I should be re-FramIng this in a way that doesn't treat kids as passive recipients. But I can't think of a sufficiently pithy term... let's crossref Network Of Learning for now.

See Educating Kids In Nyc for some bottoms-up horror bits.

These days, Educating Adults (which should probably be labelled [Training Adults]) gets more attention from the technologists, and more investor dollars, because (a) increasing rates of societal change make even good earlier education less valuable (supposedly), and (b) the adult market isn't twisted by the significant involvement of the government.

But it's the educating of children that really counts. And is done pretty damn poorly right now, in my opinion. Even though passing along Basic School Skills really doesn't have to be hard.

Part of it's a matter of providing Stimulating Learning Projects. The meta-problem, I believe, is the system that makes such projects unlikely.

• one sub-area: Exposing Young Kids To Science

See Un Schooling for an alternative. Also some Alexander Patterns.

Sol Stern says NYC spends $10K/student/year on the school system. Philip Greenspun points out that Cambridge ([MA]) spends $17K. He suggests a model of small-group tutoring from grad students as a model (small groups should be able to use unofficial space like people's apartments, eliminating facilities cost - but you have a liability issue).

Tax Dollars For Religious Schools

I want to improve my Systems Thinking in this area. I want to get at least to a Diagram Of Effects. I'll start by making some statements.

Hmm, I'll fill in some ConText first, since I find that provides some help in deciding what to include/exclude from analysis.

• goal of analysis: The idea is to understand the structure of the educational system (in the USA) to help in evaluating possible policy/structure changes based on their potential to improve the performance of the system.

• some stakeholders

  • students

  • parents of students

  • teachers

  • principals

  • non-teaching employees (janitors, administrators, etc.)

  • employers (who hire ex-students)

  • taxpayers (who pay for Public Schools)

  • education-theory academics and consultants

  • all people ("society") (who have to share space with students and ex-students)

Some people believe it is society's responsibility to educate all children.

Some people believe it is in society's best interest to try to educate most children (to reduce crime and welfare expenses).

It is difficult/impossible to design perfect/objective instruments to evaluate students' performance at learning what we want them to learn.

People disagree on the best balance between core items ("the 3 Rs") and other subject areas (social science, arts, personal health management, phys ed, conflict resolution, etc.)

Many young adults who have completed their period of formal education seem to lack necessary functional skills.

• colleges are increasing their budgets for remedial programs for entering freshmen

• employers complain about employees who are high school graduates not being able to read procedures, add up numbers, make change, etc.

Education certificates (high school diplomas, college degrees) are often seen as prerequisites for financial success (e.g. employment). So students and their parents often focus more on getting the piece of paper than on actually learning anything.

Giving a student a failing grade is sometimes interpreted as a failure on the part of the teacher. Therefore teachers have an incentive to pass a student who doesn't deserve it.

Failing many students out of an entire grade is often interpreted as a failure on the part of the school. Therefore principals have an incentive to pass students who don't deserve it.

Students who excel in athletics are often given lower standards to meet in academic courses, so they are passed even if they don't deserve it.

Some parents rarely read.

Some parents rarely read to their children.

Some parents rarely check whether their children are keeping up with their homework.

The more a young child is read to, the more likely they are to be interested in learning to read, and the more likely they are to learn to read well.

Standardized tests are intended to provide an objective 3rd-party (outside-the-school) evaluation of what students have learned, as a reaction to people not trusting the diploma as an indication of anything.

Companies who provide standardized tests often donate significant sums to money to politicians who support increased use of standardized tests in their region.

Standardized tests cost money to buy, score, report and track.

Students whose courses don't cover the material included in a standardized test don't do as well in those tests. Therefore teachers are pressures to include any material that will be covered in a standardized in their courses.

To increase their objectivity (and reduce their cost), standardized tests are mostly based on multiple-choice questions.

Some people question whether multiple-choice questions are an appropriate instrument for measure a students understanding of a subject.

Schools spend a significant portion of their expenses on items not directly tied to instruction. see NYC report

• building construction, maintenance and repair. Cleaning.

• curriculum design and planning; teaching teachers

• supplies; procurement management

• administration

It is difficult to reduce indirect expenses in response to reduced revenue.

Private schools are very expensive.

Parochial schools are less expensive than secular private schools. This may be true because many employees (e.g. nuns as teachers) perform their role as a form of religious service, and thus are paid less than private schools teachers; there may be other reasons as well.

Some parents value exclusivity and thus are attracted to high prices.

Some parents value separating their children from poorer children.

Governments regulate the operation of private schools.

Regulations increase cost.

Voucher programs transfer funds from public school budgets to private schools where students choose to attend.

People disagree as to whether vouchers should transfer only variable/direct costs or some other other/higher amount.

It is difficult/impossible to design perfect/objective instruments to evaluate teachers' performance at educating kids.

Teachers believe that they are often evaluated by principals inappropriately (e.g. on how well they suck up).

Teachers unions have worked to minimize the effects of subjective evaluation on (public school) teachers' performance.

Teachers (in public schools) are often assigned to schools and subjects based on seniority rather than ability or training.

Teachers (in public schools) who are considered poor performers are rarely fired.

(Similar statements to the above can be made for other school employees (like janitors) and managers.)

Charter schools are public schools which often given more power/flexibility to principals.

Students often evaluate their teachers based on how fun and easy they are, rather than how well they help the students learn.

Parents who try to transfer their children out of poorly-performing public schools often discover that there is no excess capacity in highly-performing schools.

Some people fear that letting "good" students "escape" from public schools (via vouchers) will reduce the pressure on public schools to improve (Exit Voice And Loyalty), and will reduce society's willingness to pay for public education systems.

Some people believe a Single Payer approach might make sense.

[Jamshid Gharajedaghi] --2003/10/21 01:02 [GMT]
There's an example of a systems diagram for the US education system (fig. 6.4) in the book "Systems Thinking : Managing Chaos and Complexity" by [Jamshid Gharajedaghi]. It's a bit right-wing for my taste, but the idea is a good one. I'd like to see all your elements diagrammed this way. Do you currently use a systems diagramming tool? -- Phil Jones

• no. I've played with Stella/[IThink] before, but didn't feel like I would use it enough to justify the expense. I'm more interested these days in a simple Graph Drawing tool (for a Diagram Of Effects, etc.). Eventually I'd like to play with Idea Graph or the drawing module of Open Office. I'd be even happier if there were some integration with OSAF/Chandler... --Bill Seitz

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