Category Archives: private education

The purpose of K-12 education

When answering the question of what the future of American K-12 schools should look like, there needs to be a conversation surrounding the purpose of education. The best schools for America’s children are those that best address the objectives of education. However, every person holds a different set of values and thus beliefs regarding the ultimate purpose of K-12 education vary widely. The most often cited statements of purpose include the need to develop the intellect, serve social needs, contribute to the economy, craft an effective work force, and generate an informed electorate. While these objectives are notable, they are undesirably limited in scope. Rather, and as many education scholars believe, the purpose of education is manifold as it is meant to encompass all dimensions of the human experience.

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Standardized testing is often used a benchmark for future job success: Pottsgrove School District

Despite the growing consensus for a child-centered approach to education that advances the intellectual, emotional, and social growth of students, many American schools continue to follow a strictly economics based model. This kind of economic-driven model emphasizes certification, centralization, and standardization. In this system students are subject to a rigorous and often inflexible curriculum in order to advance numeracy, literacy, and science skills. The ultimate purpose in an economics-driven education system is to form productive workers in the domestic job market. While success in the job market should be one of the top priorities of any school, a truly high-skilled workforce can only be generated if schools address all facets of student development. In following such a linear equation of success— knowledge + technical skills = job success— many students fall behind their more holistically educated peers. Students need to develop the interpersonal and professional skills necessary to be leading professionals in the domestic economy. Simply put, teaching for a test or a certification is an insufficient motivator for engaged learning and character growth.

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My high school was designed to advance the futures of students intending to go to college. However, a few years back my school decided to allow students to attend the vocational school for half of the school day. This kind of individualized student-centered schooling has helped countless individuals: Dream it Do it PA

Moreover, schools that tout high-skill economic advancement as the primary goal of education often leave students not bound for college at a disadvantage. About 70% of Americans do not earn a bachelor’s degree by 29 and these young adults receive few career-focused skills in high school. Unless technical education and vocational training are offered at their school, most are left unprepared for the workforce. Unfortunately, too many students are placed on traditional academic tracks leading to dead ends. The school system is designed to train highly specialized workers, yet not every student is destined for higher education. If these same students attended learning institutions that boast a purpose of comprehensive personal and academic growth, these students would have already had time to explore their interests and find an adequate career path.

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Child Centered Learning: Pearltrees 

These flaws with such a regimented system, however, does not imply that the stated purpose of strengthening the economy is not important. Rather, the stress of academic basics and certification should be complemented by humanistic growth. Martin Luther King Junior perfectly encapsulates the broader social purpose of education in his 1948 speech at Morehouse College: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason but no morals. … We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” This kind of child-centered approach that emphasizes character building and moral growth alongside academic achievement is gaining increasingly popularity among education policy circles. In fact, most elite private schools in the US boast the main tenets of child-centered educational philosophy, namely the emphasis on holistic pupil development as the central objective of schooling. The elite primary school, The Antioch school, goes so far as to have a whole page on its website dedicating to describing its child-centered education approach. If these schools are so successful in producing high-performing and intellectually curious students, then it only seems natural that this purpose of holistic growth should be applied to all American schools.

Within this sphere of addressing students’ unique learning needs, both cognitive and social, there are several critical development goals. First, students should develop the capacity for independent thought through inquiry and reasoning. This ability for critical thinking is further advanced through a deeper understanding and appreciation of oneself, other people, and the world. Schools that promote the development of values like compassion, tolerance, and respect shape students that can argue, deliberate, and write in an educated manner. These students are engaged in classroom activities that force them to grapple with ethical, philosophical, and policy dilemmas and this exposure to real-world situations within the controlled atmosphere of a classroom helps to craft future leaders. Moreover, it fosters an independent lifelong love for learning and that is the ultimate measure of success for a school.

Why Private Schools?

