ERIC EJ842069: Expanding Policy Options for Educating Teenagers

2009·0.19 MB·English

by  ERIC

Expanding Policy Options for Educating Teenagers
Expanding Policy Options for
Educating Teenagers
David Stern
Summary
David Stern argues that some basic features of the American high school must be modified if it
is to serve all students successfully. He notes, for example, that only three-quarters of U.S. high
school students graduate four years after beginning ninth grade and that the National Assess-
ment of Educational Progress found no improvement in reading or mathematics for seventeen-
year-olds between 1971 and 2004. The nation’s system for educating teenagers, says Stern,
seems to be stuck, despite the constant efforts of teachers and repeated waves of reform.
Citing two widely accepted public purposes of educating teenagers—preparation for civic
participation and for economic self-sufficiency—Stern proposes four new strategies to achieve
those goals. He draws on empirical evidence suggesting that these are promising directions for
research and policy, but acknowledges that existing studies provide only limited guidance.
First, he says, schools should continue the current trend toward integrating educational options
to provide young people with skills and experiences that pave the way to both college and
careers. Second, states and districts should tie education funding not simply to the number of
students attending school, but also to what young people learn, whether they graduate, and
whether they find jobs or enroll in postsecondary education. Such a move, he argues, would
encourage teaching and learning formats that use students’ time more effectively. Third, more
adults in addition to classroom teachers should be involved in educating teenagers. Other adults
acting as academic advisers, learning coaches, student advocates, internship supervisors,
mentors, and college counselors could help guide the education of teenagers inside and outside
of school and provide some relief for the chronic shortage of teachers. Fourth, schools should
expand the options for educating teenagers outside of geographically fixed schools. Combining
improved Internet-based curriculum with internships and civic engagement projects, for
example, may produce better results for many young people and also may promote academic
achievement for teenagers who do not thrive in conventional classrooms and for those who face
academic and social challenges when they move from one place to another. Stern argues that
the limited success of today’s high schools makes such new initiatives well worth trying and
evaluating.
www.futureofchildren.org
David Stern is a professor at the Graduate School of Education, University of California–Berkeley. The author thanks authors of the other
papers in this volume, and especially the issue editors, for helpful feedback on earlier drafts. He also acknowledges Lisa Arrastia, Bob
Lenz, and Page Tompkins, whose dedication to improving education for teenagers has inspired this essay.
VOL. 19 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2009 211
David Stern
The basic structure of the
American high school that Even conservative economists
emerged in the twentieth
who favor private over public
century has never served all
students successfully. Although provision of many services
graduation rates rose steadily from about
have endorsed the idea
1900 to 1970, the share of public high school
students who graduate with regular diplomas that tax-supported public
four years after starting ninth grade has
education is justified by the
remained at about 75 percent since then.1
The National Assessment of Educational goal of preparing citizens.
Progress found no improvement in reading or
mathematics for seventeen-year-olds between
Public Purposes of Education
1971 and 2004.2 Although larger numbers of
for Teenagers
high school graduates are going directly to
college, the number completing college In considering how to improve education for
degrees has risen much more slowly.3 The teenagers,4 it is important to recall why
system seems to be stuck, despite the con- education is compulsory for teenagers and
stant efforts of teachers and repeated waves why taxpayers are required to pay for it. Most
of reform. A Future of Children issue on Americans agree that the public purposes of a
American high schools is a good place to high school education include enabling
consider possible new directions for policy students to become informed citizens, and
and research. preparing them for economic self-sufficiency.
A key pathway to economic self-sufficiency is
I begin by reviewing two of the widely through higher education. But because the
accepted public purposes of education for question of how high schools are succeeding
teenagers: to produce informed citizens and in preparing students for postsecondary
to prepare students for economic self-suffi- education is discussed in depth elsewhere in
ciency. In examining how well high schools this volume (see the articles by Melissa
are fulfilling those two goals, I find much Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca,
room for improvement. I then analyze some and by Valerie Lee and Douglas Ready), I
of the structural limitations of the conven- focus much of this discussion on preparing
tional high school model that may hamper students for economic self-sufficiency
fulfillment of those goals and suggest pos- through career-technical education in
sible ways to overcome them. To the extent high school.
