Posted on 10/31/2005 9:04:55 AM PST by SouthernBoyupNorth
There's a growing movement in the US that says the educational concept of "No Child Left Behind" is putting an emphasis on basic skills even as it leaves super-achieving kids behind. Bob Davidson is a dot-com millionaire who has co-written a book with his wife Jan titled, "Genius Denied."
(Excerpt) Read more at kywnewsradio.com ...
The best and the brightest should be going to private schools, on scholarship if the family doesn't have the money.
An unbelievable about of funding is spent trying to educate the bottom 20% of our population. I think we would be better off throwing the big bucks at the top 10% of our kids and getting the slower learners into trade schools and what not where they can learn how to do the jobs that Americans won't do.
I'd just as soon abolish the Dept. of Education...
Yes.
My wife teaches high school for problem children and I was at a little get together between some from her school and some from the regular high school. Both her and the teachers of the GT kids (gifted, talented) complained about the way they had to teach under "Every child takes it in the behind".
They have trade schools for 3rd graders who can't read?
When the marxist Thomas Dewey (who designed the public school system) said: 'A thinking child is a threat, and spoils the harmony of the collective society that is coming.'
The system is designed to destroy the chances of smart and very smart males, especially white males. The US will reap what it has sown over the next 100 years.
I'd just as soon abolish the Dept. of Education...
So would I.
The problem isn't, "no child left behind", it's the public school system itself. It's a government monopoly that puts out a Yugo quality product for a Mercedes pricetag. If you really want your kids to become educated you teach them yourself or send them to quality private schools.
Hold a race and make sure the slowest runners
compete equally against the fastest...
Loads of fun for the slower folks...a real agony for
the swiftist...
Frustrating those above the norm is asking for trouble...
imo
For example on the Virginia SOL test elementary students have a section on computer science, like what is a bit, a byte, etc. Time spent teaching that should be spent teaching kids parts of speech, writing a complete sentence, and mathematics. There is a reason they call it elementary or primary school, and the reason our kids do so poorly is that we forgot that reason.
Absolutely! But this problem is self-imposed by political correctness....
The self-esteem of, "remedial" kids..keeps them in classes with brighter children..the self-esteem of language-challenged students..keeps them in classes with well-spoken children..the self-esteem of thugs who could not care less about their future keeps them in classes with those who wish to support themselves when they graduate..the self-esteem of the physically handicapped keeps them in classes with non-handicapped-their "special needs" requires constant teacher or aid attention to physical, not mental needs
Remove these impediments..put them in classes for such things (like in the old days) and the dumbing down problem would be solved.
Bingo, that is exactly what they do and why many teachers hate it.
The problem is that so many of these state-mandated tests are bad. Then the schools are stuck teaching dumb stuff to kids and losing opportunities to teach the stuff that would really benefit the kids.
The solution: FIX THE TEST!
Then, teaching to the test would be exactly the right thing to do, because the test would meaure skills that we desperately want our children to have.
But it begs the question: Why are these tests so bad? And so hard to fix?
The answer: The tests are created by Teachers Unions which want the tests to be an abomination, so that little childen will suffer, so that school reform will fail, so that the unions will get more money, which will be spent to hire more administrators, who will be told to go study the problem.
Fix the tests. The rest will follow.
I agree that SOLs dumb down what is taught in order for the slower kids to be able to pass SOL tests. It is highly frustrating. One of our sons benefited greatly from having an old-fashioned teacher who made sure he learned the SOL facts, but she also forced him to WRITE, WRITE, and WRITE some more. Unfortunately, she retired last year. She was very tough on our son, but he knew she had his best interests at heart. The SOLs are so easy for him, but the things he really needs to know to succeed later in life are the things she taught him. She was so fed up with teaching SOLs.
I could go on and on about SOL lowest-common-denominator teaching. Gifted children are not having their needs met. They are better off segregated from the LCD.
I have a major go round with TPTB in our school district..not with the teacher or principal, mind you - but the district higher ups. I swear they have some authority hang up.
As one of my daughter's frustrated teacher's said to me about the problem "No child left bhind MUST include the brightest of the bright." Alas TPTB don't see it our way.
No Child Left Behind: The Football Version
1. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win
the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will
be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be
held accountable.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills
at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be
made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or
genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A
PROFICIENT LEVEL.
3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own
without instruction. Coaches will use all their instructional time
with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited
athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.
4. All coaches will be proficient in all aspects of football,
or they will be released.
5. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only
be kept in the 4th, 8th and 11th games.
6. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is
expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach
the same minimal goals
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