We used to use the bell curve.
Posted on 02/22/2007 9:21:45 AM PST by redpoll
My daughter went to a boarding school. About 120 girls. And each marking period there were, maybe 20 A's given over the entire curriculum and student body. She was one of two girls in a calculus class and NEITHER of them got an A. An 87 average was a B and that was that.
I think grading as a homeschooler is easier too. My kids average in the low A's to high B's in their grades. I usually approach grading straight forward. If you get it wrong, it is wrong. But, they also get to argue points with me to win back some on things I have counted incorrect.
I thought that a C was 2.0. A "B" was equal to 3.0. Grade inflation has been huge. My Son taught for three years and was told NOT to flunk anyone.
"The answer is to seperate instruction from evaluation."
OK, I'll put on my teacher hat here. The evaluation has to be focused on what you want to teach. That's more difficult than it sounds for academic subjects. In real life, the evaluation of knowledge occurs when you do something and you either successfully do it or you fail. A mechanic fixing a car is evaluated on his knowledge of mechanics every time he repairs a car; if he is successful, the car works and he gets paid. If he is not successful, he fails the evaluation and returns to the car for another attempt.
Most testing I've seen does not evaluate what it should be evaluating. A multiple-choice test evaluates guessing much of the time. Allowing a student to copy stuff from the Internet evaluates guile and shamelessness. (In the same way, keeping a student in my class for calling me a bitch evaluates disrespect.) So what do I do?
I tell the students that they must meet certain standards before I'll even come close to grading a paper. No copying, no misspelled words, no obviously bad grammar. If they're writing an essay, I provide a framework showing them how it is supposed to look. If it doesn't look like that, they will not pass. Period.
Here's where our school succeeds. Let's say the kid doesn't understand the framework of an essay. I am here before school and after school to work with the student. Most of them show up. I am good enough to demonstrate that reading and writing skills are essential to success in adult life, and the student understands that. I'll work with that kid at any moment if they need it. I've gotten calls at home at 11 p.m. I step up and answer the question.
Practically all of my students come from Bush villages, where the schools range from pathetic to Godawful. By the time they leave our high school, they are scoring in the 50th or 60th percentile on standardized tests - a demonstration that we're doing something right. Like I said before, I am fortunate to have admin and a school board support me and others like me. Teaching done well is really tough, especially under these conditions.
If I were in charge, I'd implement the ideas of Milton Friedman and press for vouchers and school choice. Eliminating tenure would help. Reducing the bureaucracy surrounding teaching requirements would also help - do you realize that a person who has worked as a chemist in private industry for 20 years isn't considered "qualified" under federal law to teach chemistry unless he has a chemistry degree?
Contrary to another post, I do like my job - it just has problems that need to be dealt with. I keep thinking that if I continue pushing, something might move.
Yes, the example I gave was "C", "B", "A", but I happened to use 3.0 in place of "B" because I was talking about a grade point average, instead of a grade for a single class.
I thought it was obvious enough, but I suppose I should have said "...3.0 (or "B" average)..." to make it clear.
Just wait until you get a load of Public School's take on the Constitution, and your child's rights thereunder. All other issues will pale by comparison.(Constitutions Grandchild)
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And,,,,what if the parent doesn't want to use the government school?
What if a parent refuses to pay the ransom of private tuition or the expenses of home schooling, and also refuses the government school?
Well,,,,The government gives parents the Godfather's offer that can't be refused: Ransom your child with private tuition, government indoctrination camp, or PRISON.
If the parent is resistant enough armed police may actually kill him, as has happened in Utah. To my knowledge the government has not put a horse's head in a parent's bed.. Not yet,,,,It is likely that would take too much imagination for a government school bureaucrat.
In our school system they are getting rid of 2 principals because they are lousy and guess where they are going, to administration and they're getting a raise.
We used to use the bell curve.
The Catholic Church offers a pretty good education at a very reasonable price (free if you can't afford it at all, but mostly a very nominal donation in the Sunday offering plate), and there is no reason why a child should be deprived of an education. We live in a fascinating world in fascinating times with fascinating challenges. How sad to miss all the fun in life for the lack of an education. Contrary to popular belief, your child would not be indoctrinated with Catholic dogma or forced to go to Mass.
The archodiocese also has high schools which are relatively inexpensive, but in most cases, there aren't enough of them around. We need more faith-based schools. The Lutherans used to have quite a few elementary and secondary schools, but the costs were much higher. I'm thinking enough true and gifted teachers are fed up with the NEA and the Public School System that they would be able to charter and open up schools, but I don't know how expensive it would be. We need alternatives to what is currently available.
