1) Higher teacher:student ratio. None of this matters without effective discipline, or with children who aren't disciplined at home. It could be a 1:1 ratio and it wouldn't matter. I've been in charge of plenty of 25-30 student class rooms that were effective places to learn. If money was unlimited, sure, I'd like a 1:10 ratio as much as the next person, but its unrealistic. Shoot for 1:25 instead and up the discipline.
2) Divide kids up by ability. Agreed. Mainstreaming feels good, but it costs too much.
3) Stop dividing kids up by age. Agreed. Mixing some classes, like reading or math, especially in grade school would be good for everybody.
4) Emphasize to kids- "You're not stupid, you're lazy. Agreed. Making the point early and often that hard work on dull subjects has a utility beyond the bare facts that are learned. School should have parts that are more like mental boot camp than a never ending garden party.
1) Less time at school. Or, more time, depending on the student's particular interests. It is already hard enough to address a subject in a standard 180 day format. Perhaps fewer subjects and more time per subject would be the answer.
2) Make that shit they learned at school applicable to their lives. I am kind of ambivalent about this. I think there is a utility in school taking kids out of their everyday lives into a more abstract world. Ceteris parabis, and all that.
3) Robin-hood style funding. I am pretty ambivalent about this, too, mostly because I think we put too much of an emphasis on money as the key to improving education instead of education itself. We can do much more, with less, if we approach schooling differently than as a therapeutic exercise.
4) Have a penal school to send bad kids to. You don't need a penal school, you just need a discipline in the class and the school and a place in the school for rowdy kids to get the punishments they so richly deserve. Of course, I agree you should kick their ass out of the classroom.
1) Less time at work for parents. I think this is a fallacy. If you look at the workload of your average person and compare it to the workload of someone 100 years ago I think you'll find we have much more free time today than we ever have had in the history of history. Too many high achieving kids come from hardworking immigrant families who never have time to hug them, but have put such an emphasis on doing well in school that junior grows up to be a doctor. What we need more of are parents dedicated to raising well educated children.
2) Less huge corporations. Pbbt. This is hogwash from start to finish. Why should I and my family pay >10% more to the Mom and Pop Family Market just because they live in my neighborhood? I want the best value for my dollar, if that means WallMart, it means Mom and Pop go out of business. This kind of sentimentality is totally elitist.
3) More family planning- better sex ed. Wow. Abort the poor? Why not just go in for a little retroactive abortion while you're at it? Scary stuff.
no subject
2) Divide kids up by ability. Agreed. Mainstreaming feels good, but it costs too much.
3) Stop dividing kids up by age. Agreed. Mixing some classes, like reading or math, especially in grade school would be good for everybody.
4) Emphasize to kids- "You're not stupid, you're lazy. Agreed. Making the point early and often that hard work on dull subjects has a utility beyond the bare facts that are learned. School should have parts that are more like mental boot camp than a never ending garden party.
1) Less time at school. Or, more time, depending on the student's particular interests. It is already hard enough to address a subject in a standard 180 day format. Perhaps fewer subjects and more time per subject would be the answer.
2) Make that shit they learned at school applicable to their lives. I am kind of ambivalent about this. I think there is a utility in school taking kids out of their everyday lives into a more abstract world. Ceteris parabis, and all that.
3) Robin-hood style funding. I am pretty ambivalent about this, too, mostly because I think we put too much of an emphasis on money as the key to improving education instead of education itself. We can do much more, with less, if we approach schooling differently than as a therapeutic exercise.
4) Have a penal school to send bad kids to. You don't need a penal school, you just need a discipline in the class and the school and a place in the school for rowdy kids to get the punishments they so richly deserve. Of course, I agree you should kick their ass out of the classroom.
1) Less time at work for parents. I think this is a fallacy. If you look at the workload of your average person and compare it to the workload of someone 100 years ago I think you'll find we have much more free time today than we ever have had in the history of history. Too many high achieving kids come from hardworking immigrant families who never have time to hug them, but have put such an emphasis on doing well in school that junior grows up to be a doctor. What we need more of are parents dedicated to raising well educated children.
2) Less huge corporations. Pbbt. This is hogwash from start to finish. Why should I and my family pay >10% more to the Mom and Pop Family Market just because they live in my neighborhood? I want the best value for my dollar, if that means WallMart, it means Mom and Pop go out of business. This kind of sentimentality is totally elitist.
3) More family planning- better sex ed. Wow. Abort the poor? Why not just go in for a little retroactive abortion while you're at it? Scary stuff.