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Public schools have reports of autistic children overcoming social problems

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Public schools have reports of autistic children overcoming social problems

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Learn about how children with autism can succeed in public schools.

According to the Autistic Society's research, approximately fifty children are diagnosed with autism in the United States every day. With increasing number of autistic students across the country, public schools are implementing plans to foster family support and student success.

Since federal law requires that schools provide children with the "least restrictive" environment possible, full inclusion in regular class sizes is often a beneficial pathway for children with autism.

As Abramson of the National Public Radio indicates, there are cases of children with autism who are unable to speak as they are entering early elementary school; however, with the development of inclusive programs in public schools, teachers are reporting that children often overcome social problems, speech problems, and behavioral issues while working with teachers, peers, and parental support.

While autistic students need extra help and assistance, progress is evident in public school programs across the country. Ultimately, according to Abramson, research demonstrates that the earlier children receive help with their autism, the higher the probability that they will develop effective communication skills.

The Early Signs of Autism

With currently half a million children diagnosed with autism in the United States, parents are looking to find out more about symptoms and signs of autistic behavior. However, since the development of each child is unique and variant, some professionals often may try to delay a diagnosis until signs are clear and consistent with a child's behavior to ensure the accuracy of any form of analysis.

According to the Brides 4 Kids organization, there are five early signs that often may be autism indicators, although a diagnosis does not normally occur until a child is three or four years old.

Children are actually able to learn their names within the first few months of life; typically, babies are responses to the voices of familiar people, and they can often respond with looks, smiles, or a non-verbal reaction.

On the other hand, infants who were later diagnosed with autism typically fail to show responsiveness to their own name. When these infants hear their name called, they tend to only look at the individual 20% of the time - based on research which analyzed one-year-old birthday parties of children diagnosed with autism.

Paired with this, autistic infants also may respond selectively to sounds; in this case, a child may fail to respond to a parent calling his/her name, yet may respond to a different noise, such as classical music, immediately. This symptom is often interpreted as a form of hearing loss.

Around one year old, infants begin engaging in "joint attention." They can shift their focus from toys or games in order to "engage" with people around them. The typical infant begins to look at people, instead of toys, and they begin showing their toys to other people - which demonstrates a quality of sharing. Or, they may begin sharing their experiences with others. For example, an infant may point at a bird, sharing what he or she sees with the parent.

Comparatively, autistic children often struggle with joint attention. In this case, they rarely shift their gaze between objects to people, and they do not display the previously described interactions with people, such as not "showing" a toy to a parent. Furthermore, young children with autism have particular difficulties in jointly attending with others. They rarely follow another's points, do not often shift their gaze back and forth from objects to people, and do not seem to share "being with" the caregiver as they watch and talk about objects, people, or events. They also tend not to "show" a toy to the parent.

Imitation

Typically, infants will mimic people around them, such as facial movements, and around 10 months old, they often imitate sounds or movements. Children with autism, on the other hand, display this behavior with more rarity.

Just as infants typically imitate adults, they also exhibit social responsiveness, including smiling, laughing, or crying depending on what others around them are doing. For example, if their playmates are laughing and playing with toys, an infant will exhibit the same type of behavior.

In comparison, children with autism often exhibit an unawareness of the feelings of others.

Engagement in Pretend Play

As it is commonly seen, young children enjoy imitating social roles as they play. For example, a child may pretend to be a mom, or a dad, or a firefighter, and so forth. Paired with this, a child typically shows an interaction with toys, and he or she may use these toys in their imaginative play, which often occurs around the age of two.

On the other hand, children with autism often display a lack of interest in toys. Instead, they may show more interest in the movement of their limbs, or perhaps the string that is attached to the toy. If they are interested in a particular toy, then they may play with these objects in a way that other children would not.

Early diagnosis of autism is important in helping your child develop communication skills. Working closely with their teachers and classrooms in an inclusive environment gives your child with autism an opportunity to flourish to their fullest potential.

