Continuation schools are schools for high school students over 16 who haven’t completed high school and are at risk of dropping out or not graduating. Usually, students in continuation schools are behind on high school credits and/or have outside circumstances like family life, economic situation, or jobs that prevent them from attending normal public high school. 

2. Where did this type of schooling come from? (origin story)

This schooling was first introduced in California legislature in 1919, along with other schools like opportunity schools for at-risk students. 

3. How does it work in practice? What does your school look like?

In order to accommodate students schedules, the schools have a minimum requirement of 15 hours a week, but provide programming for full days. They focus on job skills, financial management, and other useful things for adult life more than traditional subjects. 

4. What are some potential benefits to your model as opposed to traditional schooling? What might be some drawbacks?

These schools are very helpful for students who are motivated to succeed, but have aspects of their lives preventing them from succeeding in traditional public high school. The drawbacks are mainly social. Continuation schools have a reputation of where ‘those students’ go, and are generally looked down upon. 

Worried about the long days at desks, and one size fits all approach in public schools, some parents decide to take matters into their own hands. The homeschooling approach has become increasingly popular in Massachusetts over the past decade. The homeschooling movement started in the 1970’s, with John Holt and Raymond Moore as its primary founders. By now, each state has its own regulations and rules in place for homeschoolers, with Massachuesste’s being some of the strictest and most highly regulated. For homeschooling, a parent or guardian will usually stay home with their children full time and be their teacher. Subjects that need to be taught are orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, the history and constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, health education, physical education and good behavior. However there is no requirement for how often these subjects are taught, or at which grade level. The main drawback of the homeschooling approach is how inaccessible it is to most people. It is a huge time commitment for parents, and requires financial stability and a multi-parent household. Parents do not get paid to homeschool, but there are grants and possibly tax deductions available. The main benefit is that the education can be more personalized and done mostly from the student’s house. This is a better option for kids with anxiety or who are way ahead of their peers academically. Homeschooling gives freedom to the families over how the learning happens. 

Sources:

Samburg, Bridget. "Our Kids Don't Belong in School." Boston Magazine (Boston,

     MA), August 25, 2015. Accessed March 31, 2021.

     https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/08/25/homeschooling-in-boston/. 

Time4Learning, ed. "Homeschooling in Massachusetts." Time4Learning.com. Accessed

     March 31, 2021. https://www.time4learning.com/homeschooling/massachusetts/. 

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). "Massachusetts Homeschool Law at

     a Glance." In Massachusetts Laws. HSLDA, 2021. Accessed March 31, 2021.

     https://hslda.org/legal/massachusetts. 

Sources

Schools without walls are schools that use the community as a base and resource for all the students’ work. What makes it different from traditional school is that it can be implemented anywhere. Online school would even be an example of “schools without walls” because you can access it and “go to school” anywhere.

2. Where did this type of schooling come from? (origin story)

It was founded in the District of Columbia in 1971. The concept of its urban education was to “use the city as a classroom”. It was immediately developed after Philadelphia’s Parkway School and the Chicago Public High School for Metropolitan Studies. The idea was based in a small suite of offices on the 12th floor of the building located on 1411 K St. NW. 

3. How does it work in practice? What does your school look like?

At The School Without Walls in Rochester, the curriculum, course, and student experiences are planned, developed, and implemented with the goal to help students become self-sufficient, lifelong learners. There are interdisciplinary classes that have project-based learning, and the community is used as a base and resource for work. At The Hellerup School in Denmark, there are no classrooms, but instead a series of multipurpose spaces centered around a set of stairs. The spaces can work as both social meeting areas or lecture halls, and there is furniture and folding walls that can be moved around.

4. What are some potential benefits to your model as opposed to traditional schooling? What might be some drawbacks?

Benefits: It is a better way of educating students than simply placing them off by themselves in the same school building everyday. The graduation requirements at The School Without Walls in Rochester include portfolios and senior projects instead of standardized tests. Gives students a special, unique experience that they can use knowledge from to enter undergraduate school and the real-world.

Drawbacks: I imagine it could be chaotic for people who can’t be that flexible with their schedule. There isn’t much school spirit since everything is so spread out. Not a whole lot of intense student and teacher interaction since everything is moving around. 

https://www.educationnext.org/theopenclassroom/ 

2. Where did this type of schooling come from?

3. How does it work in practice? What does your school look like?

depends on which mode is used:

4. What are some potential benefits to your model as opposed to traditional schooling? What might be some drawbacks?

Benefits

Drawbacks

Sources:
https://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/bilingual_ed/langimmersion.html#:~:text=Immersion%20programs%20that%20exist%20today,experimental%20technique%20of%20language%20immersion

https://carla.umn.edu/immersion/documents/ImmersionResearch_TaraFortune.html

Montessori schools were founded in 1907 by Maria Montessori, an Italian educator. Maria had been hired to take care of children grades 3-7 in more of a daycare format. She spent her first few months at the daycare making observations about how her students absorbed information and then designed her own learning materials and a classroom environment that encouraged their desire to learn. 

A day in the life of a Montessori student would likely change from day to day depending on what the student is interested in. One day could be spent completing their own choice project, while the other could be spent working with friends to understand the number line. 

The Montessori school has many benefits and drawbacks compared to traditional schooling. On one hand, the student focused learning allows students to become passionate about schooling and really learn what they’re interested in. It also accommodates for student needs and encourages collaboration instead of competition. On the other hand, students could find the lack of structure very difficult to effectively learn in and the price could be a barrier for many students. 

Sources: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRHfhP3kXV4&ab_channel=LearningLife 

https://amshq.org/About-Montessori 

2. Where did this type of schooling come from? (origin story)

3. How does it work in practice? What does your school look like?

4. What are some potential benefits to your model as opposed to traditional schooling? What might be some drawbacks?

Works Cited:

https://www.wgu.edu/blog/special-education-history-resources-advice2001.html#:~:text=The%20exact%20nature%20of%20special,segregation%20violated%20equal%20educational%20opportunity.&text=1975%3A%20The%20Education%20for%20All,Act%20was%20signed%20into%20law.

https://www.carautismroadmap.org/specialized-special-education-schools/#:~:text=Specialized%20special%20education%20schools%20provide,%2C%20behavioral%2C%20or%20emotional%20needs.

2. Where did this type of schooling come from? (origin story)

The idea originally stemmed from the Civil Rights Movement, and Ethnic Study Movement. 

3. How does it work in practice? What does your school look like?

In class the teachers are expected the recognize and respect the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society. The students are taught to acknowledge the different values of their own individual cultures. This ideally creates a very interconnected environment of learning.

4. What are some potential benefits to your model as opposed to traditional schooling? What might be some drawbacks?

I would say the general education of different cultures in schools is very important and most definitely is very beneficial to children. They create less distance between cultures and a general feeling of interconnectedness with one another through their cultures which I think is great. 

I wouldn’t  say there is anything specific that these schools that do that are setbacks or harmful. I would say to make sure the children are also educated in different subjects as they would in normal school and be aware of a good balance in education. 

Works Cited

Dewees, Sarah. 1999. "The School-Within-A-School Model. ERIC Digest.". Ericdigests.Org. https://www.ericdigests.org/2000-4/school.htm.

"Schools-Within-Schools Model Seen Yielding Trade-Offs". 2007. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/schools-within-schools-model-seen-yielding-trade-offs/2007/09.

Sources: