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Sunday, February 15, 2015

What Makes a "Good" School?

I am so sick of hearing people talk about "good schools" and "bad schools."

So what makes a "good" school? Let's examine some of the characteristics of school districts that are generally accepted as being the good ones.

  • Students generally attend the same schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. This means that a school district can create a vision (or philosophy) for education that is developed over time. It's very difficult to take advantage of this kind of planning (or for a vision to become successful) in a place where students frequently move or when students are coming to a school from many different schools (and therefore have received many different foundations). 
  • Parents are involved and/or aware of "how school works" and what's going on in their children's school. It is a lot harder for immigrant parents (even the ones who care) to understand American schools and American school culture. 
  • Students score well on Regents exams and SATs, and get into prestigious universities. This is essentially saying that the students' families (generally) have money. 
My conclusion so far is that New York City schools (and other urban public schools) are assumed to be weak simply because the students who attend are by and large poor, underprivileged, immigrant, and/or non-white. All of this has nothing to do with the content, the level of rigor, the attention to students' needs, or the care provided. In other words, all of the things we SAY are what's really important in education.