LGP Education thread

[columbia]

Charters use public funds to supposedly educate all. They have a habit of getting rid of problems though, for various reasons.

It makes it easier to keep those average test scores up....ooops, the other public schools don't have that option.

[MWB]

Charters use public funds to supposedly educate all. They have a habit of getting rid of problems though, for various reasons.

It makes it easier to keep those average test scores up....ooops, the other public schools don't have that option.

Pretty much, yeah.

[Factorial]

Studying ain't no game in China:

Photos posted on China's Sina Weibo microblogging platform reportedly depict a Hubei province high school classroom where student are cramming for exams while hooked up to IV drips of amino acids.

http://boingboing.net/2012/05/06/iv-dri ... h-sch.html

[MWB]

That's what we need more of.... Testing, pressure, and IVs.

[count2infinity]

see the difference between china and usa is that in china the parents recognize that if you don't have education, you don't have anything. they force their kids to study, read, and do as is needed to get good grades. the pressure is on the parents and thus they pressure the kids. in usa, there's no pressure on parents for success in academics, none! And by not having pressure on parents, there's no pressure on kids, and thus they don't care. Now obviously there's a balance that needs to be struck between the post factorial posted and the apathy of american students, but for now you're just seeing the extremes on both ends.

[legame]

Charters use public funds to supposedly educate all. They have a habit of getting rid of problems though, for various reasons.

I've seen you make general statements like that before in this thread, and I have to say it comes off as stereotyping.

I've taught in a charter school for four years and can recall one student being removed from the school. If anything, most of our students are "undesirables" sent from public schools that couldn't handle them.

[count2infinity]

depends on the school.

[MWB]

Charters use public funds to supposedly educate all. They have a habit of getting rid of problems though, for various reasons.

I've seen you make general statements like that before in this thread, and I have to say it comes off as stereotyping.

I've taught in a charter school for four years and can recall one student being removed from the school. If anything, most of our students are "undesirables" sent from public schools that couldn't handle them.

To an extent, you're probably right that I'm stereotyping. I'm just basing that thought on research I've read on various charters and the methodology some use in selection. I don't mean to make any blanket statement though, or say that all charters are bad. Some have shown excellent results.

Some charters use a lottery system to select students. That, in itself, means that they are getting kids who have parents who have an interest in education their children. They're not going to get kids who have parents who don't care and aren't involved. Others have certain behavioral contracts that need to be adhered to. If they aren't, or if parents don't agree to the policies, then they don't have to take the kids. There are also some charters, like KIPP, that have a fairly high attrition rate, especially in middle school years. Charters, in general, educate fewer ESL kids, fewer kids with IEPs, and fewer homeless children. These are schools that use public money, yet they can choose not to educate certain kids to some extent.

My comments aren't meant to paint all charters in a broad brush. It really has more to do with some viewing charters and privatization of education as a panacea. Simply put, charters (in general) don't perform better than public schools.

[legame]

I understand your data and have seen it before, but it's definitely not always the case. My school has a higher percentage of special education students, minorities, free and reduced lunch, and ESL students than Durham County/NC public schools and perform stronger on all tests while receiving less funding.

[MWB]

I understand your data and have seen it before, but it's definitely not always the case. My school has a higher percentage of special education students, minorities, free and reduced lunch, and ESL students than Durham County/NC public schools and perform stronger on all tests while receiving less funding.

That's great. Really, I mean it when I say that I'm not against all charters and that some are excellent. It sounds like you're part of one of them.

[legame]

You're right though on a number of things. There are many charter schools, especially in the Charlotte area, that basically just poach the strongest students from public schools. They hide behind "lottery" systems and absolve themselves of any responsibility when their school population doesn't match the local demographics. They get around it by not offering school lunches and transportation, which in effect gentrifies the population able to apply in the first place by severely inconveniencing potential minority applicants.

[legame]

My school on the other hand spends nearly 40% of its operational costs (the money we receive from the state) on our breakfast and lunch program and bussing students from across Durham County. We're as such unable to provide most athletic opportunities, lack a gymnasium or cafeteria, and cannot attract any sort of viable white population into the school. Even though we operate with 97% African American students and 85%+ free/reduces lunch students, we're expected to score on the same level as these aforementioned charters that are in essence white suburban prep schools. They greatly skew numbers, hold the rest of us to an unobtainable standard, and make the charter system look bad.

[MWB]

Kudos to you, legame. Definitely a challenging position to be in. Almost ready for EOG's?

[legame]

I'm the school's unofficial (read: underpaid) testing coordinator, so I've been locked in an office for the last week doing paper work and prepping for Wednesday. We've got elementary testing starting then and middle school tests next week. All told, I'll lose about 3 weeks of instructional time because of this nonsense.

[MWB]

Ugh, I have even more sympathy for you. I couldn't imagine being in charge of all that.

Yes, such a waste. Prep, test, remediate, retest.

[count2infinity]

[shmenguin]

I'm the school's unofficial (read: underpaid) testing coordinator, so I've been locked in an office for the last week doing paper work and prepping for Wednesday. We've got elementary testing starting then and middle school tests next week. All told, I'll lose about 3 weeks of instructional time because of this nonsense.

My wife had to proctor the testing for the special ed kids. There were a zillion regulations she had to learn. Of course she had pleeeeenty of time to do this while she was at work - and didn't have to spend all of Sunday night preparing. That would never happen.

[Rylan]

I'm the school's unofficial (read: underpaid) testing coordinator, so I've been locked in an office for the last week doing paper work and prepping for Wednesday. We've got elementary testing starting then and middle school tests next week. All told, I'll lose about 3 weeks of instructional time because of this nonsense.

My wife had to proctor the testing for the special ed kids. There were a zillion regulations she had to learn. Of course she had pleeeeenty of time to do this while she was at work - and didn't have to spend all of Sunday night preparing. That would never happen.

You mean life of a teacher isn't that easy? You don't say...

[MWB]

That's hilarious.

[Rylan]

lol Nice.

[count2infinity]

[Pitt87]

That's what we need more of.... Testing, pressure, and IVs.

Not a bad method, if you intend to be hooked up to an IV the rest of your working life...

[legame]

Still working on EOG retesting and remediation. I haven't taught a class in over a month.

[MWB]

Still working on EOG retesting and remediation. I haven't taught a class in over a month.

I feel for you man. I know our testing coordinator is beat down because of all this. We just finished retesting Friday. Did you also have to administer the field test this year?

So we've basically spent the last month on test prep, testing, and remediation. The kids who passed the first time (the majority) have been given projects to do so that teachers can remediate the handful that didn't pass. Hopefully things will be a little better next year since they're won't be any retesting.

[legame]

Yep - we were one of the "lucky" schools chosen to do field testing.