My years of teaching in the public school system have led me to the generality that the top 15% of the students in each district are receiving an education above and beyond reproach which culminates with a host of Advance Placement classes representing college quality work in the high school setting.  Most of these students fall into the category I mentioned in the previous post of having “the inborn appreciation and motivation to achieve success at the highest of academic levels.”

The remaining 85% of our students are floundering in a system of mediocrity with a mere struggle to perform at, or near, minimum standards.  They hear a great deal of lip service of the importance of a quality education, but they are astute enough to recognize that it truly is simply lip service.  The day to day tolerance of disruptive students and incomplete assignments, which slow planned progress for the entire class, provide adequate evidence that a quality educational environment and success are targets but not full expectations.

Would business be able to succeed with a similar environment wherein a small percentage of employees are allowed to disrupt the process on a daily basis and miss necessary assignments?

We must get serious about education, set a high bar of expectations for our students, and hold them to meet or exceed those demands.  For those who cannot, or will not, meet the “workplace” expectations we must move than to a secondary classroom environment.  Take away their audience of peers who find amusement in the daily disruptive antics, cease their involvement at all school sponsored extra curriculum activities, provide more of the one-on-one attention they are seeking, and make them earn the right to return to the traditional classroom.

The benefits are three fold – 1) the traditional classroom teacher is relieved of the time consuming burden of managing the disruptions so they may focus on maintaining a true learning environment for the vast majority of the students, 2) the students remaining in the traditional classroom begin to recognize that quality education is more than mere lip service, and 3) the disruptive students are in much smaller classroom settings in which they will receive more of the individual instruction they need and seek.

The burden of a “secondary classroom environment” does not come with the financial cost one would assume.  Most all high schools start the academic day at the un-Godly time between 7 and 7:30 for sleepy eyed teenagers.  Conventional wisdom says the early start/early end of the academic day is necessary to manage the time for after school extra curriculum such as sports, clubs, and band practice.  It also affords students the ability to manage part time work schedules.

With the school buildings near empty by 2:30 to 3 in the afternoon, the “second classroom environment” could begin at 3:15, break for “lunch” at 6:30, and continue classes until 9:30 pm.  A secondary benefit of the proposed schedule would allow the student to wakeup naturally before starting the academic day.

Ohio, we must improve the educational environment for our children so they in turn improve their future advancements.  Let’s start giving more than lip-service to our children and start making some of the tuff-love decisions that are necessary to promote the environment that will allow our students to truly achieve academic success.

William G. Pierce, P.E.