Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:One of the fundamental differences between private schools and public schools is the expectation of what the teacher should be doing.
In private the teacher is expected to move the student forward and provide instruction that empowers the student to reach their potential. The teacher starts with a more capable set of students but can't rely on outside enrichment or tutoring to achieve results. This means providing more feedback to students. There are many practices in MCPS such as not grading homework, not providing any feedback on written assignments, not sending home quizzes and tests and in elementary school not giving any meaningful assessments to students that would never fly in private. In this sense private is more work but its directly aligned to activities in the classroom and more meaningful for the teachers.
Private school teachers do not have to deal with the constant data collection for the county, state, and central office. Parents in public school have no idea how much more time is spent collecting data points prop up a position that everyone has reached mediocrity. Private school teachers do not have dumb down the entire class to create the illusion that a failing students isn't failing. A failing student in private is counseled out. Private school teachers do not have to deal with constant trend of the moment nonsense for curriculum changes that impede learning. This is especially bad in MCPS.
Are you listing this as one of the advantages of private schools? "If a student isn't learning, the school can just kick out the student, yay private schools!"?
Yes, "Yay!!" because that particular student is not in the right environment.
Many private schools are reserved for the most accomplished learners. If a student can't keep out, he or she should find another place. That is where public schools work. They do provide services for learning challenges. But that doesn't make the public school the best place for those who are great learners.
You are deluded. I'm sorry, but I've taught in several private schools, and each one of them harbored a small assortment of special needs students whose wealthy parents didn't want to acknowledge special needs; the schools happy comply with the parents' wishes. Each school also has a larger assortment of very average students whose wealthy parents believe their children to be gifted; the schools readily support this delusion. These are great schools, but the notion that top privates don't admit/keep special needs students or average/struggling students is just not true. If parents can pay, and if the parents are "important parents" who donate (direct quote of TWO heads), their child can attend and the parents' desire to believe that their child is gifted, or that the child does NOT have profound special needs/undiagnosed disability, will be accommodated. Private schools are BUSINESSES, and they do need to please paying customers. Administration is keenly aware of customer opinion, and they want to keep those customers happy.
I do love teaching in the independent sector, but I'm a realist.