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 ...
I think that rubbing elbows with the mentally retarded is nice, like going to a museum.
Now that's a real "educated" statement if I ever heard one. "Tim" is a genuine hero and if we all had his attitude about life, we would all be the better. I respect those moms who put so much time into raising those with Downs' syndrome and the like.
It was a "sorry" pun. :0
Many of the teachers here feel they are caught between a rock and a hard space when it comes to state test scores. The don't want to "use" (abuse) the high achievers to bring up scores, but wind up having to do just that. It's a vicious cycle for all involved.
I choose to ignore it....
That's a rather negative attitude to take
Here, if the child does not show up for testing, then it is factored in as a "0." Yes, there have been many families go on Disneyland and other trips during test week. Such can affect test scores quite a bit. That's not to mention all of the other factors--too many to list here. Most years I'm able to make up stuff okay, though some years I have to scramble.
My students last year got pretty high test scores. I have to wonder if I will be penalized if they go down. Each year it's a different group of kids. I do get lucky most of the time with what I get.
Dewey helped introduce innovations in education to get children beyond rote learning, where facts are memorized but not understood. He wanted learning to be active, where students build things or conduct scientific experiments. His experimental public school had laboratories in it. So pardon me for saying that I am skeptical that Dewey said such a thing, or that if he did, this quote isn't out of context.
I should say I'm not trying to defend Dewey. And I'm not a big fan of the public schools -- I teach math at the college level and I see first-hand the poor preparation and slack attitudes of high school students.
I choose to ignore it....
Thank you.
and slack attitudes of high school students.
Individual effort sometimes get lost in the "blame the other guy" game.
My daughter, who loves school, came down with a stomache virus during test week last year..........arrangements were made so that she could make up the ones she missed, in order to keep scores up.
There is no way on earth I could be a teacher - not with what all of you folks have to put up with and deal with. I am very thankful there are people out there like you who have the ability to do what I am so inadequate at.
I've never lived in Texas so I would not know for sure. But both my little sisters do live there. My understanding is that education in Texas has very little to do with the ABCs and the 123s and a lot to do with football. Big education is really just a training camp for the Aggies and the Dallas cowboys.
"I think the biggest problem are the standards of learning tests. The schools are teaching to the test to get that lowest common denominator student to pass. School has become a 9 month cram session for a two day battery of tests. The tests, especially in elementary grades, test too wide a variety of subjects.
"
100% true. I have some family members who are teachers. They hate how things are now geared 100% towards tests. It gives them little flexibility and freedom in how they teach their class and it helps produce a generation who is good at filling out bubble sheets, but who aren’t taught to think outside of the box and be creative. I think the current obsession with standardized testing will come back and bite us, particularly as the author points out, with the brightest kids.
Another reason why we homeschool
Yes, there's a lot of crap to put up with and it's almost impossible to satisfy 75 people at a time. But I'm a dumb-dumb, I still try. I'm just glad that the parents/students are patient with such a bumbling person as me. I have learned to be patient as well. For example, MANY, MANY, MANY times parents have forgotten about tutoring appointments which kind of wastes my time as I have to wait for a little bit or more. But I've found other stuff to do and have learned to brush things off. I don't like to get uptight over small things because I have much bigger things to worry about.
I learn a LOT from the parents and students and I gain a lot of perspectives. I wonder why I am so lucky sometimes.
But is he ready to compete? If you can prepare him outside of his pathetic school for the levels of competition, he'll do fine.
One of the reasons why I appreciate the military and for that matter, any good, honest, down-to-earth, hardworking person, especially if they are a MOM.
Big education is really just a training camp for the Aggies and the Dallas cowboys.
Don't forget the Horned Frogs!!!
I think the current obsession with standardized testing will come back and bite us
More and more and more and more and more and more and more and more testing is perpetuated by the "conservatives" here.
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