Education Thoughts

Over time, it has been shown that a private school education well exceeds a public school one, even in the same region of the country.  There are many reasons why this is true.  First we must look at the student body make-up of each learning environment as well as the differences in their approaches.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

- Are required to take anyone living in the area and of the right age.

- Classroom size of about 30 students per instructor.

- Teachers are government employees.

- Movement and raises are standard and subjected to issues like seniority.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

- Have selective enrollment.

- Can limit enrollment to keep class sizes down to about 20 students per instructor.

- Teachers are paid and moved based on performance and not seniority.

- Have chosen to teach in this environment, most of the time for a lower salary, because they enjoy teaching in a less rigid environment.

Understanding these differences is key to understanding the differences between the two systems as well as the quality of the education that is being gotten in both of these environments.

Traditional public schools tend to limit there learning to some specific areas such as math, and in government studies, math scores tend to be equal or better in the public school system than in similar private schools.

A study conducted by the Lubanski’s compared fourth grade and eighth grade math scores of 340,000 students in 13,000 public school systems across the United States.  Private school students have been scoring higher on National Assessment exams for years, however, in this study, the public school students scored significantly higher than their private school counterparts.

Although this study does have some statistical significance, however, it is important to note that over time studies have shown that a better overall education can be had by students who attend private schools.  And that other studies show that while the results in math are not significantly different between public and private schools, in the areas of grammar, reading, writing, and critical thinking, private schools show much higher scores and create better overall students with more moving on to higher education.

Overall, public schools can provide a decent education to the masses.  However, private school will provide a more complete development of not only the student, but also the human being.

Many people are left wondering how schools can be falling short in a time where there are more resources than ever to help further the education of the young people in our society.   It almost seems that the harder the push, the less of an education our young people are getting.  So let’s look at the technology as it relates to our students.

The past found children having to take their own notes and to write throughout most of the school day, because this was the only way to get all the material necessary to study.  Now, children are handed ditto sheets which barely require writing or even paying attention.

In the past, children were required to repeat tasks over and over again like multiplication and cursive writing, until they had it ingrained, however now little time is devoted to these tasks and more time is devoted to teaching the items that will be tested on at the end of the year.

Currently educators are pushing children harder and younger than ever before and yet the children are getting less of an education.  The reason is simple.  The essentials of learning are based in play for children at young ages.  Now instead of being read to in kindergarten, they are being expected to read and write and do math problems.  Five year olds in school for over 6 hours a day, with only about 15 minutes of recess, is just a miserable way to begin the education process.  Even worse than that the government is pushing to get every child into school by the age of 4.

The saddest thought in all this is the fact that the average student will attend school for 13 years, and 17% of those who graduate after all that time will still be functionally illiterate.  Now that is a frightening thought.

Education, seen in the past as the foundation or crux of the future and a child’s success in life, is at most points failing miserably at educating children. For the most part, the education system, although filled with tests and benchmarks, is failing America’s children and has been since Ronald Reagan was president. When President Reagan saw the statistics on education he was so appalled at its short comings that he almost doubled the funding that the public school system was receiving from the federal government, thinking that all they needed was more money and they could better educate the youth of this country. So that made everything all better, right? No way, the public education system is significantly failing in many important areas such as reading, writing, math, and history. As a matter of fact, things are getting so bad, that as many as 17% of students who graduate from the public schools in this country, are what is deemed functionally illiterate. Think teachers don’t understand this concept….WRONG! As a matter of fact the largest number of children who attend private schools are from families where one or more of the parents teach in the public schools. So they know that they aren’t making the mark and therefore, they don’t wish for their children to be educated as poorly as they are educating your children…isn’t that lovely.

So what are the options? These days more and more children are being home schooled, and more and more children admitted to private alternative institutions, either way, the choice is clear, you must do whatever necessary to make sure that your children are being educated properly as well as being well socialized otherwise what does the future of our country hold??

