One of the most common mistakes that parents make when they choose a school
for their child is to look at certain factors that are poor indicators of the
quality of the school, such as the school's popularity and fame, whose children
go there, the opinions of friends and family, the opinions of students,
national test results, whether rich parents send their children there, the
possibility of improved status or prestige, the school's facilities, an
educational style that looks familiar, the extracurricular and/or co-curricular
programs, and the school's appearance.
While these factors may sometimes give an indication of the quality of
the school, in general, their value ranges from almost non-existent to
secondary considerations. Please read
my separate article about trophies and other awards.
A School's Popularity and Fame
Popularity and fame are subjective perceptions that are easily manipulated
through marketing strategies, the selective entry into contests that their
students are sure to win, the display of trophies and other awards, making the
school grounds look attractive, offering special programs and other tactics
that are psychologically impressive but are generally nothing more than glitter
in terms of evaluating quality. Unless
the school has significant attributes, such as a track record of years of
students who have moved on to success in life; a reputation for students
becoming very civic-minded; above average results even when using non-standard
evaluation techniques through independent sources and even while accepting students from a wide range of backgrounds and
performance records; a curriculum that has been demonstrated through years of
use at various schools to get
better-than-average results; a roster of teachers who have received accolades;
etc., one should be wary of whether the popularity and/or fame of a school is
just a passing trend or the result of clever marketing.
Whose Children Go There, Rich Parents Send Their Kids There, Status and
Prestige
While it is certainly true that some schools are full of students from the
upper class (such as Ivy League universities) and successful, most of the time
deciding to enroll your child in a particular school because someone's child is
there is a mistake. Certainly, if the
person in question is someone who is a famous, highly regarded leader in the
reformation of education who is respected even by his or her adversaries, that
might be an exception to the rule.
Similarly, choosing a school because it might make you look better is
self-serving and egotistical and, while it may work as a strategy for you, it
may be a disaster for your child. You
may accidentally put your child in a bad school, a bad situation, or
drastically alter their future.
If, however, you're on a quest for improved status (reputation by
association), then you are not concerned with your child's future, nor are you
making a wise choice. Education is not
about what is best for you as the parent, but what is best for your child. Put your child's needs first, and make an informed
decision based on real facts.
If you send your child to a school that is famous (like Ivy League
universities), please be aware that while it will provide an excellent
education in many respects, there are pitfalls, especially if you are not wealthy.
Opinions
We often like to ask the people around us what they think about a
particular school, or which school they think is best. Yet, most of these people have never
researched the schools in the area, let alone the city, and many know very
little about education or how to choose a good school. Asking the average person for advice on which
school to go to, while it may yield some information that you can use in your
search, will rarely lead you to the best choice. It's like asking a grocer to perform surgery
on you - the chances are very low that it'll go well.
Children are, on average, only good for a very limited variety of
information unless you ask them questions.
The value of a student's answers will generally be greater the older the
person is. Usually, if you ask a child
if they like their school, they base their answer on how many friends they have
and, thus, how happy they are there.
You'll have to dig deeper with questions like: "What do you think about your
teachers?", "Are they fair, honest and respectful?", "Do
they make learning interesting, enjoyable and challenging?", "Do they
help you when you have trouble?", "Do they make students feel
uncomfortable, embarrass them or bully them?", "How safe do you feel
in your school?" and so on.
If you DO want to ask the average person, then you should go loaded with
questions that will help you evaluate how much value their opinion has. Of course, in order to be able to understand
the value of the answers to some of these questions, you'd have to actually
learn about education. Here's a very
short list.
How many schools have you evaluated?
How many of them did you visit?
What kind of curriculum does each us?
What teaching methodologies are employed, and which is/are preferred?
What subjects are offered and are they all required, or can students guide
their own future by choosing?
What guidance does the school offer to students so that they make wise
decisions for their future?
What is the school's strategy for testing and grading?
How does the school evaluate teachers?
Do teachers work as a members of a team and have routine sessions in which
they sit down and share their problems
and offer solutions?
Test Results
First of all, it is obvious that if there are 20 schools that are reviewed
and evaluate, and all 20 schools receive fairly poor scores, the best of the 20
is still poor. With a consistent
"benchmark", tests hold little meaning outside the environment within
which they are used.
Second, many countries have problems with cheating on tests, not just by
the teachers and their students but also by administrators and even testing
companies. There are numerous reasons
for this, including government funding that is determined based on test
results; administrator's fear of loss of funding, sanctions, loss of status,
and embarrassment; teacher's fear of reprisals by administrators or the impact
the results will have on their position
and/or salary; teacher's fear of embarrassment and loss of status; student's
fear of loss of opportunities in societies that still over-estimate the value
of test results; parents fear of loss of status, embarrassment, missed
opportunities; and many other possible reasons.
In some countries, tests are the key to university, being able to study
overseas, scholarships, funding and many other things and, thus, the stakes are
big. Sometimes, entire schools will
cheat so that it looks like no one has failed because of these reasons, or even
because passing the national exams is a requisite for graduation. Even politicians have been involved in such
corruption.
Third, many tests are geared toward testing knowledge, not ability, and
thus are not only bad indicators of school quality, but also the chances of
success of any given student. Testing
knowledge is a poor way of getting results that have more meaning for parents,
teachers, students, administrators and the government.
Fourth, if a test is poorly designed; it is much more difficult or easier
than the actual curriculum, the quality of the teachers is poor; or there is
some other disparity between the test and the actual learning experience, then
the validity of the test's results is highly suspect.
Fifth, the formatting of questions and answers can affect the student's
ability to answer, making it easier or more difficult to answer, thus skewing
the results for an individual, a grade level, a school, a city or even an
entire country. Therefore, if all
schools do not use exactly the same format and questions, then the results of
the test have far less value than is needed.
