Posted on 06/09/2006 6:52:36 AM PDT by SmithL
On a program on tv they had the attorney defending this girl and someone representing the exit exam. The guy representing the exit exam is the one who said it tests 8th grade proficiency. That is the only time I have heard it.
If it is true it is a shame, it should be shouted from the rooftops. If these kids can't pass an 8th grade proficiency test they have no business whatsoever graduating from high school.
"If she wants to go into nursing she absolutely needs to be fluent in English"
Apparently you have never been in a hospital in California.
I've haven't been in one as a paitent but even 20 years ago doing work on them there were very few nurses that could speak much english or any at all.
"I heard somewhere that the high school exit exam actually tests 8th grade proficiency in these subjects."
Actually the tests require 8th to 10th grade skills in math and English. Way tougher than you heard, eh? That's why we're proud to say, "We're California. Our high school graduates have basic skills of at least 8th to 10th graders."
I've got to note that I am awestruck by the admission standards of the colleges the non-graduates will be attending. Remedial math and English classes must be strong points of their curricula.
That's frightening. I hope they at least were educated by Spanish speakers? Because I don't think you could learn all of the necessary material in a US school without speaking English.
I once consulted
at a firm where an intern
was a high school grad,
an honor student
on her way to college with
some kind of program
putting her on track
to an entry-level job
with the FBI. [!]
An executive
gave this intern some titles
and told her to go
to the library
and take out the books for him.
When the exec left,
the intern pleaded
with all the secretaries
begging one of them
to go get the books
because the intern said she
was always confused
by how libraries
arranged their books. [!] Probably,
that intern is now
an agent-in-charge
of some field office . . . (Bad guys
shudder in their boots . . .)
After four years at Richmond High, both girls captured a spot on the honor roll. Both plan to attend college. Both dream of entering medicine; Mallory for physical therapy, Valenzuela for nursing.When Mallory descended the wooden steps, she left proudly clutching a facsimile of the diploma she will pick up next week.
Valenzuela held her own certificate. But in a way, she left empty-handed. She does not qualify for a diploma after failing the English part of the high school exit exam -- a denial she keenly felt during the ceremony.
The fact that this girl somehow made the honor roll without being able to pass the English portion of the exit exam is a stinging indictment on the quality of education in the state of California.
see post #21. I explained where I heard it.
man !
how rude to expect these kids to actually have learned something and be able to prove it !
I always thought a diploma was a decent attendance award...
*rolls eyes*
The girl that actually did graduate is going to Knoxville College? Well, I guess if she's from the slums of LA, she'll feel right at home...
KC is a "traditionally african-american" college which lost its accreditation several years ago. I did remodeling work at KC in the main dorm years ago, when the building was on the verge of being condemned. (It was only about 15 years old, but the kids had destroyed it) The students, 99% of which hadn't been on campus before arriving, had rioted over the living conditions, so the "college" did just enough work to make them semi-livable.
Although I hate to say it, the students appeared to be a rowdy collection of kids that wouldn't have qualified to attend college elsewhere. A KC janitor I talked to said the "college" busses in kids from the inner cities, and most have no means to leave when they see what the place is like. There is no discipline, and Knoxville College was at that time complete chaos.
Fletcher J
Donde esta papa?
Papa no aqui.
So she had the baby when she was 14 or 15?
Amen. She won't make it through the nursing program if she can't use English proficiently.
You think English is hard, little girl? Try anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry, pharamacology....in ENGLISH.
I'll put her down as a future loser of America, who will then blame it on the system.
Oh, come on! Doctor orders an enema for you and she gives you an empenada. Or the surgeon asks for a retractor and she pulls out her retainer. If you were more culturally aware, you'd understand her better and put up with this little nagging problems. /sarcasm
Let me get this straight: this cage liner is claiming that a kid that cannot pass 10th grade English "is being thwarted from her desire to go into medicine by an evil school administration." I didn't realize that careers in medicine were available to people who cannot graduate from high school. I'm REALLY GLAD, however.
They also have a total of 6 times to take and pass these exams. Once in the 10th grade, twice in the 11th and 3 times in their senior year.
After taking it the first time, and if they fail it, they know where they need extra help. Also, a passing grade is 55% (in math, I believe) and 60% on the English portion.
If they are not going to graduate why do they get to walk across the stage in the ceremony with their betters?
To pick up their self-esteem certificates and paper hats.
The ability to get on honor roll without such skill is a horrible bell weather:
...Both girls captured a spot on the honor roll. Both plan to attend college. Both dream of entering medicine... Valenzuela for nursing.
Newsflash to Valenzuela: if she's not a Filipina she might as well not bother with nursing in CA.
Well you should have studied your school work, done your homework and not screwed around.
Better to learn this now rather than never.
She can't read at a 4th-grade level but she's going to be a doctor?
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