Action Plans for Parents with an Autistic Child

If parents discover they have an autistic child, the first step they can take is to meet with public school specialists, such as resource room teachers, their homeroom teacher(s), and other staff members at the school. The most important element here is to establish open communication to foster support for the child, the family, and the teachers.

Programs in Public Schools

Due to the significant curriculum accommodations for special needs and autistic children in the past decade, autistic children will be fully included in their designated classroom experience. By law, schools must create individualized educational programs for each autistic child.

Autistic children can absolutely attend, grow, and learn within the public school systems of support. Today, programs for autistic children are mostly individually planned (with the IEP process), making the accommodations for any child with special needs very intimate, supportive, and personal.

Due to this individualized plan, there are not currently major autistic programs that are commonly found in public schools across the country; instead of specific programs, the teachers and staff aim to work with the parents and child individually, while also striving to incorporate the child into the daily activities of the standard classroom. Indeed, according to the Yale Herald, research has shown that children with mild autism significantly benefit from being immersed in a "normal" school environment from a young age.

However, parents whose children may have severe autism - who perhaps need assistance eating and going to the restroom - may want to consider private schools. Keep in mind that the under-funded nature of public schools results in a severe lack of qualified special education teachers. If you do decide to send your child to private school, then your public school is indeed required by law to reimburse you for those funds.

Because the rise in autistic cases has skyrocketed in recent years, scientists and researchers are still debating the causes and treatments for individuals dealing with this condition. If a child is diagnosed with autism, the best plan for success is for the parents to meet with the child's doctor, and receive a referral to a highly recommended specialist in the field. Again, in using a specialist, an individualized plan can be established to make the pathway to success as uniquely supportive as possible.

Questions? Contact us on Facebook @publiccollegereviews.

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Autistic Children and Public Schools | PublicSchoolReview.com

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Learn about how children with autism can succeed in public schools. According to the Autistic Society's research, approximately fifty children are diagnosed with autism in the United States every day. With increasing number of autistic students across the country, public schools are implementing plans to foster family support and student success.

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Public schools are operated at the state level through departments of education, and locally by school districts and publicly elected or appointed school boards. Approximately 15,000 different school districts operate in the United States, and most are run by counties. Because there is very little federal oversight, curricula in one state can differ from those in other states.

Students generally go to the public school in the district in which they live; however, with the growth of charter and magnet schools, students are now being offered more options. Public schools generally accept everyone who wants to go there, regardless of their income or skill level.

Here are a few quick statistics about public schools:

Number of children enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools (2007-08): 49.6 million

Estimated public elementary and secondary schools (2005-06): 97,000

Number of charter schools (2005): 3,519

Number of students enrolled in charter schools (2004-05): 887,000

Number of teachers employed in public elementary and secondary schools (2007-08): 3.2 million

Average expenditure per pupil (2007-08): $9,969

Who Pays for Public Schools?

Spending on elementary and secondary school students has risen dramatically throughout the past several decades. Back in 1959, schools spent only $2,101 per student. In the 2007-08 school year, by comparison, schools will have spent nearly $10,000 per student. The projected annual total spending on public elementary and secondary schools for the 2007-2008 year is $489.4 billion.

Property taxes pay for most of the cost of public schools. Although public schools get a very small percentage of their funding from donations and parent and student fundraising efforts, by far the greatest proportion of the money comes from state and local governments. The federal government contributes less than 10 percent of the cost.

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Public schools are operated at the state level through departments of education, and locally by school districts and publicly elected or appointed school boards. Approximately 15,000 different school districts operate in the United States, and most are run by counties. Because there is very little federal oversight, curricula in one state can differ from those in other states.

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By Len Penzo

Most parents end up considering private education because they only want the best for their child. But today I'm going to show you why, from a purely financial perspective, private schools are not worth the price of admission.

