From the category archives:

Education

Potential Educational Plans Moving Forward

by NYC Private Schools on March 16, 2010

The Voucher programs and credits for Private School tuition money are important topics all around the country’s education industry discussion groups. Some areas of the U.S. provide student vouchers for children who are at a disadvantage in their current school district. Those children who have not been able to receive an appropriate education in their public school are given the choice of using certain funds to change to a better school, private or public. Public money, however, quickly brings up the subject of public oversight, which is something that the Private School Sector has worked tirelessly to detach themselves from.

For those children who have needed to take advantage of the Voucher program, the larger themes of government interference, government oversight and financial concerns are usually far off the radar as they work towards achieving more at the new school. It is the very funding of these programs, however, that is taking over the bulk of the discussions right now.

The Washington Post discussed the new Educational Plan unveiled by President Obama and the potential changes it would have on Private School Vouchers.

Unless Congress acts soon or the D.C. government decides to assume responsibility, the voucher program, which has benefited so many students since its inception in 2004, is in grave danger. The Obama administration closed the program to new students; children currently enrolled, while supposedly assured of getting vouchers until they graduate from high school, face uncertainty as the program’s administrator pulls out.

With the unveiling of Obama’s new Educational Plan there are sure to be changes coming for all sectors of the Educational System in our country. The best we can do as parents and concerned individuals is to work and support the schools that are shaping our children for the future.


{ 0 comments }

Money Doesn’t Buy A Better School

by NYC Private Schools on March 11, 2010

In times where the amount of money spent on educating each individual student is spent under the strictest of scrutiny, there are millions who decry that the simple lack of funds is what is crushing so many schools. More money would equal better schools, better educated children who could move on to compete in colleges and universities and less need to rely on alternative educational facilities.

At least one very large school district is, of late, being held up as a cautionary tale about the potential results of spending vast amounts of money on a failing school system.

In 1985, The state of Kansas was ordered to spend about $2 billion in order improve and integrate their school systems. It was the type of windfall that most school districts dream of. Students, teachers and schools in that area felt like they had won the lottery and the possibilities ahead of them were endless.

According to an article on Closing Schools in NewsTimes.com, the results of this windfall have not improved the school system in any way in which people were hoping.

The district went on a buying spree that included a six-lane indoor track and a mock court complete with a judge’s chamber and jury deliberation room. But student achievement remained low, and the anticipated flood of students from the suburbs turned out to be more like a trickle. Court supervision of the desegregation case ended in 2003.
[The City] tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many kids were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and another with recording studios.

Money can purchase facilities, advanced technology and equipment that can all serve as vital tools working in conjunction with a well planned curriculum. Organization and thoughtful planning, in accordance with a system wide educational philosophy with measurable data, must be used in conjunction with well-funded programs in order to produce real results.


{ 0 comments }

Safety and Schools

March 6, 2010

School safety procedures are created to protect your child and the other children and faculty within the school. Just as a concerned parent child-proofs their home in order to keep young children away from dangers, so too does a school try and create boundaries to protect even older students.
One of the most important safety [...]

Read the full article �

The Harkness/Exeter Model

March 4, 2010

The Exeter educational model that New American Academy Principal Shimon Waronker plans to utilize when creating his own vision of an educational model is an expansion itself upon an older educational model.
The Exeter model is actually based upon the Harkness Educational Model. The Harkness table refers to a style of teaching where [...]

Read the full article �

Arts in Education

February 27, 2010

Few people can argue the importance and influence of an early education in the Arts. Environments that are geared towards very specific things hone skills razor sharp because they increasingly narrow the focus of a child’s mind and abilities. An education that gives great opportunities in the Arts allows children to create their [...]

Read the full article �

AP Programs in NYC Private Schools

February 10, 2010

Access and admittance into Advanced Placement classes in a NYC Private School is one of the many factors that prepare students for college admissions and the rigors of academic excellence from early on.
Not every NYC Private School offers Advanced Placement classes, though most do because it is a practice that is simply in [...]

Read the full article �

Crowding in the NYC School System

February 5, 2010

There are many factors that have gone into creating the current school availability crisis in NYC Schools and crowding in the schools seems to be one of the biggest obstacles to overcome.
Some of the reasons for availability shortages in NYC Schools are

More children. The biggest single reason is that more families are [...]

Read the full article �

Evolution of the Library

January 26, 2010

The technology in our children’s classrooms is constantly changing, but few places is that evolution more apparent than in the libraries. As adults, we expect changes in how classrooms look and feel and show surprisingly little reaction to advances made, but the almost sacred grounds of the library are often a focal point for [...]

Read the full article �

Evolving Language In Our Classrooms

January 25, 2010

The trend towards increasing foreign language instruction in our schools in both the types of languages offered and the quality of the program itself has been steadily changing. Over the past two decades, the inclusion of language classes has changed considerably. Where it was once the right of the older student to struggle [...]

Read the full article �

Teaching to the Test

January 23, 2010

Passing state standardized tests is one of the freedoms that Private Schools are able to benefit from. The benefit is not in the absence of testing, but in the ability to educate students beyond the boundaries of “teaching to the test.”
For many public schools, teachers are faced with the following dilemma. No matter how [...]

Read the full article �

Bad Behavior has blocked 443 access attempts in the last 7 days.