the independent school advantage patrick f. bassett [email protected] 202.746.5444...
TRANSCRIPT
Context: Where Do Kids Go to School?
56 million in school, K-12, about 90% in public schools, 10-11% in private schools (of that, 1%+ in independent college-prep private schools).
How do U.S. schools stack up globally? College for all? What do college presidents of selective colleges say they are looking for? What’s our record on selective college admissions? How do we seek “the match?” What about the good public schools?
Most critical elements for success of students and schools? – Small schools with intimate environments (not small
classes)– Great teachers (High IQ & EQ). (Recent data: Rand
Study of LA Unified)– Supportive Parents (supportive of their kids’
uniqueness & their kids’ school)
Overview
Freedoms of Independence: i.) What We Teach; ii.) Whom
We Teach; iii.) Whom We Hire; iv.) Whom We Keep
What Great Schools Have in Common: i.) intentional culture; ii.) college-prep orientation; iii.) 5 C’s outcomes
What Kids Need: i.) To belong; ii.) To learn the values & rules; iii) To develop skills; iv.) To have success; v) To overcome failures
What Parents Need: A partnership with
school
Evolution of a Math ProblemFrom Education Insight, , Vol. 1, Issue 3, April/May 1994.
1960 - A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is four-fifths of this price. What is his profit?
1970 - (Traditional math) A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is four-fifths of this price, in other words, $80. What is his profit?
1970 - (New math) A logger exchanges set L of lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100, and each element is worth $1. The set C is the subset of M. What is the cardinality of the set P of profit?
1980 - A logger sells a truckload of wood for $100. His cost of production is $80, and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
1990 - (Outcome-based education) By cutting down beautiful forest trees, a logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? ( How did the forest birds & squirrels feel?)
Governance: Power BasesSynergies vs. Polarization
The Board of TrusteesThe Faculty
The Parents &The Parents Association(& The Advisory Board or Alumni Board)
The Head& Administration
Decision-Making
steer & navigateknow & grow
partner & supportlead & orchestrate
Freedoms of Independence
What Great Schools Have in Common
What Kids Need
What Parents Need
Five Things Great Schools (& parents) Do
1. Control the Environment: Your child’s peers & school environment: the assembly line, the hospital bubble, vs. the garden hothouse.
2. Model “Grown-up” Behavior: “Under-parenting” vs. “over-parenting” -cf. Wendy Mogel’s Blessings of the Skinned Knee, Blessings of a B- ). Separate & individuate vs. “failure to launch.”
3. Read: Cf. Rite of passage stories: Harry Potter; Huckleberry Finn; Catcher in the Rye; Funny in Farsi; Typical American; etc. = Rite of passage stories for the youngest. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Five Things Great Schools (& parents) Do
4. Experiment and Innovate: Student engagement the key
5. Seek Balance: Know how to finish this sentence: “I want my child to be.…” (Cf. Studies by Anthony Campolo–Eastern College and Douglas Heath—Haverford; “Academic Achievement & Character”; Be “The Parents We Mean To Be”
6. Bonus 6th Point: Partner Together: To help the child find his or her own path
1. Small and intimate schools: Student:teacher ratio in NAIS schools is 9:1 (vs. 17:1 in parochial schools and 16:1 in public schools)..)
2. Study of core knowledge to advanced levels: By the 8th grade, 70% of NAIS students study Algebra I (vs. 32% in public schools), and 85% study foreign language (vs. 24%). (Gatekeeper courses for college.)
3. Team-skills and leadership: Only 29% of public school students participate in team activities by secondary school vs. near universal team participation by independent school students (94%)
Independent School Advantage
4. High value on community service & civic participation: Universal expectation of community service.
5. Education for character is central for independent schools (vs. 80% of public school elite admit to cheating--Who’s Who in American High Schools Survey, ’98 & 2005).
6. An inclusive environment: On average, 20-25% of students attending NAIS schools receive financial aid or tuition remission; on average, 30% of students at NAIS schools are students of color.
7. Expressing strong career & job satisfaction: Skilled in 21st C. technology skills; pursuing healthy, active adult lives
8. Attending America’s most respected colleges & universities and succeeding at whatever college attended: (Advocacy message #8: Independent schools vastly over-represented in the 150 most selective colleges.)
