The post Do Private School Teachers Actually Have More Freedom? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>Being a teacher in today’s world is undeniably challenging. More and more teachers are being fired because they got “caught in the culture wars,” says The Washington Post. On top of all the duties involved with having a classroom full of children to teach and nurture, teachers are pressured by government-run unions to teach things like Critical Race Theory and gender ideology.
Sometimes it feels like the cards are stacked against public school teachers’ freedom. Between intrusive unions, the lack of structure, and the low academic standards in the public school system, there’s a lot to be desired. There are teachers who want out.
Maybe you’re one of those teachers. And perhaps you’ve also thought about the potential of moving to a private school, a place where the government isn’t so involved.
The idea sounds good. But there are specific obstacles that come along with being a private school teacher, and some of them are things that public school teachers never even have to think about.
Today, we’re going to talk about those drawbacks, as well as the benefits of being a private school teacher. And we’ll answer the question: do private school teachers actually have more freedom?
Many believe schools aren’t focusing on education anymore. Rather, today there is overwhelming evidence that the focus is on teaching ideology, and teachers’ unions are at the helm. Often, teachers’ rights are squashed by big unions who push them to teach a certain agenda in their classrooms. And it’s hard, if not impossible, to say no. Unions have benefits, like insurance and pensions.
Financial security is a wonderful freedom, and public school teachers do often have more benefits compared to private school teachers.
Big unions such as the AFT aren’t found in the private school setting. In fact, “Some independent schools have internal teacher associations but there is no independent school teachers’ union,” says the NAIS. The NAIS (or The National Association of Independent Schools) itself is a nonprofit organization that provides many resources for schools and teachers across the U.S.
Many private schools are affiliated with a private school association and have access to financial benefits, although these benefits may not be as appealing as the ones offered to public school teachers. Yet, private school teachers still have the opportunity to get the support and resources they need even if they are not part of a school union.
Do you want the freedom to have a closer relationship with your students? Then you might appreciate the environment a private school offers.
Private schools have enrollment limits, since they are usually working with a smaller budget and smaller groups of staff. That means smaller classes, which means you’ll have more time one-on-one with your students and getting to know them as individuals.
Speaking of which, tailoring curriculum and lessons to each child’s needs is something most private schools take seriously. Yes, that does mean that you’ll have more responsibilities when it comes to lesson planning, but there’s an upside. If you enjoy teaching but are frustrated with the tendency to “teach to the test” in public schools, you’ll find a lot of freedom in that many private schools are not required to follow state mandated testing. School of Education observes that, “This means private school instructors have more freedom when creating their lesson plans, allowing them to implement more creativity and stray from the test-driven priority that is common in state-mandated curriculums at public schools.” This doesn’t go for every private school, of course—prep schools, for instance, need to focus heavily on test scores. The level of attention that is given to this subject varies, so keep that in mind when you’re looking for a job in the private school arena.
And don’t forget, being a private school teacher means collaborating with parents. Private schools encourage parental involvement and cultivate their authority over their child’s education, and that can be a good thing! Parents want to know their child’s teachers and that gives you a great foundation for understanding a child’s home environment, parental concerns, and their goals for their child’s education.
You’re a dedicated educator, and wish to be one, but maybe you don’t have the traditional teacher experience or a college education. It can be hard, in that case, to find a job in a public school setting.
But that’s one of the great things about private schools. You can find many private schools that don’t require certification, a license, or even a specific degree. “Many private schools value degrees in related fields, work experience, knowledge, and natural teaching abilities over a certification. It’s true that it does vary from school to school, but many private schools look beyond the teaching certificate or degree in education,” says ThoughtCo.
You may just have a passion for children or education. You might even have great experience in some field you think may be unrelated to education, but has given you skills that you want to utilize. Don’t discredit yourself! Private schools are looking for people like you to fill their teaching roles.
If you have specific religious beliefs or core values that you stand by, looking into becoming a private school teacher is an awesome choice. While many people are concerned that the influences on public schools are making them increasingly adverse to Christian or conservative values, on the other hand, many private schools seem to swing the other way and even advertise that religious or traditional values are their goals.
The Council for American Private Education reports that 78% of private school students go to a religiously affiliated school. Since the majority of this percentage is composed of Christian schools, if you are a Christian, that gives you a good chance of finding a school that is connected to your denomination or has similar values.
But what if you aren’t religious? Does that mean you won’t get hired at a Christian school? Not necessarily, but every school is different. Some have strict requirements, and others have loose rules. You may even be able to opt out of teaching certain classes or subjects if you can’t teach them with conviction. Explore each school’s requirements individually.
And if you don’t wish to be affiliated with any faith in particular, there are still many secular private schools out there. But private schools are almost always very conservative, take a traditional approach to education, enforce strict discipline, and have certain core values, so bear that in mind.
The freedom private school teachers have is tempered with some restrictions and challenges. For instance:
There are some things that need to be thought about long and hard before you can come to a decision. Weigh the pros and cons. Every job has them, and it all depends on your personal preferences, needs, and concerns.
Do private school teachers have more freedom? It seems that there are two sides to the coin. What’s important to you? What do you value and where do you see your career headed? Are you happy with that, or would you like to change? All of these questions and more must be considered when you compare teaching in public school to teaching in private school. There’s no easy answer; really, it’s all in the way you look at it.
If you’d like to learn more about teacher’s freedoms, check out our article on public school teachers’ religious freedoms. Or listen to our podcast episode on freeing teachers from usurping unions.
The post Do Private School Teachers Actually Have More Freedom? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post What’s the Fuss About SEL (Social Emotional Learning)? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The education world is very familiar with controversy. In recent headlines, hot-button issues included CRT (Critical Race Theory) and Common Core. School reform, vouchers, and standardized testing spark wide debate. Educating the country’s children has long-standing implications, and everyone has an opinion.
A relatively new controversy has entered the scene—Social Emotional Learning, or SEL. Technically, SEL has been around for decades, yet there has been little to no outcry against SEL. While some have questioned the prudence of the government forcing its version of social and emotional norms on American school children, thanks to recent updates to the curriculum, the debate’s heated up to controversial levels and joined the adversarial arena as a contester for controversy.
So, what’s all the fuss about social emotional learning, and should American parents be concerned?
Social Emotional Learning is defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a leading authority on SEL, as “the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.”
SEL teaches children the appropriate way to interact with their inner being and others. At its core, Social Emotional Learning teaches good character, moral values, and self-esteem.
SEL in education is not an invention of the 20th century. American public schools began with religious schools, which uncompromisingly combined academia with religion, morality, and an emphasis on good character. Character training for students is a widely accepted aspect of their education. Even the U.S. Department of Education emphasizes the necessity of teaching students these essential attributes. For children, character development is foundational to who they become as adults. Psychology Today defines good character as traits that “lead us to think, feel, and act in certain ways.”
