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North Carolina School District Has Success With MacBook Air Initiative
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Unless I missed it the article fails to show/address an important issue.
How does this district with this program compare to others with out it within the same time frame.
Its a fair better gauge to see the effectiveness of this program.
I doubt that since 2008 all other districts did not make any changes to allocating resources.
How does this district with this program compare to others with out it within the same time frame.
Its a fair better gauge to see the effectiveness of this program.
I doubt that since 2008 all other districts did not make any changes to allocating resources.
You'll keep this very simple reasoning until you'll become obsolete faster than you can spell "meritocracy". Technology is good, but let's not forget why it exists: to make the human life better.
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The exceeding obsolete ones could move to China and work in a Foxconn facility manufacturing Macbooks.
And for all of you complaining about the 65 teachers losing their jobs - recognize that we don't know who they were - what they were teaching. And whether they were on the blocks to be eliminated regardless to reduce spending, as is happening in lots of school districts.
My mother taught in public grade school for 32 years. She is the first to admit that there are a lot of teachers just counting the days to retirement, not engaging the kids, spurring them on to greatness. Quite frankly, I would challenge everyone to think back to your grade school, high school and college days and honestly say that every teacher pushed you toward greatness. If you can think of more than say 3 over the course of 15-20 years, you did better than I did.
Technology is in our lives and our kids' lives, whether we want it to be, like it to be or not. Those teachers that realize you need to use all sorts of ways to push kids to learn are the ones that will be successful and remembered. If you think doing things with hardcover books and chalk boards is the only way forward, you're sadly mistaken (a lot of schools don't even use chalk boards any more - they too have been replaced with dry erase boards).
My mother taught in public grade school for 32 years. She is the first to admit that there are a lot of teachers just counting the days to retirement, not engaging the kids, spurring them on to greatness. Quite frankly, I would challenge everyone to think back to your grade school, high school and college days and honestly say that every teacher pushed you toward greatness. If you can think of more than say 3 over the course of 15-20 years, you did better than I did.
Technology is in our lives and our kids' lives, whether we want it to be, like it to be or not. Those teachers that realize you need to use all sorts of ways to push kids to learn are the ones that will be successful and remembered. If you think doing things with hardcover books and chalk boards is the only way forward, you're sadly mistaken (a lot of schools don't even use chalk boards any more - they too have been replaced with dry erase boards).
Nah, technology won´t do good for the kids and will only cost some teachers their existence.
Steve Jobs was a good visionary CEO, but his ultra-liberal thoughts on society aren´t worth the paper (or e-book xD) they are written on.
Simple, get rid of testing
But seriously, in my experience testing is a terrible judge of a students actual performance in a subject. A few extra questions on one unit and a few less on another can make a decent student look bad and a poor one look good.
Maybe the real issue is the tests themselves, if they are constantly shifting through material each semester a teacher must actually teach the subject and will not be able to teach to the test. Of course then you have the issue of one years test being more difficult than the year before so you wouldn't be able to compare year to year, so I guess that might not work.
Monitoring classrooms would probably work. Most bad teachers will magically get better when they have a sit-in reviewing their class, but if you have a video surveillance system in every room then they will have to be striving to be good all the time. Though that is probably getting a bit too Orwellian.
So I guess I don't have a solution for that, but there must be something out there.
I am a teacher in MGSD. I have been here since 2003 and I am "digital native" but I have taught here both before and after the laptops.
I wanted to address a few things.
First, North Carolina does not have teacher unions. There are teacher unions, however we are a right to work state and so they have little power and/or influence. Fewer than half of our teachers I would guess are members of the NCAE (I am not).
Yes, we have had layoffs. No, they were not directly correlated to the purchase of the laptops. Like every school district in the country, the recession led to a drop in sales tax, therefore our state funding decreased, there our budgets were cut by huge amounts. We have cut back on office supplies, textbooks by not purchasing them, etc. Salaries are the largest part of our budget and I would encourage everyone to view our annual report which details our budget. Many of the positions lost were retirements or people leaving the district of their own volition and whose positions were simply eliminated as opposed to being filled. In addition to our own technology budget, we have a substantial grant from a large national employer who has headquarters in our town.
Yes class sizes have grown. However our administrators have done an outstanding job at raising the class sizes of electives and honor level classes where students are better able to absorb the changes. Our lowest performing students have the smallest class sizes.
