An interesting look at Stanford's experiment with distance learning...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/opinion/the-university-of-wherever.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
...and a blemish to our brick-and-mortar primary education system...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903285704576557610352019804.html
Hmmm, maybe someday Stanford's exeriment will help end the need to 'steal' an education for these children.
Bad Mom or Bad School?
ReplyDeleteHi Rodney,
What are we really dealing with: bad mom or bad school?
This mom made the ultimate sacrifice. She put her honesty, integrity, and potential career as a teacher on the line to allow her children to attend what she perceived to be a better school. She, of course, was eventually apprehended for falsification of records and other violations. She apparently was aware of the risks involved in her dishonesty but continued with the masquerade. As a mother, I can’t help but wonder what brought her to the conclusion that she would have to make the ultimate sacrifice – dishonesty in the name of a good education. This mom did not want her children to get a bad education at a bad school.
What is a bad school? According to Sparks (2011, p. 19), a “bad school” is considered “the lowest performing public school, often lingering for years, neither improving enough to get off of accountability life support,” and “bad schools rarely get better or shut down” Sparks (2011, p.19). This mom could not risk providing her children with a compromised, watered down education. So, she risked her own credibility. Perhaps this mom was frustrated and simply stated to her children, “we’re looking for higher-quality options” Sparks (2011 p.22). “If this (our neighborhood) school is just going to be a tiny, corrupted place, let’s just find another place to go” Sparks (2011, p.22). So, rather than actually physically move, she used the address of the children’s father and found another school that would provide a quality education for her children.
Aretia
Sparks, S.D.(2011) Study finds bad schools rarely get better or shut down. Education Week, December 2010. Retrieved from the website http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=26&hid=25&sid=55e98519-4251-426e-a7c8-7d4c1e35f615%40sessionmgr4
One could say that she was in a "Catch 22" situation, no matter what she did she felt as if she would lose.
ReplyDeleteStories like this always leave me wanting to know the rest of the story. How long has she lived there (in other words, does she know the school from experience or from rumor control?)How bad is her neighborhood school? By whose standards? Has she tried anything to make it better? (That's an unfair question--some people are activists and make changes, others are not.)