Frederick M. Hess presented an article for the American Enterprise Institute. In his explanation of the SEL controversy, he wrote, “‘Since the dawn of the republic, teachers and schools have been tasked with teaching content and modeling character.’ Pursued responsibly, SEL can help with all of that. In fact, while SEL can seem like a new idea, it’s more of a variation on a historical theme—that educators cannot focus only on academic mastery but must also develop the ‘whole child.’”
While it’s not new, social emotional learning has become a clearly defined, specific educational discipline. Rather than merely encouraging character, morality, self-esteem, and good citizenship, these have been combined under one unifying theme and labeled SEL.
If we want children to learn how to “think, feel, and act” in ways that benefit them and those around them, we must integrate moral training into their everyday learning. SEL attempts to do just that.
SEL focuses on five key attributes:
These five attributes are valuable skills that every child should learn from a young age. However, concerns remain, such as:
“…as with so many well-meaning education reforms, SEL has a Jekyll-and-Hyde aspect…SEL can be reasonably described both as a sensible, innocuous attempt to tackle a real challenge and, too often, an excuse for a blue, bubbled industry of education funders, advocates, professors, and trainers to promote faddish nonsense and ideological agendas.”
Frederick M. Hess hits the bulls-eye with this astute observation. While social emotional learning has a valid basis, the root of the issue remains that agendas and politics inevitably sneak in when the government is involved. Education has never been a neutral ground, and it never will be. The secret has begun to leak out.
Education Week published an article titled, ‘Educators Must Realize That There Is No Neutral Position on Issues of Racial Justice.’
Connected Learning Alliance admitted the neutrality lie in their article Power On!: Why CS Education Can No Longer Pretend to Be “Neutral.”
The cat is out of the bag, and we cannot reasonably deny it.
The National Education Association addressed this in their article ‘Education is Political’: Neutrality in the Classroom Shortchanges Students. Here, they explore the opinion of Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Dunn notes, “Everything in education—from the textbooks to the curriculum to the policies that govern teachers’ work and students’ learning—is political and ideologically informed. Both what is taught and how it is taught is shaped by the cultural, social, political, and historical contexts in which a school is situated. We can’t pretend that teachers can leave these contexts at the door.”
Education is never neutral, and Americans have increasingly seen specific agendas and ideologies infiltrating government schools.
As if SEL wasn’t a complex undertaking on its own, activists are now working to change social emotional learning to include the political and ideological spin skeptics have feared all along.
This evolution has been dubbed “Transformative SEL.”
IGI Global defines the term as: “Transformative Social Emotional Learning (TSEL) expands the SEL framework to address social justice and disenfranchisement of underprivileged groups by examining the additional acquisition of knowledge and skills in identity, intersectionality, agency, and belongingness.”
T-SEL has a specific flavor of political and ideological spice to it. Transformative social emotional learning includes distinct social justice vibes that rub many parents and educators the wrong way. Even parents who agree with the ideology often prefer to address the issues at home instead of having their children exposed to the ideas and concepts at school.
As the culture war in the U.S. continues to build, attentive parents have begun scrutinizing every area of our world, especially where it relates to their children and education. Already mobilizing against CRT and some sex education approaches, American parents have now set their protective sights on T-SEL and SEL.
Many parents believe that social and emotional skills should be taught at home and not at school. The Hechinger Report notes that, among other findings, the Fordham Survey found that “Parents of all political stripes see SEL as primarily a family responsibility, and nearly half of all parents strongly or somewhat agree that schools should focus on academics and leave SEL to parents….”
The most recent uproar about SEL, and the flashpoint for parents rising en masse against social emotional learning programs, was the introduction of T-SEL by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
Lisa Logan, a wife, mother, and self-proclaimed patriot, is on the front lines of the T-SEL issue and is “Exposing the sinister agenda behind Social Emotional Learning Programs.” In an interview with PragerU, Logan explained her passion for this issue and the dangers associated with SEL.
“…in 2020, they [CASEL] changed their definition of social emotional learning and five core competencies to be transformative social emotional learning….” Logan noted, “It’s a completely different way of teaching social emotional learning theory through a racial and equity lens. So their aim is to…’redistribute power to promote social justice through student engagement in school and civic life.’”
Logan and Stacie Clayton, another concerned mother from the district, first began their deep dive into SEL research when a teacher from their children’s school quit over SEL requirements.
Together, the two women invested their time into discovering the ins and outs of SEL in their district, culminating in a twenty-five-page report. The report details concerns with the Second Step curriculum, including “an undercurrent of social justice, critical race theory,
race and gender power and privilege, gender fluidity, collectivism, sexualization and other
disturbing ideologies flowing throughout this curriculum. In addition, generally, the lessons
steer students away from (or don’t mention) their family.”
Logan’s outspoken views on SEL have encouraged other parents nationwide to investigate the issue for themselves. The SEL controversy is still relatively new and isn’t likely to dissipate soon.
Presuming one overlooks the potential for harm and SEL is used in its purest, most successful form, research indicates many positives to social emotional learning.
SEL prepares children for adulthood. When students have the knowledge and skills to tackle real-life problems constructively, they can effectively navigate the pressures of adult life. This is beneficial on a personal level and professionally.
A report by the AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity explains, “Increasingly, economists, employers, and corporate leaders are recognizing how vital ‘soft skills’ are to succeed in the labor market and to the nation’s productivity…These and other characteristics influence people’s educational attainment, employment, and earnings as much as or more than academic achievement as measured by standardized achievement tests. In education policy and practice, these soft skills go by many names, most commonly social-emotional learning (SEL) or character development.”
Long-term, effective SEL programs have the potential to influence the rest of a student’s life.
CASEL compiled data from a large number of studies examining the short-term benefits of SEL for students. They found that if schools added a SEL program:
at the end of the program;
Social emotional learning has deep historical roots with a solid foundation in education. Traditionally, this process was family-based and reinforced through education. Today, these life skills are taught less at home and more at school. This trend concerns many parents.
The evolution of SEL fails to reassure American families of its neutral status and vital presence in the schoolroom. Will social emotional learning survive the culture war? Only time will tell.
The post What’s the Fuss About SEL (Social Emotional Learning)? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post Helping Kids With Mental Health: Tips And Resources appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>Communication is hard. Your best resource is a motivation to build the trust needed to communicate well with children. That might mean wading through hurt and conflict.
But you can also use activities to your advantage.
If you’re a parent, an activity might look like setting aside a time every week to get lunch or ice cream with your child. If you’re a teacher, that might be mentoring them as they write an essay or complete an art assignment. Create time for discussion, even if it seems uncomfortable at first.
