Small High School Science, Redux
There've been some good ideas expressed in comments about science at SHS. I want to answer a couple things out in the front page so all can see.
Chris Correa, always ready with good suggestions and questions, asks about recent graduates. The school keeps records of where kids attend college, and that list is certainly right in there. They send kids to the Ivy League; they send kids to the local state universities and community college. This school is less likely to send kids to the military and work, possibly because of the demographic; SHS is more white and affluent than the two big, comprehensive high schools.
And what about kids who have gone on from SHS? I don't have a ton of information here. I know of one student who is now at Harvard Law School. Another SHS alum is Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter who was kidnapped in Iraq.
Parents with kids at SHS rave about how great it is, but I'm not swayed. After all, the parents at my kids' elementary school disliked the one second grade teacher who was clearly the best teacher in the lower el. They said she was loud. Yep, but she was also good at teaching. So when parents tell me SHS is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I take it with a grain of salt.
It's not a matter of direct instruction versus activity instruction. Science requires both. It's a question of balance and coverage. Kids don't become scientists just by memorizing textbooks and listening to lectures. Likewise, they don't know enough to design studies and analyze results without looking at material in text books and listening to lectures. Science requires both. I would be as skeptical of a science curriculum that minimized lab work as I am of one that does nothing but lab work.
Maybe this is a great case study of one. I can watch what happens to my daughter and how the classes are enacted. And then report here. I admit I'm interested to see if the redesigned science courses are better/different and how. And I will certainly make sure my daughter gets what she needs if they are somehow lacking.
And oh yeah, she's going to SHS. She wants to, and I think her desire and enthusiasm are very important.
Chris Correa, always ready with good suggestions and questions, asks about recent graduates. The school keeps records of where kids attend college, and that list is certainly right in there. They send kids to the Ivy League; they send kids to the local state universities and community college. This school is less likely to send kids to the military and work, possibly because of the demographic; SHS is more white and affluent than the two big, comprehensive high schools.
And what about kids who have gone on from SHS? I don't have a ton of information here. I know of one student who is now at Harvard Law School. Another SHS alum is Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter who was kidnapped in Iraq.
Parents with kids at SHS rave about how great it is, but I'm not swayed. After all, the parents at my kids' elementary school disliked the one second grade teacher who was clearly the best teacher in the lower el. They said she was loud. Yep, but she was also good at teaching. So when parents tell me SHS is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I take it with a grain of salt.
It's not a matter of direct instruction versus activity instruction. Science requires both. It's a question of balance and coverage. Kids don't become scientists just by memorizing textbooks and listening to lectures. Likewise, they don't know enough to design studies and analyze results without looking at material in text books and listening to lectures. Science requires both. I would be as skeptical of a science curriculum that minimized lab work as I am of one that does nothing but lab work.
Maybe this is a great case study of one. I can watch what happens to my daughter and how the classes are enacted. And then report here. I admit I'm interested to see if the redesigned science courses are better/different and how. And I will certainly make sure my daughter gets what she needs if they are somehow lacking.
And oh yeah, she's going to SHS. She wants to, and I think her desire and enthusiasm are very important.
posted by Jenny D. at 10:29 AM
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