Top Ten Signs of an Academically Mediocre School
- Your academically typical child needs out-of-school tutoring to make grade level
- Your child struggles academically, but gets the same instruction as other students
- Your academically advanced child is taught the same material as other students
- At school you are warned not to let your child get “too far ahead” in a subject
- Your child learns more in some core subjects outside of school than in school
- The things your child studies seem easier than what kids you know at other schools are learning
- Your child rarely if ever has academic time one-on-one or in a very small group with the lead teacher
- Your child’s principal says low grade level pass rates are to be expected, given the student population
- Your child didn’t test gifted, and so is not expected to exceed grade level in basic subjects
- Jockeying for teachers is critical to parents in your child’s school, because the quality is so uneven
More Signs of a Mediocre School
All of the above, plus:
- You can’t tell where the principal stands on issues important to your child, even after you’ve asked
- Your child’s principal makes excuses rather than acting eager to resolve problems your child faces
- Your child’s learning varies widely in different subjects, and nobody has suggested disability testing
- Parent volunteer time focuses mainly on activities unrelated to the school mission and academics
- Test scores in your child’s school are entirely predictable based on race
- Between bored and misbehaved children, many students aren’t engaged in work in your child’s class
- You’re not sure what your child is learning at school until graded tests and report cards come home
- Safety problems slide until someone gets hurt or a scary incident occurs
Adapted from Picky Parent Guide: Choose Your Child’s School with Confidence, The Elementary Years (K-6). © 2004 by Armchair Press, LLC. All rights reserved.