[Gefreiter]

The enclosed recommendations will never happen to anyone's satisfaction. The far left will see them as recommendations for "linguistic racism" and fight them tooth and nail. And raise another generation of ignoramouses with high self-esteem.

[RayBob]

"ignoramouses"

I have a court record from 1794 in which my great-great-great-great grandfather was adjudicated by the Court an ignoramus. He and several other young men were found to be under the undue influence of older men and therefor not responsible for their actions. Their crime? They were Whiskey Rebels! The court looked for ways to let most of these guys off...lack of witnesses, youthful folly, etc.

[poet]

What better way to destroy a country? Do it from within w/o firing a shot. Was it Gen. Malinovsky of the old soviet union who said, give me your educational system and I will make a new soviet man? Well, the General was right. Our children have been and are continuing to be dumbed down.

So much for the Fed's involvement in our educational process. It's no longer public education, it's gov't eduction.

[doc30]

Another reason writing skills will never be promoted relates to grading. A test of a student's writing ability cannot be formatted in a multiple choice format. Teachers would have to spend more time grading written paragraphs. Also, are new teachers today, who are a product of this educational system, capable of grading such tests?

[tdadams]

My nephew, a junior in high school, is among the poor writers. He uses no punctuation, doesn't capitalize proper names or at the beginning of sentences, and uses IM code in place of regular words.

I ask him why his writing is so bad and he doesn't even realize there's anything wrong with it. I ask him if his teachers ever do or say anything to correct his mistakes. He said none of his teachers have ever said a thing about it.

I really fear for his prospects as he gets into college and beyond.

[squarebarb]

One hardly knows where to start. A big problem is that kids are not required to read good writing so they can have a model. They are asked to read dumb stuff like The Color Purple and other politically-correct junk. Secondly, teachers are so overloaded that they are sending the kids home with tons of homework so their parents can oversee their work --- in effect, the kids are being about half homeschooled. And how do burnt-out teachers know good writing when they see it? Teachers spend all their time trying to get kids to shut up and concentrate so they send their work home. Just demanding that 'good writing' be taught is a pipe dream.

[Salvation]

**That's because writing has been neglected in school reform, according to a report by the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges. So, students finish high school without the ability to write in a sophisticated, precise or engaging fashion, the commission says.**

From one who is out there substituting in the public schools --- T R U E !!!!!!!!

[mabelkitty]

And when teachers and professors have Communist-style "Jobs for Life", they stop doing it after a year or so and just phone it in.

[dfwgator]

This is vey series.

[Tai_Chung]

seniors are rarely assigned to write extended research papers anymore because teachers don't have the time

It's amazing how the trend toward smaller class sizes and ever-increasing education budgets have helped students.

[Consort]

Did any of them use a ghost writer on the haunted house essay?

[Hodar]

Oh, the kids can still write. Their style has just changed from this:

The old Johnson house had always been mysterious. It's old fence, overgrown yard, peeling paint and gabled roof always conveyed a sense of doom. And the sense of doom was well earned, for rumors persisted about the horrible screams heard so many years ago. And the story goes on, to this day. People who dare to take the shortcut in at midnight, through the back yard of the old Johnson house often tell you of the fear they felt, before the pain and the screams started. And they all bear the tell-tale bruise, the vertical stripe across the face. Of course, during the daytime; visitors remember to step over the rake in the path.

to this:

Yo buss dis. De old Johnson crib had always been mysterious. It's old fence, overgrown yard, peelin paint an' gabled rouh always moveed a sense uh doom. An' de sense uh doom wuz well earned, fuh rumors persisted 'boutthe horrible screams heard so many years ago. An' de story goes on, to dis day, an shit. folk who dare to take de shortcut in at midnight, trough de back yard uh de old Johnson crib often tell you uh de fear dey felt, befo de pain an' de screams started. An' dey all bear de tell-tale bruise, de vertical skripe across de face. uh course, durin de daytime; visitors remembuh to step ovuh de rake in de path. Sheeit!

[Paul Atreides]

Add to the fact that the education profession is so full of socialists who care nothing about teaching a child how to do anything except hate his own country, become a homosexual, or emulate Bubba and Monica in the Oral Office.