We are blessed in our city with numerous private schools, but if that is not the case, then you'd better have long and reality-based conversations with your kids about the real and present dangers that are out there and be available to
supplement their lackluster educations with an enriched environment at home. To a great extent, it has always been that way, but there are added elements to the mix today.
My son is now a Junior in college, and I'm still making up the deficit his public school education left him with. The beauty of it now is he realizes how badly he was damaged. He used to think I was just a nag with with MENSA complex. He's surprised how smart I've gotten in the last three years.
I just wish I hadn't been of the opinion that he would have to compete with Public School graduates in the real world and had better know how to do so. I didn't want a small-school, faith-based education to make him soft and all squishy. I wanted a large, diverse educational program because we live in a large diverse world. I didn't realize I had signed his death warrant.
My son is now a Junior in college, and I'm still making up the deficit his public school education left him with. The beauty of it now is he realizes how badly he was damaged. He used to think I was just a nag with with MENSA complex. He's surprised how smart I've gotten in the last three years.
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Your son is acquiring wisdom. An solid education will soon follow.
Yes, they're dumbing down the colleges as fast as they can. Just delaying the inevitable. These kids will have to compete in a global economy, and many of them won't be fit for flipping burgers.
Ditto here. We fianlly "bought out" a viciously incompetent superintendent who was hired by a racially stacked school board. Where did she go? A higher position at the state level.
Happened with us, too, if their reasoning for the answer made sense. Sometimes, it was a bad question n the curriculum and I gave them credit for the answer because I could see why they answered it the way they did, even though it was technically wrong.
I noticed my son is much better at it than my daughter. Where he naturally challenges everything (unless he didn't answer at all), she was much more likely to accept whatever was said. Really had to help her with that ability.
My brother-in-law teaches engineering at the university, he was going to retire at Christmas but they convinced him to stay because he was going to be replaced by an affirmative action (read Mexican) hire whether he or she was qualified or not.
Something missing from this discussion is the responsibility of the student to learn.
Problems at public schools and poor teachers are of course real problems and points well taken. But something I've observed too is that the best of teachers can't force an unmotivated kid to learn. Much of the problem with public schools is starting well outside the school's jurisdiction.
Private schools have the luxury of being a little more choosy about who they'll accept as a student. That's not so in public schools. Aside from expulsion for cause, they've gotta take the slackers too.
A higly motivated smart kid can get an excellent education even at a crappy inner city public school. It'll be a lot harder of course, but it's possible.
I'm not giving public education a pass here, but it is perfectly fair to observe that there's a component that is all too often ignored. The kid.
Private school teachers are paid much less than public school teachers. In fact, public school teachers, when you add in their pension benefits, are fantastically well paid. They retire at age 55 or so with 80% of their salary. (Why don't they teach until age 65?)
The public schools have been hijacked by the "religion" of the left. Think there ought to be separation of church and state? How do you define church?
Parents of public school brats have inured themselves to the state being a caregiver. And when that caregiver is not the advocate but the punisher of that child the parents have a s!!t fit and demand that their children become equal to all the rest.
Which brings me to my final point. The idiots running the public school system have devised a plan that makes everyone happy and creates very few outstanding scholars. IOW, lowest common denominator is the teacher's pet.
So if you want mediocrity, equality of outcomes, sham grades and no punishment for disruptors because they are "disadvantaged" you should certainly choose public school. And even if you are lucky enough to get a good one like we did, it is incredibly hard to be conservative as a student, parent or participant.
"And when that caregiver is not the advocate but the punisher of that child the parents have a s!!t fit and demand that their children become equal to all the rest."
That's unfair. What I am demanding is lawful STANDARDS. If you have a square, conservative background and don't fit the rounded hole, then I don't expect the square peg to be rounded off and driven into a round hole. It isn't a personality contest. Hell, if that were the case, none of us could make it anywhere.
I'd never make it in the public schools today. I demanded and expected a certain outcome, based on my tireless efforts and preparation. I couldn't hack it if I were expected to dumb it down. I never talked down to anyone -- especially children. Of course, it made having a conversation with my son like speaking with a Martian at times, but EVENTUALLY, he got it.
Education is different for each child. A key that unlocks the door for most children, may not unlock the door for another. It isn't a one-size fits all proposition -- it's a process. They have to be made to stick with it until they find the key -- then it's like opening the gates of Heaven. It's beyond anything they can imagine and will take them beyond anything we can imagine.
Don't just teach them facts, teach them how to find them. Teach them the joy of learning, the joy of reaching for the stars.
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