Education | Title Education

The Private School Concern: Cost

Finance — you have discovered — is a fickle thing. Dollars come and go with alarming ease, never willing to settle into your bank accounts and collect the happy interest. Money is instead impermanent; and you’re not blessed with an excess of funds. You can’t always go to PaydayOne.com for help too. You’re shaped instead to the middle class concerns, and all expenses must therefore be understood (and countered). You save as much as you can. You spend only what you must. And the intention of each day is to still have pennies in your pocket.

You don’t always succeed with this but you never stop trying — and you wonder if those attempts will be enough to afford a better education for your child.

The notion of private schools is one that many parents consider. They wish to offer opportunities to their sons and daughters, allowing them to experience stronger lessons and art-enriched environments. Institutions that are not governed by the state are proven to provide an education of value.

They are also, however, proven to demand money for it.

The terrible truth of private schools is that they are not free — unlike their public counterparts. They instead require tuition payments and enrollment fees; and these numbers can be staggering. As of 2010 the average expense of such an organization is $6,600 dollars a year. This price reflects less distinguished districts, however. Along the eastern and western coastlines costs can rise dramatically: with some schools requiring over $20,000 dollars for one term.

For many families these prices are simply too high. Even with financial aid and scholarship programs (which are not always available), the requirements can still be thousands of dollars a year — and many cannot spare such amounts.

It’s essential therefore that all parents understand the specific district costs of schools and what assistance is provided. Recognize the limitations of a budget and do not exceed these. An education can easily form debt and recovering from that would be difficult.

Filed Under: Education, Private School, Students Tagged With: Education, Private school, State school

How to Find a Tutor?

Educational surveys show that individual tutoring sessions can help children who are struggling in one or more academic areas succeed. Students who have five or more sessions of one-hour tutoring sessions are the most successful. So how and where do we find a suitable tutor? While there is no one answer to that question, here are some simple guidelines in selecting a tutor and few places to begin your search.

Before you begin your search for a tutor, you need to ask yourself two questions. First, what is my educational goal for the tutoring sessions? Second, how will I measure the effectiveness of the tutoring?

Where to look for a tutor

Your first and best asset is your school. Ask your child’s teacher and principal for a list of tutors. Your school district’s website is another source to find recommended tutors. Finally, the internet offers a wide variety of tutoring options. Some of these include: kaplankids.com, kumon.com, sylvanlearning.com and tutormatch.com. This is hardly a comprehensive list, but it is a place to start.

Things to ask a prospective tutor?

1. What training do you have in the subject area?

2. What experience do you have teaching children the same age as my child?

3. How will you help my child master the skills they need? What methods do you use?

4. Can you give me a list of five references?

5. What are your rates?

6. Are you willing to have an introductory session? (If the answer is no, move on to the next candidate.)

Always try an introductory session for your child and the tutor before committing to a contract for a specific number of sessions. After the introductory session, evaluate how your child feels about the session and about themselves and whether learning objectives were met.

Filed Under: Education, Teachers Tagged With: Child, Education, Tutor

Do You Know Your School Board?

Too often when we think about educational reform or educational policy changes we look to the school district administration or the legislature to bring about these changes. What we often overlook is the role that school boards play in setting educational agendas, measuring student achievement, and overseeing fiscal responsibilities.

School board members are elected officials and school board meetings are open to the public. School boards are charged with:

Creating the educational vision of the district. The educational vision is reflected in the learning environment by the quality of teachers, the measurement of student learning, and the effectiveness of the school/ community collaboration.
Establishing educational goals. School boards rely on community input to their elected officials to set educational goals that meet the concerns of parents, students, and the community.
Developing policy. School boards develop district-wide policies that govern student discipline, student assessment, teaching practices, and much, much more.
Allocating resources. School boards ultimately make the tough budget decisions. In an ever tightening economy, school boards decide which programs to keep and which programs to cut.
Assuring fiscal and educational accountability. School boards, as an elected body, are accountable to their electorate for the financial and educational decisions they make.

As parents and as a community we have a lot at stake in the educational outcomes of our school district. Becoming more involved with our local school board is one way to be sure that our students are getting the best education for the tax dollars we spend.

To find out more about your school board visit your school district’s website and find the current list of school board members and the date of the next school board meeting.

Filed Under: Education, Private School, Public School Tagged With: Board of education, Education, School district

Cell Phones–An Educational Tool?

For the last several years, as cell phones became an appendage to teenagers, teachers and educational administrators have struggled to keep cell phone use out of the classroom. The reasons were sound. Ringing or vibrating cell phones cause constant interruptions to the learning process. Students that are texting one another are not paying attention to the educational tasks at hand. Students, already hooked on gaming, are given even more opportunities to stay unconnected to real world activities.