Reading aloud is an awesome activity that not only gets you both into one room sharing a good story, but reading is also critical to mental health. So even when she becomes a teen, that love for reading may take root and give her a resource to draw from that relaxes her and puts her into someone else’s shoes for an hour.
Books can also be a catalyst for discussion. Sharing a read story can lead to sharing our own real life stories.
There are many books for children about mental health, such as My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain (for little ones) and the award-winning Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (for older children). We recommend vetting mental health books before letting your children or students read them, and choosing stories that don’t preach but tell a good story that children will empathize with.
Children need a certain amount of structure in their lives.
First, children need structure in their everyday lives. And not just things like getting up in the morning or getting back in class on time after recess, though those are essential to a sense of security, but disciplinary structure and boundaries, too. Whether a child is at school or at home, he must adhere to his parents or teachers wishes when it comes to his behavior. He needs to know that bad behavior has consequences, while good is praised and rewarded.
Every family will have slightly different rules and expectations as will every classroom. These boundaries make sure that everyone is living in harmony and accomplishing their tasks.
Children and teens need to be held accountable for their behavior, how they’re using technology, and who they’re hanging out with, to mention just a few examples. For instance, bullying is never all right. Staying on their tablet far into the night or looking at porn is unacceptable. Mom and Dad need to know who your friends are.
For parents and teachers, researching or reading books on how to structure your days and help kids thrive in a healthy, happy, safe environment is a good place to start.
When it comes to accountability, make sure you’re present and involved in your children or student’s activities, as his media consumption and the people he is around can negatively or positively affect his mental health. Maybe that means watching movies as a family instead of letting your children view content alone in their room. As a teacher, you might realize you need to set down clear rules about name-calling.
If you’re a parent, accountability apps can be a huge help. To keep your kids safe on the internet, you might consider using an app that sends reports of internet activity to your email, like Accountable2You or Bark. Or an app that tracks your child’s phone, such as Life360.
To be even more certain you kids can’t find inappropriate content on the internet, some apps can lock internet browsers from displaying inappropriately violent or sexual images. Many of these apps are free, making it easier than ever to protect your kids.
Strive to create a healthy atmosphere in your classroom or home where you are the role model. Praise your child or student. Praise his character rather than simply his physical appearance or accomplishments. Show him what it means to truly love and appreciate someone.
Model forgiveness. Be more joyful. Point out others’ good character traits (both in real life and fiction). Be an example of positivity instead of negativity.
Help them think in a healthy way about sexuality. Teens are especially vulnerable to the LGBTQ movement. In fact, 42% of LGB youth “seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth,” Youth.gov says. Kids need parents and educators who stand up for traditional values and model good marriages and healthy thoughts on gender and sexuality.
Healthy children should have healthy eating habits, so, if you’re a parent, consider your example to your children in this area. Do you model good diet habits? Do you encourage them to drink lots of water?
Exercise is also crucial to mental health and an excellent way to burn off toxins that negatively affect the brain. Plus it gets your child or student’s nose out of his device for a while.
And don’t forget, parents: set a healthy sleep routine for your entire family. Rest is a critical element for a healthy mind.
There are plenty of great videos on YouTube with workouts (like this one by Fitbit), stretching exercises, and guided meditation. Or, for fun, get your kids moving with a dance exercise video, such as this one inspired by Disney’s Encanto.
There are also a ton of great mental health apps that you might consider trying, such as a sleep or exercise app.
Focus on the Family has some good resources on teaching children about marriage. iMom has a fantastic article on how you and your spouse can shape our kids understanding of marriage.
“Nearly one-quarter of tenth graders who reported being bullied also reported having made a suicide attempt in the past 12 months, according to a Washington State Healthy Youth Survey,” says Very Well Family.
Bullying has, at best, a negative effect on children’s self-image. But not only are children more likely to commit suicide, they are at a higher risk for eating disorders, depression, loneliness, and sometimes increased violence.
And don’t forget cyberbullying, which is becoming more and more of a threat as children have greater access to technology. In fact, Very Well Family says that “cyberbullying caused kids to consider suicide more than traditional bullying according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics.”
The CyberSmile Foundation has a list of helplines to call if cyberbullying is taking place. You may want to give your child or student one of these numbers to have on hand.
You can visit the US government’s anti-bullying website and find out how you or your child/student can get help if bullying is going on.
Crisis Text Line also has a lot of information about what bullying is and a phone number you or your child can text to get help.
Sometimes it’s necessary to get outside help, especially when your child or student becomes suicidal or shows signs of thinking about suicide.
If you have more immediate concerns, don’t hesitate to call up a friend or family member who has had experience, talk to your school’s counselor or principal, or call a hotline. You could save a life. Talking to someone else can give you the courage to take the next step in preventing a suicide. And if you don’t know which way to turn, the person you call can help you come to a decision on what to do.
If you’re a parent, it might be time to get professional counseling, both for yourself and your child. Or in the most serious situations, you might consider therapy or taking your child to a doctor.
There are dozens of resources out there for suicide prevention.
First, don’t forget that you can easily call 911 to get immediate help. Another great hotline is the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline where you or your child can get free support and counsel. They even have crises centers around the country.
You can also find information and resources on websites such as the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention.
Kids need adults in their lives who love them. Life is daunting, worrying, and confusing. Suicide and mental health disorders are rampant in today’s children. And the world isn’t getting any easier to cope with.
Learn more about the concerning trends in mental health among students, here.
And if you’re a teacher, you’ll want to check out our tips on warning signs to look for if you think your student is struggling with mental health.
We, both parents and educators, can come alongside our kids. We can support them with love, care, and resources. They’ll notice our efforts, and that, above everything else, will give them hope.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the student mental health crisis to skyrocket. Depression, anxiety, gender dysmorphia, self-harm, and suicide have become themes for school-aged kids.
It’s important that these children get the counsel and love they need. First and foremost in a child’s life is his or her parents, and parents have the ultimate responsibility to ensure their child is safe, happy, and loved.
But sometimes a child doesn’t have a stable family life or authority figure they can turn to. Or maybe he hides his mental health struggles when at home. That’s where a teacher can be a huge help in the life of a child.
You have a specific role to play in your child or student’s life, and you don’t want them to be counted as bullied, depressed, or suicidal. But where to start? How can we prevent mental health crises in our kids? Let’s look at a few essential resources and tips you should always have on hand to support the kids in your care.
Strong attachments and good communication are two of the most important things in a child’s life. They are critical for a child or teen to be mentally healthy.
Develop a strong attachment between you and your child or student by communicating well. Parents, your child should be able to come and talk to you about any issue! So be honest with him, show him that you’re willing to discuss things that are happening in your life, or let him know that you’re not perfect either and have struggled too. Pretty soon, he’ll start reciprocating. Make sure you follow up on discussions you have. Ask how she’s doing; if she’s been feeling down, has that worsened since last you talked, or the opposite?
