Education is not Discretionary

[nbcrusader]

Re: Re: Re: Education is not Discretionary

Thanks for your reply, NBC. Can you cite any of these studies? Every study I've seen shows not a correlation between "spending on students" and student achievement but rather on CLASS SIZE and student achievement. The connection to the need for more teachers, and hence increased funding in at least most school systems, is then clear. I wrote a paper on this actually in one of my MEd classes, and can try to dig it up (its on a disk somewhere) if you'd like to see the studies.

Your original post touched the broader subject of education spending.

If you want to analyze specific factors and the correlation between those factors and higher test scores, let's open the book to as many factors as possible. If the goal is to increase test scores, then it seems reasonable to emphasize those factors which produce the greatest increase in test scores (have the highest correlation).

For example, studies show a higher test scores when students are separated by gender. Could it be more effective than simple class size reduction?

Almost never discussed (in this context) is student motivation or parental involvement. Why not create programs to increase these elements? My guess is you would see far higher test scores if students simply arrived at school ready and willing to learn.

 

[Sherry Darling]

OMG this thread has exploded. I'll never catch up.

 

[martha]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Education is not Discretionary

Almost never discussed (in this context) is student motivation or parental involvement.

Teachers discuss this all the time, nonstop, endlessly. The reason it's never discussed by policy-makers? Parents vote, and we wouldn't want to piss off the voters. It's so much easier to blame the teachers rather than have a real discussion about parental involvement.

Why not create programs to increase these elements?

Why not? Funding, motivation are both crucial factors. You can create all the programs you want. Getting the parents to actaully show up is the trick.

My guess is you would see far higher test scores if students simply arrived at school ready and willing to learn.

Bingo. Fed would be nice too. Not tired from staying up too late watching inappropriate programs and movies. In school rather than at school tournaments would be great as well. Hell, let's go for broke and ask parents to check their kids' homework while we're at it. Or have I gone too far?

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I just don't think that's realistic. The state shouldn't have jurisdiction over local taxes. Each town should be able to have some say in how their tax money is spent.

But there in lies the problem. Wealthy communities get to lavish their local taxes on their particular school when the money would have a greater impact on schools in poor communities. How are poor community schools going to get the funding they need? Would wealthy communities prefer a tax hike as opposed to a redistribution of local taxes to help poor community schools?

If you send your child to a private school, its understandable that funding levels there per student will be different from other schools including other private schools. But when it comes to public education, tax money whether it be local, state, or federal, should be evenly distributed among the students in the public education system. The way the current system is set up, Wealthy communities are sending their childern to what many would consider to be a private school in terms of funding and access.

 

[martha]

Wealthy communities are sending their childern to what many would consider to be a private school in terms of funding and access.

My school has the opposite problem. We get no Federal Title 1 money at all. Not a cent. The schools with poorer students get $100,000 a year in federal money. You should see their computer labs. We are on 5 year old iMacs; we had to beg the district to cough up new computers, and then they only paid for them because the new attendance system requires OS X, which our old Macs can't run. Our community isn't wealthy, but it's upper (sort of) middle class

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

My school has the opposite problem. We get no Federal Title 1 money at all. Not a cent. The schools with poorer students get $100,000 a year in federal money. You should see their computer labs. We are on 5 year old iMacs; we had to beg the district to cough up new computers, and then they only paid for them because the new attendance system requires OS X, which our old Macs can't run. Our community isn't wealthy, but it's upper (sort of) middle class

Wow, that really puts things in a new perspective. Such federal aid makes the poor schools seem like their gold plated. Yet this not what we typically hear about.