In 2011 these are still valid reasons to limit or qualify cell phone use in the classroom. However sound the reasoning, educators have found that by invoking a zero-tolerance policy for cell phones in the classroom, they have inadvertently installed a barrier between teachers and students. Rather than enriching the educational environment by reducing distractions, students are restless and disengaged.

Today more and more teachers are finding ways to incorporate cell phone usage as part of their lesson plans and the results have been mostly positive. Some of the ways teachers are using student cell phones in the class room are:

Photographing white boards for future use
Using the cell phone as a stop watch to time experiments and free writing
Transferring files between home and school
Creating short movies for school projects.

Teachers who allow some uses of cell phones in the classroom report that students are more engaged in the educational process. In addition, students are more tolerant and respectful toward some cell phone restrictions in the classroom when it is not all or nothing.

The pocket computing capabilities of cell phones is the wave of the future. As the technology improves, educators can find even more classroom applications.

Filed Under: Education, Requirements, Students Tagged With: Education, Mobile phone, Student

Melding Students and Technology

Students across the country are being exposed to a new form of learning in the form of online education. This new method of education includes not only classes taken from home, but also those taught in a classroom setting that utilize technology in new and unique ways. There are a lot of educational systems online like earnmydegree.com who are guaranteed to be credible sources of education.

Understanding the impact of technology and online learning on our students is critical for teachers and administrators who hope to develop successful online learning programs. Traditional online learning was developed to answer a need for students who needed access to educational materials in their home. Home schooled students, those interested in higher education but unable to attend traditional classes and those interested in continuing education at a distance found online courses to be a good solution. This still holds true today; however, teachers are utilizing online course material in new in unique ways to educate students even in a classroom setting.

Integrating technology into a traditional classroom setting is the new definition of online learning. Teachers who utilize online courses, resources and technology are meeting the needs of their students in a more effective way. Consider the science teacher who uses an online class resource to help students better understand anatomy. This may be done through the use of videos, lectures or even discussions with other students.

Students often relate better to online resources – especially students who feel that they are technologically advanced and rely on technology and computers for every aspect of their life. By integrating technology, online courses and the drive of our students, fish teachers have a better chance to educate the whole student instead of simply teaching them a lesson.

As technology continues to develop we’re likely to see continuing changes in the form of online classes. Who knows? Students 10 years from now maybe using ebooks for textbooks, emailing reports and assignments and taking tests online.

Filed Under: Education, Requirements Tagged With: E-learning, Education, Technology

Student Requirements

There are rules placed in schools that are intended to help students focus on schooling as well as developing healthy citizenship. This means that dress codes, codes of conduct, and rules of school property are all intended to help students become better adults in the community they live in, when they complete their schooling. For many schools, there are stiff consequences if students are not able to adhere to the prescribed rules, and they find that they are serving detention, being suspended, or worse, expelled from the school that they attend. It is the schools job to ensure absolute safety for all the student body, and if a student is not willing to acknowledge the rules set into place by the district, they are potential creating a situation that can cause harm to other students.

This might sound odd, but it is truly the students full-time job to be at school and participate in learning. The rules and requirements that are set in place are no different than what a student would see in a work place or with a higher education institution. Students are not just being educated while at school, they are being trained in what it takes to be a member of society once school is completed. A willingness to follow the guidelines and rules shows that a students understand the concept of respecting others, respecting themselves, and respecting the rule that were put in place regardless of the reasons. This will carry on in their lives, in their workplace, and with their own families later on in life. For those that struggle with their requirements, they may find that they have a tough transition into the real world, and that they are not treated like what they had expected.

Filed Under: Education, Students Tagged With: Education, High school, School, Student, Students' union

Public Education

Public education was founded on deeply religious principles. In fact, the first text book was the Bible. This was during a very puritanical America, and many felt that all children should know the religious basis for our country’s development. The idea behind public education was not to secularize information, but rather make a public the option for students to learn to read and to write, and for families to receive it free of charge. Of course today things look much different than the little school house and hands getting smacked with rulers. Today there is a ground fundamental that all children have the right to a solid education, and that it is the obligation of every parent to ensure that their child is in school.

Today teachers are well versed in their particular area of study, and have mastered very detailed aspects of different topics. This is why students change classrooms for different subjects because the information is so detailed that is could not possibly be taught by one person. This is the case with science and foreign language. It would be impossible for one teacher to know the deepest details of mitosis and be able to teach Spanish, Calculus, American Literature, and History to the depth of what students are required to know these days. Public educators are masters at their particular area of study, and that is of a great benefit for students as they are provided a well-rounded and deep education.

