Are Public Schools the Best Choice for Your Math-Minded Student?

Based upon requirements mandated by both the federal government and the state government, public schools are obligated to report their student body’s progress and test results each school year. As the United States Department of Education asserts, “All states and schools will have challenging and clear standards of achievement and accountability for all children, and effective strategies for reaching those standards.”

In light of recent national educational guidelines and standardized testing mandates, individual states have started to implement their own sets of learning and development standards. With every state providing schools and educators with its own educational goals and benchmarks, many parents and leaders are concerned about their local schools’ progress and achievement. With the shifting of regulations in various subject areas in states across the nation, leaders want to know: are the schools actually succeeding?

Student Progress and Reports

While each school has its own records of progress, the national average statistics show that public school students are struggling to meet the established standards. According to Education Portal, the most recent NAEP test results show that approximately 1/3 of American fourth-grade students are below proficiency in the core areas of reading, math, science, and American history.

Adding to this deficit, when comparing our schools to others around the world, our eighth-grade students earned a 19 out of 38 ranking in the comprehension areas of math and an 18 out

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, a rising number of public schools are creating innovative foreign exchange programs.

Typically, allowing an exchange student to live abroad with a host family, many public schools offer general credit and scholarships for students interested in pursuing a global learning opportunity.

Public Schools and Foreign Exchange

Although each school, district, and county may offer diverging foreign exchange opportunities, students of nearly any public school affiliation can typically find ways to jet off for a chance to learn in another country.

For example, Chesapeake Public Schools (CPS), located in Virginia, is one of the many public school systems providing students with incredible exploratory venues. As their foreign exchange philosophy states, “Chesapeake Public Schools recognizes that as the nations of the world become more interdependent, it becomes increasingly important that high school students develop a sense of global citizenship.”

To enhance this learning process, CPS encourages students to engage in travel and exchange opportunities to build greater relationships, while simultaneously adding depth to students’ overall development. In addition, while CPS focuses on high school exchange options, a rising number of public schools across the country are now creating more opportunities for elementary and middle school students as well.

Foreign Exchange Support and Assistance

Fostering support for these opportunities are leading non-profit foreign exchange organizations, such as The Council on Standards

Contrary to popular belief, not all prominent, high-demand careers require a college degree. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 10 out of the 28 top fastest-growing careers could be pursued with vocational training available through public schools.

Subsequently, many believe public schools should provide more extensive vocational programs for interested students. While all high schools are required to provide students with general education courses, only a handful provide vocational alternatives.

What Type of Learning Coincides with Vocational Education?

Vocational-technical education programs provide students with practical learning opportunities and hands-on experiences to prepare graduates for a career following high school. As Massachusetts Public Schools explains, vocational programs allow students to develop technical, academic, and professional skills that can be used for either a professional pathway or a continuing education alternative.

While all states have vocational programs at various community colleges, some areas still struggle to establish or maintain functioning programs at the public high school level. Because the cost of these programs can often add an extra burden to a public school’s limited budget, these vocational courses are frequently one of the first venues to be cut during a time of financial struggle.

Despite the balancing, financial planning, and professional accommodations needed to establish these programs, many states have shown tremendous strides in offering vocational opportunities. For example, Massachusetts is one of the leading states

With recent budgetary issues and decreased funding for public schools, many administrators are being forced to cut teaching positions for the upcoming school year. The loss of teachers means that nearly all students will be forced into a larger class size in the future. Will your child be prepared to successfully handle the change?

Lower Budgets and Larger Classes

As all public schools cope with the loss of funds, leaders must make difficult balancing decisions. Most controversially, many school leaders are being forced to cut teaching positions to keep their schools running.

As the population of students stays the same and the number of teachers declines, students are being shuffled into larger classes with less personal time with each instructor. Los Angeles, for example, is one of the leading examples of a city facing a budget and job cut crisis. As NPR reports, Los Angeles’ Board of Education recently voted to cut thousands of public school jobs, including both teachers and support staff members. With an estimated 600 million dollar deficit, the school leaders assert that public schools must let teachers go at the cost of larger class sizes.

This TED Talk explores why our schools are failing.

Will Your Child Succeed?

As the average public school class size has changed dramatically over the past several decades, experts are still debating the impact of class