The post Helping Kids With Mental Health: Tips And Resources appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post Is Teaching Wearing You Out? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>All teachers know how stressful the classroom can be. What’s really difficult is knowing what to do about it. It’s 2023, and you’re probably wondering how you can start taking better care of yourself.
With all the work and stress that teaching brings, especially in today’s world, it’s no wonder you’re a little tired. Relax. If you’re one of those worn-out teachers fighting to keep your head above water, we have a few tips for you.
“Teacher burnout.” You’ve heard the phrase. Maybe you’ve used it to describe your own mental state. If so, you know that teacher burnout is no joke! It really happens… quite often actually. Gallup News did a poll last year which revealed that “More than four in ten K-12 workers in the U.S. (44%) say they ‘always’ or ‘very often’ feel burned out at work, outpacing all other industries nationally.”
The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that there is a problem. Stop pretending like everything is going well if it isn’t.
Almost everyone experiences work-related stress at some point, and this can sometimes lead to burnout. “Burnout,” Very Well Mind says, “is a reaction to prolonged or chronic job stress,” and “if you feel exhausted, start to hate your job, and begin to feel less capable at work, you are showing signs of burnout.”
So, with this information in hand (i.e. burnout is real, and teachers are the most susceptible) we can ask the big question: Why is teaching so exhausting?
Well, the classroom environment is probably one problem. Many teachers feel they do not have time to take the breaks they need. They are in charge of so many different things: lesson planning, child care, discipline… not to mention the biggest responsibility of all — educating their group of students. And on top of these everyday demands, schools today are “maxed out”: many teachers are handling multiple classrooms, trying to teach larger and larger groups of kids, doing piles of paperwork, and more. This all means you, as the teacher, are constantly pouring out yourself, your knowledge, and your resources. Every single weekday.
The National Education Association points out that most exhaustion and burnout happens when “[A]n educator has exhausted the personal and professional resources necessary to do the job.”
Are you making sure you fill up what you pour out? Are you taking care of yourself before and after work?
Good habits — at home and at work — are essential to managing stress and curing burnout.
Changing our lifestyles, habits, and behaviors can be so difficult. However, it’s so worth it! Not only will it help us in the here and now to cultivate rest, productivity, and connection with others, but it can improve our lives long-term as well. One Harvard study found that simply exercising for 3.5 hours a week, eating well, maintaining a healthy body weight, not smoking, and keeping alcohol to a minimum can add up to 10 years to a person’s life-span!
What will ensure we’re following these simple steps to a healthier and longer life? Good mental health and good habits. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you’re not being worn down by your work and forgetting to take care of yourself.
So, with that said, here are several ways teachers like you can take better care of themselves this year!
Spending time with others is probably the most important thing on this list.
We know. You spent all day with people: dealing with them, teaching them, laughing with them…maybe you just want some alone time.
Alone time is very beneficial and even necessary. However, alone time will only get you so far. Your work environment is saturated with people, but, although you probably have wonderful connections with your students, that can’t replace the strong and loving connections you have with your kids, spouse, parents, and friends.
After a long day or week you probably feel like curling up on the couch with your cat and watching Netflix. Ask yourself: is there someone I can include in my evening or my weekend?
Your tribe is your support team. They love you and being with them will cheer you up, help you see things from a different perspective, and hopefully get you out of the house. Piedmont.org says that spending time with friends and family helps you cope with stress, which in turn helps with your psychological well-being, improves cognitive function, and is even good for cardiovascular health.
Don’t discount the power of connection with your loved ones!
“It is estimated that sleep-related problems affect 50 to 70 million Americans,” The American Sleep Apnea Association says.
Sleep loss is one of the biggest problems in the U.S., and it’s probably because people don’t understand the negative effects of it. Again, the Sleep Apnea Association says “Sleepiness affects vigilance, reaction times, learning abilities, alertness, mood, hand-eye coordination, and the accuracy of short-term memory.” As a teacher, you’re drawing on all of these faculties every day.
So are you getting enough sleep? It’s recommended that even adults get 7 hours of sleep a night, wake up at the same time every morning, and go to sleep at the same time every night.
There are many things you can do to get better sleep (such as taking a walk early in the morning), but the most simple way to start is to get to bed at an early hour (probably 9 or 10pm, depending on when you get up). Turn off your phone, or leave it in another room. Read until you get sleepy, then switch off the lights and doze away. Try it! Your productivity and mood will improve right away.
Next, work on your morning routine. If you’ve fallen into the habit of waking up at the last minute and immediately checking your phone, it’s time for a change!
Wake up at the same time every morning, even on weekends. Start keeping a water bottle next to your bed, and start drinking right away when the alarm rings. Get up, get dressed, and make your bed. If you have a skin or makeup routine, it might help to get that done right away, or maybe you like to wait until after your morning coffee.
Spend quiet time eating breakfast and reading a book, doing a stretch routine, or having coffee. Whatever your favorite relaxing hobby is!
And don’t forget, starting with a healthy night routine, getting enough sleep, and keeping your phone out of reach the night before will go a long way in helping create a solid morning routine. So much of what makes a morning routine go smoothly actually starts with the night before!
Teachers, it is really important that you keep moving! Most of your time is spent at a desk or standing. Both can be a big strain on your back — plus that doesn’t give you much leg or arm movement.
Begin with a strategy for exercising on your days off, or, if you’re feeling adventurous, start exercising before breakfast. You only need to start with three days a week.
Then, of course, start thinking of how you can keep moving at work. Does that mean taking a five minute walk in the parking lot at break? Or doing stretches at your desk? Getting your class to do some movements with you to revitalize energy, theirs and yours? If you do a little brainstorming, you’re sure to come up with something.
Now’s the time to make those eating ideals into real habits. Eating better can be overwhelming, especially for teachers. Many teachers don’t get breaks for lunches or snacks, so it’s often a matter of grabbing what you can.
And so many of us grab junk food when we’re in a hurry, right? That’s not a good habit to get caught up in! Besides trying to eat better in general, begin planning meals and snacks to take to school that are healthy. Pack more raw foods such as vegetables, nuts, fruit, and meat you prepared beforehand. Then when you’re feeling hungry, you’ll be grabbing healthy foods that actually make you feel full and satisfied.
Social media can be a wonderful outlet: it can generate creativity and give us support groups we never would have had otherwise. This is especially true for teachers.
But there’s a fine line. Social media can be pretty destructive, as we all know. For one thing, it keeps us glued to our screens. For another, it draws us into loops of comparison and even depression. Bad mental health in America is strongly linked to social media.
