Equality in School Finance In The Story of the Education Dollar, Odden, Monk, Nakib and Picus describe some basic facts about education spending in the United States to facilitate an understanding of the level and uses of the federal government’s policies on education funding. The purpose of the authors’ discussion is to argue that public education facilities need to change their focus on the consumption of educational resources to a focus on producing high levels of student achievement. They contend that such a redirection in focus will require large improvements in student achievement, given that only about 10 percent of students currently attain the desired level of achievement across the board in mathematics, science, writing, history, geography and civics. James Traub expands on their discussion to argue for the necessary inclusion of after-care activities for inner-city youth in any successful educational spending program. Odden et al. note that their analysis of spending patterns across the 50 states is supported by the conclusions reached by the Finance Center of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CARE), although the results of their research did diverge in some significant ways.
Odden et al. examined spending and staffing patterns at the district and school levels. They also scrutinized staffing patterns of expenditures by function and program and spending across curriculum content areas in California, Florida and New York. Their major conclusion was that while there had been considerable national investment in public education during the 20 th century, as a rule the funds were distributed unfairly and used ineffectively. The largest portion of increased spending during the 20 th century occurred to hire more teachers to reduce class size and to provide more out-of-classroom services, particularly for special education purposes. However, they argue that neither strategy boosted student achievement very much.
The Term Paper on Bilingual Education 2 English Language Students
Bilingual Education in the northeastern United States and Canada serves many advantages and benefits for students of limited English skills. Since the early sixty s, it continues to serve a great advantage to foreign students. This is important because it gives these students the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. American educators have argued that the aim of education should be to ...
Also, although education spending has increased teachers’s al aries, it has not been used to improve the quality of the teachers. Notably, Odden et al. found that both low-spending and high-spending school districts fund education spending in the same proportions, meaning that high-spending districts tend to have lower class sizes and higher teacher salaries. The authors argue this discrepancy reflects the ‘fiscal regularities’ of education spending that will constantly limit its ability to improve student achievement. As a result, Odden et al. argue that education spending will need to undergo fundamental restructuring if it will ever successfully improve student achievement.
Basically, the long-term task of restructuring education spending must be to ‘get schools to act more like producers of high levels of student achievement than like consumers of educational resources.’ However, they note that there are no straightforward ways to ensure the success of the restructuring. However, they maintain that research has demonstrated that all students, despite differences in income and ability, can learn advanced mathematics, science, writing, history and reading comprehension. Traub would take issue with Odden et al.’s argument, insofar as they do not consider the considerable additional disadvantages faced by inner-city youth that may affect their ability to achieve in school. Odden et al.
note that a reform strategy has been developing over the last five years as a policy approach to support the attainment of the ambitious goals of their own analysis. In particular, they note that the reform strategy includes having the top of the education system create goals, set curriculum standards, and develop tough tests that indicate what students know and can accomplish in core academic subjects. However, the responsibility for accomplishing the stated objectives will reside with each school district. Thus, each school district will have to undergo significant changes in its government, management and fiscal policies.
Private Schools Public Education School
Private Schools The first position of chapter three is supportive of private schools. This position feels that private schools prevent the public schools from having a total monopoly over education by offering the community an alternative choice. This choice also produces competition with public schools for student enrollment. This position views public schools as something a student must accept ...
Odden et al. argue that the first step will require the federal government to address the inequitable spending per pupil across the country. The second step will require the reorganization of the public education system from top to bottom. Such reorganization is necessary to determine whether the funding already allocated to the system and any new funding designated to be allocation to the system are slated to be used effectively. Odden et al. believe one way to ensure the efficacy of public spending is to give more power to local school districts.
However, along with such power over the budget and personnel system, local school districts must also provide a comprehensive array of fiscal and student information, develop the knowledge and’s skills of school work teams, and change the reward and compensation structure. Each district must also develop high-quality curriculum standards, goals for student achievement, and measure of progress toward these goals. Finally, the authors argue that the public education system must also include more public school choice, more charter schools and more deregulation. As noted, James Traub would likely argue that Odden et al.’s analysis of current education spending policies and their suggestions for how such policies should be restructured do not take into consideration the significant impact of a student’s socioeconomic status on his or her level of achievement. In his article, Traub argues that it is a painful fact of the history of public education in the United States that the billions of dollars poured into inner-city schools have had little effect on the achievement level of ghetto children.
Traub recognizes as an ‘intriguing development in recent years,’ the rise of such programs as Odden et al.’s reform policies; however, he calls such programs treatments rather than cures. For example, Traub analyzes the performance of a reading program called Success for All, which expanded into a comprehensive school reform program known as Roots and Wings. The program aimed to boost the reading level through ‘prevention and early intervention’ in an inner-city school district in East New York, Brooklyn. The program had demonstrated success, but it did not raise student achievement levels to the statewide average. Thus, Traub notes that while we must, as Odden et al. advocate, approach each reform program as though it could provide unlimited success, we must also take into account the demonstrated limitation of such programs.
The Essay on Are Single-sex Schools Better Than Co-ed Schools For Most Students?
Worldwide, most students attend either single-sex schools or co-ed schools. Is there a difference? Close analysis of both systems of schooling shows that in terms of social, academic and emotional growth, co-ed schools are better. Firstly, it is important to explore the advantages and disadvantages of both systems. Co-ed school provides a superb environment and opportunity for both sexes to mix, ...
Significantly, blacks still score about 200 points lower than whites on College Boards and an average 17-year-old black student reads at a 13-year-old level. Thus, Traub argues, schools are not the final arbiter of student achievement. He contends that a child’s home life and social culture, which can fail to nurture mental and intellectual stimulation, should be taken into consideration when drafting reform programs. He suggests the inclusion of programs such as Impact, a multi-purpose, social service program that offers year-round day care, adult literacy programs, and health care programs.
At the least, the calls for the need for after-school activities that provides an alternative environment for inner-city youth. Bibliography Odden, Allan, Monk, David, Nakib, Yasser and Picus, Lawrence. ‘The Story of the Education Dollar.’ Phi Delta Kapp an (October, 1995): 161-168. Traub, James.
‘What No School Can Do.’ New York Times Magazine (January 16, 2000): 52-91.