9. Persistence factor: leading the nation in post-secondary achievement: Most 9th graders anticipate college; few graduate. Pell Institute Study of graduation rates (by age 24)
for all college students by income levels: Low income = 9%; middle income = 39%; high income = 52% (of those who go)
“Psst! Human Capital -What Works for Success” ~ David Brooks, New York Times Op-Ed, Nov 13, 2005
Cultural Capital: the habits, assumptions, emotional dispositions and linguistic capacities we unconsciously pick up from families, neighbors and ethnic groups - usually by age 3.– PFB note: Is it “cool” to read, to study, or not?
Social Capital: the knowledge of how to behave in groups and within institutions. – PFB note: UNC classes for students on how to behave in
restaurants; needed.
Moral Capital: the ability to be trustworthy. – PFB note: “Counter-culture” of independent schools.
“Psst! Human Capital -What Works for Success” David Brooks, New York Times Op-Ed, Nov 13, 2005
Aspirational Capital: the fire-in-the-belly ambition to achieve. “90% of life is just showing up.” ~Woody Allen. – PFB Note: Millionaire studies: C+/B- students—who
were told they wouldn’t amount to much. Worrying about “self-esteem” vs. encouraging “prove them wrong.”
Cognitive Capital: This can mean pure, inherited brainpower. But important cognitive skills are not measured by IQ tests and are not fixed. – PFB Note: EQ more important in life than IQ, especially
empathy and social judgment. “Growth mindset” most important of all.
Educational Reform in America: Not much return on investment.
David Brooks: “The only things that work are local, human-to-human immersions that transform the students down to their very beings. Extraordinary schools, which create intense cultures of achievement, work. Extraordinary teachers, who inspire students to transform their lives, work.”
“Psst! Human Capital -What Works for Success” ~ David Brooks, New York Times Op-Ed, Nov 13, 2005
Freedoms of Independence
What Great Schools Have in Common
What Kids Need
What Parents Need
Overview
Student Needs (cf. Robert Evans)
To Belong: To be part of a community (homogeneous independent school communities vs. clique stratification in large schools: e.g., cafeteria geography of jocks, preps, geeks, granolas, artistes, hip hop, grunge, ravers, Goths, etc.). Entry tickets to the group?
To Develop Skills (interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic, athletic, aesthetic) (Why kids show up)
To Learn Values/“The Rules” (virtue, persistence, “showing up”; respecting the boundary line; self-discipline more important than IQ in influencing academic success (cf. Psychological Science, 2005)
Student Needs
To Have Success (ego-building growth, confidence, unconditional love)
To Overcome Failures (the most valuable lessons, despite helicopter parents)
Kurt Hahn’s “Seven Laws of Salem” and Wendy Mogel’s The Blessing of the Skinned Knee and The Blessing of a B Minus) and Deborah Roffman’s “Pedagogically Speaking.” PFB note: Greenhouse effect of independent schools: ideal growing conditions but also necessary stresses before transplanting to outdoor world.
Overview
Freedoms of Independence
Why Choose an Independent School?
What Kids Need
What Parents Need
What Some Parents (5%) Need that Schools CAN’T Provide cf. Time, 2/21/05 “Parents Behaving Badly”; Wendy Mogel’s The Blessings of a Skinned Knee; Michael Thompson’s For the Sake of the Children: An NAIS Guide to Successful Family-School Relationships.
2005 MetLife Survey of The American Teacher: Public school teachers report very satisfied in working with students = 68%; in working with parents = 25%
What Most Parents Need that Schools CAN Provide
Practical Needs: Extended Day, Rich Afterschool Offerings, Conferencing at Convenient Times, Day Care On-site for Meetings; Website calendars & syllabi.
Psychic Needs: Reinforcement of school choice
Human Needs: To be heard (NB. Starbucks & Skim Milk)
And… (the main, main thing…)
A Mutually Supportive Partnership with the School...
What Most Parents Need that Schools CAN Provide
A Mutually Supportive Partnership with the School... Understanding the quid pro quo between
teachers and parents. Supporting the authority of teachers and
school. And vice versa. Discounting heavily rumors your child
brings home from school. Avoid the parking lot Mafia.
Setting proper environment and expectations for homework.
Limiting TV consumption to 1 hr. per day of acceptable fare. Encouraging reading instead of TV.