Maybe you’ve come to a point in your life where breaking up with social media sounds like a good (but scary) idea. If so, then do it! Try it for a day, a week, or a month. It’s okay if you get back on after your little “social media fast,” but consider making this a regular habit. Block out days or weeks that are social media free. And who knows, maybe you’ll decide to break up for good.
It can be hard for teachers to say no! There’s so many needs, so many opportunities to help out and shoulder the responsibility. But it can be too much.
Remember that life is much more than work or being the most helpful teacher in school. You can say no to a new responsibility, even if the only reason is “because I’m tired.”
Start taking breaks. Your class will survive a day or even a week with a substitute. It’s time to take those vacation days you’ve been saving up for some future day. And when you can’t take days off, start looking for moments in the school day when you can slip off and do some deep breathing or take a short walk.
Teachers, this is going to be your best year. You can make it that way, because you’re committed to taking care of yourself and not working so hard that you get burnt out.
Start small. Pick one or two things on the list above to start with. Maybe you’ll just begin taking celery sticks and peanut butter to work instead of buying those Doritos from the vending machine! Habit formation doesn’t happen when we take on too much and overwhelm ourselves even more. Work your way up to the big goals slowly, and you’ll be well on your way to taking better care of yourself this year.
The post Is Teaching Wearing You Out? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post (Almost) Every School Choice Option Available in America Today appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>
Well, in part, they’re talking about making alternative education widely available to the average American child. They want families to be able to take advantage of the new and innovative schooling methods that are constantly popping up in the ever-shifting modern landscape of education.
You probably know about a few of these school options—public, private, and homeschool are the three most popular. But did you know that there are dozens of other options that are basically off-shoots of these three options?
Today we’re going to talk about some of these! Of course we’ll probably miss a few; after all, there are so many different ways to combine various schooling options and methods. But we can certainly try to cover the most pertinent. So without further ado, let’s get into it!
Almost every child in America has direct access to a public school. They are funded by the government, so tuition is offered for free, as long as you send your kids to the school in the district you live in.
To quote our article, Public Education: A Microcosm of School Choice, “Traditional public schools are often valued for their accessibility and familiarity. Multiple generations in your family probably relate to a traditional public school experience, and there’s no need to stress over whether your child can access a similar education.”
If a parent wants to send their child to a religious school, or a school that is not directly controlled by federal unions, private school is a popular and traditional option. Parents generally must pay for tuition, although school choice laws have changed that rule somewhat in recent years.
Private schools have a good reputation. They consistently produce well-equipped, well-educated students, which is a big draw for parents.
Ed Choice says, “Charter schools are independently run public schools exempt from many rules and regulations in exchange for increased accountability.” Or, in other words, “Charter schools are publicly funded, but privately managed.” This gives “parents, community leaders,” and educators “the flexibility to innovate and provide students with increased educational options within the public school system,” says the Department of Education.
There’s no denying that charter schools are one of the most popular alternatives to traditional public schools today. The U.S. Department of Education says there are about 3,000 charter schools in America, yet they’re so popular that seats are often filled via lottery.
Language Immersion is a method of public or private education in which a student learns a second language. Often children who are in schools which offer language immersion programs spend part of their day learning in English and the other half in their second language, such as French, Spanish, Chinese, or even Russian.
Not surprisingly, “years of research show that immersion language programs give children a leg up academically,” says one mom at EducationWeek. “[T]he brains of bilingual people have better executive function, which is what allows you to focus on problem solving, moving between tasks, and recalling words and information.”
Why “magnet”? Because magnet schools are designed to draw students from many different backgrounds who are interested in one subject or theme. For instance, one magnet school may focus on the arts, while another specializes in business and communication. There are many that simply emphasize a certain education model, such as career academics or the Montessori method.
Although magnet schools are open to any child who wishes to apply (school districts have no bearing on a child’s eligibility) magnet schools’ administration is the same in every way to traditional public schools. In other words, “Unlike charter schools, magnet schools do not have private oversight. They remain under the same administrative bodies as traditional public schools.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, homeschooling became a household word. But, actually, “homeschooling” really isn’t the correct term for the widespread virtual learning that happened during lockdowns. Traditional homeschooling is actually more like a one-room schoolhouse of olden times! One or both of a child’s parents hand-pick his/her curriculum, fund it, and teach him/her themselves. There are many variations on this method, but in America, this is what “homeschooling” has historically meant since it began in the 1970s.
However, there are as many ways to homeschool as there are clouds in the sky! One popular model is hybrid homeschooling where “homeschoolers split their time between learning at home and attending a physical brick-and-and mortar school location,” says Homeschool Super Freak.
So when you hear someone say “hybrid homeschooling” this is most likely what they mean. But there are other models which can be called “hybrid”, such as co-op homeschooling, or any other model where a child attends classes outside the home once, twice, or even several times a week, but their main schooling takes place in the home and is directed and controlled by their parents.
Learn.org says “Correspondence schools across the country offer distance learning through mailed books and materials, online courses and social network communities.” Traditional correspondence schools produce their own books, courses, and lesson plans, but most let you pick and choose your curriculum from their wealth of resources.
However, some correspondence schools, such as some of Alaska’s correspondence programs, send you enough funds to purchase your own curriculum.
Correspondence schools require homeschool parents to report back about work completed in order to secure your benefits. So, as Learning Abled Kids points out, “Correspondence Schools allow you to homeschool your child while submitting evidence of work completion to a company who will ‘certify’ your child’s progress. When your child has finished the entire course of study, the Correspondence Schools will issue a diploma.”
Online schools that offer grading and diplomas are not the same as traditional homeschool programs, even though the child is doing all of his school at home. Because a child has teachers directing his education, assigning his work, and grading it, online schooling is a subcategory of “public” or “private” school.
This method became widely used during the Coronavirus pandemic and paved the way for the sharp increase of online public schooling, or distance schooling, as it’s sometimes called.
Public online schools are tuition free and have the added benefit of parents taking a more active role in their child’s education. Online public school teachers are state-licensed and teach their classes via live video meetings.
Take the concept of online public schools, make it independent from the state, and you’ve got private online schooling! Private online schools are not only more flexible and self-paced (actually, they usually look a lot more like homeschooling than public online schools), but they’re more accessible, especially for military families and others who live in certain states or overseas.
You know the one-room schoolhouses of the past? Well, they’re still around. And though they are known as “microschools” now, the concept is the same. EdChoice says microschooling is “where class sizes are usually fewer than 15 students of varying ages, and the schedule and curriculum is tailored to fit the needs of each class.”
Microschools may be independent (operated by a small group of families or a community), or they may be a part of the public school system. And they may even operate as a private or charter school.
Learning pods are even more micro than microschools! They usually consist of a group of 5-10 kids, usually taught in a private home by a parent or a hired teacher or tutor.
The key difference between microschooling and learning pods is the age and grade of the students. While microschools teach children of varying ages, the kids in a learning pod are usually all the same age and grade.
