What's Best for Kids
If you've spent any time in schools or in school district offices, there's a good chance you've heard someone implore others to remember that it's important to keep students in mind when making decisions.
Although not always, this is sometimes a underhanded insult. It suggests that others may have ulterior motives (presumably self-interest) when making decisions about how schools work.
At my school, we've recently been thinking about how to change our structures, schedule, class offerings, and other important operational components in an attempt to provide better educational experiences for students. The process has led to a few reminders that we should keep students at the heart of our thinking, which led me to really think about how my school might change if we really thought about said change through the lens of "what's best for kids."
Here are a few things I think would put students first (certainly not an exhaustive list):
1) We would allocate far fewer days to testing and test preparation
Many of my students experience severe anxiety about tests, and some even skip school when they know a test is coming. There is much to be said for learning to take tests and their role in society, but we've overdone it by a long shot. The emphasis we place on tests encourage deficit thinking and
Although not always, this is sometimes a underhanded insult. It suggests that others may have ulterior motives (presumably self-interest) when making decisions about how schools work.
At my school, we've recently been thinking about how to change our structures, schedule, class offerings, and other important operational components in an attempt to provide better educational experiences for students. The process has led to a few reminders that we should keep students at the heart of our thinking, which led me to really think about how my school might change if we really thought about said change through the lens of "what's best for kids."
Here are a few things I think would put students first (certainly not an exhaustive list):
1) We would allocate far fewer days to testing and test preparation
Many of my students experience severe anxiety about tests, and some even skip school when they know a test is coming. There is much to be said for learning to take tests and their role in society, but we've overdone it by a long shot. The emphasis we place on tests encourage deficit thinking and