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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So, could the teachers on this thread give me advice? Is the program in a title 1 school which is 50% ELL going to be less rigorous than at a 9-10 school? What about a 7-8?
Trying to decide whether to stay where we are. Kids are mostly fed and clothed and taken care of, just a lot of kids with non educated parents who don't know English. 
I can transfer my son to 7-8, but not to 9-10 (the latter would require moving). But I woukd have to drive him there instead of a 2 min walk to current school.
Also, he gets a lot of free and low cost enrichment just by virtue of going to a title 1. His reading is progressing, as is his writing. I like his teacher and the teachers for the next two grades are also great as I am told. Experienced.
So, will he fall behind by grade 5 compared to his peers who went to GS 9-10? 
[/quote]

I'm a teacher so I'll be first but it will be interesting to hear what other teachers say.  And ... I don't know.

GS 7-8 and 9-10 schools get those ratings for a reason:  because they are really good at what they do and how they do it.  On the other hand, though, some Title I schools are really good, too.  They just are not in the same position to get high ratings because of standardized test scores, which are so mightily influenced by the SES of the students.

With Title I schools, you do know they get a lot of oversight because of the Title I status so [i]usually[/i] the baseline teaching can be very good.  But the pressure on teachers is[i] really[/i] tough in Title I schools.  So that's where the importance of a good principal comes in to play.

The principal sets the tone for the environment of the school:  whether it will be happy and cheerful and full of bustling activity with children focused on learning or whether it will be shrieking, gloomy and tense with children acting out and not learning.

If you have a good principal at a Title I school, then you will see great teaching and learning (like at my school).  Teachers teaching with great enthusiasm and love in a high quality environment with high expectations for their students.  Lots of supports.  Great teachers at Title I schools are there because they are committed to what they are doing and they want to be there.  They are doing outstanding things.  It is their demographic and they will give your child a lot of attention and s/he will get a great education.  But if you have a principal who is a screamer, a nasty, unhappy person, then the good teachers are laying low trying not to attract unwanted attention and the bad teachers, who fly in for a year or two because it is the only job they can get, are stirring things up and causing problems.  The whole place is tense and unwelcoming.  There is not a lot of learning going on because the kids pick up on the tension and behavior goes to heck very quickly.  Kids and teachers are hanging on by their fingernails trying not to get sucked down into the whirling vortex of bitterness and bile and hate.

If you decide to stay, then my advice is to monitor.  Schools can change quickly from year to year depending on who is in charge and how the staff and children are responding.  If you are happy with how your child is progressing (meeting baseline targets, on grade level, good enrichment, friends) then all is good.  It sounds like a great set up with only a 2 minute walk (nice!).  But keep an eye on it and be ready to transfer if you need to.  The 7-8s and 9-10s are about as good as it can get so they seem like a sure thing but remember that a 7-8 or a 9-10 go from good to bad.  It isn't likely that a great school will take a nosedive but it has happened.

Good luck![/quote]

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