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Mass. school superintendent fails must-pass English test
Associated Press ^
| 08-03-03
Posted on 08/03/2003 6:18:43 PM PDT by Brian S
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:43:10 AM PDT by Jim Robinson.
[history]
This city's superintendent of schools, who recently put two dozen teachers on unpaid leave for failing a basic English proficiency test, has himself flunked a required literacy test three times.
Wilfredo T. Laboy called his failing scores "frustrating" and "emotional." He blamed his performance on a lack of preparation and concentration, as well as the fact that that Spanish is his first language.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: literacy; superlaboy; teachers
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To: Vinnie
I could learn the 'rules', and grammar in Spanish easier than in English. Then I would apply those rules in English class. It was a big help. Don't you mean help big ? ;)
121
posted on
08/03/2003 11:05:32 PM PDT
by
Centurion2000
(We are crushing our enemies, seeing him driven before us and hearing the lamentations of the liberal)
To: Bonaparte
I'm not familiar with Ha Jin. I'll have to read him....
122
posted on
08/03/2003 11:46:42 PM PDT
by
freebilly
(Why are men sent to the doghouse if caught in a cathouse?)
To: freebilly
To: Bonaparte
Thank you!
124
posted on
08/04/2003 12:06:35 AM PDT
by
freebilly
(Why are men sent to the doghouse if caught in a cathouse?)
To: Brian S
"I'm trying to understand the congruence of what I do here every day and this stupid test"
I'm sure the students have asked themselves the same thing.
To: freebilly
Waiting is a sweet read. Recommended.
To: Brian S
You would think the guy would have studied after he failed the first time. You know, crack the books, study, read, understand the subject matter. The fact that the guy failed 3 times should tell you all you need to know about him.
To: Mind-numbed Robot
What brought me down was the rules..... Laboy said. Should was be were?Yes. I was going to point that out but decided to read all replies first. That is very basic grammar not teacher kind of stuff.
Instead of fretting over verb tenses, I'd simply rewrite the sentence: instead of What brought me down was the rules..... I'd say The rules brought me down. I'm a big fan of simple and straightforward English.
128
posted on
08/04/2003 12:48:34 AM PDT
by
B-Chan
(Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
To: Brian S
pathetic.
129
posted on
08/04/2003 1:44:03 AM PDT
by
yonif
("If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem, Let My Right Hand Wither" - Psalms 137:5)
To: King Prout; B-Chan; Principled; Consort
Thanks for the help.
130
posted on
08/04/2003 5:02:43 AM PDT
by
Mind-numbed Robot
(Not all things that need to be done need to be done by the government.)
To: Brian S
"If you're not an English teacher, you don't look at the rules on a regular basis."Awww, Bullshit! I am an engineer and with the associated reports and white papers I must write on a daily basis, I "look at the rules" daily.
This is just an example of "feel good" educrats who are too ignorant or stupid or lazy to get employment anywhere else. And the tragedy is that we need our best teaching our children, not those too damned dumb to get any other education.
End of Rant!
131
posted on
08/04/2003 5:06:59 AM PDT
by
Redleg Duke
(Stir the pot...don't let anything settle to the bottom where the lawyers can feed off of it!)
To: OldEagle
Don't worry, the NEA couldn't identify a "preposition" if it bit them in the ass!
132
posted on
08/04/2003 5:10:09 AM PDT
by
Redleg Duke
(Stir the pot...don't let anything settle to the bottom where the lawyers can feed off of it!)
To: Jhoffa_
It's worse than you think.
Unless something has changed that I am unaware of, Lawrence High School is not even an accredited school.
133
posted on
08/04/2003 5:15:02 AM PDT
by
metesky
("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
To: Semper911
I switched careers and became a teacher in an effort to make a difference. I had thought this might make an excellent follow-on career for me, as I am of retirement age, but have many years of service left to give. I do enjoy going in to substitute in math and science for a few principals whom I know well, and in my youth I did teach in private school while awaiting military assignment. Uniformly, the PS teachers I meet, (most of whom are very good and dedicated people) do not have ANY subject matter mastery, or even command of what used to be known as facts, as they are discussed every day by contributors to this site. I meet HS foreign language teachers who would die of thirst before they could order a glass of water in any foreign land. I mean these nice young folks are ignorant of what you could learn in your barber shop from reading the Reader's Digest or National Geographic.
However, I simply cannot sit still for the idiotic "Education" courses. Speaking of examinations, I have offered to sit for the examination on the these spurious "subjects." The final exams at your local Teacher's College are about as difficult as the one Laboy flunked. Shockingly, they require as much study.
This is a national racket. The question is, how do we end it?
To: Jhoffa_
You are dealing with Massachusetts. This is not a normal situation. The large cities have seen a major increase in
immigration from several areas. They put some folks into
colleges that should not be there. They graduate people that should not be given a degree. The study done on teachers not passing the test showed they came from the same colleges. They know exactly who has the faulty programs and just what school is putting out the poor quality teachers.
To: Brian S
Is it any wonder that students don't respect teachers and school officials? Why should students respect a school administrator who is as dumb or dumber than they are?
I'm sure this incident will be noted by Lawrence, MA, students who have to take "high-stakes" proficiency exams.
Public education today is a racket (and a joke).
Someone please fire this moron.
136
posted on
08/04/2003 5:50:33 AM PDT
by
ladylib
To: Brian S
If it weren't so sick, this would be hilarious.
137
posted on
08/04/2003 6:04:48 AM PDT
by
lodwick
To: OldEagle
I can't find Laboy's bio either, but he does seem to be able to
read a teleprompter fairly well.
To: SpinyNorman
"And people wonder why I walk around shaking my head!"
You too? I keep wondering how it can be true that people like this man are drawing huge salaries to "educate" our young people and yet he himself could not pass the final exam that I took to graduate HIGH SCHOOL in one of the poorest counties in SC forty one years ago.
139
posted on
08/04/2003 6:51:25 AM PDT
by
RipSawyer
(Mercy on a pore boy lemme have a dollar bill!)
To: optimistically_conservative
(Can't prove a negative? You're not stupid. Prove it!)
Your tag line intrigues me, I have sometimes made the statement that it is impossible to prove a negative and I still believe that it is only possible to prove a positive which by inference proves the validity of the negative. I once told one of my brothers that I could not prove that I did not kill Nicole Simpson but if I could prove that I was on the East Coast during the time that would prove that I could not have killed her. That is still, in my mind, proving a positive. Am I missing something?
140
posted on
08/04/2003 7:00:21 AM PDT
by
RipSawyer
(Mercy on a pore boy lemme have a dollar bill!)
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