Differences Between Progressive and Traditional Schools (Part 6)

The Answer Can Be Found In The Test

Progressive School Test
Progressive School Test
Traditional School Test
Traditional School Test

 

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Five Big Differences Between Traditional and Developmental/Progressive Private Schools

FCLA Soccer
FCLA Soccer

Many L.A. private schools are a hybrid of educational philosophies, a blend of school types (traditional, developmental and progressive) that define each institution. However, there are schools that are purely traditional or progressive and have chosen not to incorporate a mix of educational philosophies. Any of these school types can offer an academically challenging, intellectually rigorous learning environment. Selecting a school depends on your preferences as a parent and finding the best fit for your kid.

 

Here are 5 differences between traditional and developmental/progressive schools:

 

1. Traditional schools tend to teach critical thinking in conjunction with heavy content acquisition. Developmental/Progressive schools are more focused on the process of learning than detailed content acquisition. Teachers are interested in what students know in traditional schools. Developmental/progressive schools want to know what students think.

 

2. The curriculum at developmental/progressive schools includes more project based learning, where kids work in groups and projects can take a week or more.

 

3. Traditional schools have more homework, tests and quizzes. They tend to use textbooks more often than developmental/progressive schools.

 

4. The report cards and grading systems are very different. Developmental/Progressive schools tend to use narrative written reports for elementary school. Traditional schools use grades and/or numeric evaluation methods.

 

5. Academic achievement is celebrated in traditional schools. Honor lists are posted, students discuss grades. Developmental/progressive schools de-emphasize the focus on public display of individual academic success.

 

 

 

A Waverly School Dad Writes About Why His Family Loves The Progressive Pasadena K-12 School



The Waverly School arrived in my life like some sort of granted wish.  It’s as if I willed it and its staff into existence from my most pie-in-the-sky hopes for my children’s education.

Once we had children, I started panicking about the state of public education, and started daydreaming about some impossible alternative. What I saw blurrily floating before me was:

  1. A modest, energetic place – not too big or small – where children run through the door in the morning shrieking gleefully and run out the door in the afternoon even happier.
  2. A place where children with unusual personalities or gifts are treated like a delicious bit    of variety and are respected for their eccentricity rather than punished for it. 
To continue reading more of Waverly School dad Michael’s blog post, click on the link HERE
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