Understanding Schools: Types, Purpose, and Organization

1. Schools C&I 212 Dr. Brown

2. What is a school? • Physical Place • Place were students go to learn • Social institution – an organization with established structures and rules designed to promote certain goals.

3. What are the purposes? • Transmitting society and reconstructing society • Participation in society and academic learning • Individual needs and collective needs • Sustaining for today and preparing for tomorrow

4. Types • Public • Traditional / Neighborhood / Full-service • Magnet • Charter • Alternative • Private • Parochial • Single-gender • Homeschool • For-profit schools

5. High Schools • Comprehensive High School • Attempts to meet the needs of all students • Often divided into tracks – college-prep, general, vocational • Extracurricular activities (band, theater, sports) for social, personal, and intellectual development • Criticism of the CHS • Tracking – limits choices and segregates students • Size – larger schools are more impersonal and students get lost in the shuffle • Departmentalization – fragments the curriculum • Alternatives: interdisciplinary teams, small learning communities

6. Middle School • Designed to help students through the rapid social, emotional, and intellectual changes characteristic of early adolescence. • Adaptations: • Teachers and students are placed in interdisciplinary teams • Attempts are made to create and maintain teacher-students relationships • Use of interactive teaching strategies • Eliminate competitive sports and organizations

7. Organization of Schools • Personnel • Administrators • Principal – ultimate responsibility • Vice or Assistant Principal – oversight of various elements of the school (i.e. discipline, building and grounds, extracurriculars) • Support Staff • Guidance counselors, school psychologists, health care providers, media center specialists, secretaries, physical plant staff, and curriculum specialists.

8. Organization of Schools • Physical Plant • Classrooms, hallways, offices, auditoriums, gymnasiums, music rooms, etc… • Alternatives – open classrooms, moveable walls, modulars • Who monitors the physical plant? How well is it maintained? • Curriculum Organization • Is there a guiding philosophy? • Who determines the curriculum?

9. Location • Rural • Suburban • Urban

10. Effective School Research • Optimal school and class size • School - large, but not too large (600-900 students), however small schools researchers push for more like 200-300. • Class – under 20 has positive effects on students and teachers • Clear mission and strong leadership • Teachers share an understanding of institutional goals • Administrators focus on teaching and learning • Safe and orderly environment • Students need to feel emotionally safe in schools for learning to occur • Orderly classrooms promote learning and student motivation • High parental involvement • The more a parent is involved the higher the student achievement and attitudes and behavior of students

11. Effective School Research • Academic focus • Teachers have high expectations and maximize instructional time • Sports and clubs do not take precedence over courses • High collective efficacy • Teacher must believe that they can promote learning in all students • Take responsibility for student success or failure • Interactive instruction • Teachers engage students with questions, discussions, and projects • Frequent monitoring of student progress • Assessment is an integral part of teaching and occurs often and promptly