Posted on 05/16/2012 11:50:36 AM PDT by glorgau
“We want to harness all the benefits of bricks to really propel student learning … but at the same time we find the lack of really good information about results and accountability really troubling,” said Dr. W.V. Lernen, a co-author of the report and the director of the Center for Study of The Apocryphal Cannon.
About one third of all students in brick and mortar schools leave unprepared for college and work. Dr. Lernen finds that disturbing. “It’s hard to imagine that sitting in brick classrooms for 180 days works well for students, but that appears to be the primary approach,” said Dr. Lernen.
Enrollment in U.S. schools using bricks remains steady at more than 50 million students. However, the research on how successful those schools are is mixed, with the majority of research finding higher dropout rates and lower test scores for full-time students than their counterparts in schools where students spend at least a portion of the day online.
The study also looked at the confusing way that brick schools are funded. “The absence of accounting for the true cost of bricks leads to a lack of accountability for many brick and mortar schools,” said the report.
In addition, keeping track of how many students are in brick schools, and where the funding for those students is going, is difficult to determine. Dr. Lernen suggests that this inability to track students is why we still don’t know who graduated from brick schools two years ago.
Overall, the report offered three recommendations for educators when using bricks. Those leaders should demand more information about brick learning before doing more of it. Secondly, brick schools should put systems in place to closely and frequently monitor student progress. And lastly, educators should demand better research and information about how much money it takes to provide a brick education, how brick schools are funded, and where that money is going.
“What we’re trying to do as a center is to send out a note of caution because bricks appears to have disastrous effects on education in most locations,” said Dr. Lernen.
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I just couldn’t help myself. EdWeeks’ Katie Ash wrote a thoughtful piece about a disingenuous ‘let’s keep the money’ report from the school board association. Seriously, if results weren’t so disastrously bad for low income and minority kids we could keep doing the same stuff and try to make it a little better, but we’re way beyond that point. The only way to dramatically boost achievement for the least well served students in America is to increase access to options and leverage talent with technology. The shift is on…
Turn your school into riot fuel?
Yes. For example, kids who spend part of their day online are the ones who can read, at least a little. The ones left will have a higher proportion of those that can't read.
The problem is we are trying to get every child to achieve the same level of success. This will never happen, regardless of how much money we throw at it. There will always be people that will only have skills to dig a ditch or clean a floor. Others will reach much higher levels. Sometimes this disparity is because of abilities, some because of the social environment they grow up in, some just choose to limit their potential. We have been throwing money at this issue for decades with very little success. Time to move on and give resources to areas that actually have a dividend.
I knew it! It was only a matter of time before the leftists would trash the reputation of Little Pig number 3! He had the foresite and intelligence to build his house with stones, unlike his lazier and less astute brothers who used hay and sticks. Pig #3 was undoubtedly a conservative. Miss Piggy would have liked to meet him as he would have been able to aupport a family!
Just one more fairy tale that the the left will soon declare injurious to little minds. Of course the little minds are their own!!!!
Me too, loved their music. Saw them five times total. I met Anderson and got his autograph. Anderson is still touring too, but the pipes just aren’t the same.
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