Do public schools follow trends set by private schools?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone who’s been on the scene for a long time share insights? I’m curious if public schools eventually try to replicate some private school trends, or if the populations/ goals are too different.

Specifically, I’m thinking of more free play/ less academics in the early years, less tech, fewer APs, etc? My children’s public school seems to increasingly emulate the local privates in their fundraising style, extra programs like gardening, SEL, etc.

[Anonymous]

No. Private schools largely exist to provide a product that is different from public. If it were the same, no one would pay for it.

[Anonymous]

I don't think so.

Gardening at school is a function of what the school's parents are interested in.

My son's public elementary school had a PTA committee that took care of a small but beautiful green space in the middle of the school. They took it so seriously they had a volunteer who overwintered the pond's turtles at her house. And they mulched the new playground and did spring and fall grounds cleanup (there weren't flowers, just shrubs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone who’s been on the scene for a long time share insights? I’m curious if public schools eventually try to replicate some private school trends, or if the populations/ goals are too different.

Specifically, I’m thinking of more free play/ less academics in the early years, less tech, fewer APs, etc? My children’s public school seems to increasingly emulate the local privates in their fundraising style, extra programs like gardening, SEL, etc.

Wow how do you function at all

This is absolutely insaner

No public’s are not copying privates

[Anonymous]

Are you sure it’s not just a function of larger societal trends? And by societal, I mean TikTok and instagram moms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Private schools largely exist to provide a product that is different from public. If it were the same, no one would pay for it.

+1. In most cases parents send their kids to private schools because they can offer something that private schools cannot. The "something" might be religious education, very small class sizes, single sex education, specialized curriculum, or anything else that either isn't legally permitted or impossible to scale in a public school system.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

No but private schools swing opposite to public. It public is embracing gardens, private leans pencil and paper rote work. If public swings rote pencil paper memorization, private goes for gardens. Primates make money and gain students by being different and offering the opposite of public schools.

Current curriculums are designed for large district public schools because if a publishing house can get a huge district or state like Texas and California to buy their curriculum, they are set for money. Most states end up aligning their curriculum with a huge state so the curriculum is cheaper.

[Anonymous]

I can tell you that my progressive private school employer is moving towards the excessive testing and progress monitoring found so often in public.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Private schools largely exist to provide a product that is different from public. If it were the same, no one would pay for it.

This.

[Anonymous]

The more widespread trends are driven by academics in Education Schools around the country. Secondarily, by other national elements of the education establishment, such as foreign language teachers associations, math teachers associations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone who’s been on the scene for a long time share insights? I’m curious if public schools eventually try to replicate some private school trends, or if the populations/ goals are too different.

Specifically, I’m thinking of more free play/ less academics in the early years, less tech, fewer APs, etc? My children’s public school seems to increasingly emulate the local privates in their fundraising style, extra programs like gardening, SEL, etc.

Oh good lord 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Private schools largely exist to provide a product that is different from public. If it were the same, no one would pay for it.

This.

My child’s parochial school isn’t reacting to public school trends so much as it is trying to offer a quality Catholic education. We do pencil and paper because parents are concerned about EdTech generally, not because EdTech is primarily a feature of public school. Our library is very carefully curated because of the school’s strong Catholic identity that they want to promote through reading, not because public schools happen to have a lot of books that we wouldn’t include.

Private schools can be more nimble because they don’t have to deal with a school board, and because the parent population is more homogenous (in terms of views, not race/ethnicity) and can more easily agree on a direction for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone who’s been on the scene for a long time share insights? I’m curious if public schools eventually try to replicate some private school trends, or if the populations/ goals are too different.

Specifically, I’m thinking of more free play/ less academics in the early years, less tech, fewer APs, etc? My children’s public school seems to increasingly emulate the local privates in their fundraising style, extra programs like gardening, SEL, etc.

What public schools do this? They all seem to assign homework starting from kindergarten.

BTW, the only reason why private schools can get away with less academics in the early years is because they have selective admissions and tacitly rely on parents to do the academic work at home with their kids even if it's not formally assigned. Private schools prefer to admit students whose Type A parents do a lot of supplementing at home. Then you, naive person, think, wow this private school is churning out lots of smart kids it must be an amazing school. But no, it's just the students' parents doing all the work at home.

Public schools cannot be selective, they have to educate tons of dummies and kids with parents who are dumb. Hence all the homework.