Reply to Are progressive schools a bad fit for parents who want to see academic progress?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I felt our K-8 was great through 5th - fell off seriously in middle school and was not worth the tuition - seemed to me that a number of the middle school teachers took advantage of the flexibility to fail to really  live up to the promise and just mailed it in and then complained about the kids.  I think with middle schoolers it is much harder to motivate the kids to buy in to the approach. There were a few great teachers where the kid driven approach and curriculum were great but in most classes it was very frustrating.  Don't know if that was a school specific issue or not[/quote]

I think that some parents like the progressive vibe in early childhood and elementary, but then want more traditional academics for middle school or get cold feet, or their child is below grade level and they're sick of being told to wait and believe. So some of the more academically-focused families leave. People stay if they're happy with it, but also if they can't see their kid doing well elsewhere or if their kid doesn't get in elsewhere.  And the kids who come in to replace the kids who leave tend to be a higher proportion ND or have other needs that make a traditional school a good fit. So the middle school population can be quite different from the elementary population in their abilities and classroom behaviors. And this is a self-reinforcing thing that grows more entrenched each year. [/quote]

I posted above that progressive school was terrible for my kid with learning disabilities (we pulled her and sent her to a school with more explicit instruction) but great for my gifted kid. He's in high school now, but continued to have high performing peers through middle school. I would expect class composition to shift over the years, but based on our experience, not in the direction you suggest.[/quote]

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