What method of teaching do Montessori schools use?

Why should inner city schools be so much worse than regular schools?

• Continuation of my earlier question, where I wanted to sue the school district for providing inferior education. Why are inner city schools so much worse? If I am a banker and I screw up on 60% of my work, I will be fired. How can a school fail to educate over 60% of its students and still get funding? Why don't inner city schools use the same curriculum as regular successful schools? My daughter's school has teachers that speak in slang and don't correct the children for speaking improperly. They don't have good lesson plans, and the work is not organized properly into units but thrown together, one day teaching prepositions (barely), subject and object pronous, vowel digraphs and more, never going into enough depth on any one subject. This school does not teach children how to think logically or creatively, but attempts to have them memorize info for the test. Even a retard knows that this is not how kids learn, and obviously this method is failing as year after year, most kids cannot pass the tests at grade level. Don't give me crap about 'moving' or 'entitlement'. Having more money does NOT entitle you to a better education, because in this nation children are considered EQUAL no matter where they live. Why don't inner city schools adopt the curriculum of good schools? Why aren't the teachers held to the same high standards? Why are the children allowed to speak in slang, and are not EXPELLED for fighting? Is it immoral to force children to receive a bad education when other kids get good public education? Is there some conspiracy in the government? Someone must profit from keeping inner city kids mentally impovrished so they cannot compete when it is time to get into college. OH, and we don't need any more money or technological gadgets. Our ghetto school district actually pays the teachers more and has managed to suck hundreds of thousands off the wealthier districts because of the Abbot ruling. They don't do the right things with the money. They hire terrible teachers (my daughter's teacher can't SPELL) , they have low expectations , they use poor, badly planned curriculum. Changing the standards and curriculum would cost NOTHING. Why don't they do it?

• Answer:

  I read your question a few times and I have to shake my head. In essence I agree with you. Many good teachers are not going to want to work in an inner city school, especially one that is already deemed a failing school since many states now tie their pay into test scores. I understand your frustration but there are a few things you need to consider. First you are assuming that all inner city school are poor performing. Not the case. A few are but many aren't. I taught at an inner city school in Las Vegas. It was ugly, the neighborhood was bad, but that school was the top performing school in Nevada. I now work at another inner city school in another state(I don't wish to divulge where) and ALL of the schools in this area have better scores that the ones on the rich side of town. It all comes down to responsibility and how much the community values education. The kids I work with KNOW that a good education is important if they want to get out if their current situation. They recognize education as having value and their attitudes make all the difference. My younger brother is a software engineer for a fortune 500 company and my husband is a successful civil engineer, all products of inner city schools in LA and New York. Second, the school really may have lower expectations and while I agree that it is not entirely fair, think about this - the kids in your area may be homeless or on the verge of being evicted. Just getting them to come to school each day when they are not even sure where their next meal is coming from is a feet in and of itself. You may not agree with it, but at the school you were at before it was assumed that kids would go to college since their parents did. At some inner city schools kids do not always feel that this is even a possibility so convincing them that it is can be a challenge. This goes back to what I said about community involvement. If the community values education (which I can tell you, from what I have read and seen New Jersey is really showing that they have NO respect or value for education) then the kids will too and will strive for that greatness. This is partially up to the school, but the parents and community need to take some responsibilty for it too. Finally, every school in your state has the SAME core curriculum, in fact most states have adopted the national curriculum. This means everyone is teaching the same thing no matter where you live. It does not variate as you are suggesting.