The Education Quality of Different Types of Schooling - Literature review Example

Wenjun English 108 Alvarez Nov 17th, Debate of school form The decision on the best type of school with high quality education, co-curriculumactivities and proficient career development is often a nightmare for parents. As a result, most people do not think much when they send their kids to school. Nevertheless, there are different kinds of schools including public, private and home school. Interestingly, the debate of which one is better has never stopped. Each party regards different factors when considering a school. Some look at the curriculum, others look at the financial prosperity while most concentrate on the general quality of education. Notably, an increasing number of parents are gradually transforming to home education for convenience (CQ Researcher). The interesting turn of events raises many questions on the future of education. For instance, what are the effects of home schooling and traditional public school on students? Has the change in education style helped students? Answers to these questions present even a more confusing scenario. It is in this regards that the paper takes a deep look at the debate on type of school. Arguably, many parents contend to different types of schooling because of various factors (Gloeckner 19). Withstanding the nature of schooling factors of religion, environment, and academic achievement dictate the path taken by parents. Certainly, religion remained one of the old components of the society. The trans-generational concept influences how people think, behave and even future decisions. It is in this regards that it plays inevitable roles in facilitating education. Undoubtedly, religion remains one of the main reasons why some parents choose not to send their child to school. Instead, they decide to run home education centers where the students have a personalized attention and free of influence. Conceivably, some religious beliefs regard schools as mere factors that greatly impact on morals. Therefore, to limit any form of misbehavior or derail the future, parents decide not to contravene religious beliefs by inducing general grounds (Wolk 49). Historically, the bible has been an educational platform for many people. Grandparents, parents and a chain of individuals learned how to read and write through the bible. As a result, children have also learned through the process. There are different kinds of religion in the US such as Christian, Judaism and Islam. These differences in beliefs present various factors that affect education; nonetheless, the use of the bible can be a unifying factor for all Christians. On the other hand, the Quran can help creating a great education platform without serious controversies. From this perspective, religion is both a unifying factor but at the same time, a dividing issue is education decisions. Other than religion, environment is also a leading factor when parents send their child to school. The argument around religion seems to be fading away by time. However, the questions of environment have been getting stronger and stronger. Evidently, this is because environment plays a key role in any education setup. Certainly, those people who are against home school are worried about those children whether if they are educated properly, more over whether if they are treated properly. Williams (2013) notes that bullying, for instance, is a form of immaterial behavior, which has been on the rise in many educational institutions. Many students have landed in hospitals or reported severe cases of assault because of the irresponsible behavior. In this respect, parents desist from making decisions of this nature to protect their children from such environments. On the same note, home schooling, limits child from seeing more people. Certainly, a child’s exposure to many people allows him to gain a series of behaviors. According to research, many young smokers gain the knowledge by learning or desiring the behavior (Wolk 33). The change in behavior is also apparent in many social problems. Life aspects like prostitution, indecent dressing or stealing are not inborn traits. Nevertheless, many people develop the irrational thinking aspects by visiting friends or watching movies and most of all mixing. In this light, peer pressure thrives well in various environments within the school fraternity. Parents with this in mind often have a problem deciding on the best education setup for their children. Certainly, this is how most child abuse were discovered, at school. Interestingly, many home school students do not have access to these problems. They have a great guide and limitation of what to think, eat, learn, and watch through the television programs (Gloeckner 20). Most importantly, others think public school would provide a worse environment, such as bulling and drugs. Above all, the main purpose of school, no matter home school or public school, is education. Student academic achievement is one of the major factors to determine the quality of the education. Any institution offering a consistent academic growth has a tendency of attracting more students. On the other hand, instructors with the ability to impart greater knowledge always get the chance for home tuition. From this perspective, the afterlife of every students plays an important role in stimulating various decisions of education (Wolk 54). For public school students, their grades are easy to find and research, but “the literature about homeschooling is extremely limited”(homeschool/public school 41). According to various scholars, “with the information