Yet Another Education News Flash
Tuesday’s Guardian reported on research done by the Association of London Government. It seems that frequently moving from one school to another has a negative impact on the education of schoolchildren.
(I know, I know. I’ll pause while you re-read that.)
(And, just in case you missed that terribly obvious finding, I’ll sum it up here: stability = good, moving around to lots of different schools = not good.)
And, just in case you were afraid that this report might not have had a catchy title, you can relax. The report is entitled ‘Breaking Point: Examining the Disruption Caused by Pupil Mobility in London.’ (For those of you keeping score, my summary of the report is six letters short than the title of the actual report.)
Some of the schools in London have seen a 60% turnover in pupils within one academic year. It also seems that ‘homeless children in temporary accommodation often suffer from high rates of mental illness such as depression and anxiety, and have complex emotional, behavioural and learning problems.’ Another interesting bit of information is that teachers estimate that they spend between 14 and 29 hours settling the average new pupil into a school. That’s the ‘average’ new student – far more time is spent on those with special educational needs.
So, it’s great that we finally have a report that confirms what nearly any teacher could have told you. The real question now is this: what will be done to help solve this dire problem?
(I know, I know. I’ll pause while you re-read that.)
(And, just in case you missed that terribly obvious finding, I’ll sum it up here: stability = good, moving around to lots of different schools = not good.)
And, just in case you were afraid that this report might not have had a catchy title, you can relax. The report is entitled ‘Breaking Point: Examining the Disruption Caused by Pupil Mobility in London.’ (For those of you keeping score, my summary of the report is six letters short than the title of the actual report.)
Some of the schools in London have seen a 60% turnover in pupils within one academic year. It also seems that ‘homeless children in temporary accommodation often suffer from high rates of mental illness such as depression and anxiety, and have complex emotional, behavioural and learning problems.’ Another interesting bit of information is that teachers estimate that they spend between 14 and 29 hours settling the average new pupil into a school. That’s the ‘average’ new student – far more time is spent on those with special educational needs.
So, it’s great that we finally have a report that confirms what nearly any teacher could have told you. The real question now is this: what will be done to help solve this dire problem?
posted by Matthew Reames at 7/02/2005 04:51:00 PM
1 Comments:
Recently read about a study that learned that schoolchildren whose classrooms are very noisy (traffic, construction, loud hallways full of hooting escapees, etc.) cause children to learn poorly. their concentration skills, attention span, and ability to focus are all affected adversely.
Who'da thunk it? (Read that aloud; it'll make sense.)
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