Here’s something to think about: what if a law or just policy could be passed that would actually all-but-guarantee that no child will be left behind in school, while all students would be able to learn to their potential?
There’s a simple thing about humans, we’re animals that can be programed just like any others. Don’t think so? Check out Neuro-linguistic programming or Derren Brown or anything similar where people show just how easily people can be manipulated and just otherwise not be as “unique” as they think. But back to the subject, different people learn differently. They think somewhat differently (despite my prior comments), and not all people can be or even will be experts in the same field.
Different personalities, intelligence (but really, what is intelligence?), and abilities both within the person and in their environment all alter how well they’ll be able to do in schools. Almost sounds like boarding schools would be the way to go there if you think about the environment’s involvement.
Here’s the thing: the same student could get a different score on the same test based on what hour in the day, what day of the week, if they’ve eaten, if they’ve exercised, or even if their school’s sports team won or lost a game.
And what conditions cause one student to get a good grade on a test might not be what causes a higher grade for another student. But think about how schools do things: set schedules with tests given to all students at the same time. A school system could easily manipulate the student’s scores just by testing the students at the time and conditions in the day that the student does best.
For example:
- Student A does 5% better on tests in the afternoon — so instead of giving them tests in the morning, they administer all tests in the afternoon for them.
- Student B does 5% better on tests in the morning — so instead of giving them tests in the afternoon, they administer all tests in teh morning for them.
Of course this would also mean that for every day in the week, there would have to be a “testing classroom” where students go to take tests. They could either choose the time, or the school could assign them a time. That way they take tests when they generally do better on tests, which could give them potentially better scores.
But what does this mean? Does it mean that the students actually are more intelligent at different times in the day? Maybe, but really it just means they’re mind’s more focused, or just better at guessing at different parts in the day. The student’s actual knowledge is the same, just one gives better test scores.
It could go a long way for some schools to have students with better scores (so no child “left behind”) while not making any other real changes.
But in the end it all comes down to one thing: money. If you have good teachers that are well paid, with schools that have the funds to teach the classes with appropriate materials, and actually able to teach the fine arts (music, art, etc) students would end up being better in school, happier, and maybe just more interested in learning.
For those who don’t think so…. imagine these two schools and think which one you’d much rather attend:
School A:
- Textbooks are 10+ years old, teachers make the corrections on the board for you to keep track of
- Tests are given at 8am and 3pm in different classes — right after you showed up, and right before leaving.
- When you learn about atoms, the teacher draws the atom on the board for you to copy down
- you have classes from start to finish — all involving taking notes and reading, no rest or downtime except for lunch (no band, no art, nothing letting you be creative)
School B:
- Textbooks are within 4 years old, with virtually no updates needed
- Tests are given when you’re ready for them, no early morning or late afternoon tests unless you want it
- The teacher pulls up the notebook with projector screen to show you a 3d animated atom moving on the screen with tons of different animations to explain their movement and how they join.
- You have tangible things to study with in all classes. You’ve got more models and microscopes you could shake a stick at (so to speak) — you even get to see movies and plays involving stories read in class
- You get to learn theatre, music, art, shop, and other creative and real-world things to learn how things are really done not just what the book tells you — and get time to learn how to be unique and not just be a drone — not to mention getting a “break” from studying to do things that are enjoyable.
Would you really want to be in School A? If you don’t want a child left behind — get the funding to the schools (all the schools – even the ones “not worth the money” [self-fulfilling prophecy applies]) and students would want to learn, and even have the opportunity to learn.
