Post by Chris_Wendt on Aug 7, 2013 6:54:29 GMT -5
In researching this blog I have had the opportunity to review several high school course catalogs in-depth, as well as to dig-in to admissions policies and criteria of select colleges. Now, most students and their parents would never have the need to look at many high school course catalogs, because, unless you were considering sending your child to a religious or private school, you only have one option: your local high school's course offerings.
(Parents in some large or central high school districts may have options among two or three high schools within their home district).
The main things I came away with are these:
The future success of Wantagh Schools will depend upon what cooperative or joint relationships are formed with other school districts and other providers of educational services.
The academic success of future Wantagh students may hinge significantly on their being able to tap-in to educational resources (AP©, IB©) which are not presently available through the Wantagh School District.
Back to the status quo. Wantagh has an impressive course catalog, and I know they are working to implement additional AP courses in the near future. I do not want to knock the achievements nor the efforts of the Wantagh Administration in developing, updating and refreshing our academic offerings. But...
...we have limited finances, limited space, and other key resources which finitely limit the number and types of coursework that seem to count the most to many colleges, but especially the most competitive and prestigious or specialized schools. It is within the framework of these limitations—including the course approval and budgeting processes—that the academic future, the college acceptances, the majors, the degrees, and even the ultimate vocations of our students are largely determined. We can either keep on keepin'-on doing the best we can within our limitations, or, we can reach outside of our boundaries (geographical, political, economic) and try to do better for our future students than our current limitations allow.
The Wantagh School District may choose to remain with the status quo, making small incremental tweaks to our academic programs, while struggling to comply with the federal and state regulatory miasma which continues to sap ever more of our (financial and human) resources.
So what options would that leave parents (and students) who live in Wantagh?
I mentioned (and also did research which will be presented in a later edition of this blog) private and religious schools. There are some excellent religious schools on LI, including Chaminade (my alma mater), Lutheran High, several Hebrew Academies, Friends Academy, Sacred Heart Academy and others. The selection process for most of these is competitive, and preparation should start by the fourth grade or earlier. Some of them offer elementary and middle schools which feed students into their high schools. The lingering—and possibly re-emergent—question is, should there not be vouchers to help families pay for these schools, or, why can't they simply be allowed to obtain state charters and operate as such?
Regardless, even if no further state funding materializes, given the limits of Wantagh's district resources, it is likely that further enrollment declines will be attributable to increased pursuit of non-public schools by Wantagh families.
Then there is K12, the rapidly emerging online provider of AP and other course work. I anticipate the first response to the mention of this concept will be about the poor quality of online education. I promise to accept and embrace that argument provided the Wantagh School District stops recognizing online credits and online degrees for teacher and administrator salary advancement...retroactively.
You may have seen the current TV ad for K12.com. I checked out their website and discovered to no surprise at all that they are not authorized to operate in NY. So why advertise in the NY market? Well probably because they are authorized to operate in PA (tuition free, statewide) and will be authorized to operate in NJ (tuition free, statewide) in September. They also operate in MA, DC, DE, and many states or cities west of here, including OH, MI, IL, IN, MN, WI, WA, CA, TX, FL and others. I am reporting on this as a current trend in K-12 education. K12 is certified as a provider of AP© courses.
If you have followed my writings here or on Patch, you can add K12 to the other competitors and potential competitors of public school districts, including the Khan Academy and the state court-approved Indiana voucher program, where vouchers are usable in religious schools, there.
The sea change I see coming is that, in the near future, parents will take much more significant control over what their children's education will consist of, and where it will be obtained and by whom it will be provided.
The challenge for the Wantagh Board of Education is this: will Wantagh Schools start acting like a provider of educational services to their paying customers, or will they continue to function as a governmental entity, awash in regulations and suffocating in contractual obligations...until nobody comes here to school any more? That is a rhetorical question, the answer to which is likely beyond the ability or authority of the Wantagh BoE to answer. We are what we are, and we certainly need to continue striving to be the very best we can be at whatever it is we are.