possible, I draw on empirical studies, but I
acknowledge at the outset that the evidence Citizenship First
is insufficient to prove that all the prescrip- In response to a recent California court deci-
tions I propose are correct. My purpose is to sion on homeschooling, the state’s Secretary
recommend some new directions for policy of Education reportedly declared, “‘As a
and research that offer promise for guiding society, we recognize that a well-educated
the evolution of American high schools over citizenry is our goal.’ The purpose of compul-
the coming decades. sory education is ‘to help ensure that.’” 5 The
212 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Expanding Policy Options for Educating Teenagers
U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly invoked Friedman’s view harks back to Adam Smith,
the ideal of good citizenship in making deci- who described with brutal honesty in the
sions about education. In the 2003 Grutter v. Wealth of Nations, what he saw as the dev-
Bollinger ruling that it is permissible for uni- astating effects on workers of repetitive and
versities to consider race in selecting students mindless work. As a prime remedy for these
for admission, for example, the Supreme ills, Smith proposed public schools. Public
Court quoted the 1954 Brown v. Board of support for schools, he argued, is warranted
Education decision that “education ... is the and necessary to avoid the “dreadful disor-
very foundation of good citizenship.” ders” that arise among unschooled people.
“Instructed and intelligent people,” by con-
A 2000 Gallup Poll on public attitudes toward trast, are less susceptible to “the delusions of
education asked respondents to rate the enthusiasm and superstition” or the claims of
importance of seven different “purposes that “faction and sedition.” For Adam Smith, pub-
have been offered to explain why America lic order was the public benefit that justified
needs a system of public schools.” The pur- providing schooling at public expense.8 Oth-
pose that earned the highest average rating ers among Smith’s contemporaries, notably
from respondents was “to prepare people to including Thomas Jefferson and James Madi-
become responsible citizens.” 6 son, also viewed education for citizenship as a
governmental responsibility.9
Even conservative economists who favor
private over public provision of many services Economic Self-Sufficiency
have endorsed the idea that tax-supported The educational purpose that respondents in
public education is justified by the goal the 2000 Gallup Poll ranked a close second to
of preparing citizens. For example, in his that of preparing citizens was helping stu-
famous 1955 essay on “The Role of Gov- dents become economically self-sufficient.10
ernment in Education,” Milton Friedman During most of the twentieth century, high
explains the public benefits of general educa- schools fulfilled this second goal in two ways:
tion for citizenship as follows: through academic courses leading to college
and through vocational education, defined
A stable and democratic society is impos- as preparation for occupations that did not
sible without widespread acceptance of require a college degree. In recent decades,
some common set of values and without a
traditional forms of vocational education
minimum degree of literacy and knowl-
have gradually given way to what is now
edge on the part of most citizens. Educa-
called career-technical education (CTE), a
tion contributes to both. In consequence,
the gain from the education of a child broader notion of preparation for economic
accrues not only to the child or to his self-sufficiency that includes readiness for
parents but to other members of the postsecondary education as well as for enter-
society; the education of my child contrib- ing the workforce directly. As I will show,
utes to other people’s welfare by promot-
the trend away from a sharp separation of
ing a stable and democratic society. Yet it
preparation for college and preparation for
is not feasible to identify the particular
careers is one example of how limitations of
individuals (or families) benefited or the
money value of the benefit and so to the twentieth-century high school model may
charge for the services rendered.7 be successfully overcome.
VOL. 19 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2009 213
David Stern
How Well Do High Schools putting propositions before the voters in 1901,
Achieve the Public Goals of many have had powerful and lasting effects on
Education? government and society.
Available evidence indicates much room for
improvement in preparing high school stu- To help voters make informed choices about
dents for civic responsibilities. In preparing ballot propositions, California mails each
students for work, the results are somewhat registered voter a booklet, sometimes up to
ambiguous: traditional vocational classes have 200 pages of dense type, that gives the full
led to higher earnings among high school text of each proposition, provides an analysis
graduates who do not attend college, but stu- by a state agency that is intended to be impar-
dents who take more vocational classes also tial, and also presents arguments by propo-
have been less likely to attend college and nents and opponents, along with rebuttals.