What Most Parents Need that Schools CAN Provide
Parenting Needs: A Partnership with the School... Giving generously of time and resources to
support the program of the school. Respecting school schedule and calendar. Learning from professionals about the
developmental stages of young people. Helping young people make good choices
regarding time: Avoid over-scheduling. Resisting adolescents’ peculiar skill in
wearing parents down: curfews, parties, etc.
Appendix: See Related Slides
For More Resources on this Topic, Go to www.nais.org
Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids To School? (Dennis Doyle, et. al., Fordham Foundation, Sept. 2004)
49 Rochester, NY 14.6 37.5 22.9
38 Nashville, TN 7.2 28.6 21.4
44Hartford-Bristol-Middleton-New Britain, CT 7.0 25.0 18.0
24 Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH/KY/IN 24.4 41.2 16.8
3 Chicago, IL 22.6 38.7 16.1
32Providence-Fall River-Pawtucket, MA/RI 16.5 31.3 14.7
19 Baltimore, MD 20.9 35.1 14.3
4 Philadelphia, PA/NJ 30.9 43.8 12.8
22 Denver-Boulder, CO 12.6 23.3 10.7
13 Riverside-San Bernadino, CA 9.1 19.3 10.2
Size/Rank City %City %PS Fac Difference
See Atlantic article
Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids To School? (Dennis Doyle, et. al., Fordham Foundation, Sept. 2004)
1 New York-Northeastern NJ 22.7 32.5 9.8
43 Jacksonville, FL 18.6 28.0 9.4
12San Francisco-Oakland-Vallejo, CA 25.2 34.3 9.1
6 Miami-Hialeah, FL 16.3 25.3 9.0
2 Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA 15.7 24.5 8.9
45 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 20.0 27.6 7.6
25 Portland, OR-WA 12.7 20.0 7.3
7 Washington, DC 19.8 26.8 7.0
11 Boston, MA-NH 21.7 28.2 6.4
36 Milwaukee, WI 23.4 29.4 6.0
Size/Rank City %City %PS Fac Difference
Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids To School? (Dennis Doyle, et. al., Fordham Foundation, Sept. 2004)
10 Detroit, MI 12.8 18.5 5.7
26 Sacramento, CA 10.0 15.2 5.2
40 New Orleans, LA 24.5 29.1 4.7
United States total (for Cities) 17.5 21.5 4.0
41 Memphis, TN/AR/MS 12.4 15.7 3.3
31 Columbus, OH 14.0 17.0 3.0
21 Pittsburgh, PA 13.4 14.9 1.5
14 Phoenix, AZ 8.2 9.2 1.0
33Norfolk-VA Beach-Newport News, VA 12.6 13.6 1.0
35 Las Vegas, NV 6.7 7.2 0.6
Size/Rank City %City %PS Fac Difference
Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids To School? (Dennis Doyle, et. al., Fordham Foundation, Sept. 2004)
27 Kansas City, MO-KS 17.3 17.1 -0.2
46 Richmond-Petersburg, VA 17.5 16.7 -0.8
8 Houston-Brazoria, TX 9.9 9.0 -0.9
17 San Diego, CA 10.4 9.3 -1.1
16 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 17.5 16.3 -1.2
20Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 15.1 13.4 -1.8
50 Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT 7.2 5.2 -2.0
30 San Jose, CA 16.6 14.1 -2.5
28 San Antonio, TX 11.6 8.6 -2.9
5 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 10.7 7.6 -3.1
34 Indianapolis, IN 14.5 11.1 -3.4
Size/Rank City %City %PS Fac Difference
Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids To School? (Dennis Doyle, et. al., Fordham Foundation, Sept. 2004)
15 Seattle-Everett, WA 22.0 18.6 -3.4
9 Atlanta, GA 11.6 7.8 -3.8
18 St. Louis, MO-IL 20.4 16.5 -3.9
23 Cleveland, OH 19.9 16.0 -3.9
39 Austin, TX 10.0 6.0 -4.0
48 Birmingham, AL 13.1 8.7 -4.4
29 Orlando, FL 14.2 9.6 -4.7
47 Oklahoma City, OK 10.5 1.7 -8.8
37Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 16.2 7.1 -9.1
42 Louisville, KY/IN 24.7 15.2 -9.5
Size/Rank City %City %PS Fac Difference
Migration?Leaving the City for the Schools, and Regretting It
By Winnie Hu, The New York Times (from November 13, 2006)
“…many New Yorkers with the means to do so flee the city when they have children, seeing the suburbs as a way to stay committed to public education without compromising their standards for safety and academics.