Some take it a step further, and create learning pods to simply supplement public, private, or homeschool education, focusing on one subject or theme.
There you have it! Time prevents us from exploring every detail of the education options that are available in America today. But hopefully this journey through options both old and new has helped open your eyes to the incredible movement happening in school choice today.
There’s something for everyone. And if you can’t find one that seems to fit, there’s plenty of space to get creative and create an educational path that is perfectly suited to you and your child.
The post (Almost) Every School Choice Option Available in America Today appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post Podcast Ep. 32 “Are Schools Spending Your Money Wisely?” – Guest Ted Lamb appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>When it comes to school budgets, where does all the money go?
Today’s guest, Ted Lamb, tells us about constricting federal policies that funnel funds from the classroom and into unnecessary things. But, as a school board member, Ted has had a front-row opportunity to speak out against poor spending. Follow along with today’s episode of The State of Education with Melvin Adams & learn what it takes to be on your local school board and how you can contend with unfair policies!
“For parents and grandparents who are raising children, I would say that we are living in a day and time where you have decisions to make about education with regards to what’s being pushed and what’s coming down in public education. And that’s not going away! And you have to make the difficult decision: do I keep my children there and suffer the consequences?” — Ted Lamb, father and history teacher
Here’s a quick overview of the topics Ted discusses today:
If you like what you’re hearing, stay tuned for our next episode on The State of Education with Melvin Adams.
Subscribe via your favorite podcast app here.
Or, if you’d rather watch the video version of our podcast episodes, subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when new episodes launch. Here is today’s conversation with Ted:
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
The post Podcast Ep. 32 “Are Schools Spending Your Money Wisely?” – Guest Ted Lamb appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post How Do Parent’s Actually Afford Private School? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>There are several different reasons for this trend, not the least of which is parent’s dissatisfaction with the public school’s virtual teaching methods and ideological agendas. Private schools are just going to continue gaining popularity as long as parents have these concerns. But, Forbes also says that, “Unfortunately, private education comes with huge financial considerations that only compound when you have more than one child. This means it’s likely that many parents who want to find a way to stay within the private school system they chose cannot necessarily afford to.”
They’re spot on. Private schools are pricey. Maybe you like the idea of having different school options, but the expenses seem too steep. Maybe you feel that it could never be an option.
But before you make up your mind for sure, let’s dig a little deeper. Is private school even a possibility for the average family?
Unlike public school, private school tuition is not free. Public schools offer government-funded education for every child in the country.
On top of paying tuition fees, you must be ready to cover other expenses if you send your child to private school: school supplies and transportation. Granted, parents of public school students must pay for school supplies too. So public school is not technically free. In 2021, parents paid an average of $840 on school supplies according to The National Retail Federation. And costs are projected to be even higher in 2022.
Keep in mind that you may need to purchase uniforms, sports equipment, and music or art supplies, depending on the school and what classes or extracurricular activities your child is into. Not to mention technology, books, field trips, and more. It can all add up quickly.
Then, there’s the issue of transportation. If you send your child to private school, you can pretty much guarantee you’ll have to drop them off and pick them up from school every day! On the other hand, many public school students have access to the school bus and get free transportation every day.
Added onto this are taxes. A large portion of citizens’ taxes in the U.S. go into funding the public school system—even if you aren’t sending your child to public school. If you’re considering private school, you’re potentially looking at paying for an institution you aren’t using and juggling all the costs of your child’s (or children’s) education.
All of this creates the picture of quite a financial burden for the average American.
In contrast to the free tuition of public school, “The national average private school tuition is $12,119 per year,” says Private School Review. Private elementary school, on average, costs over $11,000, while private high school is more like $15,000.
However, it’s important to do your research on your local private schools. Tuition costs really depend on the state and school. In fact, many cost much less than you would think. In Virginia, the school with the lowest tuition cost is Southeast Academy, at $1,500, with many others in the $2,000 to $5,000 range.
In fact, it’s interesting to note that the majority of private schools spend less on their students than public schools do. And it seems like private schools do a better job at education, despite the expense gap. U.S. News says “On college entry tests such as the SAT, NAIS found that students in private schools consistently out-performed their public school peers in all subject areas.”
This only underscores the already apparent fact: parents in the U.S. are gravitating more and more toward private school education. It has a good reputation. Children consistently come out of private schools as well-educated, well-equipped adults.
But what about those parents who are on a tight budget? Do they get left behind in this push for school choice?
All private schools offer financial aid at some level. Each one has a policy of their own and an application process particular to them. About 28% of all private school students in America receive financial aid, so it’s quite common. If you have a legitimate need, you have a good chance of obtaining the help you require to put your child through school.
There are several different types of financial aid. Grants and loans are the most common, but some also offer scholarships.
A grant is basically when the private school gives a year’s tuition to a child as a gift. You must apply directly to the school to get a grant. Also, private schools sometimes offer monthly payment plans, which can take a lot of the pressure off you if you’re unable to dish out money in large chunks. And if you have multiple children whom you wish to enroll, ask if the school offers sibling discounts.
You may consider applying for a loan to cover all or some of your child’s education although this will mean you will need to apply to a third party, as private schools do not offer loans. But if you can find a private lender who is willing to let you take out a loan, this can be a great option.
Another thing you should research are school choice vouchers. Several states have been creating opportunities for school choice that can actually aid you in paying for your child to be educated outside of the public school system.
These vouchers give you the opportunity to use some of the funds that you would get if you sent your child to public school and transfer those to private schooling instead. Not all states offer this opportunity, but if yours does, it may be worth your while to learn if you qualify and how to apply.
If you plan to apply for financial aid from a private school, be sure to check out the information on their website. This will tell you when applications are due, how to apply, and give you an idea of when you’ll hear back from them on your request. Also, don’t assume right off the bat that you aren’t qualified to receive financial aid! Many factors, including your family size and similar details, are considered when a school is looking at your application.
On the other hand, don’t assume that a grant will cover your child’s entire tuition. Sometimes schools choose to award you a grant that only covers part of the price of tuition. In fact, it’s probable that no financial aid option will cover your child’s education completely. You may need to find multiple avenues of support, such as applying for a school choice voucher and then applying for a grant to cover the rest of the cost. Or seek opportunities to take out a loan for school supplies and apply for a grant to cover tuition.
It’s clear to see that there are many options for paying your child’s way through private school! You may decide to find an affordable school in your area and pay out-of-pocket. But you might need a little help. Or a lot. Whatever your needs may be, there are often systems already in place that are designed to take the financial pressure off of you and give your child a good education.
If you’d like to read more, check out our guide to finding the right private school for your child.