Well, that is unless you're so wealthy that you can afford to burn $100 bills.
A Little Perspective
Let's start with the basics: Annual tuition at K-8 private schools currently runs about $8,000.

That means over a nine-year period parents will end up spending $72,000 per child - assuming tuition never increases.

But let's keep things in perspective here - private K-8 schools aren't teaching your 10-year-old even the most basic engineering skills required to build, say, a communications satellite.

Furthermore, after completing a nine-year private school curriculum, your child will still be unable to excise a brain tumor, argue a case before the Supreme Court, or have the business acumen to run a Fortune 500 company. Why? Because, with very few exceptions, K-8 private schools are still teaching the same basic stuff that the public schools do: reading, writing and arithmetic.

Yes, I realize most K-8 private schools have benefits like low teacher-student ratios and fancy computers in beautiful buildings with all the amenities - but they're still just teaching the basics.

Who cares if Junior ends up reading in kindergarten instead of first grade, or learning algebra in fifth grade instead of seventh, like his public school peers? That's irrelevant in the grand scheme of life. The learning process is supposed to be a marathon - not a sprint.

I'm sure that many of you will argue that private schools provide intangible benefits that a public school can't. Fair enough.

But it's hard to argue this fact: private schools cost a lot of money. And to prove just how expensive they really are, I'm going to do what most moms and dads fail to do before they send their kid to private school: estimate the opportunity cost of investing the money instead.
Why Private Schools Cost More than You Think
Let's assume that instead of paying $8000 in tuition each year, we invest that cash into a fund that ekes out a 5% annual return. Using my trusty spreadsheet, it would look something like this:

Now let's assume that, for your child's final four years of school, you decide to make no additional contributions and simply let the money you've saved over the previous nine years accrue interest.

Assuming we earn the same modest five percent rate of return, you would have $112,583. That's a pretty decent start on a college fund, don't you think?

If we continued to let the money ride for another two years while our child went to a junior college, we'd have $124,123, as you can see here:

But what if we didn't use that money to pay for college?

Thinking outside the box, what if we went against conventional wisdom, and treated that $124,123 as a sacrosanct nest egg for our kids instead - with the condition that they let the money grow, untouched, until they reached the ripe old age of 65?

Well, assuming an annual 5% return, our child would end up with $1,115,253 - thanks to the magic of compound growth, of course. And that's if he or she never contributed another penny over their lifetime!

Even better, if our child had the financial discipline to contribute an additional $100 per week over those 45 years, that nest egg would be worth an astounding $1,953,679.

Think about that.

Now ask yourself this: How much extra cash do you think your child will earn over his lifetime because he or she went to a private K-8 school instead of a public one? For most people, the answer is not even close to a million dollars, let alone two.
The Bottom Line
For most kids, success in grade school is largely a function of their willingness to learn; kids with a thirst for knowledge will always excel, regardless of their environment. And parents can foster that thirst by nurturing their child's innate curiosity about the world around them - and keeping them away from the television.

So save your money. You'd be doing your kids a bigger favor by using that K-8 private school tuition to save for college or, better yet, help build them a healthy nest egg that they could tap in their retirement years.

And if you insist that lower student-teacher ratios provided by private schools are essential to Junior's learning, you'd still be much better served financially by sending him to a public school and getting a tutor.

That is, unless you like getting ripped off - or enjoy burning $100 bills.

Photo Credit: Liz West

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Why Private Schools Are a Financial Rip-Off

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By Len Penzo Most parents end up considering private education because they only want the best for their child. But today I'm going to show you why, from a purely financial perspective, private schools are not worth the price of admission. Well, that is unless you're so wealthy that you can afford to burn $100 bills.

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Public education has gotten a bit of a bad rap in recent decades, as many families are exploring other education options, like homeschooling, private schools and charter schools. However, public schools still serve a significant role in preparing the next generation of world leaders. Check out these 10 potential advantages a public school education can provide.