Yet a small but growing number of such parents are abandoning even some of the top-performing public schools in the region. In school districts like Scarsdale, N.Y., and Montclair, N.J., where high test scores and college admission rates have built national reputations and propelled real estate prices upward, these demanding families say they were disappointed by classes that were too crowded, bare-bones arts and sports programs, and an emphasis on standardized testing rather than creative teaching.”
Independent vs. Privileged Public Suburban Public Schools
• Greater than 70% high school students attend high school with more than 1000 enrollment (Ed Week, 10/20/01)• Parents choice of peer group (i.e. school) is the most decisive decision in child’s development. ~John Seal, UVA• Greatest persistence factor (graduating with a B.A.) is the academic intensity of one’s school. ~Adelman, OERI• Participation: 73% quit childhood sports by age 13 (Chicago Tribune, 3/30/00). Girls who play afterschool sports far
less likely to have had any sexual partners. (American Demographics 9/98)
Sources: Lessons of Privilege ~Art Powell; THL11/98 ~John Seel review of JD Harris’ The Nurture Assumption; American
Demographics 9/98
0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%
Independent
SuburbanPublic
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Richard Light’s Making the MostOut of College
Based on decade worth of analysis of the undergraduate experience at Harvard and other colleges.
Tools you need: – Time management– Disciplined work ethic– Balancing academics with true interest and
commitment in other areas particularly the arts
– Comfort with engaging in class and approaching professors outside of class,
– Comfort with working in groups– Ability to think analytically.
Richard Light’s Making the Most Out of College
Comfort with diversity: Of those who attended private or independent
high schools, all but two ranked their personal experience with fellow students from ethnic groups other than their own as either “positive” or “highly positive.”
Of those who attended public high schools more than two-thirds characterized their personal experience as “negative” and “disappointing.”
American public schools make little effort to build a sense of community or shared culture. This is in sharp contrast to reports from graduates from independent schools.
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The Seven Laws of Salem (1930) ~Kurt Hahn, founder of Outward Bound
1. Give children the opportunity for self-discovery.
2. Make the children meet with triumph and defeat.
3. Give the children the opportunity of self-effacement in the common cause.
4. Provide periods of silence.
5. Train the imagination.
6. Make games important but not predominant.
7. Free the sons of the wealthy and powerful from the enervating sense of privilege.Return
By what measure should we judge school systems?
“America once had one of the most educated workforces in the world, but today only 40 percent of young adults have a college degree – a lower percentage than eleven other countries and no higher than a generation ago.” Secretary of Education Arnie. Duncan 8/9/10 (“Restoring America’s Leadership in Higher Education”)
9th Grade (100) Graduate (67) Enter College (38) Stay as Sophs (26)
Grad in 6 yrs (18)0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
School/College Graduates (Ed Week 3/22/06)
Note: Less than 40% of 18 year olds get to college; under 20% graduate within six years; only 27% of US jobs require a college degree (28% by 2012—US Bureau of Labor)
Country % in College % Graduate
Korea 48 18
Greece 43 <15
Finland 37 <15
Belgium 37 <15
US 35 17
Ireland 35 21
Poland 34 17
Australia 31 23
France 31 20
Hungary 31 16
% of 18-24 Year Olds in College vs. % Who Graduate
Spain 30 17
New Zealand 29 21
Netherlands 27 16
Norway 25 <15
Portugal 25 25
Sweden 24 18
Czech Republic 24 15
Germany 23 <15
Austria 23 <15
Denmark 20 23
US toward the top in college participation, towards the bottom in college completion. Source: EdWeek 09/13/06
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Amherst 58 41 Northwestern 78 22
Bowdoin 51 49 Pomona 64 35
Brown 58 39 Princeton 61 39
Columbia 57 43 Stanford 67 33
Cornell 69 23 Swarthmore 63 29
Dartmouth 66 34 UC-Berkeley 87 13
Duke 68 32 Univ of CHI 64 29
Georgetown 49 51 Univ of PA 52 48
Middlebury 53 47 Yale 54 46
MIT 69 21
College %Public %Private The Path to Highly Selective Colleges
Source: WSJ, Oct. 2006 & CAPE Outlook, Nov. 2006
Note: Private schools in general educate around 10% of students; in that group, independent schools are about 1%.
