Students from public schools do better in math than ones from private schools(sciencedaily.com)
sciencedaily.com
Students from public schools do better in math than ones from private schools
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226093423.htm
5 comments
When it's your own money on the line it takes on a different aspect than dropping junior off at the gate
More so than the fact that it's your own kid? I'd think that that would be the ultimate motivation for parental involvement...
More so than the fact that it's your own kid? I'd think that that would be the ultimate motivation for parental involvement...
the correct singular is alumnus (m) or alumna (f), not alumni.
How many things are wrong here?
1. The only outcome measurement mentioned was standardized test scores. I don't know about other states, but Ohio's "achievement" tests attempt to measure minimum competency as defined by a State-wide committee. This study's authors have implicitly decided that the proper way to measure a math education is by the percentage of students who have obtained minimum competency. [Unless there were some other tests used which I am unaware of, of course] Most readers here likely have a very different definition of a good math education.
2. Public schools have a huge incentive to optimize upon obtaining good test scores. Because of No Child Left Behind, public schools are under the gun to obtain good test scores at nearly any cost. At least in Ohio, it is optional for private schools to subject their students to standardized testing. My wife and I toured the local Montessori school, and I asked one of the teachers if my son would have to take Ohio's achievement tests. She thought I was concerned that he would not, so she began to tell me that they were optional but the curriculum would adequately prepare my son for them, etc. When I cut her off to tell her how disgusting I found them, she started to complain about how they hurt education and clearly shared my views.
3. Private schools whose purpose is superior education are lumped in with those which exist to protect youth from hearing that the earth might be more than 6000 years old. It might very well be that academically-oriented private schools offer far superior math programs but schools that exist for religious reasons severely drag down the average.
>The end result, however, is students who are “prepared for the tests of 40 years ago and not the tests of today,” she said.
Is test preparation now considered the primary goal of education? I am becoming less and less convinced that I want my children to participate in the machine that is the US school system.
1. The only outcome measurement mentioned was standardized test scores. I don't know about other states, but Ohio's "achievement" tests attempt to measure minimum competency as defined by a State-wide committee. This study's authors have implicitly decided that the proper way to measure a math education is by the percentage of students who have obtained minimum competency. [Unless there were some other tests used which I am unaware of, of course] Most readers here likely have a very different definition of a good math education.
2. Public schools have a huge incentive to optimize upon obtaining good test scores. Because of No Child Left Behind, public schools are under the gun to obtain good test scores at nearly any cost. At least in Ohio, it is optional for private schools to subject their students to standardized testing. My wife and I toured the local Montessori school, and I asked one of the teachers if my son would have to take Ohio's achievement tests. She thought I was concerned that he would not, so she began to tell me that they were optional but the curriculum would adequately prepare my son for them, etc. When I cut her off to tell her how disgusting I found them, she started to complain about how they hurt education and clearly shared my views.
3. Private schools whose purpose is superior education are lumped in with those which exist to protect youth from hearing that the earth might be more than 6000 years old. It might very well be that academically-oriented private schools offer far superior math programs but schools that exist for religious reasons severely drag down the average.
>The end result, however, is students who are “prepared for the tests of 40 years ago and not the tests of today,” she said.
Is test preparation now considered the primary goal of education? I am becoming less and less convinced that I want my children to participate in the machine that is the US school system.
I wonder if this sugests that teaching in public schools is better, or that tests are prefering students that graduated public schools.
The article makes it rather explicit that the test has changed to be more in line with modern curricula, at one point saying that private schools prepare students for the tests of 40 years ago. If you admit up front that the test is geared toward one or the other, doesn't that invalidate scores on that test as an objective measure of comparing the two?
It's the American Way. You pay for kids your kids go to school with, and you have a choice of paying in private school tuition or in mortgage payments and property tax.
> You pay for kids your kids go to school with, and you have a choice of paying in private school tuition or in mortgage payments and property tax.
Actually, you almost never have a choice in the US. You "get to" pay property tax whether or not you have kids. In most cases, tuition for private school is completely out of pocket, which means that you're paying for a public school that your kids aren't in AND the private school.
Actually, you almost never have a choice in the US. You "get to" pay property tax whether or not you have kids. In most cases, tuition for private school is completely out of pocket, which means that you're paying for a public school that your kids aren't in AND the private school.
"Public" schools are simply giant, private boarding schools where the parents happen to live too.
This one will be confusing for anyone in the UK because "public" is "private", "private" is "private" and "state" is "public". Got to love the English :)
This used to get my wife when we were in New York. Passing PS108. "What's the PS stand for?", "Public School". "I'd never pay money to go there.","That would be a private school."
What I've gathered is that based on the same socioeconomic factors, public schools in well-heeled neighborhoods do just as well if not better than private schools in well-heeled neighborhoods. And now thanks to NCLB they are basing their curriculums around state exams, and some do really well on them!
As a public school alumni, I've seen really poorly run and well run private schools. For most things they stack up equally to public highschools. The difference in parent involvement makes a hell of a difference. When it's your own money on the line it takes on a different aspect than dropping junior off at the gate.