The cost of a public education can't be beaten. Although some parents might complain about the recently added expenses of supplies and participation in sports teams, these schools are still much more budget-friendly than their private counterparts. According to GreatSchools.org, the average tuition for private schools in the United States during the 2016-2017 school years was $19,310. The average cost for a boarding school during that same year was $35,118. Schools affiliated with the National Association of Independent Schools charged even more.

This video looks at the advantages of public school.

In addition, private schools get additional funding through private donations. In many cases, this could mean parents of students at the schools may have to invest time and money in fundraising events for the school throughout the year. While public schools also participate in fundraisers, the bulk of their funding still comes from federal, state and local government sources.

Public schools provide access to an education for every child in a community. The Huffington Post notes that by law, public schools cannot turn students away based on academic performance, income level or disability. This ensures that every student in a neighborhood has the same educational opportunities as the neighbors down the street, regardless of their current personal or financial situation. Since education is frequently seen as the great equalizer for society, the availability of education for all is a key benefit these institutions offer.

Because public schools admit all children in the community, those that attend the schools are more likely to be in classrooms with other children that don't think, act or look exactly like them. Students are more apt to be exposed to students from different cultures or income levels. They may learn to work with other students with mental and physical disabilities. The diversity of the student body can be an important learning experience in itself for all of the children that attend a particular school.

According to the website for New York Schools, funding for schools is often dependent on the number of students in a school, with consideration for smaller, more manageable classroom sizes. Typically, class sizes in public schools tend to remain smaller in the early years, from kindergarten through about third grade. At that point, classes may gradually grow in accordance to the students' age and ability to work independently.

Here is another video discussing the advantages of public education.

Public schools often have the resources to offer more academic opportunities like advanced classes and courses in specialized subjects like technology and the arts, according to Education Bug. Options might include gifted and talented programs, International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement classes. Students that want to excel will find various chances to do so, while those not inclined to academic acceleration find choices at their ability level as well.

Extracurricular Opportunities

In addition to the choices in the classroom, students in public school often have more options in activities after the last bell rings for the day. From athletics to music and theatre, most schools offer a variety of extracurricular activities to keep students learning and excelling in the areas they are most interested in.

By law, public schools are also required to provide certain services to students. Some, such as transportation to and from school, are offered to all the students. Others, such as reduced-price lunches and academic assistance, are provided to students who qualify. Because the services are required, public schools have a staff of special education teachers and learning specialists at the parents' and students' disposal. Private schools may not offer such services because they are not required to admit students that meet these needs.

According to PublicSchools.org, teachers in public schools are required to be certified by the state. Certification also requires ongoing education and periodic renewal of credentials. Charter schools and private schools do not have this requirement, which means parents don't always know the level of training attained by the teacher in their child's classroom. In some cases, these schools might not even require teachers to have a four-year degree to work in the classroom.

By the same token, public schools are held accountable by the state for their academic performance. While some have complained this has led to an overabundance of standardized testing, the schools do at least have a higher authority they must answer to. This prevents abuse and leads to management of failing schools much more quickly than if the school did not have such accountability.

According to the Huffington Post report, students in public schools score comparably on standardized tests to students in private schools. In some cases, they outscore students in charter schools. While some public schools turn up relatively poor results, those results are often found in areas with high poverty rates. When comparing apples to apples in terms of student demographics, public schools are right up there with other types of schools.

While many are complaining about the state of public schools today - and some with good reason - these schools are still working effectively for the majority of students in the system. With many benefits from public schools, it is no wonder the majority of students and their parents are still choosing the public school in their neighborhood as their first choice for education.

Questions? Contacts us on Facebook. @publicschoolreview

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10 Advantages to Public Education | PublicSchoolReview.com

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Public education has gotten a bit of a bad rap in recent decades, as many families are exploring other education options, like homeschooling, private schools and charter schools. However, public schools still serve a significant role in preparing the next generation of world leaders. Check out these 10 potential advantages a public school education can provide.