thereby gain access to high-paying jobs that Using the information from the booklet to
require college degrees. make a reasoned decision about how to vote
requires “making a critical judgment about a
Preparation for Civic Life detailed document,” a reading skill rated at
Are high schools preparing teenagers to take the “proficient” level by the National Assess-
on the civic responsibilities of adults? Civic ment of Educational Progress (NAEP).11 But
competence has three key components, as of 2005, only 35 percent of twelfth graders
including the analytical skills necessary to scored proficient or better in reading, sug-
reason about public issues, familiarity with gesting that most high school seniors would
governmental institutions, and participation not be able to read and reason well enough to
in community affairs. A brief review of the use the booklet successfully.
research indicates considerable room for
improvement on all three components. In 1998 and 2006, NAEP specifically assessed
“students’ understanding of the democratic
Analytical skills are essential to fulfilling some institutions and ideals necessary to become
of the basic roles of citizens, including serving informed citizens.” Only 27 percent of
on juries and voting on ballot propositions twelfth graders scored proficient or better in
routinely placed before voters in many states. 2006, with no significant improvement since
Just as one example, voters in California 1998. For example, only 5 percent of twelfth
between 2000 and 2004 considered thirty- graders correctly explained three ways in
seven statewide ballot propositions, as well which the power of the president can be
as hundreds more local propositions. The checked by the legislative or judicial branch.
statewide ballot matters involved complex and Similarly, Mark Hugo Lopez and several col-
contentious issues such as limiting campaign leagues report results from a 2006 national
contributions, enabling Indian tribes to survey of fifteen- to twenty-five-year-olds,
open more gambling casinos, and regulating in which 54 percent believed that the U.S.
chiropractors. Other issues included whether government spent more on foreign aid than
public agencies should be allowed to collect on Social Security, and only 30 percent could
data on race or ethnicity, penalties for first- correctly name at least one member of the
time convictions on illegal drug charges, and president’s cabinet. Evidently, high school
dedication of state revenues for rebuilding graduates lack important knowledge about
infrastructure. Since California first started the institutions of government.
214 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Expanding Policy Options for Educating Teenagers
Given these data, it would be difficult to
claim that high schools are fulfilling the first
Civic competence has three
public purpose of education for teenagers:
key components, including
enabling them to become informed and
the analytical skills necessary responsible citizens.
to reason about public issues,
Preparation for Economic Self-Sufficiency
familiarity with governmental Today, more than 95 percent of students
graduating from high school have taken at
institutions, and participation
least one course in what used to be called
in community affairs. vocational education and is now called
career-technical education (CTE). Between
1982 and 2000, a steady share of about 45
percent of these graduating seniors took at
The third component of civic competence,
least three year-long courses in CTE. The
participation in civic or community affairs,
share taking at least three courses in a single
includes voting and various kinds of volun-
occupational area (for example, business
teering, among other things. Young people
or health careers) declined from about 33
who have graduated from high school but
percent to 24 percent during that period.14
have not attended college are less likely to
The mean number of CTE credits earned
vote or volunteer than their peers who
by graduating seniors declined from 4.4 in
attend college. According to Lopez and his
1982 to 3.8 in 2000, while the number of
colleagues, voter turnout rates among
credits earned in academic subjects rose from
eighteen- to twenty-four-year-old citizens
14.5 to 19.1.15 Nationwide, CTE programs
who have not attended college are, and have
are provided in about 9,500 comprehensive
been consistently since the 1970s, only about
high schools, in about 1,000 vocational high
half the rates among college attendees.12
schools whose students enroll full-time and
Similarly, Karlo Barrios Marcelo analyzed
also take academic subjects, and in about 800
2006 Current Population Survey data on
area or regional vocational schools that offer
volunteering among nineteen- to twenty-five-
only CTE courses and whose students attend
year-olds and found that 8 percent of high
part-time, taking their academic coursework
school graduates who did not attend college
at their “home” high schools.16
reported some kind of volunteer activity,
compared with 31 percent of college gradu-
A key question is the extent to which high
ates, 26 percent of current college students,
school CTE accomplishes the purpose of pre-
and 23 percent of young people who had paring students to earn a living. There is some
some college experience but were not evidence that high school CTE has been suc-
currently enrolled.13 These differences are cessful in this realm, although the research
partly attributable to socioeconomic and is not completely convincing. This research
personal variables that affect both college finds that graduates who take more CTE
attendance and civic participation. Neverthe- courses in high school obtain higher earn-
less, it is evident that high school by itself ings.17 For example, Ferran Mane used three
does not produce graduates who have high national longitudinal surveys to analyze labor
rates of voting or volunteering. market outcomes for high school graduates in
VOL. 19 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2009 215
David Stern
1972, 1980, and 1992. He examined how the Assessment of Vocational Education, for
total number of CTE courses and the total example, compared the postsecondary
number of academic courses of students were educational experiences of vocational
each related to the number of months they “concentrators”—defined as students who
were employed in the year following gradu- had taken at least three CTE classes in the
ation, their hourly wage, and their annual same occupational area—with those of
earnings. Significantly, the number of voca- non-concentrators. Among the concentrators,
tional courses was more positively related 19 percent had completed a bachelor’s or
to these labor market outcomes than the higher degree within eight years after high
number of academic courses. The difference school; among the non-concentrators, the
was generally greater for graduates in 1980 share was 46 percent.19 Students who take
and 1992 than in 1972.18 more CTE in high school are thus less likely
to gain access to the more highly paid jobs
Correlational studies such as Mane’s suggest that require a bachelor’s or advanced degree.
