Category Archives: School

What Differences to Expect Between Different Welding Schools

Posted on by

Many students start learning basic principles of welding in senior high school all over the U. S. When they finished, they might ask themselves about how to further pursue some sort of welding career. Subject to available time and cash, different choices exist to what welding school to go.

By far the most flexible welding courses are provided by technology schools. The welding courses come as full or part-time option and several schools even offer night courses. Based on the number of hours an individual can attend weekly, welding accreditation is often attained within 8-12 months.

For students who don’t require that flexibility, local community colleges or universities provide a much more structured and set program. These types of welding programs usually run uninterruptedly for a couple of years and offer you hands-on working experience and an Associate’s Diploma.

Finally a number of universities offer full four-year classes to individuals who would like to develop their career by becoming welding engineers. These courses require a fixed term commitment and are generally really strict in their course offerings. On the plus side trainees can acquire a Bachelor’s Degree afterwards and they can claim to have the very best certification for welders they could acquire.

Why was SENSE introduced?

In order to standardize welding classes, the American Welding Society (AWS) has outlined a set of specifications and recommendations regarding welding courses. This program has various recommendations and set guidelines regarding basic level welders, advanced welders and experts. The program is named SENSE (Schools Excelling Through National Skills Education) and is comparable to a quality label for training institutions.

The main advantage of SENSE is that individuals who have finished a specific level of this course will get a welding certificate that is recognized by all employers. All institutions which adhere to the SENSE rules must meet all specifications set by the AWS. A summary of these welding institutions can be found on the AWS website.

How to Select a Welding School?

Picking welding school needs a little bit of preparation in advance. Upon having verified that you can acquire the proper certifications, look into the school’s web site for more details about the hours each week and also the tuition charges.

The schools’ tuition costs may vary substantially and you should check all of them before you sign up of course. Higher or lower fees are not always a sign of distinct quality. If uncertain try contacting the institutions and ask for additional information. An even better option is to get into contact with a few students and ask them about their direct experience.

Financial Assistance Throughout Your Welding Training

Before applying for welding schools you might check if you are eligible for a scholarship. The AWS provides a variety of scholarship grants for upcoming welders who can’t pay the tuition fees or need further assistance during the time of their studies.

Browse the AWS web site to get more details and information and the eligibility criteria for these kinds of grants. Trying to get a grant requires some planning ahead as most applications are only processed annually and the deadline is usually mid-February.

What are the First Steps?

You can find a lot of information on the internet and the official AWS web page ( http://www.aws.org ) is a superb place to start your research. Welding is definitely a career that doesn’t finish when coming out of classes but rather un-wraps a lot of opportunities to focus into various specializations. Joining welding schools and courses doesn’t only widen your horizon but the welding qualifications which you put in your resume could be a substantial asset for your own future.

School Rankings Need To Be Based On More Than Standardized Tests

Posted on by

School rankings based only on the results of standardized tests don’t give students, teachers, administrators, or parents the whole story about how well the school in question is meeting the needs of their students. We all want to make sure that students are performing well. If they aren’t then steps should be taken to help the students improve; however, rankings don’t provide enough information to conclude that schools are accomplishing this goal or not.

School Rankings Should Include Student Backgrounds

Since the standardized tests only provide a snapshot of how a student performed when the testing was being conducted, why is it being used as the basis for rating or ranking schools? We all want and need to know that students are being given every opportunity to get a quality education, and rankings based on test scores don’t really show improvement in student performance over the entire year.

Instead of basing rankings on the results of standardized tests alone, include some information about the student’s background into the mix. Other factors, such as the parents’ income and educational levels, do play a part in how well their children perform in school. Whether the students are being taught in their first language also makes a difference in their performance in school, so that should be part of the information gathered when we are looking at school rankings.

If a family moves a lot, either from school to school or district to district, that may play a role in how well students perform at school. Whether parents are able to get (and keep) steady jobs is also a factor, and school rankings that only look at the students’ performance on standardized tests are missing these vital pieces of information.

Look at How Well Schools Serve Student Needs, Not Just School Rankings

A better way to get meaningful school rankings is to look at how well schools meet the needs of their students. When the socioeconomic factors are included, then we get a better picture of which schools really should be ranked high on the list. Then we can examine what strategies those successful schools are using to improve the learning experience for all students.

With so much emphasis being given to school rankings, some schools are encouraging parents to keep children at home when the tests are being conducted. This practice is being done in cases where there is concern about a student not performing well, and affecting the school ranking for their particular school. School should be about much more than test results and which kids can help to keep their schools at or near the top. It’s supposed to be about learning and I am afraid we lost track of that idea somewhere along the way.