School, Home, and Nevada’s Last Place Education

What is really causing Nevada to place last in the nation in education standards, and how can it be helped?

Nevada has consistently placed low in education quality. 2016 marks the year that Nevada falls to dead last in the nation for education performance, according to Education Week, a non-profit news organization whose focus is “raising the level of understanding and discourse on critical issues in American education”.

The topic of education is covered by almost every major news outlet. News organizations like CNN, NBC, and FOX News all cover the concerns regarding education. Issues such as budget cuts, which subjects are important for students to learn, and how children interact in school. Solutions to these issues seem out of reach, and that it is the school districts’ and government’s problem. The question is, what can a family do to improve their child’s education?

“The setting in which the child is in can have a definite effect on how the child performs in school.” said Margaret Ferrara, Department Chairperson for Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at University of Nevada Reno.

If parents can provide an environment that encourages learning, their child is much more likely to find success in education. So what are the elements of a home that encourage a child’s success?

“Children still need security, consistency, and emotional support in order to thrive” said Shelly Poss, Early/Middle Childhood Literacy and RTI Specialist for Sandy Miller Elementary School. “Children thrive in an environment that is consistent, stable, language rich, and requires children to be independent and responsible.”

“As long as a child is safe, and as long as a child is fed, and as long as a child loved, that’s about all we can hope for in family structures.” said Margaret Ferrara, Department Chairperson for Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at University of Nevada Reno,

Tara Marquardt, school counselor at Sandy Miller Elementary School, says “An ideal home environment offers children security.” Shelly, Farrara, and Marquardt all come together to make the same point. If you give a child a safe and secure environment they are more likely to succeed and their success in school will only improve.

In today’s world it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide an environment that encourages learning.

“Unstable homes can be caused by a variety of factors such as: employment, economics, family structures, and residential location,” said Poss.

From the larger issues mentioned by Poss, to smaller issues such as distractions in the home like computers, smartphones, tablets, and television that Farrara mentioned in an interview, being able to provide an environment free of distractions and that supports learning is imperative to a student’s success in school. Creating this environment is a challenge.

“It’s the support to learn,” said Ferrara, “We’re all in it together”.

Ferrara goes on in the interview to explain the importance of harmony between the home and school. This harmony is essential in creating an environment in and outside school that supports learning.

Ferrera mentions the event “Mugs for Mom’s” which is an opportunity for moms in the Washoe County School District to come and talk through ways they can support education in their own home and other problems with other parents and counselors of the school. Schools host other events similar to this all over the nation because they are a great way to get involved in a child’s education and create the partnerships needed for a child’s education to improve.

“The more you get families to come to school beyond the traditional helping out in the classroom, That’s going to give families a sense that there is more than just their life at the house.”

Creating an environment both inside and outside the classroom, involving parents and rounding out a child’s education by using resources available to parents, and supporting children through their education will give them every opportunity to succeed in academia and their lives.

“It is your job to support them through the learning experience… Teach them how to do better.” said Marquardt.