The post How Do Parent’s Actually Afford Private School? appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post What Are ESA’s? An In-Depth Look At A Popular School Choice appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>Well, today we’re going to pull back the curtain on just one of these little mysteries: ESAs, one of the most common forms of school choice funding. Don’t worry, we’ll get to vouchers, tax credit, and all the other obscure terms as we explore school choice over the next couple of months.
Let’s dive right in, because when it comes to ESAs, we have a lot to cover!
First, let’s quickly refresh our memories on what “school choice” really means.
School choice is kind of a blanket term. It’s used most often to reference the changes in today’s laws to give parents the freedom to choose which school their child goes to, or how their child is educated.
But actually, there are two sides to the coin.
“School choice laws” do one main thing. They create programs that allow families to take funds that would normally be used by a public school to fund their child’s tuition and use that money to send their child to a school of their choice. This means that funds basically “follow students to the schools or services that best fit their needs —whether that’s to a public school, private school, charter school, home school or any other learning environment families choose,” as EdChoice says.
The other side of school choice is the schools themselves. When people say, “We need school choice!” they may mean we need ways to transfer funds to whatever school we believe our kids should attend. Or they might be talking about wanting a healthy variety of schools or educational options available to choose from.
See how these two meanings of the term “school choice” are two sides to one coin? Alternate funding is on one side, and schools are on the other.
Now that we’ve got that question settled, we can focus on today’s school choice topic. And yes, it has to do with the funding side of the coin.
ESAs are a great school choice funding option that the United States has adopted, so it’s important we know what they are.
Quite simply, ESA stands for Education Savings Account. Sometimes you’ll hear it called a Coverdell ESA. Coverdell is the U.S. Senator who championed the program back in the 1990s. Some even simply call them Coverdell accounts.
Well, you might be saying, that just makes it more confusing!
And you’re not wrong. The ins and outs of ESAs are complicated and sometimes just plain confusing. So, let’s break it down for clarity.
ESAs are accounts that allow you to save money and fund your child’s education at the school of your choice. It’s basically a trust fund or a custodial account.
You can invest to grow your savings, and all the money that goes in will not be taxed, up until your child gets into college or any other post-secondary institution. And when you spend it, it will be tax-free too! Only if you spend it on education, however…but we’ll get to that later.
So ESAs are what they call “tax-deferred” accounts. Investopedia defines that as “investment earnings—such as interest, dividends, or capital gains—that accumulate tax-free until the investor takes constructive receipt of the profits.” Except, you don’t have to pay taxes when you spend the money in an ESA, so that’s the only difference here. There are a few exceptions and restrictions; check out another article at Investopedia to learn more.
ESAs also make it easy for parents to choose which investments to fund the savings account. There really aren’t restrictions on what you can invest in. According to Forbes, parents are “able to choose from individual stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and even real estate.”
Now it’s time to move on to the nitty-gritty details. Here are some frequently asked questions about how to start an ESA, how to use it, and what you can and can’t do with it.
Nope! Although if you Google ESAs you might get that impression, ESAs can be used literally every step of the way. From kindergarten to college you can save and spend using an ESA.
If you live in the United States, you can probably get an ESA! Just find a bank, credit union, brokerage, or mutual fund house that will let you open an ESA, and you’ll be set.
One restriction that should be mentioned here is guardian qualification. Even though it would be nice to say that everyone has a fair chance at opening an ESA for their child, that’s not the case. Ramsey Solution points out that “You can’t contribute to an ESA if you make more than $110,000 (single) or $220,000 (married filing jointly).”
Although this is a pretty big restriction, it ensures that ESAs are being used to help people who are facing a real need.
Another restriction worth mentioning here is that you can only open an ESA when your child is under age 18, unless you can get this rule waived because your child has special-needs.
Like we mentioned above, you don’t just have to use a bank to open an ESA. You can use other financial organizations, some of which may have less fees, or discounted fees. So do your research before opening one. You may find that opening an account at a brokerage or a credit union is an even better option.
Now that you’ve picked which organization to open your account with, it’s time to do this thing! First you’ll need to contact the organization and follow the steps they give you. This will include filling out opening documents, possibly filling out a disclosure statement, and signing an ESA document.
If you are the one opening the account on behalf of your child (the “designated beneficiary”), you will need to sign the document as the “grantor/depositor,” or if another individual (such as a family member) is the main contributor to the fund, have them sign as depositor. You’ll have to name a responsible individual on the document to manage the account on the child’s behalf, and a representative for the bank or other financial organization will have to sign it too.
You’ll also need to keep copies of these documents and make sure any third parties you name on the document also have copies.
You’ll use your child’s Education Savings Account just like you would use any other savings account, by withdrawing money to pay for education expenses. For example, the money may go straight to the private school your child is enrolled in, or go to buying the year’s curriculum for your homeschooler.
If you are getting tax deductions or distributions from the government to pay for alternative schooling, these will be deposited into the account and you can use them the same way.
Remember that “contributions must be made in cash, and they’re not deductible,” says the IRS. Also, expenses must be reported on your tax returns, and ESAs restrict qualified education expenses to tuition, room and board, fees, books, equipment (including computers and devices), tutoring, internet access, and special needs services. If you violate this, taxes will apply.
To wrap this up, let’s look at a few more restrictions we didn’t cover above.
School choice is vital. The more competition, the better chance you have of getting the best of the best. The same applies to education!
ESAs make school choice possible for so many families, and they have jump-started school choice in America. They’re worth learning about and considering using in your own journey to providing your child with a great education.
Let’s take advantage of the opportunity ESAs provide and continue expanding school choice in America.
The post What Are ESA’s? An In-Depth Look At A Popular School Choice appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post Ep. 60 “Rural Schools: Small Classrooms, Big Results” – Guest Robert Mitchell appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>Rural schools are often tiny—sometimes with only a dozen students per school—but they produce some of the most brilliant kids in America.
Do small classrooms and close-knit communities offer something big public schools could never offer? Our guest today, Robert Mitchell, is a rural school teacher and college professor. In his small Colorado school, he only teaches about thirty-five students, but he loves what he does. He also wants other people to see the value in America’s small rural schools, recognize the challenges they face, and do something to help.
“I think the best education in the country going on right now is in our rural schools, simply because we can build those connections and kids don’t fall through the cracks. They’re not allowed to.” — Robert Mitchell
In this episode, Robert and Melvin discuss:
Subscribe via your favorite podcast app here.
Would you rather watch the video version of our podcast episodes? Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified every week when new episodes drop. Here’s today’s conversation with Robert:
If you like what you’re hearing, stay tuned for our next episode on The State of Education with Melvin Adams.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
The post Ep. 60 “Rural Schools: Small Classrooms, Big Results” – Guest Robert Mitchell appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>The post The Growing Popularity of Charter Schools appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>Maggie Gallagher
The above quote is an excellent description of charter schools. Publicly funded but with more independence than their traditional public school counterparts, charter schools first became popular in the 1990s. Since then, these alternatives to conventional options have garnered support.
