Iowa has a grand total of 338 school districts and of those districts, 336 of them applied for and received a waiver to set their start date (Jurrens). Start date has been an issue many schools have been focusing on. It has been in the news lately, especially here in Iowa. Many are arguing that starting later increases state fair attendance and supposedly brings in more tax revenue. Others are calling for school control. This way the schools can determine what works the best for them. Which is confusing because if over 99% of schools are requesting to set their own start date would not it make more sense to make that the law anyway instead of forcing the schools to conform to a state set date by someone who does not know what is best for your
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Poverty is a big issue for many students. The exact percentage of students in poverty is 22 percent, and 45 percent of students live in low-income families (Child Poverty). Research has been done and found that students from low income families acquire language and math skills more slowly, are 13.5 percent more likely to dropout, and enter high school about 4 grade levels behind those with higher socioeconomic status (Education and Socioeconomic status). This means that we have students who could be doing better, but are not doing better just because of how much money their parents make. These students could be helped, but because we are so focused on our start date we seem to ignore this fact. 22 percent is a lot of students in need of help and in need of a good education, but the way our schools are set up they seem to fall behind which is not doing anyone any favors. When our students are in school how well are they learning; how effective are our school …show more content…
Information found from the ACT college readiness exam found that many students are not ready for college. They were deemed not ready enough for college in 2 of the 4 subjects on the exam (Bidwell). This could have been fixed because most of these students missed the mark by just a few points. These points could have been gained easily. This could be caused by the way schools are set up. If they changed their schools to meet the needs of the students better, they could have given their students the boost to get the points. The effectiveness of schools is very important because anyone can go to school. The problem arises when the students are in school but not learning. The point of schools it to teach their students and prepare them for the next stage of their lives. If schools are not doing that then they are not completing their job. Effectiveness plays a big role in education. It is what makes the students time invested in school better and more worth the investment. Not all schools can teach the same amount of material at the same rate, so they can advance students, but they could also hinder students. It could mean that 180 days of school is irrelevant because of this. They need to think of a day less as an amount of time, but more as a unit of learning. A measurement of how much you learned, not how long you can sit in a desk chair. Schools have to change with culture
Poverty is a big issue for many students. The exact percentage of students in poverty is 22 percent, and 45 percent of students live in low-income families (Child Poverty). Research has been done and found that students from low income families acquire language and math skills more slowly, are 13.5 percent more likely to dropout, and enter high school about 4 grade levels behind those with higher socioeconomic status (Education and Socioeconomic status). This means that we have students who could be doing better, but are not doing better just because of how much money their parents make. These students could be helped, but because we are so focused on our start date we seem to ignore this fact. 22 percent is a lot of students in need of help and in need of a good education, but the way our schools are set up they seem to fall behind which is not doing anyone any favors. When our students are in school how well are they learning; how effective are our school …show more content…
Information found from the ACT college readiness exam found that many students are not ready for college. They were deemed not ready enough for college in 2 of the 4 subjects on the exam (Bidwell). This could have been fixed because most of these students missed the mark by just a few points. These points could have been gained easily. This could be caused by the way schools are set up. If they changed their schools to meet the needs of the students better, they could have given their students the boost to get the points. The effectiveness of schools is very important because anyone can go to school. The problem arises when the students are in school but not learning. The point of schools it to teach their students and prepare them for the next stage of their lives. If schools are not doing that then they are not completing their job. Effectiveness plays a big role in education. It is what makes the students time invested in school better and more worth the investment. Not all schools can teach the same amount of material at the same rate, so they can advance students, but they could also hinder students. It could mean that 180 days of school is irrelevant because of this. They need to think of a day less as an amount of time, but more as a unit of learning. A measurement of how much you learned, not how long you can sit in a desk chair. Schools have to change with culture