This week’s focus for my blog post is about what’s happening locally and what’s happening globally. For the local news, I want to focus on the plan to double the number of charter schools in New Hampshire. For the global news, I want to focus on the recent PISA rankings and why Estonia has risen in the ranks.
New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) stated “New Hampshire has just 29 charter schools, which is fewer than most states. Over the next five years, the state wants to nearly double the amount of charter schools with the help of new federal funding.” They also stated “in August, the New Hampshire Department of Education was awarded $46 million over five years to create 20 new charter schools, seven replications of “high-quality” charter schools and five expansions.”
New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) stated “New Hampshire has just 29 charter schools, which is fewer than most states. Over the next five years, the state wants to nearly double the amount of charter schools with the help of new federal funding.” They also stated “in August, the New Hampshire Department of Education was awarded $46 million over five years to create 20 new charter schools, seven replications of “high-quality” charter schools and five expansions.”
Now, there are a lot of challenges to get a charter school just up and running. A lot of it revolves around funding. On average, it takes one to two years for a charter school to open and the next three years being the most difficult to even stay open (Ernst). Charter schools don’t receive a lot of their funding from local property taxes like regular public schools so the schools have to rely on outside fundraising (Ernst).
One interesting aspect of charter schools is that they each have unique missions. For example, some schools that focus on the arts or robotics and computer science and many more. I think charter schools could truly benefit students who know what they want to do in the future or learn more about something you're passionate about.
One problem that I see with charter schools is that they’re not for everyone. Anyone can attend a charter school but at the same time, there is a limited amount of students that are going to attend the schools. There aren’t going to be as many students at the charter school compared to a regular public school.
Mary Heath, a New Hampshire Representative in the House of Representatives stated: “20 additional charters is a lot for the state of New Hampshire -- we’re a small state,” (Ernst). Instead, I think a better solution would be to give more funding to charter schools that been successful and some funding should go to public schools that are struggling financially.
Capital City Charter School in Concord
(Ernst)
In regards to global education news, there is a lot of talk over the recent PISA test results. The PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests the “measure the ability of 15-year-olds to apply their skills and knowledge to real-life problem-solving in reading, maths, and science,” (Jeffreys).
Many educators were surprised by the average score of Estonia which scored high above the average set by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) which have been conducting the tests since 2000 (Jeffreys). The countries that ranked first in all three categories were China and Singapore with Estonia not far behind them (Anderson). Meanwhile, the U.S was about average in science and reading and was below average in mathematics (Anderson).
So what’s Estonia’s secret for success?
According to the BBC, it’s because of the way Estonia has structured its schools. For example, when children attend kindergarten, before moving on to the next grade, they “making sure as many as possible are emotionally and physically ready to learn,” (Jeffreys). Each child gets a “school readiness” card which states what they’re able to do, their skills as well as their development (Jeffreys).
Another interesting aspect of their school systems is that parents aren’t expected to contribute financially (Jeffreys). The only time parents have to make a payment is in kindergarten but “it is capped as a proportion of the minimum wage,” (Jeffreys). Parents never have to pay for school supplies or lunches for their kids and much more. Also, teachers have a lot of freedom with what they can do and they are allowed to take risks to make their students want to learn the material (Jeffreys).
The only problem that I see with their school systems is homework. BBC stated that because education is so valued in Estonia, they have a tradition to study a lot which means they study for hours after school.
So should the U.S change their schools to follow in the footsteps of Estonia’s schools? Yes and no.
Some changes that need to be made to our schools and I think that changing how lessons are taught and making them more engaging for students like Estonia is a great idea. Students should want to learn. Like I said earlier, I don’t agree with Estonia’s view of homework because being a student at this age, I think there is enough homework already. I’m not saying that all homework is bad but sometimes, enough is enough.
One problem that I see with charter schools is that they’re not for everyone. Anyone can attend a charter school but at the same time, there is a limited amount of students that are going to attend the schools. There aren’t going to be as many students at the charter school compared to a regular public school.
