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EDUCATIONAL REFORM PROPOSALS Page 5
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Introduction Policy Policy Adv
& DisAdv of Policy Adv
& DisAdv of Policy
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Policy Proposal 2 The biggest advantage of Policy Proposal 2 is the fact that a structured educational institution is already solidly established—facilities, funding, teachers, administrators, students, busing, technology, activities, and clubs. Since the Skill and Content-Based Reform model targets convergent thinking students, the educational reform needed for these students doesn’t have to be as exhaustive and comprehensive as the entire-school reform necessary for divergent thinking students. The main disadvantage of Policy Proposal 2 is its
continuing inability to provide for the educational environment essential
to better learning for divergent minded students. By not
providing this opportunity to these students, it forces them to seek out
and establish a school which will help them achieve their potential
to attain much higher academic standards, and thus better prepare them to
exist successfully in the competitive economic world of tomorrow. Because of increasing competition in education, along with accountability for higher standards now being required, support of Policy Proposal 2 will likely come from local School Boards, school districts, and the state Department of Education. Unless the public schools begin to democratically offer constructivist methods of learning across-the-board to divergent minded students, opposition will continue to mount from parents. Given a choice, parents will always opt for what is best for their children. Policy Proposal 2 has solid feasibility of being implemented, because traditional schools have always been able to make minor modifications or small adaptations in their classrooms. Their problem in the past has been their inability (and perhaps ignorance) in instituting major reform and across-the-board change in their instructional method and curricula agenda. |
Continued from left column One of the main components needed in order for this
proposal to work is the teaching and training of the teachers. Among
teachers who report to having one or more computer systems readily
available at school, only 62 percent use a computer regularly for
instruction. The more ambitious and promising pedagogic applications
of computers, the greater the calling is for more technological skills
from the teacher. In this synopsis, teachers must select appropriate
software, effectively integrate technology into the curriculum, and devise
ways of assessing student work based on potentially complex individual and
group projects (Report to the President, p.
25). As such, computers will
make the teachers’ job more difficult initially; yet, in the long term,
technology should be their best friend. Costs for professionally developed Skill & Content-Based Reform models are high. Charges vary per program and model chosen. Based on 50 teachers, 50 classes. and 1200 students, the costs range from $1,600-50,000 for teacher training, $5,000-10,000 for travel and lodging for teachers’ training, $5,000-60,000 for student materials, $1,000-$5,000 for franchise fees, and $1,000-5,000 for start-up costs (CSRM). Some school reform models have a flat charge per classroom, and can run as high as $450,000 for 50 classrooms. There are even a few programs available in which the only costs are for textbooks, equivalent to a normal classroom. However, these models are remedial, and as thus may not be as professionally developed. The likely impact of adopting Policy Proposal 2 should have positive results from the teachers because of the in-depth, professional training given to them. Convergent minded students should also gain good results from these programs because of their successful tested-and-tried results. Being out of the ordinary, students should also receive stronger stimulation by the novel learning techniques and applications. |
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