ensuring their access to the general education
curriculum in the regular classroom, to the maximum
extent possible, in order to--
``(i) meet developmental goals and, to the
maximum extent possible, the challenging
expectations that have been established for all
children; and
``(ii) be prepared to lead productive and
independent adult lives, to the maximum extent
possible;
``(B) strengthening the role and responsibility of
parents and ensuring that families of such children have
meaningful opportunities to participate in the education
of their children at school and at home;
``(C) coordinating this title with other local,
educational service agency, State, and Federal school
improvement efforts, including improvement efforts under
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, in
order to ensure that such children benefit from such
efforts and that special education can become a service
for such children rather than a place where such
children are sent;
``(D) providing appropriate special education and
related services, and aids and supports in the regular
classroom, to such children, whenever appropriate;
``(E) supporting high-quality, intensive preservice
preparation and professional development for all
personnel who work with children with disabilities in
order to ensure that such personnel have the skills and
knowledge necessary to improve the academic achievement
and functionalperformance of children with disabilities, including the
use of scientifically based instructional practices, to
the maximum extent possible;
``(F) providing incentives for whole-school
approaches, scientifically based early reading programs,
positive behavioral interventions and supports, and
early intervening services to reduce the need to label
children as disabled in order to address the learning
and behavioral needs of such children;
``(G) focusing resources on teaching and learning
while reducing paperwork and requirements that do not
assist in improving educational results; and
``(H) supporting the development and use of
technology, including assistive technology devices and
assistive technology services, to maximize accessibility
for children with disabilities.

more...




http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ446.108

[Jax]

156. It is not bullshit

you keep telling yourself it is. I don't believe you are a teacher.

[Blue_Roses]

161. self-edit

I'm going to repost this because it is not my intent to be disrespectful to you. However, I am concerned that you do not know all the facts. That's all I'm saying when I made the comment to educate yourself on the new laws. I know they are complicated and confusing, but changes have been made to help ensure our children are getting better public education. But it starts at the local level.

Please, the best thing you can do to help the education of our children is by starting to educate yourself first on the laws that are in place such as IDEA 2004 and 504 plans.

[Jax]

163. educate yourself

you are not a teacher.

madfloridian was a teacher, she gets it.

you...no way.

[Blue_Roses]

167. okay...

are you her body guard? You know, it's okay if you don't believe I'm a teacher or a mother with children who live with disabilities, but to blatently refuse to see facts because of a loyalty to a cause that is not founded in truth makes me sad.

[madfloridian]

169. Not anymore at the local level. NOT if they want DOE money.

[Blue_Roses]

170. you know mad, I know you are

passionate about this. I read a lot of your posts without commenting. Frankly, my back hurts and to keep commenting when you won't even see the new laws that are being implemented, makes my back spasms hurt all that much more.

I would like to think that as teachers, we are on the same side which is helping ALL of our children to succeed. I know there is much that can be improved, but to see only things that are wrong isn't fair. Much has been improved and it has been because parents, educators, and yes, the government works at it.

Maybe we are just having a breakdown of communication at this moment. I will come back later and hopefully we can at least reach a mutual respect in our differences.

To banter this back and forth right now is not helping our cause.

[madfloridian]

171. Backing off now. There won't be a later.

I spent too much time already, and I am not taking a chance of getting in trouble here for arguing when I am right.

Bye.

[proud2BlibKansan]

172. I am a special ed teacher too and you are wrong

Accommodations for kids on IEPs are being REDUCED. This is in accordance with guidelines coming from the feds.

This is not bullshit and you are the one who needs educating.

[pipi_k]

177. One thing I know about the private school...

my grandson goes to is that it's helped him immensely whereas I don't think he would have gotten the same attention in a public school.

It's not that he's a behavior "problem"...more like his parents were (and still are, though not as severely) overprotective of him, and it seriously stifled his emotional development. Plus he had some problems right after birth, which I think was the catalyst for the overprotection in the first place, but whatever...

He's done remarkably well in Kindergarten, grown up a whole lot, and is going into the First Grade next month. He didn't just get special attention from his own teacher, he also got it from the other teachers, and the principal of the school. The school, and the classes, are small enough so that everyone pretty much knows each other. In a public school, especially the one nearest to where he lives, he would have been lost in the crowd. Maybe even picked on, or bullied...which was one of my daughter's greatest fears.

My two other granddaughters (my son's daughters) were going to the same school, but will now be attending a public school next month because the private school is, of course, expensive. I just hope they have a good enough foundation built in the private school to take with them to public school. They were doing so well, it would be a shame to see them NOT do well because of the difference in environments.

[madfloridian]

178. In our area public schools are mostly better than private or charter.

It depends on the the child many times, and it depends on the school.

In our area most private schools are not required to hire accredited teachers, and most charter schools are not either. In two religious schools the main requirement is their religious faith. One school in FL that gets public money fired a teacher who was pregnant when she married her fiancee. She was not showing at all, that made it personal business.

I am all for people sending their kids to private schools as long as they don't go on vouchers. That means my taxes are paying to send to them schools I could not afford for my own kids when I was teaching. I don't think that is fair.

[pipi_k]

180. The thing I really like about the private school

my grandson attends is that, even though it's a religious school, religion is not the focus of the school.

The teachers are all accredited...regular people, no nuns or priests.

People who can't afford the full tuition do get help, but the church associated with the school is the source of the help, not the taxpayers through vouchers.


I've talked with my daughter and raised the possibility that maybe sometime in the future my grandson will be ready for public school, because even with help from the church, it's still pretty expensive. We'll have to see what happens...

[madfloridian]

181. In Florida there are huge numbers of corporate vouchers.

The money does not come directly from the taxpayers, but it still impacts the public schools. The corporations pay the way, partially or fully, for students to go to private schools...but only the needy or handicapped. The corporations get tax breaks then.

Next year alone Florida will lose another 31 million in taxes for schools. It will soon go as high as 128 million.

Most public schools are not as bad as the presidents and their secretaries of education since Reagan have made them sound.

[Phentex]

182. In my area, the public school is a charter school...

the only other choice is private school.