that the labor market outcomes of students
who took CTE improved as a result of having
taken the classes. Such studies, however, are
Students who take more
limited because of what social scientists call
“selection bias.” Some students may “self- CTE in high school are thus
select” into high school CTE classes because
less likely to gain access to
they are interested in the kind of work for
which such classes prepare them. Provid- the more highly paid jobs
ing CTE for students who are not interested
that require a bachelor’s or
would not necessarily produce equally
positive results. Selection bias is inherent in advanced degree.
correlational studies and can lead to either
overstating or understating the effect being
measured. Summary
Americans agree widely that two important
Students who take many CTE classes in high collective purposes of education include
school are less likely than their peers who preparing for civic responsibilities and
take few such classes to participate in post- equipping students to earn a living. Research
secondary education or to complete a degree, evidence indicates much room for improve-
further complicating estimates of the effects ment in achieving the first goal, but possibly
of high school CTE on subsequent success in some success in achieving the second. One
the labor market. Mane’s study was limited to way to address the goal of equipping students
high school graduates who had not partici- to earn a living has been through what used
pated in full-time postsecondary education to be called vocational education and is now
for more than six months in the first twenty- called career-technical education. Among
one months after high school. But the higher students who do not enroll in postsecondary
earnings associated with more CTE for these education, there is some evidence that taking
students are offset by the higher probability more career-technical courses in high school
of going to college for students who take can lead to higher earnings. This finding,
fewer CTE classes. The 2003 National however, comes from correlational studies
216 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Expanding Policy Options for Educating Teenagers
that may overstate (or understate) the true economy. Congress responded in 1990 by
effects of these courses. Furthermore, stu- approving federal support to “integrate aca-
dents who take more career-technical courses demic and vocational education.” 21 In 2006,
in high school also have been less likely to language limiting CTE to preparing students
participate in postsecondary education. for occupations that do not require a bache-
lor’s or advanced degree was eliminated from
Limitations in the Twentieth- federal law.
Century High School Model
In this section I describe four standard fea- The American debate about whether to
tures of the twentieth-century American high establish separate high school curricula for
school that arguably have made it more diffi- college-bound and work-bound students
cult to educate teenagers effectively for civic began in the late nineteenth century. A very
participation and economic self-sufficiency. influential 1894 report by the Committee of
The first such feature is the traditional sepa- Ten, headed by Harvard President Charles W.
ration of academic and vocational curricula. Eliot and composed mainly of university
That separation has until recently been cast professors, argued unambiguously that all
as a mutually exclusive choice that students students should take the same rigorous
must make or that is made for them, so that academic curriculum, whether or not they
students who take more vocational classes in intend to go to college.22 However, that policy
high school have less access to college. The did not prevail. In 1918, the National Educa-
three other features are attendance-based tion Association produced another landmark
school funding, the multi-period school report, the Cardinal Principles of Secondary
day, and the geographically fixed nature of Education, in which a group composed mainly
high schools. Altering these features may of authorities in educational administration
make it possible to educate teenagers more argued, among other things, that high school
effectively. curriculum should be differentiated according
to students’ vocational interests.23
Separating Academic and
Career-Technical Curricula Significantly, in 1918, Congress passed the
Whether preparation for work and prepara- Smith-Hughes Act, which for the first time
tion for college should be two separate tracks provided federal money for states to support
in the American high school curriculum has vocational education in high schools. By
long been a subject of debate. Social scien- explicitly defining vocational education as
tists from John Dewey a hundred years ago to preparation for occupations that did not
George Counts in the 1930s to Jeannie Oakes require a bachelor’s or advanced degree, the
and others more recently have criticized such Smith-Hughes Act affirmed that vocational
tracking, arguing that it disproportionately education was not intended to prepare high
places low-income and minority students in school students for college. The Cardinal
vocational classes that do not challenge them Principles report and the Smith-Hughes Act
academically or prepare them for college.20 were major victories for those like Charles A.
