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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree with you. The current form of schooling is based on the colonial era where they had small schoolhouses with a few teachers teaching a small community of children. Obviously we've scaled that up to large buildings with many teachers, but the number of students has far exceeded the ratio of teachers. I don't know where to even begin with a modern solution, but we are forcing an outdated method into 2022 where the state of affairs has changed immensely. We are now in a locally globalized population with very wide discrepancies in SES and abilities.

The real answer is to have many more teachers in more rooms to have class sizes back in the 15 max range, but funding and space is the limiting factor.[/quote]

+1000

I also would add that school days do not need to be 7 hours long 5 days a week. That is not how humans are wired to develop. Attention spans are not that long.

90 minute classes are absurd. Most adults can’t focus 90 minutes without caffeine or some sort of monetary motivation. Kids’ brains are not fully developed and attention spans are significantly shorter than an adult attention span. STOP EXPECTING STUDENTS TO BEHAVE LIKE ADULTS - THEY ARE KIDS WHO ARE STILL DEVELOPING.

Teach more relevant subjects/curriculum. Think outside of semesters. Offer classes that last 2 weeks. 4 weeks.  6 weeks. Classes could be taught more like community education classes. Electives don’t need to be year long. How about mini electives that last 4 weeks? Short courses.

Educational flexibility that allows education to take place outside of one’s LEA.

Get rid of PE!  Or shorten it to a 4 week short course learning the basics of kinesiology/health. Allow community classes like ballet, tkd, tennis, etc. count for PE credit.

Already mentioned, but worth restating, student to teacher ratios need to be smaller. Class sizes are too large and a single human should not be expected to manage the behavior of 25+ students while expecting to teach lessons.  I really can’t comprehend how teachers are doing this day in and day out. Imagine having 25 kids in your home for 6-7 hours a day that you are responsible for while planning and teaching multiple subjects while squeezing in time to  correspond with all of their guardians and other teachers/principals and go to trainings and planning meetings every single moment the kids are not in your immediate care. And after those 6-7 hours of direct care/instruction you must continue to work on creating materials, shop for supplies, grading papers, documenting, collaborating, train, attend continuing Ed, answer emails, meet with parents, and clean your classroom, etc. it never ends.

Reduce the standards of learning and shorten class time thereby shortening the school day. Bored students can opt into accelerated AP/honors classes that have additional SOL.

change up the school calendar. 6 weeks of school/4 weeks off type of calendar. STOP DESIGNING EDUCATION AROUND THE WORK SCHEDULES OF ADULTS. If our country promoted parental responsibility of spending time with and raising our own children, we would not be looking for childcare solutions. Create a culture/society where there is an actual work/home balance. Rethink the workweek.

[/quote]

Some of your ideas are good, but they are unrelated to the mental health problems experienced by kids and youth.  We did all of this in the 70s and 80s and did not have the same problems.  This is an epidemic that is related to something else... tech, diet, the environment, etc. (See gut biome research).  However, learning is also much harder now, given the emphasis on mainstreaming all kids with all types of physical, intellectual and emotional problems.  There is no way for one person to deal with that, but it is not the large class sizes, it is the variety of needs.  We also need to move away from the "college prep for all" mode.  It is just unrealistic that all kids can handle the demands of college, and these kids need a way to earn a living.  Bring back vocational programs.[/quote]

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