Mary Heath, a New Hampshire Representative in the House of Representatives stated: “20 additional charters is a lot for the state of New Hampshire -- we’re a small state,” (Ernst). Instead, I think a better solution would be to give more funding to charter schools that been successful and some funding should go to public schools that are struggling financially.
Capital City Charter School in Concord
(Ernst)
In regards to global education news, there is a lot of talk over the recent PISA test results. The PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests the “measure the ability of 15-year-olds to apply their skills and knowledge to real-life problem-solving in reading, maths, and science,” (Jeffreys).
Many educators were surprised by the average score of Estonia which scored high above the average set by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) which have been conducting the tests since 2000 (Jeffreys). The countries that ranked first in all three categories were China and Singapore with Estonia not far behind them (Anderson). Meanwhile, the U.S was about average in science and reading and was below average in mathematics (Anderson).
So what’s Estonia’s secret for success?
According to the BBC, it’s because of the way Estonia has structured its schools. For example, when children attend kindergarten, before moving on to the next grade, they “making sure as many as possible are emotionally and physically ready to learn,” (Jeffreys). Each child gets a “school readiness” card which states what they’re able to do, their skills as well as their development (Jeffreys).
Another interesting aspect of their school systems is that parents aren’t expected to contribute financially (Jeffreys). The only time parents have to make a payment is in kindergarten but “it is capped as a proportion of the minimum wage,” (Jeffreys). Parents never have to pay for school supplies or lunches for their kids and much more. Also, teachers have a lot of freedom with what they can do and they are allowed to take risks to make their students want to learn the material (Jeffreys).
The only problem that I see with their school systems is homework. BBC stated that because education is so valued in Estonia, they have a tradition to study a lot which means they study for hours after school.
So should the U.S change their schools to follow in the footsteps of Estonia’s schools? Yes and no.
Some changes that need to be made to our schools and I think that changing how lessons are taught and making them more engaging for students like Estonia is a great idea. Students should want to learn. Like I said earlier, I don’t agree with Estonia’s view of homework because being a student at this age, I think there is enough homework already. I’m not saying that all homework is bad but sometimes, enough is enough.
Works Cited
Anderson, Jenny, and Amanda Shendruk. "The Best Students in the World, Charted." Quartz, 3 Dec. 2019, qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.
Ernst, Sara. Capital City Charter School in Concord. 7 Nov. 2019. NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio, 7 Nov. 2019, www.nhpr.org/post/new-hampshire-s-plan-double-its-charter-schools#stream/0. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.
Ernst, Sara Willa. "New Hampshire's Plan to Double Its Charter Schools." NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio, 7 Nov. 2019, www.nhpr.org/post/new-hampshire-s-plan-double-its-charter-schools#stream/0. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.
Jeffreys, Branwen. "Pisa Rankings: Why Estonian Pupils Shine in Global Tests." BBC News, BBC, 2 Dec. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/education-50590581. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.
Good specifics about the differences between the schools. While I can understand why you might not want to have more homework, do you think that the amount of work students do in Estonia is what makes them more successful? Do students in Estonia have fewer after-school commitments?
ReplyDeleteI think that the amount of homework that students in Estonia have makes them more successful but I also think that the combination of their homework and how they work in school leads to their success. I would think that because teachers expect Estonian students to do a lot of homework at home, they don't have a lot of after-school commitments like students in the US who do sports, or work, or things like that after-school.
DeleteI really liked your article and I liked how you compared the schools and education. What ways could our schools change education/how lessons are taught?
ReplyDeleteI never realized how many charter schools New Hampshire had. I liked how you found a way to fix the problem by instead of adding more charter schools we should fund the schools better. To improve your argument you could try and find the preformance rates in Estonia compared to America.
ReplyDeleteThere are many charter schools in New Hampshire that I feel like a lot of people didn't even know existed. Is there any other way besides funding to help keep these schools open longer?
ReplyDeleteDo you think charter schools could have a bigger range of students that they're trying to reach? Also, I agree with your stance on homework. Sometimes homework is given just to give it.
ReplyDelete