Periodic evaluations of teachers are asked so that the superior teachers can be rewarded and mediocrity identified. For many chidlren, going to school is the most dangerous thing they ever do. A Chicago study found that three out of four inner-city school children had personally witnessed a killing, stabbing, shooting, or robbery at or going to or from school. School violence is a reflection of an increasingly violent society. Schools are developing their own programs for making the school itself less dangerous.
American schoolchildren spend fewer days in school than in most other countries.
To lengthen either the school day or the school year would meet a lot of opposition and cost a good deal of money. Homework A pupil who does homework regularly usually has a parent who is concerned about learning. Learning gains through homework thus include the gains through parental involvement. Once universal in American schools, corporal punishment is losing favor. Corporal punishment is most often found in schools with low per-pupil funding, in areas of high adult literacy, and with an authoritarian, dogmatic, and often inexperienced teaching staff.