Regards,
Chris Wendt
(Parents in some large or central high school districts may have options among two or three high schools within their home district).
The main things I came away with are these:
- there is a definite link between AP courses and competitive college selections, which I believe is exceptionally important to half of the graduates of Wantagh High.
- there is an even stronger link between high AP scores (5) and acceptance at highly competitive "prestige" colleges, which I think is very important to a quarter of Wantagh High grads
- the relative "value" of various AP courses and high AP scores is specific to which college program and major a student will pursue after leaving Wantagh.
The future success of Wantagh Schools will depend upon what cooperative or joint relationships are formed with other school districts and other providers of educational services.
The academic success of future Wantagh students may hinge significantly on their being able to tap-in to educational resources (AP©, IB©) which are not presently available through the Wantagh School District.
Back to the status quo. Wantagh has an impressive course catalog, and I know they are working to implement additional AP courses in the near future. I do not want to knock the achievements nor the efforts of the Wantagh Administration in developing, updating and refreshing our academic offerings. But...
...we have limited finances, limited space, and other key resources which finitely limit the number and types of coursework that seem to count the most to many colleges, but especially the most competitive and prestigious or specialized schools. It is within the framework of these limitations—including the course approval and budgeting processes—that the academic future, the college acceptances, the majors, the degrees, and even the ultimate vocations of our students are largely determined. We can either keep on keepin'-on doing the best we can within our limitations, or, we can reach outside of our boundaries (geographical, political, economic) and try to do better for our future students than our current limitations allow.
The Wantagh School District may choose to remain with the status quo, making small incremental tweaks to our academic programs, while struggling to comply with the federal and state regulatory miasma which continues to sap ever more of our (financial and human) resources.
So what options would that leave parents (and students) who live in Wantagh?
I mentioned (and also did research which will be presented in a later edition of this blog) private and religious schools. There are some excellent religious schools on LI, including Chaminade (my alma mater), Lutheran High, several Hebrew Academies, Friends Academy, Sacred Heart Academy and others. The selection process for most of these is competitive, and preparation should start by the fourth grade or earlier. Some of them offer elementary and middle schools which feed students into their high schools. The lingering—and possibly re-emergent—question is, should there not be vouchers to help families pay for these schools, or, why can't they simply be allowed to obtain state charters and operate as such?
Regardless, even if no further state funding materializes, given the limits of Wantagh's district resources, it is likely that further enrollment declines will be attributable to increased pursuit of non-public schools by Wantagh families.
Then there is K12, the rapidly emerging online provider of AP and other course work. I anticipate the first response to the mention of this concept will be about the poor quality of online education. I promise to accept and embrace that argument provided the Wantagh School District stops recognizing online credits and online degrees for teacher and administrator salary advancement...retroactively.
You may have seen the current TV ad for K12.com. I checked out their website and discovered to no surprise at all that they are not authorized to operate in NY. So why advertise in the NY market? Well probably because they are authorized to operate in PA (tuition free, statewide) and will be authorized to operate in NJ (tuition free, statewide) in September. They also operate in MA, DC, DE, and many states or cities west of here, including OH, MI, IL, IN, MN, WI, WA, CA, TX, FL and others. I am reporting on this as a current trend in K-12 education. K12 is certified as a provider of AP© courses.
If you have followed my writings here or on Patch, you can add K12 to the other competitors and potential competitors of public school districts, including the Khan Academy and the state court-approved Indiana voucher program, where vouchers are usable in religious schools, there.
The sea change I see coming is that, in the near future, parents will take much more significant control over what their children's education will consist of, and where it will be obtained and by whom it will be provided.
The challenge for the Wantagh Board of Education is this: will Wantagh Schools start acting like a provider of educational services to their paying customers, or will they continue to function as a governmental entity, awash in regulations and suffocating in contractual obligations...until nobody comes here to school any more? That is a rhetorical question, the answer to which is likely beyond the ability or authority of the Wantagh BoE to answer. We are what we are, and we certainly need to continue striving to be the very best we can be at whatever it is we are.
Regards,
Chris Wendt