Education

[StPaulHusker]

Do you that grew up in a small town of rural community/school feel that you had a better education/preperation going into college? Did you feel ahead of your peers in your lower level classes when you were a freshman? I can't answer this question for myself because I was a non-traditional student. When I first started college I often wondered how some of my classmates remembered to breathe everyday.

My family moved around due to my dads work when I was a kid. I attended 6 elementary, 3 middle/Jr High, and 2 High Schools in 12 years and 5 states from California to Maine to Alabama. I have experienced many different teaching methods and here is what I found. I started and finished school in Nebraska with all of these stops along the way

 

In California I was in a small town similar to small (1000-2000 population) Nebraska towns. I was considered an advanced student

 

In Maine, the town was about the size of West Point, NE I was so far ahead of kids there that the school asked my parents if they would consider skipping me ahead a grade

 

Alabama, town about 20,000 more than Grand Island not as far ahead as Maine but clearly below my level of learning

 

Nebraska, Small town and medium town. I was top 10-20% given the grade and my level of attention

 

Colorado-About Grand Island size again. Ahead of the average but I took a lot of AP courses and did well. Not great but good.

 

Nebraska-Small town again. Same as earlier.

 

So based off my experience, Nebraska teaching was the most challenging for me. Maine was a joke. Alabama and Colorado were a shade below Nebraska. These were all different population bases and demographics.

 

Ultimately it is about the student. But good teachers mean a lot too. I had the absolute best teachers of my time in Colorado. Nebraska was behind there followed by Bama and California.

 

Now I am in Minnesota and my son attends a Montessori based elementary school. He does very well there. He just completed 1st grade. I have a relative in Nebraska who teaches 1st grade in the Omaha area and she is amazed at his intelligence compared to some of her students.

 

I don't know if I really helped the conversation much but thought I would add what I knew.

[NUinID]

I live in Idaho now and the public schools are ranked 48th in the country in test scores. I don't blame the teachers at all, my sons are getting a pretty good education at our school. But, when half the population is Mexican farm workers it tends to bring scores down. The teachers are trying, but when mom and dad don't speak a lot of English and really don't see the point of education it makes it really tough.