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Public schools do just as well as private school if not better

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Public schools do just as well as private school if not better

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A study from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education published in January 2006 found that students in regular public schools do as well or significantly better than comparable students in private and charter schools.

This large-scale study, financed by the U.S. Department of Education, compared 4th and 8th grade math scores of more than 340,000 students in 13,000 regular public, charter and private schools on the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly called "the nation's report card."

Researchers Christopher Lubianski and Sarah Theule Lubianski examined math, not reading scores, because math is considered to better measure school effectiveness, while reading is more influenced by family and other outside factors.

While not a study of voucher students, this study goes to the heart of the pro-voucher assumption that private schools are better than public schools.

The study found that when test scores are not controlled for student background, private schools score higher than public schools. However these higher private school test scores are due to the fact that higher proportions of disadvantaged students are enrolled in public schools.

"Overall, the study demonstrates that demographic differences between students in public and rivate schools more than account for the relatively high raw scores of private schools," the report concludes. "Indeed, after controlling for these differences, the presumably advantageous 'private school effect' disappears, and even reverses in most cases."

In short, public schools are as good as or better than private schools.

Reference

Charter, Private, Public Schools and Academic Achievement: New Evidence from NAEP Mathematics Data (PDF, 48pp) - Study by Christopher Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski, of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

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Public Schools: As Good or Better Than Charter, Private Schools

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A study from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education published in January 2006 found that students in regular public schools do as well or significantly better than comparable students in private and charter schools. This large-scale study, financed by the U.S.

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Private school teachers are paid less then public school teachers

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Private school teachers are paid less then public school teachers

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The opposite interpretation is that private-school teachers must be underpaid. Private schools, some point out, suffer higher teacher turnover among early-career teachers: 24 percent of private-school teachers are in their first three years of teaching, compared with 13 percent of public-school teachers. And on their way out the door, two-thirds cite low salary as a reason for leaving. So private schools' stingy wages must be failing to draw and retain good teachers. (Never mind that their students seem to do just fine.)

Both of these positions overlook the simplest explanation. The labor markets are just plain different-and those differences may hold meaningful lessons.

The first main difference is licensure. Public education has more jobs to fill (87 percent of all teaching jobs nationwide) and fewer people to fill them. That's because whereas private schools hire whomever they want, state laws require public schools to hire only licensed teachers.

That means public schools have greater demand for workers, and smaller supply. Any economist-really, anyone who's slept through an Econ 101 lecture-can tell you what comes next. In order to fill their staffs, public schools will need to offer a more attractive wage. They aren't splurging, any more than private schools are scrimping. It's just the market-two different markets, in fact-at work.

This brings us to the second main difference between publics and privates, and to the crux of the paradox. How can private schools pay their teachers less, yet offer an education for which parents gladly spend tens of thousands per year? The answer is right there in the question.

Private schools can pay less precisely because they're better. Not necessarily for students, but for teachers.

Class sizes are smaller-a 12:1 student-to-teacher ratio, compared with 16:1 at public schools. There's also less red tape-private teachers answer to principals and parents, rather than to principals, parents, and three meddling levels of government. And the families at private schools are, quite literally, invested in education. A national survey of teachers, asking them about the problems their schools face, paints a vivid contrast:

Whereas many public school teachers spend their days leaping over hurdles, private school teachers actually get to-just imagine!-teach. This explains why they're twice as likely to hold Ph.D.s, despite earning $6,500 less per year than Ph.D.s at public schools. It also explains why 21 percent of private school teachers have two decades or more of experience-virtually the same ratio as in public schools. They stay because they enjoy the work.

Obviously, teachers care about what they're paid. But they also care about what they're paid to do. Some will even take a lower salary if it means a chance to do their jobs right.

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Why Are Private-School Teachers Paid Less Than Public-School Teachers?

