Latest news with #schoolsystem
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Tennessee school won't accept doctor's notes for absences
(NewsNation) — One Tennessee school district will no longer accept doctors' notes to excuse an absence despite objections from parents. Lawrence County School System officials said the school is instituting the policy to teach students work ethic and reliability, saying that students will be expected to go to work sick or injured as adults. It is also intended to address chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10 percent or more of instructional time. In the 2023-2024 school year, Lawrence County had a 14 percent rate of chronic absenteeism. With no federally mandated sick leave, many Americans do go to work when sick, but public health officials advise against it. Staying home when sick can reduce the spread of viruses like the flu and COVID-19 and protect vulnerable people in the community. The new attendance policy says students will simply be marked absent or present, with no options for doctors to verify a child is absent because they are sick or injured, need to stay home to recover or to prevent spreading contagious illnesses to their classmates. The policy is meant to help improve attendance rates, but parents have objected, noting that an absence for an illness like the flu could now mean a referral to the Lawrence County Juvenile Court for truancy. Children who get sick at school or are sent to school sick and sent home by a nurse will be counted as tardy. Three tardies will equal an absence. The new policy also says schools will start intervention after just three days, and eight or more days marked absent will result in a court referral. Other penalties could include failing a class or grade, not being allowed to participate in graduation or get a driver's license or permit. There will be exemptions for students with documented chronic illnesses and emergencies out of the student's control, as well as allowances for deaths in the family and some religious observances. The school district sent a letter to medical providers asking them to emphasize regular school attendance and warning that medical notes could imply students should stay home even after their health improves. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
American mother living in the UK reveals the things she finds 'wild' about the British school system
An American mother living in the UK has revealed three things that she finds shocking about the British school system. Molly, who goes by @strangecapers on TikTok, where she has almost 50,000 followers, moved to Birmingham, England, from Texas, US, and frequently posts about the cultural differences between the two countries. In a recent post, the mother identified three features of UK schooling that she finds 'wild' as an American. Taking to TikTok, the US-born mother was shocked that 'free' schools in the UK might be religious, expressed surprise at the 'formal' uniforms worn by children and noted that far more pupils are able to walk to school than in the States. Molly's first 'shock' was that, in the UK, 'schools the public can attend for free can be religious'. Clarifying that 'state schools' in the UK are the equivalent of 'public schools' in the US, she said: 'A school that's designated for the public - not a private school - can give priority to students based on religion.' She added: 'The idea that If you want to go to school in your neighbourhood but you can't get in because kids from further away will have priority because they belong to the faith of the school blows my American mind.' Branding faith schools 'fascinating', Molly appeared to believe that such institutions 'discriminate on the basis of religion', something that would never happen in her home country. The American mother was also surprised by the prevalence of school uniforms in the UK. She acknowledged: 'I know the statistics are overwhelming - like 95 per cent of schools in the UK wear school uniforms - and it's so embedded in the culture to wear school uniform.' Yet, it's 'much less normalised' to wear a uniform in the US, she added. Laughing, she joked: 'Smart shoes... the very formal nature of going to school is new to me.' The third thing in Molly's list was, however, something that she said she's 'really excited' about. She elaborated: 'The number of children in the UK that can walk to school is just so much higher than in the US. 'The idea that you could walk to school is just, like, so exciting to me.' Adding that she was genuinely 'thrilled' that her child will have the opportunity to walk to school, Molly ended the video on a positive note. For the most part, TikTok users failed to share in the American mother's excitement, instead focusing on her two previous points. TikTokers largely disagreed with Molly's characterisation of faith schools in the UK A number of TikTokers took the opportunity to share their own experience of attending faith schools, defending this particular feature of the British school system. One commenter said: 'Don't worry Mrs American, if you're in a religious school they will still accept people not of that faith. 'I went to a Christian school and only around 20 per cent of the students were Christian.' Another said: 'When we see US kids pledging allegiance every morning, that blows our UK minds.' A third person sought to give further insight into the British school system, adding: 'They can be religious. They aren't really, though. There is a school near me called the "Church" in "place name". Not a single person who attends is religious.' A fourth said: 'They don't really discriminate based on religion though - you will see children of all faiths at a Christian-based school. Sometimes, it's the only choice in the catchment area.' A fifth recalled: 'I went to a Christian school while not being religious. Most of my friends weren't religious. I'd say it was 50/50.' Someone else sought to reassure Molly by writing: 'My kids both went to a Catholic school. We are atheist - no issue getting either [child] into this school'. Other people were more sympathetic to Molly's critique of the UK school system Others, however, appeared to share the American mother's dismay that some state schools in the UK have a religious leaning. One person said: 'Really hate how they're allowed to indoctrinate children. Even state schools in Scotland have mandatory religious observance that has to be opted out of.' While a second agreed: 'I completely agree that it's insane that in a basically secular country, we have state-funded religious schools. Religion has no place in education full stop.' A third person was more lighthearted when they commented: 'Also, many non-Church schools still have hymn practice at assembly in the morning - which I've never thought of as weird but upon reflection, it probably is a little!' Others still sought to defend the UK's uniform policy, with one person explaining: 'Uniform stops kids with less money standing out from kids that have expensive designer clothes, so they're less likely to be made fun of.' The same TikTok user added: 'Also good for discipline and standards'. A second person agreed: 'I was always told that one of the reasons we had to wear uniforms was to stop discrimination against people who are poorer based on their clothes'.
