by Joseph Zavarella

Created on: August 04, 2008

Perhaps one of the most unpopular positions one can take relative to our public schools is the notion that competition is not a necessary element for motivating kids to learn. So imbedded is the concept of competing with others for achieving a goal that those who object are considered possible escapees from the nearest asylum for the insane. Some of our finest universities reinforce the need for competition among students because of the spaces available in their classrooms; According to the Admissions consultants, Inc., Vienna, Virginia, as reported in, A Custom Publication by THE JOURNAL NEWS, Sunday, August 3, 2008, page 15, the "Ivy League, is said to have referred not to academics, but to sports. The original Ivy League brought together not minds, but football teams." In that same source it is noted that the eight, "Ivy League," universities today garner from 87% to 95% of their accepted students from the top 10% of high school graduates. It is little wonder that they are considered the elite among colleges and universities in the United States. The, "Ivy League," is comprised of (in alphabetical order) Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale.

The data used to determine the students' status relative to their classmates reflects scores for SAT Math and Critical Reading sections, and the above percentages are for the fall 2007 entering class. Although there are advantages to having a degree from any one of the schools in that list of universities the Journal News article suggests the following: "All are long-established, private universities; all are in the Northeastern U.S.; all benefit from sizeable endowments and generous alumni financial support; all are highly selective-and all are very expensive."

All of the above suggests that aside from being fine universities they each had their beginnings in what might be considered competitive sports, namely football. This might be the origin of the concept of modeling education programs after athletics and team sports. Competition is good for those who are in need of a motivation to succeed are the often heard proclamations. Capitalism and big business is based on that same need to compete for markets and market share. Success is thus measured by how effective you are in vanquishing the competition. All of this is okay, but why is it necessary for children to be exposed to the harsh realities of competing against others? For example, how does one win when they outscore fellow students

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