Posted on 03/19/2006 6:19:56 PM PST by SmithL
Too many students fail to meet California's standard for proficiency, sparking a simple solution under consideration in the Capitol: redefine "proficient."
By changing a few words in state law, legislators could dramatically affect how the federal government rates the state's education system.
"I think it's a totally sensible thing to do," said Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley.
Critics of Hancock's proposal, Assembly Bill 2975, say the state's goal should be to improve schools, not alter words.
Hancock counters that both are needed to avoid severe sanctions in coming years under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB.
"What all of this needs is for grown-up egos to be set aside and to focus on the young people," she said.
The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators have taken no position on AB 2975, but they say Hancock has seized on a very real problem.
Jack O'Connell, state schools superintendent, opposes AB 2975.
"It's a measure that would have the net effect of watering down our standards," O'Connell said. "It takes us in the wrong direction."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Wow, my state New Jersey was Number 4 on that ranking. If our schools are considered the 4th best in the nation, the nation is in deep trouble.
Let's just make more stuff legal !
You noticed that too? That's the first thing I saw. It makes me wonder what criteria they're using to define what a good education it.
I wonder where that bar was when I was in school. Our curriculum included:
Diagramming sentences
Conjugating verbs
Learning the parts of speech
Learning how to write legibly
Doing math in our heads with pencil and paper
Weekly spelling tests
Weekly vocabulary tests
Memorizing the "times tables" of multiplication
Memorizing the 50 states
Memorizing the Presidents
Memorizing the periodic table of elements
Monthly book reports
I am sure there was more, but I am just a 50 something dinosaur who came out of the public school system able to read, write and do math. Can as much be said for the students of today?
We didn't "do" high school...our son just went straight to community college in 10th grade. It's tuition free in our county for any high school student who gets high enough scores on their College entrance exam to place them in Comp I and College Alg.
So now, after 3 years in the program, "the kid" is graduating from high school and getting an AA at the same time and will transfer to University as a junior.
Many, many states offer similar programs, and you don't have to be concerned with an "exit exam." We've found the CC profs to be very helpful, not too liberal (some are, some aren't) and the whole CC atmosphere is so much more conducive to learning than your average high school.
After talking to counselors at other universities, I've found some who agree with UVA, some that disagree and some that have never heard of that as a problem! Guess it depends on what the university wants I reckon.
Glad your son was successful--free tuition is awesome!
Our schools are an absolute joke when compared to other first world nations. We should be making it harder, not easier.
The teacher they have this year is the same one that one of my daughters had last year. She's very good and a fine Christian lady, so the classroom is tolerable for this year.
One of my daughters is special needs, and we are currently in the middle of an independent evaluation at the school district expense. I have been taking her to all of these evaluations, and I don't have time to do any kind of schooling for my other daughter.
The independent evaluation is going to give me all sorts of information about my daughter, and what kind of programs she needs. Then I have to arrange the help that she needs. It just takes time, and I am running out of time this year. I'll probably have it all figured out about the first of May. Then they only have a month left. The last month of school is when they usually do field trips, and it just won't be worth it to pull them out then.
Ohhh puhleaze!! I looked at it, and I think my 6th grader could pass it. Grant it, he's good at math, but it is not hard.
The only thing that my 6th grader has not done was memorizing the Presidents and maybe the Periodic Table. I know he's learned about the Periodic Table, but I don't think he had to memorize it. However, I don't think I had to until high school chemistry.
My son has also never used a calculator at school. He is currently an 11 year old 6th grader, and he is taking 7th grade math. He's one of the top math students at his school (3rd place for 7th grade math at the school math olympics). We're pretty sure he'll place out of 8th grade math and go on to 9th grade algebra next year.
My point is that he has taken a lot of math courses, and they don't use calculators. I'm glad. I think now that he is getting into high school math, he'll probably need to use a calculator. He has the basics down now, and he needs to learn algebra and other concepts.
Near the floor but not quite on it, at least not yet. If I'm not mistaken, the requirements are that a graduating senior has to have passed two tests: one based on 8th-grade math and the other based on 10th-grade English.
It's the students; get rid of the dummies in first grade, don't wait until they realize on their own what their teachers refuse to see.
That may be more a matter of the prep book you're using than the actual test. The sample test problems that have been published in various newspaper articles are very simple (almost certainly 8th-grade level) math problems.
Great to hear! Your son sounds like a bright student on the right path to a good education!
The advantage, as explained to us by the university he'll be attending was that if he earned the AA, they would transfer him in as a junior and he would not be required to meet their "general ed requirements" even if they were slightly different from the CC "gen ed" requirements for an AA.
OoooOOoohh! That does sound like an advantage indeed! Plus, that is 2 years of college work that you don't have to pay college $$ for! Good for him!
Lonnie Hancock (Communist, People's Republic of Berkeley) is slightly to the left of V.I. Lenin.
Ugh! I think I would make the same choice in your boat--BTW, I saw in another post that you are having one evaluated. If she is eligible and you do homeschool, know that even at home she can still receive direct services--90 minutes a month. It's called an ISP. Freepmail me if you want specific information. I know 90 min doesn't sound like much, but depending on the situation, it can give her some help.
We made that a gift to them in congrats for making it to that level. Very popular amongst the nerds. "So what did you get for your birthday?" "A graphing calculator--you can look but don't touch." "Lucky!" :) Nerds rule the world!
You got it right!
Teacher training schools are an ivory tower fraud and DISCIPLINE?
Ha!These kids know you can't touch them and unless they do a beatdown in the classroom or break a window in front of the principal there will be only the mildest of consequences meted out.
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