[chs68]

Im like I had someone read this article to me and Im like "I cant believe it!"

Im like its like there is just no way that like this could possibly be true. All of my best friends are like they know how to write real good...you know what Im saying?

So Im like I just dont know what all the fuss is all about you know what Im saying. Im like all my friends unnnerstand me and Im like understanding all my friends.

You know what Im saying?

[LonePalm]

I am ensuring that my children are not part of the problem.

My son, GrimmFReeper, is in the 7th grade. If he wants ANY help with his writing assignments, he must show me a written copy of the assignment and a written outline showing how he broke down the assignment prior to beginning. He must also be prepared to show how the outline he is working from satisfies the assignment.

GF doesn't like the extra work but he does like the quality of help that he gets. He likes my writing more than his and he gets better grades when he asks for help. He is learning fast. I have seen a major improvement in his writing since I instituted these requirements at the beginning of the year. He is also learning from the spelling and grammar checker built in to MS Word. He is responsible for fixing all spelling and grammar errors prior to asking for help.

If he doesn't want my help, he doesn't have to do the extra work. He is still responsible for maintaining a minimum grade of 85 in ALL his classes and a minimum grade of 75 on EVERY single assignment, test, or quiz.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[retrokitten]

Right out of high school (ten years ago! ouch!) I went to an artsy Chicago college with no real entrance requirements. There were many people from Chicago public schools who went to this college (I was from a suburban school). On the first day of my English class we had to write a short paper about a dream we had recently. Then, we exchanged papers and were supposed to proofread the other students paper. I am not a writer and don't claim any wonderful writing ability, but I can at least structure a sentence so it's readible. (But I am a horrible speller! LOL!)

I could not believe the paper I was passed. It was about a page and a half and one long paragraph. There were periods and capital letters just put where ever. This person had obviously never been taught even any basic grammar rules- like period goes at the end of the sentence, capital letter at start of a new sentence. The thoughts had no order. It was like reading something that my eight year old nephew had written. I was just stunned that someone who couldn't put a paragraph together could graduate high school.

After that, I went to my social sciences class. To say it would was dumbed down would be an insult to classes that have been dumbed down. I think it was geared for kids at a jr. high reading level or lower. I couldn't believe that this was a college level course. I lasted less then a week at this school. The following year I enrolled some where else and things were much better.

[spodefly]

If the elocution, diction, and compositional skills of students are sub-par, those of us in the older age brackets will continue to more easliy find employement in fields that require eloquence and precision in verbal and written communications while our children will be out digging ditches and picking strawberries with the illegal aliens.

The only downside I can think of is that we will also have to shoulder the entire tax burden for the nation because all the mind-numbed socialist thralls exiting zombie-like from our public schools will never earn enough to support the monstrous federal bureaucracies that have led to our ruin.

Like, you know what I'm sayin'.

[kdmhcdcfld]

Of course student writing is bad. Teaching the art of writing in the public education mills is not as important as the indoctrination of the students into the politically correct agendas of radical environmentalism, homosexuality, moral relativism...

[CommerceComet]

They might not know how to write but the students can competently put a condom on a cucumber.

[Maigrey]

Well, duh! Since, like, no one teaches the fundamentals, and, is like, so worried about self-esteem that they, uh, spend more time and energy inflating there non-exsistent self confidence than, like, teaching them how to communicate effectively.
(The errors contained within are intentional, for those who cannot discern the difference.)

[goodnesswins]

Ahem...

RANT ON....

1. Does anyone hear remember "diagramming sentences?" Just wondering. (It's about DISCIPLINE)

2. Yesterday, I was walking through the grocery store and the middle school kids had just gotten done for the day and many come through the store....I heard one precious young girl say...."I ain't got no money...." and turning, thought of explaining to her that if she continued talking like that she would NEVER have any MONEY...but...alas, she was black, and I sure didn't want to get in trouble.

3. I worked last year for a company whose sole purpose was evaluating and assessing writing skills of middle, junior high, and high school kids....of course in tough money times these are the kinds of services that are likely cut first. I'm not real hopeful from what I saw....

I think the demand for good writing comes from HOME...the same with speaking skills. (And, it the demand needs to be made by parents of the teachers, too.)

/RANT