Answers to Questions About Learning and School
Parents send their children to school and trust that the "magic" of learning happens. Parents often think they know about school because they went to school. People who have worked in school know it is quite different from what they remember from childhood.
When children have no problems in school, parents don't think to ask questions. When children have difficulties, parents often don't understand the situation and try to deal with the consequences of the problems. This page attempts to simply answer common questions that many parents have about school and how their children learn.
Questions about:
- School
- Why don't my child's teachers teach what my child needs to know?
- Who decides what my child will learn?
- What is taught in each level of school?
- What does it mean that my child's school is in crisis?
- Is this a good system of grading schools?
- What are educators doing?
- What is the difference between remediation and intervention?
- Educators
- School Safety
- Learning
- Cognitive Development
- Language
- School Readiness
- Reading
- Math
Information about:
About school...
- Why don't my child's teachers teach what my child needs to know?
- Who decides what my child will learn?
- What is taught in each level of school?
- What does it mean that my child's school is in crisis?
School statistics determine whether or not schools are doing well or "failing". Teachers and administrators are responsible and accountable, with consequences, for student performance, but students have no consequences. The statistics involve information from the school about:
- Academic retention (not passing a student to the next higher grade level),
- Academic failure (grades earned by the students),
- Suspension and expulsion rates (for disciplinary reasons),
- Attendance rates (absenteeism), and
- Student achievement on state tests.
When schools fail, the state department has rules to "improve" the schools' performances. Initially, warnings are given and they may require "specialists" or consultants to be involved. They may require extra instruction for students and teachers. Finally, the state may take-over running the school(s)/district. State level personnel may direct what happens in the district. Administrators, teachers and/or staff members may be fired and new ones replace them. Since education gets money from local, state and federal sources, the monitoring happens is to make sure the money is responsibly spent.
- Is this a good system of grading schools?
- What are educators doing?
- What is the difference between remediation and intervention?
Click here to listen to recordings of Dr. Jennifer Little discussing various topics relating to education.
