^The whole arguing for a percent or two is just as common in public school. Take the recent trend towards not failing kids. All over Ontario, young kids are almost literally not allowed to be failed. Teachers are scrutinized and must prove a kid should be held back. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/223488.
Overzealous parents (and students) is not a strictly private or public school issue. It is a fact in the 21st century and it is killing students, parents, and teachers. Kids are no longer allowed to be kids. It is all about getting into the top university blah blah. Parents are literally harassing teachers phoning them at every chance. (I realize I may be attacked for wanting to send my kids to private school yet bitching about competitiveness)
Your points about class size, equipment and tech are spot on. As I mentioned at the beginning, class sizes are so much smaller. Allows for more one and one time if the student needs it. And tech is such a huge thing. It pissed me off greatly in a few university classes when I was actually told we could not use laptops to take notes. It was ridiculous. The technology is there to help (yes of course there will always be those on the internet, which I did if the class bored me, but I still got good marks). I probably succeeded the way I did in private school because I had a laptop, and I actually was one of the few who did during the first few years of HS. It should be noted that our school did not provide laptops as a great deal of private schools do (so this does not exactly prove any tech point), but it was in no way discouraged through highschool... only once I got to university and there were wireless networks was it discouraged was was ridiculous.
Overzealous parents (and students) is not a strictly private or public school issue. It is a fact in the 21st century and it is killing students, parents, and teachers. Kids are no longer allowed to be kids. It is all about getting into the top university blah blah. Parents are literally harassing teachers phoning them at every chance. (I realize I may be attacked for wanting to send my kids to private school yet bitching about competitiveness)
Your points about class size, equipment and tech are spot on. As I mentioned at the beginning, class sizes are so much smaller. Allows for more one and one time if the student needs it. And tech is such a huge thing. It pissed me off greatly in a few university classes when I was actually told we could not use laptops to take notes. It was ridiculous. The technology is there to help (yes of course there will always be those on the internet, which I did if the class bored me, but I still got good marks). I probably succeeded the way I did in private school because I had a laptop, and I actually was one of the few who did during the first few years of HS. It should be noted that our school did not provide laptops as a great deal of private schools do (so this does not exactly prove any tech point), but it was in no way discouraged through highschool... only once I got to university and there were wireless networks was it discouraged was was ridiculous.