High Schools: Comparing Sidwell, Maret, and GDS

[Anonymous]

Wow, if you see admissions folks using progressive education as a catch-all term, run screaming in the other direction. Parents and DCUM posters often seem clueless on this topic, but the school itself shouldn't be.

GDS, in my experience, has been very clear in its commitment to progressive education (what it means, how it's practiced, that it's crucial to the school's mission/identity). Students are partners with teachers in the educational process. Education is inclusive in terms of both curriculum (multicultural) and pedagogy (attuned to diverse learning styles) as well as admissions/hiring. Assignments are process-oriented, ambitious but age-appropriate, and open-ended. Kids are treated as/encouraged to see themselves as writers, scientists, historians, musicians, artists, etc. rather than students of literature, science, history, music, art, etc. Education is conceived of as a lifelong process whose goals are the enrichment of self and society rather than a sort and ranking process whose function is to help reproduce social hierarchy. And one thing they are really adamant about is that a progressive, multicultural education involves demanding more of students rather than a relaxation of standards. It's not "anything goes" vs. "get it right." It's "do something excellent/original/that you can be proud of/that matters to you, secure in the knowledge that we can and will recognize/appreciate excellence in whatever form it takes."

On one level, these are ideals (and somewhat counter-cultural ideals in this society) and never fully implemented. Kids aren't doing admissions, defining the curriculum, choosing the headmaster.

Hard to say whether the HS is more or less progressive than the L/MS. No grades in the lower school -- only gradually introduced in middle school. No ranks in HS but certainly GPAs. HS'ers seems to be more empowered in some ways (open campus, self (and collectively)-defined clubs and service projects, more collective discussion on some school governance issues).

Heavier academic workload in HS, but from what I see, still a lot of "it is what you make of it" -- especially in the sky's-the-limit sense. At both MS and HS there seems to be good support for kids who are struggling academically, but that's a somewhat second hand observation because my kid hasn't been in that situation yet.

In terms of hands-on learning, arts (visual, dramatic) and science labs are really well-equipped at the HS level -- this ain't kid stuff. But no orchestra, OP, and sports aren't a strong suit, though there are exceptions to that general rule. Jazz combos play at Blues Alley at least once a year, maybe more.

Finally, for what it's worth, two of the books GDS administrators recommend to parents who have asked this question are Best Practices: Today's Standards for Teaching and Learning (Zemelman, Daniels, Hyde) whose thesis is that "methods that are student centered, experiential, democratic, collaborative, and rigorously challenging will always be the key to high-quality teaching and authentic learning." and Seeding the Process of Multicultural Education (Nelson and Wilson). Amazon carries both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, if you see admissions folks using progressive education as a catch-all term, run screaming in the other direction. Parents and DCUM posters often seem clueless on this topic, but the school itself shouldn't be.

GDS, in my experience, has been very clear in its commitment to progressive education (what it means, how it's practiced, that it's crucial to the school's mission/identity). Students are partners with teachers in the educational process. Education is inclusive in terms of both curriculum (multicultural) and pedagogy (attuned to diverse learning styles) as well as admissions/hiring. Assignments are process-oriented, ambitious but age-appropriate, and open-ended. Kids are treated as/encouraged to see themselves as writers, scientists, historians, musicians, artists, etc. rather than students of literature, science, history, music, art, etc. Education is conceived of as a lifelong process whose goals are the enrichment of self and society rather than a sort and ranking process whose function is to help reproduce social hierarchy. And one thing they are really adamant about is that a progressive, multicultural education involves demanding more of students rather than a relaxation of standards. It's not "anything goes" vs. "get it right." It's "do something excellent/original/that you can be proud of/that matters to you, secure in the knowledge that we can and will recognize/appreciate excellence in whatever form it takes."

On one level, these are ideals (and somewhat counter-cultural ideals in this society) and never fully implemented. Kids aren't doing admissions, defining the curriculum, choosing the headmaster.

Hard to say whether the HS is more or less progressive than the L/MS. No grades in the lower school -- only gradually introduced in middle school. No ranks in HS but certainly GPAs. HS'ers seems to be more empowered in some ways (open campus, self (and collectively)-defined clubs and service projects, more collective discussion on some school governance issues).

Heavier academic workload in HS, but from what I see, still a lot of "it is what you make of it" -- especially in the sky's-the-limit sense. At both MS and HS there seems to be good support for kids who are struggling academically, but that's a somewhat second hand observation because my kid hasn't been in that situation yet.

In terms of hands-on learning, arts (visual, dramatic) and science labs are really well-equipped at the HS level -- this ain't kid stuff. But no orchestra, OP, and sports aren't a strong suit, though there are exceptions to that general rule. Jazz combos play at Blues Alley at least once a year, maybe more.

Finally, for what it's worth, two of the books GDS administrators recommend to parents who have asked this question are Best Practices: Today's Standards for Teaching and Learning (Zemelman, Daniels, Hyde) whose thesis is that "methods that are student centered, experiential, democratic, collaborative, and rigorously challenging will always be the key to high-quality teaching and authentic learning." and Seeding the Process of Multicultural Education (Nelson and Wilson). Amazon carries both.

Still, a lot of this goes on in my DD's traditional school, so i do wonder about the limits of these definitions. Her school is definitely inclusive and I would never say the education is aimed at reproducing the social heirarchy. Rather, its aimed at encouraging a love of learning. Her school doesn't rank and the upper school involves more empowerment of the girls. I'll just spit it out -- she goes to NCS, so very obviously a "traditional" school, but honestly, at an academic level I don't see much difference. I do think that NCS does not take this collaborative approach so much, so maybe thats a key difference. But the curriculum is absolutely multicultural.

[Anonymous]

At GDS's Open House for HS this winter they talked about the term progressive and how it can mean so many different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why dont you let your kid choose.

do you think that since this question was posted in 2008 that perhaps the decision has already been made?