Posted on 06/25/2008 8:03:11 AM PDT by Amelia
With the increasing emphasis on standardized testing over the past decade, large urban school systems have famously declared an end to so-called social promotion among youngsters lacking basic skills...Now the 8,400-student East Ramapo school district in this verdant stretch west of the Palisades is going further, having revived a controversial retention practice widely denounced in the 1980s to not only hold back nearly 12 percent of its first graders this spring but to segregate them in a separate classroom come fall.
...the principal of Hempstead Elementary here, said that merely holding back students without a special program to address their needs would not have been as effective.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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In a class of 20 kids, the yearly taxpayer spending (before "added resources") is $260,000.00.
Just sayin'.
Per pupil spending in my state is a LOT lower - about $8500 per child - but the cost of living is too. I’m not sure why this district spends so much.
I haven’t read it yet, but I will. I just wanted to say that after teaching HS for 5 years and being horrified at the reading level (or lack thereof) for many of my 9th and 10th graders, I thought that after 2nd grade, they should test kids for grade level reading proficiency. If they are not proficient at that time, they should go into a special 3rd grade class, taught by a reading teacher, and ALL OF THEIR SUBJECT MATTER should be taught via teaching them to read. If at the end of 3rd grade they are still not proficient, they should do the same for 4th etc. There is no reason that any but the a few should go to high school unprepared to read basic high school textbooks (perhaps some are incapable of learning to read at high school level, I don’t know, but they are few and far between, I should think).
If you learn to read well and do basic math, you can learn the rest of what you need. If you don’t, you are doomed to failure (at least for the most part—the few things you could be successful at require superior genetics that most of us don’t have).
susie
This is a pretty sad story...could it also be a question of a lack of teachers who inspire? I sure had a bunch when I was in my younger, formative years, and Intel’s Inspired by Education program (www.InspiredByEducation.com) offers a bunch of tools that teachers can use to this end...one would hope that the literacy level won’t get any lower than this dismal figure, but who knows.
In a class of 20 kids, the yearly taxpayer spending is $170,000.00.
Just sayin'.
It is most likely a combo of things. But look, my teachers didn’t always inspire me, and I read with good proficiency (and you probably do too). And imagine how difficult it is to inspire kids these days. For instance, when I was teaching biology the kids were so blase about everything. We could show them the coolest videos, give interesting assignments, let THEM choose projects from things that interested them, etc. But face it, their main interest is sex, partying, eating, etc. Even in the lower grades, they are difficult to get excited about things, since they have all seen so much via the tv and internet, and nothing is very novel or new to them.
I’m not saying it can’t be done, and I’m not saying teachers should not try, but you tell ME how to inspire kids.
susie
Well, my annual salary is about 1/4 that, and my classes are generally larger.
Just sayin'.
My point exactly.
I never, ever, ever want to hear that public schools are not adequately funded. (Where's all that money going?)
If you could see our school board office, you'd know. ;-)
But what do you think about the article? Should they promote the students or retain them? Should the students who need extra help be put in their own classroom/program so they can receive this help?
I think they should retain them.
If the individual is of sufficient intelligence, skill, behavior, and motivation to proceed a second time in the class without being a major disruption or impediment to the rest of the class or an undue burden to the teacher, then he should proceed a second time in the regular classroom. If not, then hello Special Ed.
What ever the teachers unions state is spent per child the **true** cost is likely **double** that.
In my state, teachers pensions and health budgets are **not** part of the per child estimate. Why? Answer: Because retired teachers are simply considered retired state workers.
Also, our schools use many services for which private schools ( and many charters) must pay for themselves. For instance, our district used county lawn workers, and any police and security services are a county expense. ( These are only 2 examples of many.)
Finally, school bond issues are **not** considered a “per child” expenditure. For instance our $50 MILLION dollar new high school is considered a county bond issue expense.
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