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The opposite interpretation is that private-school teachers must be underpaid. Private schools, some point out, suffer higher teacher turnover among early-career teachers: 24 percent of private-school teachers are in their first three years of teaching, compared with 13 percent of public-school teachers. And on their way out the door, two-thirds cite low salary as a reason for leaving.

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Not every student is right for every school, and not every school is right for every student. While some students are happily celebrating their acceptances to their top private schools, others are dealing with less than stellar news. It is definitely disappointing to discover that you weren't accepted at your top choice school, but this doesn't necessarily mean the end of your private school journey. Understanding admission decisions, including a rejection, can help you regroup and move forward.

Remember how, when you were applying to private school, you looked at different schools and selected the best ones for you? Well, schools do the same with all students who apply. They want to make sure that you're a great fit for them and that they can meet your needs so that you can be successful in school. There are many reasons why students are not offered admission at their top school choices, which may include academic qualifications, behavioral issues, social or emotional needs, and more. Schools usually tell students they aren't the right fit for the school, but don't typically go into detail. Hopefully, you knew if a school was a stretch going into the admission process and the decision isn't a complete surprise.

While the exact reason why you were rejected might not be clear, there are some common reasons for not being accepted to private school include grades, school involvement, testing scores, behavior and discipline issues, and attendance. Private schools strive to build strong, positive communities, and if they feared that you might not be a positive addition, then you may not be accepted.

That goes for your ability to thrive there too. Most schools don't want to accept students who they don't feel will excel with the academic rigors, because they truly want these students to succeed. While many schools offer academic support for students who need a little extra help, not all do. If you applied to a school known for its academic rigor and your grades were subpar, you can likely assume that your ability to thrive academically was in question.

You may also have been rejected because you just weren't as strong as other candidates. Perhaps your grades were good, you were involved, and you were a good citizen of your school; but, when the admission committee compared you to other applicants, there were students who stood out as a better fit for the community and who were more likely to succeed. Sometimes this will result in being waitlisted, but not always.

Sometimes, you will be rejected simply because you didn't complete all portions of your application on time. Many schools are strict when it comes to meeting deadlines and completing the application process in full. Missing any portion can result in a rejection letter coming your way and ruin your chances at joining the school of your dreams.

Unfortunately, you won't always know why you were rejected, but you are welcome to inquire. If this was your dream school, you can always reapply the next year and work to improve the areas that may have affected your acceptance decision.

In some ways, yes. When a school counsels you out of the admission process, it's their way of telling you that the likelihood of you being accepted is low, and there is another school out there that will be a better fit. Some schools work hard to counsel out students who won't be the right fit to admit because they believe that receiving a letter that denies admission to a school can be a difficult thing for a young student to accept. And it can be; for some students, that rejection letter is devastating. But the fact is, many students get denied or counseled out at the private schools they want to attend because there just isn't enough room for everyone.

Some schools will allow you to transfer the following year, provided that you meet set criteria for acceptance. This usually means you need to reapply the following year. Which brings us to the second half of that question. Yes, in most cases you can reapply for admission the following year, provided that the school is accepting applications for your grade that year. Some schools only have openings in one or two grades, so be sure to ask if it's possible. The process to reapply to some private schools can also be different from your initial go-around, so make sure you ask what is expected of you and meet all the necessary criteria and deadlines.

Ideally, you chose more than one school to apply to this year, in varying levels of competitiveness for admission. Choosing a variety of schools in important to ensure that you have options and aren't left without a school for the coming year. Hopefully, you were accepted at one of your other options and have a place to enroll, even if it's not your top choice. If you can't move on from your top choice, take the next year to improve your grades, get involved and prove that you are the ideal candidate for the school of your dreams.

If you didn't apply to more than one school or if you were rejected by every private school you applied to, believe it or not, there's still time to find another school for the fall. The first thing to do is look at the schools that denied you admission. What do they all have in common? If you applied to all schools with highly rigorous academics and your grades are subpar, then you're not applying to the right school for you; in reality, it shouldn't be a surprise that you didn't get offered a letter of acceptance.