For the beginnings of public school, many students were taught to read and to write, and they were also in a tiny room of students that were from grades k-12. Many students did not remain in school until they reached the 12th grade, as many of them had to help with the family. We are so fortunate to have a system that allows us the ability to be educated without pressure of taking care of a family at the same time.

Filed Under: Private School Tagged With: Calculus, Education, Student, Teacher

Private Schooling

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Private schools have been on the map for some time. They started out originally as boarding schools, and then quickly spread to include specific religious affiliations. The most popular of these affiliations with the Catholic Church. These schools hold reputations for being very thorough in their studies and in the way they teach the three r’s, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. In fact, most Catholic school students are given preferential treatment for college entrance placement because there is the assumption that remedial classes were never taken. This is proven by the Notre Dame entrance exam including advanced Calculus.

Private education has been long sought after because it is believed that student receive more one on one attention from teachers, that the discipline is more strict, and that students are taught to respect, listen, and obey in a way that public schools simply cannot do. The other aspect so private schooling is that for many students, this is their only option. For some students that have found that their public school experience was not optimal, or they found that they were in getting themselves into trouble on a regular basis, private schools accept these students, and prepare a plan of attack on how to create a student that is going to be a life long learner, and become a responsible citizen. Public schools are not always able to do that because of their class sizes and lack of support by other overwhelmed administrators.

Many public school teachers are not in favor of private schooling as they believe that it creates a sheltered environment. This is the case as many feel that having a religious affiliation is more of an indoctrination process than an educational process. Private school teachers feel that public school is over saturated and students lack individual attention. Regardless of the opinion, most agree that making a student the center of the equation is the best policy.

Filed Under: Private School Tagged With: Education, Private school, School, State school, Student, Teacher

It Is Everyone’s Responsibility

It should come as no surprise that our students are faced with discrimination. While many schools, teachers and administrators actively seek to end any practices that are discriminatory and to address any students who behave in discriminatory ways, some students are still faced with discrimination. Because of this, many teachers, schools, districts and state school boards are adopting strict discrimination policies aimed at protecting students, teachers and staff alike.

These policies, sometimes called codes of conduct or ethics, often start with explaining the ethical principles that teachers and schools should follow. This generally means that teachers, administrators and other staff should always recognize the inherent dignity and value of each student, teacher, peer and parent. It is only with this recognition that we can hope to pursue truth, devote ourselves to excellence and to continue to acquire knowledge.

In order for our society to continue to grow, our students must have access to equal educational opportunities. No student should be discriminated against due to their age, gender, sexual preference, religion or infirmity. Maintaining the highest of ethical and moral is necessary in order to provide this type of education to everyone.

Students have responsibilities in the arena of discrimination as well. They must also take steps to ensure that discrimination is not occurring in their environment. Students should take steps to ensure that fellow students have access to the same facilities, are offered the same degree of education and are not discriminated against.

The problem is discrimination, in spite of all the changes that have been made to negate it, is still often considered a ‘dirty little secret’ or too difficult to prove. Many people still avoid drawing attention to possible incidents of discrimination. It long past time we stop has to enforce these laws. It’s too bad we still have to.

Filed Under: Education, Students Tagged With: Discrimination, Education, Student

The Up and Down of Private Schools

Many parents are opting to send their children to private schools in an attempt to provide them with the best possible education. Private schools have many advantages over the traditional public classroom; however, there are some disadvantages as well. Understanding both the advantages and disadvantages of private school can help a parent and their child determine if private school is a good fit for them.

Private schools are traditionally seen as more academically robust when compared to public schools. This is one of the primary advantages of the private school forum. It is often true because private schools attract a higher caliber of teacher due to increased salaries or because they do not rely on state funding. This allows private schools a degree of freedom not seen in traditional public schools.

Many parents also find the religious affiliation of many, although not all, private schools to be advantageous. They feel that by sending their child to a private school affiliated with their religious beliefs their child is more likely to be educated in their belief system. Many parents opt to send their children to private schools that are affiliated with a religion even if they themselves are not ‘religious’ believing that the strict moral and ethical code taught at these institutions provides their children with a leg up over other, publically educated, students.

Private schools do have several disadvantages, but one is more notable than the rest: the cost. By their very definition private schools require their students to pay a tuition fee in order to attend classes. These fees can be very expensive making private education impossible for many students.

Private school is a great option for those that can afford it. Heavier course loads with a focus on total teaching as well as a belief in teaching student’s morals, ethics and responsibility really make this form of education stand out.

Filed Under: Private School Tagged With: Education, Private school