Our test scores are based on the accountability tests written and administered by the state of North Carolina. We use our own internal data as formative assessments at regular intervals to prepare for those state tests. The data reflected in the article comes solely from the state and is easily accessible on ncpublicschools.org (click on School Report Cards). It is not a test we made up to make ourselves look good.
In terms of the interaction - one thing not mentioned in the article is that at the same time we did the 1:1 conversion we also adopted a program called Capturing Kids Hearts. It involves making a personal connection with a student because until you capture their heart, you can't capture their mind. We all develop social contracts with our students, we greet them at the door every day, we share Good News on a regular basis, and truly get to know our students and let them know we care about them. Many of our students have found this to be a safe, comforting environment because the interaction is so much greater. Technology has freed up some of our back-end time so we can take more time to get to know kids, work with them more closely, target their weak areas sooner and get them the help they need. I feel I know my students better and interact with them FAR more than I did previously. My kids email me all the time with questions, when they are at home working on homework, they know they can email or instant message me on Angel, and they get the help sooner and faster.
Additionally, the things I ask my students to do in class allow me to truly see their creativity shine, and demonstrate their true gifts, and their actual learning, so I learn to see the student behind the textbook so to speak. Again, the things they can do with the technology allow me to see a richer, more complex person that answers on a worksheet. It allows me to have a personal insight into my students' lives. I absolutely can confirm that I have touched more lives as a result of this technology being available. Not just the bright, smart kids that everyone loves to work with - also those who feel they are worthless, have no parent support, have no one to give them kind or supporting words, or show no interest in their school lives or work.
In terms of what we teach - it varies from subject to subject however in my department we are focused on proficiency-based learning where students demonstrate through their blogs, digital portfolios and performance assessments what they have learned. They all perform at different levels, and they have different assignments based on their abilities. We use a lot of project-based learning where students are involved in collaborative problem solving of real-world problems. We are nurturing higher level thinking skills and empowering kids to reflect, push themselves, and think creatively. I would encourage to watch some video of our teachers in action as we were recently profiled at Digital Learning Day. You can find those videos here: http://www.digitallearningday.org/DLD2012
We are profiled in the leadership and instructional strategies section.
I am honored and blessed to work in such a district where we have made a priority of reaching every child, every day and I appreciate the opportunity to share my insights with all of you.
Let me add to that I left a highly lucrative career to take a 50%+ pay cut to become a teacher. (I am still not yet to the salary I was making in 2002 when I became a teacher). There are no bonuses, no merit raises, no title upgrades or promotions. But my students who tell me I have made a difference in their lives (and one class made a surprise website featuring video tutorials of the impact I had made on them - purely unsolicited and unexpected) - that is why I do what I do.
I wanted to address a few things.
First, North Carolina does not have teacher unions. There are teacher unions, however we are a right to work state and so they have little power and/or influence. Fewer than half of our teachers I would guess are members of the NCAE (I am not).
Yes, we have had layoffs. No, they were not directly correlated to the purchase of the laptops. Like every school district in the country, the recession led to a drop in sales tax, therefore our state funding decreased, there our budgets were cut by huge amounts. We have cut back on office supplies, textbooks by not purchasing them, etc. Salaries are the largest part of our budget and I would encourage everyone to view our annual report which details our budget. Many of the positions lost were retirements or people leaving the district of their own volition and whose positions were simply eliminated as opposed to being filled. In addition to our own technology budget, we have a substantial grant from a large national employer who has headquarters in our town.
Yes class sizes have grown. However our administrators have done an outstanding job at raising the class sizes of electives and honor level classes where students are better able to absorb the changes. Our lowest performing students have the smallest class sizes.
Our test scores are based on the accountability tests written and administered by the state of North Carolina. We use our own internal data as formative assessments at regular intervals to prepare for those state tests. The data reflected in the article comes solely from the state and is easily accessible on ncpublicschools.org (click on School Report Cards). It is not a test we made up to make ourselves look good.