During the 1980s, influential spokesmen for Prosser, who saw differentiated curriculum as
employers, traditionally strong advocates for a means to achieve social efficiency, and a
vocational education, began to question its defeat for John Dewey and others who
efficacy in preparing students for a changing wanted to achieve democratic equality by
VOL. 19 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2009 217
David Stern
offering the same rigorous academic curricu- National surveys indicate that high school
lum to all students.24 students’ expectations of college attendance
have grown significantly since the 1980s.
The early debate about differentiated cur- Between 1981–82 and 2003–04, the share of
riculum occurred at a time when high school high school seniors who expected to attain at
enrollment growth was beginning to acceler- least a bachelor’s degree rose from 35 to 69
ate as a result of the shift from a rural agricul- percent.29 Because a large majority of high
tural society to an urban industrial economy. school students have come to expect that they
Relative to the population of fourteen- to will earn bachelor’s degrees or more, the fact
seventeen-year-olds, the share of students that traditional vocational education has not
enrolled in grades nine through twelve grew been a path to college has made it less
from 6 percent in 1889–90 to 14 percent in attractive to many students and their parents.
1909–10, then to 31 percent in 1919–20, and
51 percent in 1929–30.25 Vocational education Employers provided important political back-
was a logical program for the mass of new ing for vocational education during most of
students, most of whom would not attend the twentieth century. However, as America
college. was becoming alarmed about serious inter-
national economic competition during the
At the time of the Smith-Hughes Act, college 1980s, key business spokesmen began to
was still for the few. In 1920, only 3 percent question whether traditional vocational edu-
of the population aged twenty-five and older cation provided a sufficiently solid academic
had bachelor’s degrees. As the twentieth cen- foundation for employees to continue to learn
tury progressed, college enrollments steadily and adapt to new technologies during their
grew. The share of the population aged working lives.30
twenty-five and older with bachelor’s degrees
reached 20 percent in 1987 and 29 percent The 1983 report titled A Nation at Risk tied
in 2007.26 The rise in the share of college the perceived decline in national economic
graduates was in part a response to growing competitiveness to a lack of academic rigor
demand, which has kept the average earnings in the nation’s schools.31 The report spurred
of college graduates consistently well above state legislatures to increase the number of
those of high school graduates.27 courses in mathematics, science, English, and
social studies required for high school gradu-
When few high school students expected to ation. Business groups also supported the
attend college, the fact that vocational increased requirements, which have reduced
education did not lead to college was less the amount of time available in students’
problematic than it is now, when most high schedules to take vocational classes.
school students expect to attain at least a
bachelor’s degree. The nationally representa- The continued viability of separating aca-
tive 2002 Education Longitudinal Study demic and vocational education in high
found that 72 percent of high school sopho- school, which was a standard feature of the
mores expected to earn at least a bachelor’s twentieth-century American high school, has
degree, and 10 percent did not have definite been called into doubt by growth in the share
expectations, so only 18 percent definitely did of high school students expecting to attend
not expect to earn a bachelor’s degree.28 college, by the softening of political support
218 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Expanding Policy Options for Educating Teenagers
from employers, and by the increased level or other student characteristics. But it
academic course requirements for high does not depend on what students learn or
school graduation. Later in this article I will whether they graduate.
describe how high school career-technical
education has changed since the 1980s, to In effect, states pay districts simply to keep
become more compatible with preparation teenagers in custody. The law requires teens
for college. to attend school, and districts get money
simply for keeping them there. For funding
purposes, all that matters is that they be
physically present at a school, not what they
In effect, states pay districts
learn there.34
simply to keep teenagers
This arrangement seems almost guaranteed
in custody. For funding
to waste students’ time. During the school
purposes, all that matters day, schools do not have to consider the
opportunity cost of students’ time because
is that they be physically
their time has no alternative use. Students’
present at a school, not what options are limited to what the school offers
and allows. The extent to which high schools
they learn there.
use students’ time productively varies from
school to school, classroom to classroom, and
student to student, but research finds that
Attendance-Based School Funding much time is, indeed, wasted.
