3 ms·

Where did you find data about the social stratification of public schools? I just attempted to find this information and found nothing... Also, I don't think

by jaawn 11y ago

Where did you find data about the social stratification of public schools? I just attempted to find this information and found nothing... Also, I don't think public school is the only way to get this exposure, but creating it elsewhere seems to be very difficult.

gress 11y ago
Why is it hard to send a kid to a summer camp, or a community program? There are all kinds of groups children can attend. I see zero evidence for the idea that it's 'very difficult' to expose home schooled kids to diversity. Indeed it's much easier to do so than with public schooled kids.
- jaawn 11y ago
  Those types of things will definitely help, but it is a constant concern which is why I considered it difficult. A summer camp or community program which attracts all kinds of kids would be ideal, but it is a relatively short period of time compared with the 9 months of daily melting pot sessions in a typical public school. Additionally, if "summer camp" means a highly specific camp (like art camp, or theater camp, or Southern Baptist Christian camp), the benefits will be lesser. So, the difficulty is not in finding some amount of diversity, it is matching the level many public schools offer.
  - gress 11y ago
    What are these 'melting pot sessions' you are talking about, and how do they teach social skills, empathy, and conflict resolution?
jt2190 11y ago
> Where did you find data about the social > stratification of public schools? Here's one: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/01/18/economic-disparity-in-state-public-schools-is-growing/ http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/01/18/economic-disparity...
- jaawn 11y ago
  This was a good find, thanks. However, one of the findings supports my case: "Public charter schools are much more likely than regular public schools to be racially unbalanced. Whereas 30 percent of regular public school students attended a racially unbalanced school (one with less than 20 percent or more than 80 percent minority enrollment), more than 60 percent of charter school students attended a racially unbalanced school. This measure considers the racial makeup within a particular school, rather than comparing the school to the county as a whole." Based on this, regular public schools are more likely to be diverse or "balanced" than not. This paragraph glosses over it, but it shows that 70% of regular public school students attend a school which has a balanced mix of students from different backgrounds. The segregated public schools are the exception, not the norm, but that segregation increases when parent choice is introduced (i.e. with charter schools where only 40% of students are attending a balanced/diverse school).
  - jt2190 11y ago
    Your thesis was that home schooled pupils have a more difficult time aquiring social skills than their public school educated peers. How does this study (or this quote) support that claim?
    - jaawn 11y ago
      It wasn't my claim that home-schooled students have difficulty acquiring social skills in general, it was that they miss out on a specific set of social skills, namely dealing with people who are different from them, whom they do not like, who have different opinions, etc... while maintaining productivity. Basically: learning to work together with a diverse set of peers and maybe to empathize with people who see the world differently, or to at least gain experience in coping with differences. The study/quote supports this by giving a rough indication of how most public schools are diverse places. Obviously, this doesn't "prove" the entirety of my statements, it just offers a small amount of support in the area of public schools being either segregated or diverse.
      - 11y ago

by jaawn 11y ago

gress 11y ago

Why is it hard to send a kid to a summer camp, or a community program? There are all kinds of groups children can attend. I see zero evidence for the idea that it's 'very difficult' to expose home schooled kids to diversity. Indeed it's much easier to do so than with public schooled kids.

jaawn 11y ago
Those types of things will definitely help, but it is a constant concern which is why I considered it difficult. A summer camp or community program which attracts all kinds of kids would be ideal, but it is a relatively short period of time compared with the 9 months of daily melting pot sessions in a typical public school. Additionally, if "summer camp" means a highly specific camp (like art camp, or theater camp, or Southern Baptist Christian camp), the benefits will be lesser. So, the difficulty is not in finding some amount of diversity, it is matching the level many public schools offer.
- gress 11y ago
  What are these 'melting pot sessions' you are talking about, and how do they teach social skills, empathy, and conflict resolution?

jt2190 11y ago

> Where did you find data about the social > stratification of public schools? Here's one: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/01/18/economic-disparity-in-state-public-schools-is-growing/ http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/01/18/economic-disparity...

jaawn 11y ago
This was a good find, thanks. However, one of the findings supports my case: "Public charter schools are much more likely than regular public schools to be racially unbalanced. Whereas 30 percent of regular public school students attended a racially unbalanced school (one with less than 20 percent or more than 80 percent minority enrollment), more than 60 percent of charter school students attended a racially unbalanced school. This measure considers the racial makeup within a particular school, rather than comparing the school to the county as a whole." Based on this, regular public schools are more likely to be diverse or "balanced" than not. This paragraph glosses over it, but it shows that 70% of regular public school students attend a school which has a balanced mix of students from different backgrounds. The segregated public schools are the exception, not the norm, but that segregation increases when parent choice is introduced (i.e. with charter schools where only 40% of students are attending a balanced/diverse school).
- jt2190 11y ago
  Your thesis was that home schooled pupils have a more difficult time aquiring social skills than their public school educated peers. How does this study (or this quote) support that claim?
  - jaawn 11y ago
    It wasn't my claim that home-schooled students have difficulty acquiring social skills in general, it was that they miss out on a specific set of social skills, namely dealing with people who are different from them, whom they do not like, who have different opinions, etc... while maintaining productivity. Basically: learning to work together with a diverse set of peers and maybe to empathize with people who see the world differently, or to at least gain experience in coping with differences. The study/quote supports this by giving a rough indication of how most public schools are diverse places. Obviously, this doesn't "prove" the entirety of my statements, it just offers a small amount of support in the area of public schools being either segregated or diverse.
    - 11y ago