In terms of the interaction - one thing not mentioned in the article is that at the same time we did the 1:1 conversion we also adopted a program called Capturing Kids Hearts. It involves making a personal connection with a student because until you capture their heart, you can't capture their mind. We all develop social contracts with our students, we greet them at the door every day, we share Good News on a regular basis, and truly get to know our students and let them know we care about them. Many of our students have found this to be a safe, comforting environment because the interaction is so much greater. Technology has freed up some of our back-end time so we can take more time to get to know kids, work with them more closely, target their weak areas sooner and get them the help they need. I feel I know my students better and interact with them FAR more than I did previously. My kids email me all the time with questions, when they are at home working on homework, they know they can email or instant message me on Angel, and they get the help sooner and faster.
Additionally, the things I ask my students to do in class allow me to truly see their creativity shine, and demonstrate their true gifts, and their actual learning, so I learn to see the student behind the textbook so to speak. Again, the things they can do with the technology allow me to see a richer, more complex person that answers on a worksheet. It allows me to have a personal insight into my students' lives. I absolutely can confirm that I have touched more lives as a result of this technology being available. Not just the bright, smart kids that everyone loves to work with - also those who feel they are worthless, have no parent support, have no one to give them kind or supporting words, or show no interest in their school lives or work.
In terms of what we teach - it varies from subject to subject however in my department we are focused on proficiency-based learning where students demonstrate through their blogs, digital portfolios and performance assessments what they have learned. They all perform at different levels, and they have different assignments based on their abilities. We use a lot of project-based learning where students are involved in collaborative problem solving of real-world problems. We are nurturing higher level thinking skills and empowering kids to reflect, push themselves, and think creatively. I would encourage to watch some video of our teachers in action as we were recently profiled at Digital Learning Day. You can find those videos here: http://www.digitallearningday.org/DLD2012
We are profiled in the leadership and instructional strategies section.
I am honored and blessed to work in such a district where we have made a priority of reaching every child, every day and I appreciate the opportunity to share my insights with all of you.
Let me add to that I left a highly lucrative career to take a 50%+ pay cut to become a teacher. (I am still not yet to the salary I was making in 2002 when I became a teacher). There are no bonuses, no merit raises, no title upgrades or promotions. But my students who tell me I have made a difference in their lives (and one class made a surprise website featuring video tutorials of the impact I had made on them - purely unsolicited and unexpected) - that is why I do what I do.
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Everyone railing against this is either a teacher or has a teacher in the family. No one wants to be replaced by a computer, but it happens anyway.
I on the other hand, have high school students for children and my only concern in this context is their education. Since I was in high school, I've watched every girl I know (and a lot of guys), that didn't have career "aspirations" become a teacher. Hey guess what, we don't want you. If you don't have a passion for children and teaching them, get lost. That means all of you teachers that give kids half the class to do their HOMEwork instead of teaching them and letting them regurgitate that new found knowledge at home, we don't need you. For all those that teach to the EOG tests instead of helping our kids learn how to learn, we don't care about your bonuses, we care about our kids. I'm sorry that some occupations are not valued financially as much as some (good teachers are under paid), but you knew what you were getting into when you started. Teachers didn't make a million dollars a year a decade ago, they'e always been underpaid. Thats why you need a passion for children. And god forbid I say, everything in this world isn't about money.
That being said, their whines will go unheard as virtual high schools are right around the corner. It won't be long until at least some kids link up with their class. Give it a decade or so, and Siri will be teaching our kids! (Think Spock as a kid in school in the latest Start Trek movie - sorry for the ST reference). Life changes, and its as simple as that. Naysayers can whine and say it will never happen, but I'm sure everyone replaced on a line wasn't wondering if machines would replace them a decade before they did.
You can't have more teachers teaching smaller class sizes, making more money. IT CAN NOT HAPPEN. States are literally broke with the size of the system now, and now it sucks. I hate to be a cliche but we are going to have to start Thinking Different. iPads instead of textbooks are the first step (prepare to see this particular school and others like it trading in their MacBook Airs for iPads any time now). iPads are going to start a revolution. Its unfortunate but technology is more inspiring to students than teachers are. Sure there are exceptions, but we can't afford to hope our kids get one of the fewer and fewer exceptions. For the most part, teachers have become babysitters who have to spend more and more of their time dealing with behavioral issues and less and less of their time teaching. Its hard to be inspired by a disciplinarian.
