What you would like to have in a private shool?

[Anonymous]

This is a sticky issue and we are trying to define the truly intangible...the great teacher! Is it a degree? Is it experience? Is it love of the subject matter? Is it love of kids? Wouldn't it be nice, but rare, if it were all of the above? I have a degree in Sec. Ed and English, as well as a masters in counseling. I have worked in private schools for years (as well as replaced PhD teachers due to their poor classroom control when I was barely out of college) as well as public, and as desperately as government and communities want to standardize this, great teachers are great for all kinds of reasons and in all kinds of ways, and for DIFFERENT kids. Some kids respond well to MAJOR structure and love the tough teacher in 10th grade, some kids need a softer touch. All of our kids are going to have teachers that SUCK. It is unavoidable, it happened to all of us right? The ONLY thing I found about private schools is that you are paying to seal up the proverbial crack, i.e. kids falling between the cracks. When I taught, I e-mailed the parents that FIRST time the kid got below an 75% on a test. That is b/c I didn't have a lot of kids and could do that. Give me 25 kids a class with 3 or 4 sections, that ain't happening.
It is a good subject, but a toughie!!!

[Anonymous]

In any profession, more education and training result in better outcomes. That does not mean that a teacher with a PhD is going to be the best teacher. It means that for any given teacher, the more education he/she has, the better he/she will be at teaching. It may not be noticeable with any one individual, but in aggregate you see differences.
I would prefer that my kids teachers be certified and trained.
There are pedagogical courses that if taken seriously can help teachers tremendously. Finland puts emphasis on this issue, and has reaped the benefits.

[Anonymous]

19:57 here. I agree with PP mostly, but I have known a TON of crap teachers who are educated out the ying yang. They send themselves for continuing ed, for AP training, you name it. But they are bitter/burnt out/still don't like kids and no ed. is changing that. I agree that overall, more ed. means better teacher, but I have found some public school teachers that are educated but SO protected by the unions and the schools that they have to be HORRIBLE to even think about being MAYBE transferred to another school, let alone fired. MOST private schools do not put up that b/c they CANNOT afford to. Parents will not have it...and that can be a good thing!

[Anonymous]

Ta=hink of what those bad teachers would be like (that you just mentioned) if they were poorly educated.
But I agree that the unions are a problem. Private schools don't have to deal with that.

[drstevewright]

This is a good topic. I'd like to hear from more parents about what it is specifically they liked about their experience with current or past private schools.

After someone mentioned a specific Prince George's County private school above I was reminded that I have a resource that might be of value to moms and dads here. Back in 1997 I created what was then the only comprehensive list on the web of public and private schools in PG County. It's at:

http://www.wright-house.com/education/PG-schools.html

Some of the information is up-to-date, but some sections are quite out-of-date. Nevertheless, there are a lot of links to web sites of schools that (presumably) have current information, and since the whole list is on one page, some people might find it a handy resource.

Try going to the web site of a school you're interested in. Especially for private schools, where they have almost complete freedom in how they do their web sites, it can say a lot about a school just looking at the way they present themselves.

--
Stephen Wright, Ph.D.
www.MeaningAndHappiness.com

P.S. TO THE WEBMASTER: The title of this page (that appears in the window heading, based on this thread's subject) has a typo in it. More people will benefit from this page if the typo is fixed because they are far more likely to find it in a search.

[Anonymous]

I would like the schools to have buses.

[jhuber]

Anonymous wrote:if it's a low bar, why don't private schools require it of their teachers?

There's an excellent article in the Fall 2008 issue of Independent School Magazine written by Pat Bassett that discusses the Finnish model of education. The article is available at http://www.nais.org. In short, it cites Finland's successful educational system, and notes the following:

Reasons that aren't a factor in Finland's success:
* high pay for teachers
* more years of schooling
* small class size
* longer school day
* national centralized control
* teacher accreditation (there is none in Finland, apparently)
* high-stakes testing

Instead, he posits three factors in a successful school:
* get the best teachers
* get the best out of teachers
* step in when students start to lag behind

I encourage you to read the article to get a better sense than this bullet summary of Pat's argument.

[Anonymous]

This may seem like a dumb question Mr. Huber, but do most heads of independent schools read the education research?

[jhuber]

Anonymous wrote:This may seem like a dumb question Mr. Huber, but do most heads of independent schools read the education research?

There is no such thing as a dumb question, yes? It's a difficult question that I can only guess at. I know that head of schools whom I speak with read the research as they can, and, more importantly, get their teachers and division directors to examine the available research through professional development, workshops, and professional literature. I think an effective head of school should prepare the soil to allow for growth (and change), rather than throw seeds on the surface and shout "grow!"

[Anonymous]

With all these picks for the top 3 schools, I wonder if these parents are looking at schools that follow best practices, and have faculty that read the research. I was completely turned off by a school when an administrator seemed to know nothing about recent studies. She actually tried to shut me up as I asked, then said, "well in the end, those articles mean nothing". I was out of there.