Quote:
Originally Posted by onesnowyowl
If we structured classes so that a few poorly behaved kids were in a class where the bulk of the kids were well-behaved, the modeled behavior would rub off.
|
This works both ways. There are plenty of classrooms where a few poorly-behaved students make learning difficult for the rest of the class. Policy often prevents them from being expelled, and with lack of resources there's nowhere else for them to go. Part of California's education problems stem from excessive focus on the worst-performing students, while ignoring the better-performing ones. Educators fight tooth and nail to keep the difficult students in school, and in doing so allow them to drag down those students who are willing to work hard and who, given a proper learning environment, would be able to succeed.
Ideally, there would be enough money to serve the needs of all students, but unless that happens schools have to decide which kids to neglect. I think our reluctance to leave anyone behind is causing us to allocate effort and money where it is least effective. Why keep one bad student in school, barely scraping by, when it results in reduced opportunites/success/hope for those students who are disadvantaged, but willing to put in the effort? It may seem callous, but sometimes the best thing to do is walk away from a lost cause and put your effort where it will do some good.