{"id":7458,"date":"2020-04-08T14:39:31","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T21:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/?p=7458"},"modified":"2022-07-26T10:45:15","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T17:45:15","slug":"the-value-of-school-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/2020\/04\/08\/the-value-of-school-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The value of school: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: <\/strong>This is the first of two posts on the value of school by Punya Mishra & Kevin Close<\/a><\/em>. Read the second post: Revisiting Accountability<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What value do schools bring? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accepted assumption is that schools are sites for learning and the role of educators to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in the future. One argument is: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fundamental outcome desired for education is that it will pass on to each child the information and skills they will use throughout their lifetime. At its core, every school is a place where children learn what adults in the community already know, a place for the transmission of knowledge <\/p> Mitra (2011): The social and economic benefits of public education<\/em><\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is also\nreflected in the manner in which we evaluate schools and teachers. We give the\nstudents tests to figure out how much they have learned, against some\nexternally developed criteria of how much they should know by what age. And we\nhold students and schools accountable for this through a variety of accumulated\ntest results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, what if this\nentire assumption (that schools are sites for learning) is wrong (or\nincomplete). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is a silver lining to the current COVID19 crisis it is that it has forced us to look at school differently. With over 97% of the world\u2019s learners out of school, it has given us an opportunity to revisit the whole idea of what the value of school is in our social, cultural and economic lives. We list a few of these ideas below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Schools\nkeep kids safe so that adults can go about their business running the economy. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We would argue that the first and foremost value that schools bring to our world is an economic one. And we do not mean it in an \u201cinvestment in the future\u201d sense, which is the typical argument made for investing in public education. For instance, Hanushek argues that <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When students learn more in school, they remain in the educational system longer and become more-skilled and -effective participants in the state\u2019s workforce. <\/p>Hanushek (2016): It pays to improve school quality <\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words, Mitra\nsuggests that: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A population that is better educated has less unemployment, reduced dependence on public assistance programs, and greater tax revenue. <\/p>From Mitra (2011): The social and economic benefits of public education<\/em><\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, we are not arguing against<\/em> the longer-term economic value of education. But we are<\/em> suggesting, rather, that there is a more significant immediate<\/em> economic value that schools provide, that has become apparent due to the crisis. In blunt terms: Schools allow parents to do the work of keeping the economy humming, what Jeffrey Young describes as the custodial aspect of schooling<\/em>. He writes that schools: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 take children and keep them safe and keep them secure and feed them, and whether a school is quote \u201cgood\u201d or quote \u201cbad,\u201d whether the test scores are high or the test scores are low, pretty much at every school in the country parents can send their child and be secure that at the end of the day they will get their child back. And I think probably every parent in America, that’s what they’re missing.<\/p>Young (2020): What Will K-12 Schools Look Like Post-Coronavirus?<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The abrupt disappearance of this custodial aspect has significant economic implications. Epstein and Hammond have calculated<\/a> that the cost of closing all schools and formal day-care centers in the US is approximately around .1 to .3% of GDP, which equates to more than 50 billion dollars (give or take a few billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of these\nschool closures is felt most by people who are already in precarious financial situation.\nThe cost to society is exacerbated when we consider health-care workers\n(especially in health crises like we have now) where it is estimated that up to\n19% of health care workers would not be able to go to work if they had to take\ncare of their children.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if we have to put a value on school we need to take this multi-billion dollar immediate economic benefit into account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Schools provide environments for emotional, civic and social development <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Dr. Damian Bebell\u2019s research<\/a> on school mission statements demonstrates that, \u201cin almost every community, school means more than just curricular content and academic learning.\u201d Though academic\/cognitive development plays an important role in school mission statements it is not as dominant as emotional, civic and social development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers and educators become like second parents, or at\nleast role models to students, providing them nurture and support as they grow\nand develop. Educators get to know students as developing individuals, helping\nthem grow as humans and citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools are also intensely social spaces. Ask any kid and\nthey will tell you that schools provide places for friendship and company.\nThere is a reason why kids wait in anticipation for recess like cats ready to\npounce. During play, students learn to work with others, learn about navigating\ndifferences (cultural, economic, and more). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools are the petri dishes for our democracy. They are\noften the only places where students can explore alternative professional\nidentities (from science to art in a variety of ways, whether in the classroom\nor through clubs and other social organizations). Schools allow students to\nexperience play and creativity in relatively low-risk ways, whether in formal\nor informal contexts whether in the playground or through participation in more\nformal organizations such as art and music clubs. Students also can engage in\nleadership activities through sports, participation in student groups and more.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe most importantly, students form their first real relationships. They make friends and cliques, and break up. They fall in love and break up. Most first relationships start at school. Ideas about love and relationships that have a huge influence on the future are often formed through conversations and experiences at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Schools are hubs for social welfare programs, often for those with\nthe greatest need. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the social\nvalue of schools, making friends and learning to get along with others, living\nin a community, developing personal qualities, schools are usually the first\nline of defense against the ravages of poverty. For instance, in the United States,\naround 100,000\nschools\/institutions serve free or reduced-price lunch to approximately 26\nmillion children. For many this is the only consistent source of nutrition.\nGlobally, 368 million children are now missing out on school meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger issue is that schools today function as centers for social welfare programs\u2014free and reduced lunch being just one of many initiatives. Head Start is another such program, providing provide early access to education and health programs for young low-income students. Other programs include parent education programs, recovery coaches for substance-abusing parents, programs that offer technical courses and internships, programs that provide free books, and countless prevention education programs ranging from teen pregnancy to criminal behavior. All of these programs use schools as staging grounds.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Schools bring communities together. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools play an important role in bringing together the community. Consider the role school sports or arts programs play in bringing the community together. School sports often become points of pride for the community. School plays and activities populate the social calendar. Schools also play a role in introducing new ideas into the community, for example, by hosting maker-fairs, visiting speakers, or other similar gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Schools\naddress the unique and specific needs of all learners<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many parents rely on teachers and counselors with advanced\ntraining to help navigate social and academic growth. This is particularly\nimportant for students with special needs, or those navigating learning in a\nsecond language. School counselors or teachers often have expertise assessing\nparticular learning disabilities. Once assessed, teachers and counselors not\nonly provide advice for treatment to parents, they also help parents navigate\nthe complex systems for receiving governmental assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silver lining<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is a silver lining to this current crisis it is that, we can no longer ignore the fact that schools do so much more than teach. As we have argued above, schools do a lot for the communities they are in, and for the broader nation\u2014not merely the delivery of disciplinary content. Or as Richard Culatta said in an interview<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content, you know, that is just a really thin veneer of the overall education experience.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Since the crisis\nbegan and schools shut down\nacross the world, parents\n(and other stakeholders) have begun to realize that schools play so many roles in society\nbesides just teaching students academic skills. Articles about school bus\nroutes being used to drop food off for students are part of the new narrative\nabout schools. This more holistic picture of the purpose of schools play in society\nalso suggests that we revisit the manner in which we evaluate the value of\nschools, since it changes the notion of what a school should be accountable for\n(and how this accountability is to be measured). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will dig deeper\ninto this issue in the next blog post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: This is the first of two posts on the value of school by Punya Mishra & Kevin Close. Read the second post: Revisiting Accountability. What value do schools bring? The accepted assumption is that schools are sites for learning and the role of educators to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[630,644,10,11,45,632,595,28,643,631,628,26,48,642,13,34,640,641,27,8,49],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7458"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8808,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7458\/revisions\/8808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/punyamishra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}