Its a sad state of affairs that isn't necessarily teachers fault, but classes are still too full, teachers are still underpaid, graduation rates and test scores are still too low, and states can't afford it now. Something has to change! Imagine when Siri (I'm just using the name for the sake of writing, it could be anything with similar tech) takes over search for us. And sorry google, it will. Once the tech can effectively answer our questions, it will just be a matter of time until some broke school district has no choice but to can most of their teachers. Then Apple (or someone) will step up to the plate with their new "technology assisted learning program" or whatever, the school district will give it one last hail mary and bam. Last place to first, with kids learning twice as fast and graduating earlier. Just like the school district in the article, it will become the model of the future.
The alternative to this is we continue to do what we are doing, and we all learn to speak Chinese. Now you may say I'm a dreamer, or an idiot, or whatever. But someone out there thought the same thing about the guy that decided to make the machines that could do line work. Oh what an idiot to think he could replace humans with machines! Ooops.
I on the other hand, have high school students for children and my only concern in this context is their education. Since I was in high school, I've watched every girl I know (and a lot of guys), that didn't have career "aspirations" become a teacher. Hey guess what, we don't want you. If you don't have a passion for children and teaching them, get lost. That means all of you teachers that give kids half the class to do their HOMEwork instead of teaching them and letting them regurgitate that new found knowledge at home, we don't need you. For all those that teach to the EOG tests instead of helping our kids learn how to learn, we don't care about your bonuses, we care about our kids. I'm sorry that some occupations are not valued financially as much as some (good teachers are under paid), but you knew what you were getting into when you started. Teachers didn't make a million dollars a year a decade ago, they'e always been underpaid. Thats why you need a passion for children. And god forbid I say, everything in this world isn't about money.
That being said, their whines will go unheard as virtual high schools are right around the corner. It won't be long until at least some kids link up with their class. Give it a decade or so, and Siri will be teaching our kids! (Think Spock as a kid in school in the latest Start Trek movie - sorry for the ST reference). Life changes, and its as simple as that. Naysayers can whine and say it will never happen, but I'm sure everyone replaced on a line wasn't wondering if machines would replace them a decade before they did.
You can't have more teachers teaching smaller class sizes, making more money. IT CAN NOT HAPPEN. States are literally broke with the size of the system now, and now it sucks. I hate to be a cliche but we are going to have to start Thinking Different. iPads instead of textbooks are the first step (prepare to see this particular school and others like it trading in their MacBook Airs for iPads any time now). iPads are going to start a revolution. Its unfortunate but technology is more inspiring to students than teachers are. Sure there are exceptions, but we can't afford to hope our kids get one of the fewer and fewer exceptions. For the most part, teachers have become babysitters who have to spend more and more of their time dealing with behavioral issues and less and less of their time teaching. Its hard to be inspired by a disciplinarian.
Its a sad state of affairs that isn't necessarily teachers fault, but classes are still too full, teachers are still underpaid, graduation rates and test scores are still too low, and states can't afford it now. Something has to change! Imagine when Siri (I'm just using the name for the sake of writing, it could be anything with similar tech) takes over search for us. And sorry google, it will. Once the tech can effectively answer our questions, it will just be a matter of time until some broke school district has no choice but to can most of their teachers. Then Apple (or someone) will step up to the plate with their new "technology assisted learning program" or whatever, the school district will give it one last hail mary and bam. Last place to first, with kids learning twice as fast and graduating earlier. Just like the school district in the article, it will become the model of the future.
The alternative to this is we continue to do what we are doing, and we all learn to speak Chinese. Now you may say I'm a dreamer, or an idiot, or whatever. But someone out there thought the same thing about the guy that decided to make the machines that could do line work. Oh what an idiot to think he could replace humans with machines! Ooops.
Just chiming in to say that I went to a "high-tech" high school in San Jose from 2003-2007. It opened in '01 or '02, and every student was promised a laptop for personal use... until they started getting stolen, vandalized, etc. And from what I hear, kids would just be sitting in class IMing or playing WoW.
By the time I got there in '03, the laptops were locked in carts in the classroom and we hardly used them, since they were so slow and unreliable from irresponsible use that it would waste so much class time trying to get them started up and connected. I'm not sure even sure if they still have them.
That said, even 5 years later, technology is MUCH more prevalent in everyday life and probably school. Seems like every teenager has a smartphone and a laptop, while I and most of my friends waited until college. So, given the right curriculum which integrates the use of tech instead of just having it as a reference, it could feasibly work. But kids will be kids, and having computers (and Internet access!) will always be a distraction...