Okay, so you are probably thinking that they are the right age, seem perfectly normal, and therefore they must be ready for Kindergarten…right? Well, it would seem that way, but Kindergarten isn’t the fun playtime that it used to be as a matter of fact far from it.  Today’s Kindergartener’s have a lot of pressure on them.  For instance at our local school, if they are determined to be in the lowest reading level to start, did you know that is where they will keep them for the rest of their schooling?  They can never move to the highest reading levels, it just doesn’t happen.  Here are somethings that can help you identify if you child is ready for school now:

1. He’s recognizing his own name and beginning to learn to write it.
2. He can name colors, recite the alphabet, and count up to twenty.
3. He can follow simple directions.
4. He enjoys listening to stories, music, and books.
5. He knows his phone number, address, and the names of his family members.
6. He can sit still for a small chunk of time for an activity.
7. Has she had practice sharing, taking turns, and solving problems with words? Preschool programs, playgroups, and day cares are a great way for a child to be prepared to survive in a school setting with peers.
8. Can he take care of his basic needs? Kindergarten teachers are quite used to tying shoes and zipping jackets, but it certainly helps if your child can do some of those things on his own. Is he getting dressed by himself? Going to the bathroom solo?
9. Does she have a late birthday? Your school district has a cutoff date. And if your child just barely makes that cutoff, know that she will likely always be one of the youngest in her group. And while this may not seem to matter in kindergarten, remember that she will stay with this group for the next 13 years.
10. Is he a boy? Kindergarten teachers everywhere urge parents to consider gender into this equation. Boys, more than girls, can sometimes suffer the consequences of being the smallest or youngest in the class. In general, boys mature more slowly than girls. Many educators believe giving them an extra year is a good thing.
11. Does she want to go to school? A child who is counting the days, backpack ready, is very different from a child filled with anxiety or indifference.  This alone can make the difference about sending them to school or waiting another year.

Choosing to hold a child out of Kindergarten for another year, is not a big deal, and actually can cause a child to have a better overall school experience in the long run.  It doesn’t matter the reasons, but starting out ahead of everyone else, is definitely better than starting out behind.

If you’re wondering whether or not your child is ready, ask for an assessment from a kindergarten teacher in your school. Make sure to ask the teacher not only if she’s ready, but also where she would stack up when compared to her peers. Weigh the pros and cons for starting or delaying. And think about your child. No one knows her better than you.

Well, realizing that your child’s intelligence is only part of the information factored into their grade may be more than some people want to know.  Understand that when your child brings home all A’s and B’s on the report card there is other information that is being factored into these grades.  Most of the information given to student’s is then tested nearly immediately, and those are the recorded grades.  Also factors that can affect your child’s grades are attitude, cooperation, neatness and homework assignments that are turned in.  What is being found however, is that in larger scale tests which test a child’s overall knowledge of a particular subject, many times it is the A students that struggle while students with lesser grades, even F’s can actually well surpass their supposedly smarter counterparts.  The reason, some students who may not be turning in their homework and may not be doing very well, may actually be learning and retaining more than those who are.

This just means that the markers on education need to be adapted to affect the student’s overall knowledge of a particular subject in addition to these other markers more frequently used for grading.  The point is to not only learn the material but be able to retain it, and if this is not happening, then perhaps the grading scale should be restructured to accurately reflect how much is being learned in the classroom setting.

With the current state of everything, the only place that our government seems to think needs a good cut back seems to be in the area of education.  Of all the places we spend, they want to take from the education of our children, in order to cut the fat.  It seems absurd to me, but perhaps there is a way that we can significantly cut back on the costs associated with schooling.  As more and more traditional colleges are moving to online classes, perhaps other schools should consider following suit.  After all, in many classrooms, much time is spent on distributing photocopied materials, that waste paper and truly much of the work is done independently, therefore, doesn’t it really make sense to allow all children to do their work independently online?

It just seems to me if we are going to cut back all the funding from schools, and allow the teachers limited ability to teach the students, than maybe they would benefit from being able to work on their own schedule and allow for a little bit more flexibility.  They would still have to do the work and turn it in, but the costs would decrease greatly since each student could attend traditional schooling once a week, and then assignments could just be sent to them via the web.  It would help the environment as well.

Overall, it is time to look around and try to find better, and less expensive ways to get things done.  The bottom line is that we we have been doing has not been working, so it is definitely a time for change.

Since the marketplace has tightened up for employment and layoffs are rampant across the country, I’m thankful that I have six sigma training. I went through six sigma training with one of my previous employers. What six sigma taught me was that if you are able to remove the causes of of errors and defects within your business process, then the quality of your business will improve. Using the method, I’m able to use statistical methods and other forms of quality management to improve the infrastructure of my department. I know how to follow the appropriate steps and implement the right procedures to be able to maximize the efficiency of my staff. We set out certain financial targets like cost reduction and profit increase and make sure we meet the goals.