Did you only apply to schools with low acceptance rates? If your three schools all accept 15 percent of their applicants or less, then not making the cut also shouldn't be a surprise. Yes, it can be disappointing, but it shouldn't be unexpected. Always think about private schools-and college for that matter-in the sense of three levels of difficulty for acceptance: your reach school, where admission isn't guaranteed or perhaps is not even likely; your likely school, where admission is likely; and your comfortable school or safety school, where it is highly likely you will be accepted.

It's important to remember that just because a school isn't as selective, it doesn't mean that you won't receive a great education. Some lesser known schools have amazing programs that can help you achieve more than you ever imagined possible.

Private school vacancies are available late in the summer if you find the right school. Many schools that are not as selective will have openings that need to be filled even during the summer time, so all is not lost, and you may still have a chance to get accepted before classes start in the fall.

Every school is different, and in select cases, you may be able to appeal your rejection. Start by reaching out to the admission office and asking what their policy is on appealing. It's important to remember that if you weren't accepted, it is highly unlikely they will change their minds unless there is a significant change or error made. For example, if a portion of your application wasn't completed, ask if you can complete it now and be considered again.

Not every school will honor an appeal request, but for those that do, often the most likely reason for an admission decision to be overturned is if the student changes his or her application for a reclassification, which basically means repeating a year. If you were denied admission as a sophomore, consider applying as a freshman.

While public schools often view reclassification, often referred to as being held back, as a negative, many private schools look favorably on a student who is willing to reclassify to better himself or herself. Consider this ... perhaps you applied as a sophomore or junior for the coming fall and were denied. Perhaps the school's curriculum doesn't align properly with your previous school and finding appropriate classes for you will be a challenge. Reclassifying will give you another chance to improve your academic performance, gain better mastery, and better align with the progression of classes. If you're an athlete or an artist, it also means you have another year to hone your skills and talents, increasing your chances of getting into a better school down the road.

If you have been denied and don't have another option for private school, it often makes sense to just wait a year and reapply in the fall. You may want consider reclassification if it makes sense to you; students reclassify to improve their academics, perfect their athletic and artistic talents, and to gain another year of maturity before heading off to college. In some cases, reclassifying can help you increase your chances of being accepted at that top private school you have your eye on. Why? Most schools have typical "entry years" for students. For example, in high school, there are fewer spaces in grades ten, eleven and twelve, than there are in the ninth grade. That means that admission is even more competitive at the higher grades, and reclassifying will put you in a position that is competing for one of many openings, instead of one of few openings. Reclassification isn't right for everyone, and some competitive athletes need to make sure that another year of high school varsity action won't negatively impact eligibility requirements for college, so be sure to talk to the admission office and your coaches to get the full understanding of what is right for you.

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Rejected at Private School? Here's What You Need to Know

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Not every student is right for every school, and not every school is right for every student. While some students are happily celebrating their acceptances to their top private schools, others are dealing with less than stellar news.

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Private schools have mandatory uniforms. 

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Private schools have mandatory uniforms. 

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Uniforms can be a contentious topic in US public schools, particularly for the kids wearing them.

"The research we've seen finds that the majority of students don't want to wear school uniforms," says Deborah Weinswig, founder and CEO of Coresight Research, which surveys adults with school-age children as part of its retail research. "[Uniforms] restrict individuality, they're expensive, they're too old-fashioned, they don't follow any of the current fashion trends and they aren't flattering."

Yet as American kids head back to public school this month, far more of them will be wearing uniforms than did just a decade ago. In the school year that ended in 2016, 21.5% of US public schools required students to wear uniforms, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That's up from 13.8% in 2006.