By the time I got there in '03, the laptops were locked in carts in the classroom and we hardly used them, since they were so slow and unreliable from irresponsible use that it would waste so much class time trying to get them started up and connected. I'm not sure even sure if they still have them.
That said, even 5 years later, technology is MUCH more prevalent in everyday life and probably school. Seems like every teenager has a smartphone and a laptop, while I and most of my friends waited until college. So, given the right curriculum which integrates the use of tech instead of just having it as a reference, it could feasibly work. But kids will be kids, and having computers (and Internet access!) will always be a distraction...
Cheers and thanks to you mgsdteacher! Growing up in a teaching family, I know first-hand what incredibly hard work teaching is. My mom was at school by 7:15 (school started at 8:30) and stayed after school until at least 5, then came home to correct papers and work on future teaching projects, adding at least another couple of hours of work each day (except Friday - she would do that work Sunday night).
And for this, her pay scale started out under $15k and after 32 years (including the grade raises she got for taking college courses each summer), she was paid the princely sum of $45k. She didn't have summers off and she didn't work 7 hours a day. Those people who think teachers have it good, have never tried teaching. Maybe a college professor has it differently, but grade school teachers can be some of the hardest working people out there.
And for this, her pay scale started out under $15k and after 32 years (including the grade raises she got for taking college courses each summer), she was paid the princely sum of $45k. She didn't have summers off and she didn't work 7 hours a day. Those people who think teachers have it good, have never tried teaching. Maybe a college professor has it differently, but grade school teachers can be some of the hardest working people out there.
Easy, as some one else pointed out, easier tests. Multiple choice that only tests memory vs. essays that test understanding (cause you know, with more students to grade, teachers may not have as much time to do essays).
Also, the statistics from what I understand are how many graduated this year vs. last. It takes more than one year for a kid to go through high school. So we're expected to believe one year with computers was enough to make up for three years of supposedly not as good methods?
Simple, get rid of testing
But seriously, in my experience testing is a terrible judge of a students actual performance in a subject. A few extra questions on one unit and a few less on another can make a decent student look bad and a poor one look good.
Couldn't agree more. My kids go to school in NC, and the way teachers teach to the EOG tests is absurd. They don't use text books at all... in any of the classes! The Algebra teacher told me they have text books for the class, they just don't use them! Soooo, I'm relying on my 14 year old freshman to take fantastic notes or there is nothing we can study at home. And here is a shocker for ya, my kid doesn't want to do homework! wow, I know! So his motivation to take great notes, so we can do more work at home (because there is never any homework assigned) is just about nil. Message to teachers, not all parents are lazy schmucks, help us help you!
To me, the worst thing about EOG tests is two fold, one they count towards the students transcripts grade (sounds ok, right?), and two, ALL high school students take the same test despite what grade they are in! So if your like my freshman, your parents ride you all semester long, you work hard and have an A in whatever. Now you have to take your EOG, that will contain things they teach Sophmores, Juniors, and Seniors. My kid had an A in the class, and then got a D on the EOG test (which his teacher bent over backwards to tell me that a D was a good grade for a freshman) and his grade drops to a B. How is that rewarding his hard work? Talk about how not to inspire some one!
I would gladly pay to have cameras installed in EVERY classroom! Anyone can be a good teacher for the hour someone is auditing them, but you can't hide your apathy and your disdain for students while being filmed every day, in every class. You think thats a violation of your rights? I could give a damn. My kids eductions trumps your stupid perceptions. My boss watches me at work all day long, get used to having to do your job right.
I am on a school commission of a private catholic school and we are in a beta program with the iPads. Apple offered us both options. MBAs and iPads. The reason we are leaning towards iPads is because starting next year, all the k-8 books will be available electronically, and iPads will be great devices to access these. Our computer lab just upgraded to new Dells running Windows 7 64 bit. So we have both technologies.
The key here obviously is a county wide school board that is determined to provide its kids with the best possible education.