available, it is difficult to draw any conclusions” (Lines, 2002, p. 1) however, there are some standardized exams available, such as SAT, ITBS that can assists in the standardization process. Notably, some thinks that examinations maybe one-way to compare the education systems. Bearing this in mind, research shows that, home school children outperform their public school peers on several national standardized exams, including the Stanford Achievement Test and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and at nearly all grade levels (Rakestraw 1987, Frost 1987, Wartes 1990, Ray 1990, Rudner 1999). With the exception, “There was no difference in academic achievement between public school students who perceived a high level of parent involvement and homeschool students” (home school/public school 39). In United States, private schools have liberty to determine their staffing policies and curriculum. However, there are different government regulations regarding schooling for private, public and home institutions. These include laws on curriculum, education levels, co-curriculum activities, meals and most importantly leadership within these institutions. On the same note, parents react to these laws differently (Fan and Michael 17). There are parents that regard the regulations as satisfactory while others think the laws make it difficult for their children to adopt in the schools. For example, with attention to meals, many students from upper social classes find it difficult to survive in the public schools. They either feel dissatisfied or think the meals do not meet their expectations. In this light, many parents do not enroll their children in such schools. In the same note, curriculum and co-curriculum activities ensure students develop from various perspectives (Wolf 36). The current US system room for various activities. Nevertheless, many parents enroll their children to private schools as they have input for their curriculum. The high dropout rate in United States has attracted attention from many stakeholders. I believe the debate on school form is healthy and inevitable; however, the question is how to meet the different concerns. Statistically, 44 percent of college faculties believe students are not ready to enroll in various college institutions. On the other hand, over 90 percent of high school teachers are on the view that students exiting college have the ability and propensity to advance to greater education standards. On a standard education system, all instructors should believe and have confidence on student ability to pass the education system (Wolk 61). Certainly, this mismatch in interest has elicited mixed reactions from different parents who regard the system not to be having a purpose or good intention for students. From this perspective, the education system is on the fall instead of guaranteeing the future. Therefore, results and statistical backlashes play an important role in shaping parents decision on the nature of schools to enroll their children. In addition, factors like gender and race also dictate how parents decide the way forward on student education. For example, there is an educational disparity in minority students from Caucasian, Asian, and others (Wolf 55). Additionally, many parents prefer enrolling their children to same gender schools. Certainly, this is because they believe same gender offer opportunities for moral development. In conclusion, a real education system gives priority to needs of different individuals. It is about providing quality classroom work and exposing students to a better future. It is in this spirit that many parents face a dilemma when deciding on which school to enroll their children. Adams Smith’s book, “wealth of Nations” attempts to explain why students in many education institutions within America are likely not to succeed in life because of various reasons. Nevertheless, various factors dictate why people find it easy to choose one option against another. Religion, for example, teaches people on moral integrity and behavior development. As a result, believers always make decisions that do not contravene their beliefs. On the same note, environment is a leading role in shaping when and how decides on the education setup. Students learn a lot from their environment including social misfits and other challenges. Additionally, factors like regulations and government rules regarding schooling also affect school form. Nonetheless, the debate on school form plays an imperative role in enlisting important factors. Work Cited Barwegen, Laura Mezzano; Falciani, Nancy K.; Putnam, S. Junlah; Reamer, Megan B.; Stair, Esther E. "Academic Achievement of Homeschool and Public School Students and Student Perception of Parent Involvement." The school community journal 14.1 (2004): 39-58. Print. Fan, Xitao, and Michael Chen. "Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis." Educational Psychology Review 13.1 (2001): 1-22. Print. Gloeckner, Gene, and Paul Jones. "First Year College Performance: A Study of Home School Graduates and Traditional School Graduates." Journal of College Admission(2004): 17-20. Print. http://www.quora.com/What-is-wrong-with-the-current-education-system-in-the-US Williams, Dennis. Quora. What is wrong with the current education system in the US? 16 Oct, 2013 Wolf, Patrick J. Educating Citizens: International Perspectives on Civic Values and School Choice. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press, 2004. Print. Wolk, S. Wasting Minds: Why Our Education System Is Failing and What We Can Do About It. Alexandria, Virginia, USA: ASCD, 2010. Print. Read More