The training has been both rewarding and profitable. My resume looks stronger with my six sigma training on it. I can go into a job interview and talk to the points of the process, which gives me an edge over other applicants. With the job field as tight as it is, I’ve been able to land new opportunities because of my knowledge. It helps set me apart from other people and adds a distinguished look to my qualifications. I’ve had potential employers spend the whole interview talking about the business method and how its model could be best used for their company.

Organizations that look for individuals with six sigma training are seeking a professional who can meet the ongoing demands of the marketplace. They know that I’ll be able to adjust to new procedures and find inventive ways of targeting goals and achieving results. The knowledge I received from my six sigma training can be put to use in any environment no matter the size or organizational structure.

I’ve also noticed that both private businesses and government jobs seem to have a particular interest in the training I’ve received. I always like to keep my resume updated and available for people to see, just to be sure I get every opportunity out there. With the six sigma training I get frequent inquiries into my work status and wondering if I’m looking for new options on my career path. I’ve been contacted by businesses in all sectors and different government agencies and department on both a state and federal level. I can definitely say that the six sigma training has made my career outlook all the brighter, no matter how the job market is doing.

Being an educator today can be quite a challenge.  Let’s face it these kids are not the same as those who were in the schools even twenty years ago.  These kids are more loud and anti authority than ever before.  They feel free to do whatever it takes to make sure that they have the upper hand, and now there is the newest way that today’s teens are using to torment their teachers.  It is called health insurance, as many of these stunts are dangerous. These actions by students are not only disruptive to other students and degrading for the teacher’s who are having their tyrants posted on You Tube to be laughed at, ridiculed, and seen by the world but they are causing some teacher’s to actually quit after having their images put up on You Tube.

Cell phones have no place in the schools and especially when they are being toted around by students who don’t know any limits or boundaries.  Teenagers are using cell phones to take pictures of their friends undressing in the locker rooms, themselves and other in sexual poses, people being beat up, and so much more.  We need to stop the regular use of camera phones.  Although, they may be nice to have handy when you need to snap a quick picture, they are an invasion of privacy and not an item that should be put in the hand of teenagers to use against others.  We need to teach our kids about respect before allowing them to have a handheld device that can take pictures in an instant and easily post them on the internet for the whole world to see.

With many schools facing budget cuts for the coming years, one must really think about how this will affect our children.  Realizing that we really have no choice but to make cuts wherever possible, it seems to me that we can afford to cut back funding to education, if we just begin to teach our children the basics again.

I reflect on the days of one room school houses, where all the children, male and female, young and old, would come to one little tiny building with one teacher and a black board and some chalk.  The teacher could teach to that many levels at once, and without all the bells and whistles that we have today, yet somehow the children all managed to learn.  I think perhaps that we could go back to the basics and maybe in the long run actually be better off.  I think that instead of taking away the sporting programs and the extra curricular activities that enhance a child’s life in other ways, perhaps we should return all the instructional aids, televisions and so forth and begin teaching once again.  For instance, our local PE class at the middle school has a Wii.  Well, what is wrong the balls weren’t working.  I don’t hold anything against a Wii mind you, I think that it good to have something that the kids like and that encourages exercise, however a school is no place for it.  Not only that, but when you think about it, in a class of 30 students really only 4 can use it at a time, so how much exercise are they each getting in a 45 minute class period?

Let’s return all the computerized gadgets and get back to basics and teaching.  The kids and the teachers would get a lot more out of the experience that way, I just know they would.

From a very early age, my parents always reinforced the importance of going to college and getting a degree.  However, I am beginning to wonder if that is really going to make or break you financially.  I mean there are plenty of high paying jobs that don’t require a degree and many people make very good money without one.  Plus there are many of people who hold a degree and are not getting anything from it.

As a mtter of fact, it may not be necessary at all to get a degree, after all, think about how much that piece of paper costs you to get.  I am just saying I am sure that the woman up the street who became a postal worker at 18 and has been post master at our local post office for the past 10 years, would disagree about the importance of a degree.  She probably makes more than someone who has a degree and is set to retire from the post office at 50 so what does anyone care that she doesn’t have a degree.  I guess the point is that a degree is only purposeful as a means to an end.  If you aren’t going to get to the end, or you are just going to school for a general purpose degree, then why bother.  I mean, is it really worth going into debt for a piece of paper.

When trying to make a decision on whether or not to go to college, just think about what you are going for and who, and what you hope to get out of it.  Make sure it is the right decision for you.