Posted on 01/23/2007 7:01:50 AM PST by shrinkermd
...The schools share the premise that the way to reverse years of abysmal middle school performance is to get rid of middle schools entirely. But they represent opposite poles in the sharp debate over whether 11- through 13-year-olds are better off pushed toward adulthood or coddled a little longer.
Should the nurturing cocoon of elementary school be extended for another three years, shielding 11-year-olds from the abrupt transition to a new school, with new students and teachers, at one of the most volatile times in their lives?
Paul Vallas, chief executive of the Philadelphia school system, thinks so, and he has closed 17 traditional middle schools since 2002, while converting some three dozen elementary schools into K-8s. “The fifth to sixth grade transition is just too traumatic,” he said. “At a time when children are undergoing emotional, physical, social changes, and when they need stability and consistency, suddenly they’re thrust into this alien environment.”
Others argue that 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds thrive in the presence of older role models and reminders of concrete goals, like playing varsity sports and getting into college.
“Kids are forward-looking — they don’t get nostalgic for second grade when they’re in third grade,” said Larry Woodbridge, principal of the Secondary School for Law in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where the award-winning high school debate team will teach a middle school social studies unit this spring.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And don't forget Criminal Justice. I used to figure that was code for "prison guard," but with the recent history of college players, maybe it's code for "inmate."
The big guy is a handsome fellow, but that baby is adorable! Makes me want to pinch his chubby lil' cheeks!
He'd probably bite you with his six useful teeth! Vlad's not quite as cuddly as he was before the teeth arrived ...
Deja vu all over again.
Vlad? short for Vladimir?
FReeper name: Vlad the Usurper.
His real name is Daniel, but we forget sometimes!
Both of your guys are heartbreakingly handsome. You have every right to be proud!
I think there is something to that. Both my girls attended a smallish (1500 kids 9-12) rural high school and have done well. My older is in college, my younger a junior. So much of what I read here that goes on in the large suburban schools and in the inner city schools, just hasn't happened to them. I think it may be because of the size, but also because of the community. Our county is solidly middle-class with tons of mothers that stay at home and volunteer in the schools. Most of their friends have intact 2 parent families and the families seem to be happy.
Unfortunately this is not the norm everywhere and it has to have a negative affect on the kids. I'm coming to believe that public schools are a mirror of the community - and of that community's more liberal side. Isn't it interesting that the worse schools in the country are the ones in the most liberal areas? The areas with the lowest amount of crime, 2 parent families, clean communities, and high literacy are the conservative areas? I'm sure that's just a coincidence right?
Thanks!
Yeah but they get picked for teams first during recess!
You have your head screwed on straight. School is damaging in so many ways. One way that is not often considered is the sheer waste of time and talent; the simple waste of human potential.
As a parent, it's amazing to see unfold in children the gifts and talents that God has given them. To phrase it kindly, schooling is simply opposed to self-knowledge and self-discovery.
Oh, I agree, and especially seeing the mature character and spiritual they begin to develop very early.
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