The biggest problem with education in the lower grades is that you have slow learners and fast learners. To effectively reach the slower kids you need to spend a lot more time with them, thereby ignoring the smarter kids. By allowing the smarter kids free rein, teachers can spend time with the slower kids AND most importantly in my opinion, the slow learners won't be embarrassed by their slowness. I'm not so sure there's any value in giving kids younger than 8 or 9 their own computer. But there's a huge advantage in allowing older kids to learn at their own speed.
In the end, it's really all about the numbers and this school district has done what's necessary to give all its kids equal access to a good education.
The biggest problem with education in the lower grades is that you have slow learners and fast learners. To effectively reach the slower kids you need to spend a lot more time with them, thereby ignoring the smarter kids. By allowing the smarter kids free rein, teachers can spend time with the slower kids AND most importantly in my opinion, the slow learners won't be embarrassed by their slowness. I'm not so sure there's any value in giving kids younger than 8 or 9 their own computer. But there's a huge advantage in allowing older kids to learn at their own speed.
In the end, it's really all about the numbers and this school district has done what's necessary to give all its kids equal access to a good education.
I understand the concern. Human interaction with children is definitely required. However, in this case, they didn't eliminate all the teachers. By the looks of the results posted, it looks like it has become more efficient system.
OTOH, I, too, am concerned about education that is technology biased.
If a 12 hour day and not getting summers off, makes you some of the hardest working people out there, then hello, I am the hardest working person out there! Try welding pipes together 80 ft off the ground, at night in 20 to 30 degree weather! Try rushing into a burning building, knowing you might have to give your life for some stranger. Try patrolling an urban area, wondering if at any time if someone you can't see will shoot and kill you.
Try to wrap your mind around a little perspective before you talk please. Teachers have a thankless job and it doesn't pay well (although my friend has been a teacher for all of a year he makes fairly close to what your your mom made after 32 years... and he does get summers off just for the record), but as I said earlier, its not like people should be getting into teaching to make money... its always been a thankless, underpaid job. Your mom did it because she loved the kids and loved educating them. She didn't do it for her $45k a year.
In my district the idea of cameras in ALL areas of the school was supported by the union. Who shot the idea down? Parents who don't want the world to know (all video would have available online in real time) what worthless lumps they have raised.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)
That statement is one of the most ignorant I've read in technology news, and that's including articles for AppleInsider.
You might be able to replace computer labs, but visual aids such as maps, images of the skeleton, letters of the alphabet, etc., will never be replaced by screens.
-=|Mgkwho
That statement is one of the most ignorant I've read in technology news, and that's including articles for AppleInsider.
You might be able to replace computer labs, but visual aids such as maps, images of the skeleton, letters of the alphabet, etc., will never be replaced by screens.
-=|Mgkwho
I'm going to think a little different here and say, when kids grow up not knowing they are stupid (ok, not knowing they need to try harder than the other kids) then you create a society that thinks they can understand incredibly complex economic and global issues from some lying politicians stump speech. Maybe if they got a little embarrassed growing up they would learn not to speak until they fully understood the conversations topic. Sounds harsh, but watching my society go down the tubes is a b#&$ as well. If your worried about their self esteem, then be a parent. My kids know their value doesn't come from how fast they run, or how smart they are. Unless they turn out to be Michael Jordan, then someone will always be faster or smarter. We aren't all rocket scientists and being richer/smarter/prettier doesn't make you better, it just makes you richer/smarter/prettier. Get your kids values and priorities straight and you won't have to worry about their self esteem.
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Let me guess, a Republican district? I'm guessing they aren't worried about people knowing their kids are stupid, its just some politician played to their narrow perspective on the world and told them cameras will cost money, and that will make your taxes go up! Thats all conservatives need to hear to vote something down.
Teacher layoffs
Well, if you layoff bad teachers and keep the good ones, that's addition by subtraction.
I'd rather have 60 kids in a classroom with a good teacher than 30 kids in one classroom with a good teacher and 30 kids in a second classroom with a bad teacher.
Ignoring specific figures, I'd prefer more kids in classrooms with good teachers and fewer in classrooms with bad teachers.
Well, if you layoff bad teachers and keep the good ones, that's addition by subtraction.
I'd rather have 60 kids in a classroom with a good teacher than 30 kids in one classroom with a good teacher and 30 kids in a second classroom with a bad teacher.
Ignoring specific figures, I'd prefer more kids in classrooms with good teachers and fewer in classrooms with bad teachers.