Unlike a number of other countries, such as the UK, the US doesn't have a culture of students wearing uniforms outside of private schools. The first documented conversations on the subject only began in the 1980s, as sociologist David L. Brunsma describes in his book The School Uniform Movement and what it Tells Us about American Education. Among other benefits, uniforms were floated as a way to help curb incidents of violence, including gang violence.

Not all uniforms are as nice as Success Academy's.

Since then, schools have turned to uniforms for a variety of reasons. While there's no conclusive evidence that they boost student performance, administrators view them as helpful in creating a sense of community and a school culture that fosters seriousness about learning.

"The idea is to support equality," says Anne Michaud, a spokesperson for Success Academy, the largest free public charter school network in New York City. "If children are dressed in same or similar fashion, they aren't distracted by each others' clothing and judgments about what others are wearing. Uniforms are an equalizer."

Success Academy has required students to wear uniforms since opening its first school in 2006. Today, the roughly 17,000 students it serves across its 47 schools all wear them. Michaud adds that the communal feeling uniforms support is particularly beneficial for their racially and ethnically diverse schools, and that uniforms are practical and cost-effective, since parents don't have to worry about keeping their kids dressed in the latest fashions.

Courtesy of Success Academy

Some of the vibrant uniforms at Success Academy.

Prices can vary, though. In the UK, the charity Family Action warned in 2011 that uniforms were putting a financial burden on poor families, and complaints about the expense from parents pop up on occasion.

In the UK, more than 80% of secondary schools require uniforms, says Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, and the number is still growing. "There's been a rise and more attention to it," Collins says, "with a stronger focus on the school uniform not being a generic uniform that all kids wear in all schools but actually distinguishing your school."

Of course they're more embedded in the culture in the UK. In Collins's experience, students tend to like the uniform, especially if they were involved in the design process.

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More US school kids than ever are wearing uniforms this fall

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Uniforms can be a contentious topic in US public schools, particularly for the kids wearing them. "The research we've seen finds that the majority of students don't want to wear school uniforms," says Deborah Weinswig, founder and CEO of Coresight Research, which surveys adults with school-age children as part of its retail research.

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Public school out preforms private school

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Public school out preforms private school

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Findings Challenge Common Assumption

Everyone knows that private schools are better than public schools. At least that's a common assumption - and one that just might not hold up.

A 2005 study seriously challenges this bedrock assumption of the advocates for private school vouchers and other school privatization schemes.

The study shows that public school children outperformed their private school peers on a federal math test. Common sense and now this study also suggest that private school standardized test scores tend to be better more because of their students' socioeconomic background than because of anything the school is doing.

"A New Look at Public and Private Schools: Student Background and Mathematics Achievement" appears in the May issue of the prestigious Phi Delta Kappan magazine. The study's authors are Sarah Theule, an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Christopher Lubienski, an education professor at Urbana-Champaign in the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership.

"Our findings suggest that it is time for a critical reexamination of common assumptions regarding the effectiveness of public and private schools," say the authors. "As market-style reforms change the public school landscape, prompting many to call for various forms of privatization of schooling options, it is important to examine the evidence regarding whether private schools are, indeed, more effective than public schools."

After accounting for the socioeconomic background of students, the researchers "actually found just the opposite of what was expected: public schools outperformed private schools..."

Lubienski told the Christian Science Monitor that the findings "really call into question the assumption of some of the more prominent reform efforts" and that they challenge the assumption that "the private-school model is better and more effective, and can achieve superior results."

It's just one study, but the findings point to the need for more research and, say the authors, should "give pause" to those pushing for the wholesale privatization of public education.

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Study Suggests Public Schools Outperform Private

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Everyone knows that private schools are better than public schools. At least that's a common assumption - and one that just might not hold up. A 2005 study seriously challenges this bedrock assumption of the advocates for private school vouchers and other school privatization schemes.

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Private School vs. Public School Breakdown

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Niche examines private and public schools to help you figure out which one may be right for students.