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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why do you feel your principal should hear your suggestions? Are you an educational consultant? Do you have a college degree in this field? 
This type of feedback is out of turn. You have no idea what constraints the principal has. [/quote]

DP. ATS has erased the achievement gap according to previous posts. Why shouldn't parents go to principals and ask would ATS's practices work here?

Veteran teachers at our school don't know anything about ATS. I asked last year after reading about it. They said they don't know much about it. [/quote]

You think the principal is just sitting around twiddling their thumbs and waiting on a random parent to ask these questions? They’re already working hard, trying to get the best outcomes they can. They will never be ATS because
-they have some population of parents that can’t get their kids to school reliably. Not a factor at ATS
-they have some population of parents who do not care when their kid is disciplined. In fact they push back. Parents at ATS, just by participating in a lottery to get in, are the types who would take behavior seriously. 
-they have parents who would never be on board with homework or a dress code (both, IMO, are part of the secret sauce). And forget summer homework 
-they have lots of students with leaning disabilities, which affects test scores and how the school appears to be performing (because we all know kids with a lot of special need transfer from ATS when that becomes apparent and it’s not their strong suit)

So insulting to go to a principal and suggest they just try to be like ATS [/quote]

I guess I don’t understand why it matters if some parents can’t reliably get their kids to school and won’t supervise homework.  Some of those kids would benefit from the structure that their parents can’t or won’t provide.  Raise the expectations and standards at the schools and let the chips fall where they may.[/quote]

+100[/quote]

This is basically the George W Bush era thinking of "the soft bigotry of low expectations".  I think it is compelling logic on paper.  It's what drove No Child Left Behind, which we still see the impacts of right now.  Regular testing and dis-aggregated data exist because of NCLB.

The chips falling where they may is a bit trickier  You know where they will fall, but it won't be your kid, which is why you don't care.  Kids without home support in that type of environment show up in a different place on Day 1.  They show up behind.  They fall further and further behind over time.  I work in a private school and in education.  I see it every day.  Sometimes the school environment really just isn't going to do it even if the school is doing everything possible to both prop the kid up and set high expectations.

The question then is are these "lowered standards" REALLY harming your kid.  Are they even lowered standards?  A lot of this is what you're used to and what you grew up with and also some amount of hysteria about what is going on that isn't even true, to be honest.  I see constant misrepresentation on this site about APS's homework and test re-take policies.  The data bears out your typical high-income white kid will do about the same in most environments in terms of academic achievement.[/quote]

When high school English classes don't even require their students to read books, it is absolutely a lower standard and absolutely negatively impacts them. Not so much because they may never read Dickens; but because they are not being pushed and challenged.

I base this not just on my own high school classes; but on my kids' comments, reactions, and level of engagement in their classes. When the students complain that they aren't doing anything in class, that is lowered standards and negatively impactful. If a student acknowledges the lack of expectations or challenge, that is lowered expectations.

These things are a disservice to ALL students. I'm sick of people telling me my white middle class kid will be fine and do just as well no matter which school they go to. I want my kids to be challenged, preferably inspired in some area. I want them to acquire and appreciate the value of working hard and achieving. I expect schools to want the same and to focus on making sure every student strives to achieve their personal potential, not just meet basic standards.

And yes, this is focused on the older grades. I don't think homework or no homework in elementary sets the destiny dial on success or failure. But the attitude and philosophy should be at all levels of education. It isn't just about UMC white kids.[/quote]

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