College %Public %Private
Of the private selective colleges, about 40% of the matriculants come from private schools.
1. “The Match” vs. “The Decal”
2. Race to Nowhere & Getting In
3. Stanford or Harvard?
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Pedagogically Speaking: Teaching Outside Pandora's Box Deborah M. Roffman Independent School, Summer 2010
Five Core Nurturing Needs for K-12 Kids:1. Affirmation2. Information3. Clarity around Values4. Limit Setting5. Anticipatory Guidance
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How Well-Intentioned Adults UndermineChildren’s Moral & Emotional Development
• Parents have most profound impact on morals.
• Weissbourd’s research: Teens’ perception of what they believe to be the most important value for them in their parents’ mind: 1. For you to be happy 2. Achieving a high level of income3. Having a high status job4. Being a good person who cares about
others5. Gaining entrance into a selective college2/3rds public & private school kids thought #1 over #4. ½ of high income private school kids thought #5 over #4.
Weissbourd’s comment on academic “pressure”: 30-40% of Harvard’s undergrads on anti-depressants.
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Demonstrations of Learning:
1. Conduct a fluent conversation in a foreign language about of piece of writing in that language. (Stanford University requirement)
2. Write a cogent and persuasive opinion piece on a matter of public importance.
3. Declaim with passion and from memory a passage that is meaningful, of one’s own or from the culture’s literature or history.
4. Demonstrate a commitment to creating a more sustainable and global future with means that are scalable
5. Invent a machine or program a robot capable of performing a difficult physical task.
Demonstrations of Learning
6. Exercise leadership in arena which you have passion and expertise.
7. Using statistics or forensics, assess if a statement by a public figure is demonstrably true.
8. Assess media coverage of a global event from various cultural/national perspectives. (“Arab Spring” & 6th grade US history unit on “causes of the revolution”)
9. Describe a breakthrough for a project-based team on which you participated in which you contributed to overcoming a human-created obstacle.
10.Produce or perform or stage or interpret a work of art.
The implied mission promise of a school with these outcomes?
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Challenge 20/20: Montessori School of Denver
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Rio Grande School (NM)
Grant Wood’s Victorian Survival
Smithsonian Podcast interpretation by Katy Waldman, Holton Arms School
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Amherst 58 41 Northwestern 78 22
Bowdoin 51 49 Pomona 64 35
Brown 58 39 Princeton 61 39
Columbia 57 43 Stanford 67 33
Cornell 69 23 Swarthmore 63 29
Dartmouth 66 34 UC-Berkeley 87 13
Duke 68 32 Univ of CHI 64 29
Georgetown 49 51 Univ of PA 52 48
Middlebury 53 47 Yale 54 46
MIT 69 21 Avg = 35% from private schools
College %Public %Private
The Path to Highly Selective Colleges
Source: WSJ, Oct. 2006 & CAPE Outlook, Nov. 2006
Note: Private schools in general educate 10% of students; independent schools, 1%.
Independent vs. Privileged Suburban Public Schools
0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%
Top 10
0 Fac
8th/A
lgI
8th/F
orLan
g
Girls/P
reca
lc
Sports
Arts/S
ervice
Independent
SuburbanPublic
• Greater than 70% high school students attend high school with more than 1000 enrollment (Ed Week, 10/20/01)• Parents choice of peer group (i.e. school) is the most decisive decision in child’s development. ~John Seel, UVA• Greatest persistence factor (graduating with a B.A.) is the academic intensity of one’s school. ~Adelman, OERI• Participation: 73% quit childhood sports by age 13 (Chicago Tribune, 3/30/00). Girls who play afterschool sports far
less likely to have had any sexual partners. (American Demographics 9/98)
Sources: Lessons of Privilege ~Art Powell; THL11/98 ~John Seel review of JD Harris’ The Nurture Assumption; American
Demographics 9/98
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Falmouth Academy’s Submersible Robot
Creativity, Robotics, Teaming and STEM
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