As far as education in America goes, charter schools are a relatively new kid on the block that seek to fill a gap in school choice. Charter schools hope to improve on the existing public school system and offer parents greater educational variety to meet their child’s specific needs.
“The core of the charter school model is the belief that public schools should be held accountable for student learning,” the Souderton Charter School Collaborative explains, “In exchange for this accountability, charter schools have the responsibility to innovate and share what works with the broader public school system so that all students benefit.”
As school choice continues to grow, parents have realized their ability and responsibility to examine all options before deciding the best route for their children. Charter schools have become a popular choice, but why?
The Public Charter Schools Insider explains the basis for charter schools. “The original concept of the ‘сharter school’ first originated in the 1970s by a New England educator by the name of Ray Budde. His idea was for groups of teachers to set up contracts or ‘charters’ with their local school board to discover new approaches and ideas in the field of education. Its roots lie in the progressive idea that by empowering the educators with additional freedoms, they can achieve a much higher rate of student success.”
Charter and traditional public schools have some key differences. Charter schools are funded through grants, awards, and private donations, but they are also publicly funded. However, they run under different rules than ordinary public schools.
Unlike public schools, charter schools aren’t limited by the school district. Charter schools accept students regardless of where they live. They possess more freedom in their budget department than conventional public schools while being held to higher accountability for their spending.
On that note, charter schools receive less funding per pupil than public schools. With a funding gap of approximately 13 billion dollars between the two institutions, charter school students get 27% less per-pupil funding than government-run facilities. Despite the budgetary discrepancy, charter schools are an appealing option for parents.
Due to increasing dissatisfaction with the public school system, families continue to yank their children from public schools. School choice proves its value and charter schools benefit from this movement. As parents become dissatisfied with the conventional public school system, because of school choice, they can act on it by choosing a charter school.
Freedom, accountability, and success. These three words represent the fundamental basis for charter schools’ popularity.
It’s well established that most parents prefer alternatives to public school for their children. Approximately 64% of parents would choose an option other than public school if they could do so.
These numbers don’t solely favor charter schools, however. According to EdChoice, the data breaks down as follows:
*Note: This data represents parental preferences, not actual enrollment numbers
While public schools are the second most popular choice for a single schooling option, parents are acutely aware of the other options available.
The National Charter School Resource Center reported that in 2005, about 2% of American students attended charter schools. Charter schools continued to grow, and by 2006, just a year later, over 3,000 charter schools served over 1 million students nationwide.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reports that by the 2011-2012 school year, over 2 million students were attending private schools. Jumping ahead to the 2019-2020 school year, the same data shows that 7,696 charter schools served nearly 3.4 million students.
Charter schools have only gained popularity over the last decade and a half, and the numbers continue to grow.
On the surface, charter schools typically achieve the same success rate as public schools, but they do it with less funding and more accountability. While some charter schools produce higher academic achievement than their public school counterparts, by and large, the results are very similar.
There are two noteworthy distinctions, however:
Forbes examines this issue in-depth, concluding that “currently 53% of charter students are in poverty compared to 48% for public schools. Charters also serve more minority students than public schools: charters are 29% black, while public schools are 16%. So not only do they serve more poor students and black students, but for this group, they relatively consistently outperform public schools.”
The Oxford Research Facility echoes Forbes’s sentiments, noting that urban area charter schools are especially successful at boosting the test scores for black students, Latino students, and students from lower-income households.
Championed as “schools of choice,” charter schools are one solution for families looking for options. Charter schools have several unique features that tend to attract parents:
While conventional public schools generally follow the same basic teaching methods, charter schools retain the freedom to offer families alternative approaches. They also allow students to study based on talent or interest, to a great extent.
“Charter schools can…build a curriculum around a specific issue or goal, such as science education or college preparation, or a teaching method, such as Montessori…” Vox explains. This allows a child’s educational experience to cultivate their talents and nurture their interests in a constructive setting.
Teachers at charter schools have the freedom to use various teaching methods if they so choose, and they are actually encouraged to expand their talents and access their creative side in the classroom. This provides individualized learning opportunities for the students.
“One of the biggest benefits is that teachers are often encouraged to think outside the box and are encouraged to be innovative and proactive in their classrooms,” notes Thought Co. “This is in contrast to the belief that many public school teachers are too traditional and rigid.”
When teachers have the freedom to act for their students’ best interests unhindered by the restrictions of the public school system, it’s good for kids. When it’s good for kids, parents take notice.
Parents enjoy a private school atmosphere. As noted earlier, 40% of parents would prefer a private school for their kids, making private schools the single most popular school choice in America.
While charter schools don’t fall under the umbrella of “private schools,” they can give off the same vibe. Honest Pros and Cons analyzes this concept. “Although charter schools are funded publicly, they are more independent than neighborhood public schools. This makes it more like private schools, minus the fees. They need to hire licensed teachers and administer state-mandated tests. They can even be closed for under-performance.”
Charter schools are smaller than public schools. Public schools have an average of over 500 students, while charter schools have a national average of 182. Smaller schools and fewer students per classroom cultivate a community connection within the school. An attractive aspect to students and parents alike, charter schools foster a close-knit atmosphere, presenting families with the private school environment many parents covet.
Charter schools’ very existence relies on their ability to maintain specific standards. The local public school may or may not meet certain requirements, and if it fails, it remains in business. Meanwhile, charter schools must continue to succeed or face closure.
“There is no central body regulating charter schools, hence they are not strictly regulated,” the World Scholarship Forum explains. “They are independently run and must meet the standards set in their ‘charter.’ It is by meeting these standards that they are able to secure funding to operate. Thus, they must maintain standards as rigorous (if not more rigorous) as public schools.”
This strict adherence to specific standards is an attractive quality to parents.
A noticeable positive that charter schools offer is school choice. While private schooling or homeschooling aren’t a possibility for some families, they might not view the local public school as a good option, either. Charter schools give parents another alternative and allow students to excel in an environment that a public school doesn’t offer.
“This is probably the most powerful and compelling argument for charter schools. Even in communities that have excellent public schools, the educational options are not fitted for everyone,” ConnectUs explores this aspect of charter schools. “It is important to note that a neighborhood school is not necessarily a good environment for every child because it may be too academically ambitious or not ambitious enough, too big or too small or prone to a peer group that might be problematic.”
There is no doubt that charter schools have been gaining support, and that support continues to grow. As dissatisfaction with the public school system forces parents to rethink their children’s educational options, school choice is becoming increasingly important.
Charter schools have become the new hope of many American families.
The post The Growing Popularity of Charter Schools appeared first on Noah Webster Educational Foundation.
]]>