RNZ News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
School system 'fair' but we've been pretending it's 'great'
An international consultancy firm rated New Zealand's education system at the top of "fair", along with countries including Armenia and Greece, and behind Australia which was considered low in the "good" ranking. Photo: Supplied / Ministry of Education How good is the school system? According to an internal Education Ministry document it's "fair" and we've been fooling ourselves that it's "great". The document, sighted by RNZ and understood to date from 2023, also sets out three options for improving the system by specifying through the curriculum what teachers teach and how they teach it. "Our data suggests that the New Zealand education system would be defined at the top of FAIR by McKinsey 2010 yet we have been behaving as if it is GREAT," it said. The McKinsey reference appeared to be to a report by an international consultancy firm that rated education systems from "poor" to "excellent" based on performance in OECD tests between 2000 and 2010. The report placed New Zealand at the top of "fair" along with countries including Armenia and Greece and behind Australia which was considered low in the "good" ranking. Despite steadily declining scores , New Zealand ranked 10th in reading, 11th in science and 23rd in maths in the most recently published OECD Pisa tests of 15-year-olds. The ministry's document said the introduction of a new curriculum in 2007 without sufficient support caused problems for schools. "As we sought to shift from great to excellent, the 2007 curriculum went straight from a detailed curriculum to a very open curriculum. It did so however, without providing the supports needed to maintain and build on system coherence and capability," it said. "Some schools with strong networks, resources, and accountabilities manage to perform well with minimal system supports but many of those carrying the weight of high needs and complex issues struggle. Teacher and learners both struggle." The options for increasing the level of prescription in the curriculum ranged from a high degree practiced in "developing nations including Rwanda" to allowing a balance between the national curriculum and local decision-making similar to schools in Scotland and British Columbia. The document said the most severe option was designed to move schools from poor to fair and the least severe from good to great. The middle option, for moving school systems from fair to good, would mandate the school-level curriculum including what would be taught and when, though schools would retain some ability to localise their curriculum. It said similar approaches were used in Australia and Alberta in Canada. The document said under-prescription left decisions with schools and teachers "who do not always have the capacity or expertise to select appropriate content or approaches". "This can contribute to learner under-achievement and exacerbate inequitable outcomes. The New Zealand curriculum environment shows evidence of under prescription in the highly variable quality of learning that students receive," it said. The paper said over-prescription limited the ability of schools to respond to learners and contexts and to be innovative. "Over time, over prescription may contribute to curriculum overcrowding and a focus on coverage rather than meaningful learning; this can contribute to poor learner outcomes," it said. "Prescribed curricula are also liable to become outdated and require monitoring and support to stay up-to-date. A primary rationale for the design of the 2007 curriculum was to address over prescription in previous curricula." The paper said over-prescription limited the ability of schools to respond to learners and contexts and to be innovative. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The ministry did not tell RNZ which of the options was being followed. However, it said it had advised successive governments about the need to balance national direction with local flexibility. "While high autonomy suits systems with uniformly strong practice and outcomes, New Zealand's variable, inconsistent, and inequitable performance-particularly for Māori, Pacific, disabled and low socio economic students means our current high autonomy settings are not justified," acting curriculum centre leader Pauline Cleaver said. She said the previous government acted on the ministry's advice by starting to make the curriculum clearer about what all learners must know and do, and deciding to mandate a common practice model for how literacy and mathematics should be taught. "The current minister has continued that trajectory, starting with issuing detailed curriculum and teaching practice expectations for English (Years 0-6), Mathematics & Statistics (Years 0-8), Te Reo Rangatira (Years 0-6) and Pāngarau (Years 0-8)." Cleaver said the documents specified what students should learn over time, when and how key content must be taught, and how it should be assessed. Auckland University professor of curriculum and pedagogy Stuart McNaughton said New Zealand's results in international tests were relatively good, but its ability to improve was only fair. "In terms of the the quality judgement from the OECD in point of time and then over time, we're relatively good, relatively high quality," he said. "But having said that, it is also true to say that we have had some declines in achievement and we need to recognise those overall declines in achievement which have in some of the assessments come from high performing students not performing quite as highly," he said. "It is an unfair system and we have a real problem with our equity profile." McNaughton agreed a greater level of prescription was required in the curriculum to improve New Zealand's school system, but he worried it might be going too far in places. "It depends very much on the degree to which both content and teaching are prescribed because if you take it too far, you undermine the agency of the teacher, which is a great risk in a system that that prides itself on innovation and expertise, and the second risk is you've got to be really sure that you've got a good evidence-base for the content that you're providing," he said. McNaughton said the recently-introduced primary school English curriculum over-prescribed how the youngest children should be taught to read because years of evidence showed different children needed different approaches. Post Primary Teachers Association vice-president Kieran Gainsford said he agreed schools lost centrally-provided support in 2007. He said teachers were hopeful it would be restored under the current reforms, but worried the ministry might not be able to provide it and teachers would be left to introduce the new curriculum on their own. Principals Federation president Leanne Otene. Photo: Supplied Principals Federation president Leanne Otene said years of "flip-flopping" education policies had damaged the school system. "We have never been given an opportunity as a workforce to embed a curriculum and to really ensure that our workforce is confident and competent in the curriculum document and its teaching so that we can see improvement in student outcomes. We are just flip-flopping every time there's a change of government," she said. Otene said the problem was happening again with more than 70 percent of teachers and principals telling a recent NZEI survey that curriculum change was happening too fast. "At the moment that pace of change is overwhelming schools... Our principals who are leading teaching and learning for goodness sake, haven't even received any professional development yet and they are supposed to be leading these curriculum changes in their schools. So I would agree, we're not a world class education system," she said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
