tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post1754057571914345299..comments2024-03-19T07:30:55.288-04:00Comments on Curmudgeon: A Response to the Income Gap Question and Comments.Curmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04323026187622872114noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post-58047369514406081252014-03-14T10:59:11.462-04:002014-03-14T10:59:11.462-04:00I love your common sense approach. I love your common sense approach. LSquared32https://www.blogger.com/profile/00858524638866166691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post-45139322918436639012014-03-07T16:28:01.279-05:002014-03-07T16:28:01.279-05:00I feel as if I have read, though I cannot tell you...I feel as if I have read, though I cannot tell you where, that literally if the family's income increases due to better jobs that student performance also increases.<br /><br />I also don't see how the funding has been equalized when you hear about Chicago public schools having something like 60 students in high school classes. If the children really need the extra help and support surely the smaller class sizes would be best? It's what private schools strive to do. I agree that the funding may be there, and simply mismanaged (lord knows that I see how much my school spends on needless professional development meetings that would be better utilized by simply having more staff). <br /><br />While I ultimately agree that the things parents do at home certainly have the largest impact on the child, that the culture of poverty isn't something that is always easily overcome, even if the child is exceptionally smart. I work with very underprivileged children who have ultimately given up because they simply can't get their work done at home (online school) because someone is always interrupting them with requests to baby-sit or run an errand or attend to some trifling need of the parent. That the television is not turned off or the noise level reduced when the student is trying to work because that would interrupt everyone else in the house. <br /><br />I recently became acquainted with a young mother in poverty through a friend, and she just simply has no idea of what she is doing as a mother, or a model of how to become a good one. Her 1 month old baby sits in front of the TV, she thinks this is cute that the baby is "watching" The Little Mermaid. She would have greatly benefited from some kind of program that checks in on new mothers in poverty and given tips about ways to interact with the child in a developmentally appropriate way. She will probably never have access to give the baby enriching experiences or visit a public library because there isn't one she can access with no vehicle. <br /><br />I don't know what all of that is to say, except that I'm not sure that it's all about motivation or that some dogged determination leads everyone to the top. Sure it leads some, but I doubt that is the norm. We just hear those stories more frequently than the story of the person who kept trying but remained at a low level due to being passed over for various reasons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8705078887057341738.post-11623727362099229552009-09-16T13:07:18.005-04:002009-09-16T13:07:18.005-04:00Make education noncompulsory?
How do other countr...Make education noncompulsory?<br /><br />How do other countries, like India, do it?PeggyUnoreply@blogger.com