There is no shortage of intense feelings and opinions toward private schools. At one end of the spectrum people claim private schools are elitist and only represent the upper echelon of society, while on the other end people claim private schools provide a superior education and fill a need in the community. Despite the availability of free public education, about 12% of all elementary and secondary students nationwide attend private school (Council of American Private Education, 2012). Parents send their children to private school for a variety of reasons including poor alternative public institutions, religious preferences, or the desire to have their child specialize in a specific skill like music. Parents of children with disabilities like blindness or deafness may also opt for private schooling. While the fact remains that the average private school student comes from the upper crust of society, this does not rule out private school as a viable option as there is always the potential for accessibility reform.

Primrose private kindergarten

Private school advertisement by the Primrose School

In order to attend private school, parents and high school level students must fill out an application. The admissions process typically begins a year before enrollment as schools host open houses in the fall, applications are due in winter, and admissions are released in the spring. The application process varies from school to school as some exclusive schools entail a more rigorous acceptance process with formal interviews and observation sessions. Acceptance rates vary widely as the prestige and small-class size emphasis also varies between institutions.

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Image from the Emerson Waldorf School 

Private schools can be divided into categories based on the school’s source of funding. Proprietary schools are for-profit institutions and these schools typically have the highest tuition. An independent nonprofit institution ranks as the second most expensive form of private school. Nonprofit schools receive their funding from tuition and donations and are subject to a board of directors. A parochial school on the other hand is partly subsidized by the church and thus tuition is much lower—usually within the range of $1,200-$7,500 a year (Council for American Private Education, 2012). Certain schools are also differentiated by their founding philosophies. For example the Montessori schools follow the educational philosophy of Dr.Maria Montessori and the Waldorf schools follow the educational philosophy of their founder Rudolf Steiner.

Many parents select private school because they see these institutions as more conducive to advancing their children’s future. For one, private schools, especially the more elite schools, set a much higher bar for students than do public schools. These institutions are often more academically rigorous as they require greater graduation requirements, heavier coursework, and mandatory service hours. Under these more demanding programs, students are taught to value their education and produce high quality work. Private schools also tend to maintain smaller student to teacher ratios, which has been proven to encourage deeper learning. In these smaller settings students can form better relationships with their teachers, ask questions in a more intimate setting, and participate in creative activities that would be logistically difficult with large class sizes. Smaller class sizes are especially great for helping at-risk students because teachers can more adequately assess each student and students are less likely to be intimidated to seek help.

Duffy Arts Center at Malvern Prepatory School: image by Robert Davis LLC

One of the strongest arguments in favor of private schools is their ability to create their own curriculum. Some parents are unsatisfied with the regimented nature of public education and thus they seek greater innovation in curriculum. Private schools often have robust arts and athletic programs integrated into their curriculum as they have the funding for state of the art facilities. These unconventional classes allow students to explore their talents, find new passions, and express themselves. This freedom with school curriculum may also seem attractive to parents who want their children to attend religious classes. Parochial schools, unlike public schools, can pursue a religious education.

While the Center on Education Policy found in 2007 that there is no statistically significant difference in school performance between public and private school students once socioeconomic factors are corrected for, all students along the socioeconomic spectrum are more likely to graduate from college if they attend private school (National Association of Independent Schools, 2011). With college as a focus, students are more goal oriented and teachers are more encouraging and involved in the college decision process. On the whole, private school students, regardless of socioeconomic status, score higher on college admissions tests and are more likely to have completed advanced level courses in three or more academic subject areas (Council for American Private Education, 2012).

The most salient criticism of private schools is that they are exclusive and racially homogeneous enclaves of the wealthy. While public schools are substantially more racially and socioeconomically diverse than private schools, school voucher programs hope to bridge that gap. Vouchers are state-funded scholarships that pay for lower income students to attend private schools. Vouchers use public dollars to help families pay for a private education. Supporters of the program argue that the flexibility of school choice provides the best learning environment for children and detractors argue that this diversion of funds serves to harm public education even more.  The results of voucher programs already in place are mixed. Some studies report little difference in school performance while others suggest higher graduation rates. In the end, no choice can guarantee that a child will succeed, but there are various options open.

 

Works Cited

“Council for American Private Education.” CAPE. Council for American Private Education, 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.

“Student Outcomes.” NAIS. National Association of Independent Schools, 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.