Posted on 05/12/2005 12:52:03 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Why should those students be accepted into college to begin with?
Bump!
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
If you read the article, it says that graduates are taking remedial classes in junior college.
A good number of very smart non-traditional students need the remedial classes, particularly in math, in order to get up to speed before being flung into College Algebra. The non-trad population at the 4-year state university I attended was running at something around 20% of the enrollment when I went back to school in the late 90's.
Well .. they won't ever get any smarter if you don't challenge them to believe they are capable of doing better.
This is just more of the "you're too stupid and you need the govt to take care of you" attitude which the democrats love - BECAUSE IT GIVES THEM POWER.
If teachers really love children - they want the children to learn and achieve - not be shoved off in a corner and told they are too stupid to do that kind of job - or too stupid to study that subject.
School is not about education, it's about "seat-time."
The parents are mostly to blame.
This is really nothing new. I graduated five years ago and my high school only required 2 math and 2 science credits.
"Teachers unions recoil from accountability and resent evidence that all is not well, or that whatever is wrong cannot be cured by increased funding."
Here in CA - before NCLB - we passed an initiative DEMANDING that all children be taught in English. This came about because we suddenly became aware that we had practically a whole generation of Hispanic children WHO COULD NOT SPEAK ENGLISH - and couldn't get jobs or couldn't read entrance exams to get into colleges.
Even after passing the initiative - some teachers - especially those in large Hispanic areas - were totally against the change. Some of them even went against the law and tried to continue the "bi-lingual" education classes. They were quickly stopped - funding was withdrawn - and suddenly they changed their minds and decided to teach only English.
Today .. we have a whole new generation who are excelling at English - going on to college - and those teachers who thought the kids could not learn if they were taught in English - have had to eat their words.
What brought this about .. Hispanic families began complaining that their children couldn't read or speak English.
"Fifty years ago a high school diploma was quite respectable without more than...say Algebra and Geomotry. You didn't have to take Calculus to graduate"
You don't have to take Calculus to get a diploma now either. Fifty years ago kids were taught the math in grade school that we now learn in High school and in some places college. When I was in the Calif. Community college system about 5 or 6 years ago my grandma saw my algebra book and she looked thru it. She remembered doing those problems in 6th grade.
Great news!!!
I believe most students are capable of doing much harder work THAN THEY THINK THEY CAN.
If the material is presented correctly - even those children who struggle with some things can be challenged to work harder.
I believe both groups [high/low] deserve additional attention. Sometimes, I've seen smarter students in the class used as tutors for others who are struggling. It's not a "you're smarter/dumber than me" issue .. what it did was help the kids who were struggling to see that if they were just willing to put forth more effort - their grades would improve. It's a great program - if it's done right.
The kids who were struggling didn't necessarily rise to the level of the tutors - but their self-esteem was raised by the fact that they now felt they could accomplish more and get better grades. My middle son probably would have quit school if not for this program. His tutor came to our home (I met his parents) and the boys would spend 2-3 hours a week working on areas where my son was struggling.
Part of the problem is that some of the smarter kids make fun of the slower kids - but if you get some of the smarter ones involved in helping others .. then both groups respond .. it's an amazing thing to watch.
I'm so glad that I never took the coaching job in Seattle.
I'd probably be in prison for child abuse, As in yelling at
their pampered faces and doling out the swats with holed paddles..
And why should those students that are accepted waste time for 2 years with General Ed classes (stuff they should have before they get to college), where they get more liberalism shoved down their throats?
Check out how much of that goes to providing pensions and lifelong medical care to the teachers families.
It is not the non tradis who need remediation. They often have solid, if rusty skills. It is kids right out of HS who should have learned skills in grade school. It is a form of featherbedding that expands the education industry all the while giving us less for out money.
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