Advanced Learning Frameworks

Test your knowledge of private school facts and trivia with these twenty-one questions and answers.

The Questions

1. How many private schools are there in the U.S.A.?

2. How many boarding schools are there?

3. Which private school offers the most Advanced Placement courses?

4. Which private school is the most expensive?

5. Which private school did Bill Gates graduate from?

6. How many Montessori schools are there in the U.S.A.?

7. Where did Reggio-Emilia schools get their name?

8. Who founded the movement that spawned the modern Waldorf schools?

9. Which is the oldest school in the U.S.A.?

10. What was Maria Montessori's degree in?

11. Who founded what we now call the progressive school movement?

12. What percentage of American students attend private school?

13. What are the names of the schools established by the last Hawaiian princess?

14. Which New England family founded Exeter and Andover?

15. Which Roman Catholic order established a network of prestigious high schools?

16. What grade does Fifth Form refer to?

17. How many Jewish schools are there in Brooklyn, New York?

18. What does the term crew refer to?

19. What is the oldest private school athletic league?

20. What is the name of the independent school association based in Washington, DC?

21. Which private school has the largest endowment?

The Answers:

1. How many private schools are there in the U.S.A.?

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys private schools every two years. Their most recent data from

Why would anybody want to teach girls in a single sex setting? Aren't girls' schools quaint and out of touch? Aren't girls more likely to succeed in a coeducational setting? Are there advantages to educating girls in a single sex setting?

The answers to these and similar questions are varied, contradictory and subjective. Furthermore, the amount of research into girls' education is fairly limited. With those caveats in place let's explore some sources and resources for those special corners of the education world which are girls' schools.

Organizations which promote girls' schools

A good starting point for our exploration of girls' schools is the National coalition of Girls' Schools. Just like the International Boys' Schools Coalition is one of the major umbrella organizations for boys' schools, so the National Coalition of Girls' Schools is one of the major umbrella organizations for girls' schools around the globe.

The NCGS champions girls' schools. And it champions them better and more vigorously than any other organization I know. The NCGS encourages research on the education of girls. It offers an Advanced Professional Certificate in Girls’ Education. "This unique blended learning program, which includes a separate track for STEM and for humanities faculty, helps teachers gain the expertise needed to forge a contemporary approach to teaching girls. It is intended for girls’ school educators who have distinguished themselves in classroom teaching and learning and wish to both learn from experts in the girls’ school community and connect with fellow

The Private School Advantage: The Top Reasons To Send a Child To Private School

Are you thinking about sending your child to a private school?

• There are many reasons why you should consider sending your child to a private school.
• Most of us parents have had the same concerns as you do.
• We all want our children to receive the very best education possible so that they are positioned for success in later life.

Canva generated this picture of students playing in a string quartet.

Here's how to make that happen.

1. You want your child to receive specialized instruction from well-qualified instructors.

• Your local public school can develop an IEP or Individualized Education Program for your child.
• This is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• While your child's needs will indeed be identified and an instructional program devised for her, she will probably not receive as much individual attention as if she were in a private school with smaller classes.
• Depending on your area's public school district, resources are often spread very thin.
• When you send your child to a private school for special needs, she will be taught by credentialed, highly skilled teachers and paraprofessionals throughout the school day.

This video explains an IEP.

When your child has a learning difference, enrolling her in a private school

This is the first of three articles addressing the advantages of sending your child to private school. Private schools offer several advantages specific to students, of which you, as a parent, need to be aware. Here are three of them.

1. Your child will build a network of friends that she will have for life.

Some may wonder why I would put this benefit for students at the top of my list. That's because I sincerely believe networking is the key to success in almost everything. Because most private schools are relatively small communities - the typical private high school is about 350 students - your child will have a perfect chance of getting to know almost everybody in the school community, especially her classmates. While your child may come from an entirely different background, perhaps even country, from her classmates, she will get to know everybody in the classroom, on the playing field, and on the stage. With social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, and LinkedIn providing instantaneous communications, it is relatively easy to keep that high school network of friends going after she graduates.

This close-knit network of friends from school will help open doors for years after she graduates. The bonds of friendship developed in private school are an essential advantage for a private school student as she begins her career.

Private schools can build team spirit and school pride because everybody is on the same page. Remember: you chose the school, and

My late father-in-law, Dr. James Garnett Lyne, used to refer to what he called 'mass mediocrity' whenever he discussed education. Like me, he was a product of a public school education. Neither of our parents could afford a private school education.

What did he mean by 'mass mediocrity'? He was referring to what he feared would be the result of a general lowering of standards in our schools. He argued that the less qualified teachers were, the less they were paid and the less demanding high school curricula were, the more we as a society would descend into 'mass mediocrity'. Dr. Lyne has been gone for 45 years. Yet his prescient words still haunt me. You see, back then, I had no clue what he was talking about. None. That scholarly father-in-law of mine was given to many well-reasoned pronouncements. I figured that this was just one more and filed it away in my memory bank.

This video from Toastmasters International offers five tips for effective public speaking.

Graduates lack basic business skills

In my own daily life and work, I am well aware of what high school graduates - both public and private school graduates - bring to the table. The lack of basic business communication skills is appalling. And I don't think that Twitter and texting is the reason. I remain convinced until somebody can show me otherwise that most high