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 parents of the best and brightest should be given vouchers so their kids can have true access to better education. For that matter, the parents of all kids should be given vouchers so their kids can have true access to better education."
I totally support vouchers and not just to help bright kids - also to help ordinary kids and to disempower the teacher's unions who have a death grip on public education.
I dont think it is "No child left behind". I think it is the rigid thinking in education that refuses to group bright children together so they can profit from faster learning and enrichment. Instead the brightest are forced into mixed abilities classrooms usually with at least one mentally retarded or otherwise comprimised child and its trainer.
"My mother and father knew that THEY already controlled what type of education their sons and daughters received and what values they were taught."
As it should be.
It used to be that each grade had a slow, regular and fast track, and kids were grouped with kids of similar ability.
But then somebody noticed that there were too many kids of one ethnicity in one track and not enough of another, so rather than deal with the lawsuits, the state mandated the "mainstreaming" of gifted and special ed all into one homogeneous class
"My daughter was offered a full 4 year scholarship to an exclusive private school last year. She turned it down because of the lack of AP classes and the shallowness of the math, science and computer program. Admittedly, the foreign language program blew the public school out of the water, but in every other category, nope, the pubic school came in first."
That is a problem - traditionally good private schools put liberal arts first when math and science have become more and more important - but the truly good private schools have adapted.
If you force 3rd and 8th graders to read at grad level it is possible to reduce the prison population. Ask Chuck Colson how many reading programs are needed. Is the price of education the reduction of crime a worthy goal?
Exactly what part of Pluto are you orbiting? People are in prison for reasons of moral turpitude, stupidity, and poor character formation, not because of reading problems.
SOL? Standards of Learning? Looks like the schools are saying that they are S**t Out of Luck.
Your comment is not off base - that is the way it should be. Unfortunately, the comment was not meant in the manner in which you work in your classroom.
ROFL!!!!
I guess he did it so she could determine how many raisins to put in the gin :)
YIKES!!!!!!!
That's the kind of garbage I'm getting from my school district - it's the principal and the teachers that want the brighter kids to be together - the district has forbidden the practice.
I agree - I generally reserve those type comments (bureaucrats forgetting who is the boss) for the elected people that appoint them :)
And that makes no sense whatsoever to me. I fully understand the need to get the children below level at least up to level, but what about the ones at or above level? To me they should ALL be pushing to achieve better than they are, whatever the level.
I was flabbergasted to learn that there are a lot of children who have one teacher or aide, exclusively for them. In one case at my grandson's school the child has a registered nurse. He is blind, can't talk and in a wheelchair and incontinent.
My eldest daughter at one point asked me "Why can't I just be average?"
My answer was: "Taking the world as a whole over the past century, the average state of humanity was to be sick, starving, and in fear of being killed. I have no desire for any child of mine to be average"
The push for this comes from the bureaucrats in the federal dept of education. They call the shots now. The job of the district and state bureaucracies is to take the heat and not reveal where the push is coming from
To be perfectly honest, I don't care where the push is coming from. I was assured, by a district flack, that my daughter's needs would be met in her assigned classroom. Her needs are not being met and it is through no fault of the teacher or staff in the particular school.
When I expressed concern that children that need the extra attention were going to be short changed while the teacher attended to the needs of my child I was told "That is not your concern." That is an exact quote.
I have no intentions of giving up this battle with them - there is just too much circumstantial evidence this school has been "chosen" as the one that is to stay at the bottom - all districts need one of those for the $$$$. Too bad.
The public schools stunk before NCLB and they still stink now. Even the better ones in affluent suburbs are poor quality schools when compared to their counterparts in Europe or Japan.
And that makes no sense whatsoever to me. I fully understand the need to get the children below level at least up to level, but what about the ones at or above level? To me they should ALL be pushing to achieve better than they are, whatever the level.
Most teachers would agree with you at least here. Rep's here are about 50/50 on it. The ones above level are the ones who raise the averages. People should recognize that. I sure do, but that's not the main reason I try to encourage my high achieving learners.
That's one thing I don't do is to try and play games with people. Too many like to try the underhanded approach nowadays.
There are still many good Republicans in my state, but I fear that the big government bureaucrats, who seem to relish power, are taking over.
I guess he did it so she could determine how many raisins to put in the gin :)
Or how many fish eyes to put on the pizza.
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