A poor-quality school that uses the easiest types of questions (such as
multiple-choice, cloze with a word box, and matching) will appear to be
competitive when compared to a high-quality school that designs tests that
minimize the use of easy question types.
Conversely, an underachieving school with honest leadership may choose
to use hard question types which may shine a light on the problems there, but
which may be looked at the wrong way.
Sixth, how tests are graded can skew the results. For example, if a test is graded on the
so-called "bell curve", other schools that use a different
curve, that don't use a curve at all, or
that revise scores based on non-test criteria can manipulate their results.
Seventh, how the results are collated and what statistical evaluations are
used (including biases) can change the perception of the results. It is well known that the manipulation of
statistical analysis results can produce results that give a false impression
of the facts.
Eighth, for a variety of reasons, including learning disabilities, test
stress and other mental and emotional issues, some students are unable to
perform well on tests. They may do very
well in all other aspects of schooling, but when it comes to tests, their
results are startlingly bad.
There are other reasons as well, but I think this makes it clear enough. While test results may give some kind of indication of quality, if you have no way to evaluate their value, then it is unlikely that they will be of significant use for you.
There are other reasons as well, but I think this makes it clear enough. While test results may give some kind of indication of quality, if you have no way to evaluate their value, then it is unlikely that they will be of significant use for you.
Finally, does the school do formative post-test assessments to identify
problems with the test as well as areas students need more help with?
Facilities and Appearance
Actually, facilities are probably one of the best of the worst things to
look at, but don't allow them to be the primary consideration because other
factors (such as seen in the questions in the opinions section) are far more
important.
From the bathrooms and the availability of soap, sprayers and toilet paper
within them (and, if people wipe with their hands, soap should be in each
stall, not just at the sink), lots of garbage cans, student lockers, and
security measures to prevent theft, abduction, attacks, molestation, etc. to
premium facilities like a swimming pool, fine arts room, outdoor activity area,
indoor gym, performing arts room, choir/band room, stadium/sports field, track,
fitness center, nurse's office, guidance counsellor, psychologist, special
education experts, archery range, computer/AV lab, stage and auditorium, and
science lab, these things should all be taken into consideration as part of the
overall package, especially if they are needed for the path your child wants to
follow later in life.
Nevertheless, lack of these things should only be a secondary factor,
although those related to hygiene (be sure to investigate the bathrooms,
cafeteria and kitchen!) are very important.
Some schools spend a great deal of attention on appearance. There are two types of appearance - those
that please the eyes of parents, and those that are purpose-driven to assist in
the learning process. Certainly, schools
should be colorfully painted instead of looking like re-purposed prisons, and
have interesting decorations to look at, because art is an important part of
education. However, if you are walking
down the halls and looking into classrooms, you should see purpose-driven
decoration or, more accurately, displays that support current and recent
lessons by displaying material about the lessons, and/or those created by the
students. Cheerful and inspiring
displays of students' work should be evident around the school, even in the
lobby (but not only there or it is just for the benefit of parents). Be careful to try to discern whether it is a
marketing strategy or for the benefit of the students. Note dates on materials - displays should be
changed fairly often so as to always be relevant and give students motivation
to do well so as to have their work displayed.
It is not the most beautiful work that should always be displayed
because not everyone is able to produce beautiful work.
A Familiar Educational Style
Often parents expect that the style of teaching that is used at a school
should be similar to the schooling they received. They believe that what worked for them is the
best choice because they were able to do well with it. Most likely, unless you went to a school that
employed a progressive or transformational methodology, this is not true. Aside from the fact that each person is
different, even from their parents, and thus has different needs, the
traditional system of public education was not designed to help students to
excel - it was helped to create workers.
It is, for some people, highly appropriate but, anyone who looks at a
statistical analysis of the results over the last 200 years can clearly see that
less than 50% really benefit from this system.
The rest get average, or worse, results.
That means that the educational system given to the public by Europe is
a failure.
Do not look for a school that uses the traditional, teacher-focused,
student-as-recorder, one-directional, boring style of education. Look, instead, for a school where the
students are frequently engaged in learning through doing: experiments,
activities, research, discovery, games, debriefing and more; it is the
practical application of knowledge that most benefits the largest number of
students, not the passing on of theory that is rarely practiced. Look for a place where students are excited to get to class instead of just
play and reticent to go home, where parents are involved with the learning
experience because it is so enjoyable, and where there is such a positive
environment that just stepping into the
school is like entering a better world.
This may sound utopian, but this is what you should seek out if you
truly care for your child and want the best.
Extra-curricular/Co-curricular Programs
Extra- and co-curricular programs are a nice bonus. They offer additional options, but they are
not the same, and how valuable they are is partially dependent on what is
offered.
Extra-curricular programs offer a free/inexpensive way for students to
explore interests that may otherwise be inaccessible to them. Some may just be a way for them to relax,
while others may give them a chance to evaluate professions they may want to
pursue, as well as provide a chance to acquire the necessary skills to do well
in it. While you should be sure to give
your child a great deal of control over this, and you should encourage the
child to try, you should also make sure that the child doesn't waste these
opportunities.
Co-curriculars are often not free, and I am less inclined to value them
because they are also required. Unlike
extra-curriculars, your child will be forced to enroll in a certain number of
co-curriculars, and you will have to produce the money to pay for it
(usually). If the options are of a
particular type only (such as focusing
only on the traditional "core" areas of language, science and math),
or they are of a specific bent (such as religious or play-time), then this is
something to ask questions about - a co-curricular program should offer a wide variety of options since the
students have to participate instead of trying
to force them to follow a
particular path that they may not even be suited for.
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