A Theory: The Placebo Effect In Education
I think KIPP schools and Charter Schools might reflect something that I like to call the placebo effect in education. If you are seriously ill, and the doctor tells you she has a brand new pill that the latest studies show is better than the rest, you are more likely to have a positive attitude that the pill will improve your health than if the doctor gives you a pill and says this is a shitty pill that hardly ever helps people get healthy and has been failing for years but we keep prescribing it. (even if the new pill is nothing more than sugar) Schools like KIPP and Charter Schools are like the brand new pill that people take believing that they will work as opposed to a old pill which is like a run down underfunded school that has been under performing for decades. The positive attitude of the students and families going in, I believe can lead to more positive results.
That being said, the placebo effect/new pill effect can wear off if in the long run if people do not start improving their health or in the case of education their overall quality of life. Eventually people will either move on to the "next new and improved pill", get discouraged and lose faith in medicine (or the education system), or hopefully the underlying cause of the problems are found and are fixed.
That being said, the placebo effect/new pill effect can wear off if in the long run if people do not start improving their health or in the case of education their overall quality of life. Eventually people will either move on to the "next new and improved pill", get discouraged and lose faith in medicine (or the education system), or hopefully the underlying cause of the problems are found and are fixed.
For the record, this is just a theory that I have not done enough research into; nor am I sure how much research has actually been done into the idea of placebo effects in education. If not enough has been done, it may be something that I (if I ever go for a doctorate) or someone else who is pursing a doctorate should look into.
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