A second standard feature of high schools
(and of K–12 schools generally) has been that Studies of high schools over the years have
funding depends on student enrollment or documented widespread disengagement
attendance, without regard to how well stu- among students.35 The 2006 High School Sur-
dents themselves fare. Here I describe how vey of Student Engagement asked a national
current funding formulas may lead to unpro- sample of students, “Why are you in school?”
ductive use of students’ time. Reflecting an awareness of compulsory school
attendance, 58 percent replied, “Because it’s
Subventions from states have become the the law.” Only 39 percent replied, “Because
main source of school district revenues, with of what I learn in classes.” 36
various formulas being used to distribute
money.32 Most states provide basic or “founda- The same survey asked students, “Have you
tion” funding, along with various “categorical” ever been bored in class in high school?”
grants for particular activities or categories Two out of three students indicated they are
of students. However varied the funding bored in class in high school at least some of
formulas may be, one feature is constant: the the time every day; 17 percent said they are
amount of money depends on the number bored in every class. Only 2 percent said they
of students, without regard to student out- were never bored in class. Students were
comes.33 The amount may depend on the then asked, “If you have been bored in class,
number of students enrolled, or the number why?” Seventy-five percent of them replied
in attendance, and it may depend on grade that the class material was not interesting;
VOL. 19 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2009 219
David Stern
39 percent, that the material was not relevant The most egregious waste of students’ time
to them; 32 percent, that the work was not may occur in settings where misbehaving
challenging enough; 31 percent, that there students are sent—for example, detention,
was no interaction with a teacher; and 27 in-school suspension, or alternative schools
percent, that the work was too difficult.37 for disruptive students. Districts are paid for
students in these settings, but the students
The similarity in the shares of students who may learn very little. In-school suspensions
said the work is too hard or not hard enough keep students on the school premises, but
is consistent with theories of engagement pro- apart from regular classrooms, while they are
posed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Maximum serving their suspension time. According to
engagement, or “flow,” occurs in situations Troy Adams, this practice increased during
that challenge valued skills. Situations involv- the 1980s and 1990s in response to the 1975
ing no skill or challenge produce apathy; those U.S. Supreme Court decision in Goss v.
where skills are used but not challenged create Lopez, which made it more difficult to
“relaxation”; and situations where challenge suspend students from school without due
exceeds skills cause anxiety. None of those process.40
situations is optimally productive. David Sher-
noff, Csikszentmihalyi, and Barbara Schneider
applied this theory to high school students, The “bell schedule” that
using data obtained by paging students at eight
divides the school day into
random times a day and asking them to answer
questions about what they were doing at that instructional periods is
moment and how they felt about it. They
another standard feature
found that the students spent a lot of time in
activities that were less engaging, like listening of high schools that may
to teachers talk or doing homework in class.
sometimes interfere with
Students spent less time in more engaging
activities like group projects.38 effective education.
Other evidence of wasted time comes from
the National Education Longitudinal Survey
(NELS). Jennifer King Rice analyzed the Programs provided in some of these settings
NELS data reported by teachers to see for misbehaving students are not likely to
whether use of time was associated with class achieve the goals of compulsory education, as
size in high school math and science. She Regina M. Foley and Lan-Sze Pang found in
compared time devoted to instruction and a survey of principals of alternative schools
time committed to non-instructional activi- for disruptive students in Illinois. The
ties. Relationships with class size were mixed, schools, operated by school districts, special
but the overall average responses imply that education cooperatives, or regional offices of
both math and science teachers reported education, served students both with and
spending about 10 percent of class time on without disabilities. The survey found that
administrative tasks and about another 10 most students in the schools were referred,
percent on maintaining order—a total of 20 suspended, or expelled from regular high
percent on non-instructional activities.39 schools. Programs typically were housed in
220 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN