The article below is recent from Time Magazine. It discusses a new documentary film titled "Waiting for Superman" which is about America's Education System. I thought it would be fitting for this week, it is titled "What Makes a School Great". This is what triggered my interest in learning more about charter schools and in finding an exemplary charter school. Let me know what you think.
I noticed the Time magazine headline at a checkout and bought it to read it too. I was unsure about the article in that I felt like it negatively portrayed public schools and even though I feel strongly that many teachers are not following middle level practices I feel that many are and do not need any more negative comments thrown on them. Especially since there was some data that showed charter schools are not necessarily doing any better testing wise than many public schools. Some do, some don't. I am interested to see what you learn and wonder what are the requirements for hiring teachers at charter schools. Good luck investigating!
ReplyDeleteI blogged about the Oprah Show and NPR coverage this movie as gotten and agree with Lee that too much of it is negative. I even think that some in urban education, parents and teachers, have agreed that although a lot is bad, these portrayals do not necessarily do a great job and painting the whole picture of public education. I read somewhere from someone commenting on this topic that it isn't about great classrooms or teachers; it's about great parents and a great community. I am not putting the blame on others here but, looking at communities in Maine, communities like Portland that really have a lot of the pre-conditions ripe and ready for school failure, and what do you see holding those schools together? Parents and the community as a whole that value education and that value their towns or districts. Until community problems are fixed, I wonder how worth while charter schols or any other reform will be.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this was a negative view on public education. I had never knew that charter schools have a waiting list and in some areas are so sought after compared to public schools. That is what sparked my interest in finding more about charter schools, because I know so little about them now. Sarah I think you make a very valid point about community. I will share more about my exemplary school later, but it has a strong parent support and actually requires that parents get involved in the school through volunteering and other activities. I found that to be very interesting and I wonder how effective it really is.
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