The High Rate Of High School Graduate Failure Who Really Failed: Students Or The System?

http://www.users.bigpond.com ^ | July 9, 2003 | Phyllis Schlafly

[Amelia]

When mothers entered the work force, they exited their children's daily lives.

Yes, they did. Then parents started divorcing each other in larger numbers, so more and more children were without fathers most of the time, and also without their mothers who then had to work, even if they hadn't before the divorce.

Parents who are guilty because they aren't there for their children tend to be much more lenient with discipline & other things. They don't like to scold, or sometimes they are too tired to scold or to help with homework.

When I was a child, if a couple had been living out of wedlock, they'd have been shunned and their children probably wouldn't have been allowed to play with the other children - I'm sure the other children wouldn't have been allowed to visit the sinful household.

[Amelia]

Thought you might be interested in this thread.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

They are spreading the ridiculous notion that literacy does not mean reading the printed text, but is "inherently social" and flows from students developing "ways of thinking from such socially based experiences."

According to these academics quoted on the Electronic Classroom website, "meaning from text is not `out there' to be acquired but is something that is constructed by individuals through their interactions with each other and the world." So, students can "construct" their own understanding of the text by interacting with their (probably semi- literate) peers.

The role of reading teachers is supposedly "not to impart universal truths about text but to foster an environment where learners come to construct understanding through interaction."

I reely don't see what's the problim here. This makes perfeck sence.

[Kosh5]

Amen!

As father of 3 (with another approaching pre-school material), I am extremely pleased with the education my home-schooled children have received. They each are studying material a grade or more higher than their peers. We can school when is convenient for us (expecting #5!) in the manner that works best (each child is radically different) without concern about contradiction with our faith (check out David Limbaugh's book if you are skeptical that this happens).

IMHO, the ultimate responsibility lies with the parents. If children are failing to be educated, the first line of defense lies with parents at (hopefully) home. I am sickened over the story from TheBattman. At the end of the story, however, I view the parent(s) as ultimately responsible for that child's conduct. Where was the accountability? Where was the sense of responsibility? Where was the intervention? Granted, this was a very brief description. I also understand (more with each passing day) that you cannot necessarily dictate what another person does. You, as a parent, can dictate expectations and consequences.

We have a very simple structure in our home:
1. What is the expectation (e.g. get your homework done; achieve minimum grade of xxx; etc.)?
2. What is the consequence?
3. Who makes the choice (the child)?
This is how we live our adult lives. Our society expects that I drive in certain manners. Failing to meet those expectations necessitates a consequence. Ultimatly, it is up to me decide whether I comply or not.

One last soapbox rant, and then I will turn over the soapbox to next in line:
Are we raising children or adults? I assert that parents should be about the business of raising adults. We can let them be children in the right places and at the right times, but the inevitable goal should be to train them to be functional adults. TheBattman's student appears to have been raised to be a child - hence, the apparently self-fulfilling prophecy.

</arm-chair quarterbacking rants>

[Spirited]

Schlafly bump..

[IrishRainy]

Teaching reading is not rocket science. Parents who care about their children's education should teach their own children to read using a good phonics system, which is what I did with my six children.

I take issue with this paragraph in the article. I learned to read by memorizing the words. I have an excellent memory and have to visualize the words in order to spell them correctly.

All three of my kids learned to read early -- my youngest was reading 6th grade books in kindergarten! -- and I taught them by reading aloud to them. They learned to read by sight, and even today they rarely come across a word they can't pronounce.

IMO, phonics is NOT the only way to learn to read.

[Tarl]

Brownsville Elementary school in Bremerton, Washington area.
While in the US Navy I was the command's coordinator for the PECE (Personnel Excellence thru Cooperative Education) program. I personally assisted with the principle and teachers for an eight year period and the teachers themselves informed me of the administrator/teacher ratio mismatch.

[Tarl]

In my earlier post, I mentioned finger pointing could go in all directions. There has been a sense throughout the fabric of our current society that personal responsibility is no longer expected of its citizens or it's youth, not to mention the undermining of authority at home and in the school. Much of this pervasive "brainwashing" is delivered via various media sources: television, video games, pop music, etc.

[gulfcoast6]

The education system in the USA is a failure and it is all because the teachers are not held accountable, politicians look more to the 'teachers union' for them casting votes for them instead of teaching our children. It is a a tragic situation and it is not going to get any better.

[MortMan]

Every child should be able to read before being promoted out of first grade, barring dyslexia or other disability.

Agreed, but Bush's proposal to have every child reading by the end of the 3rd grade is already a quantum leap over current school capabilities.

My middle daughter was struggling to read in school, even with the wonderful, carng (and Christian) teacher she had in 1st & 2nd grade. We started homeschooling her in 3rd grade (last year) using a phonics-based curriculum, and now she is a voracious reader - at or above the 4th grade level (her current grade).

It's criminal how the NEA sh!t-fer-brains refuse to teach reading using phonics.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Attack the NEA, no small feat, since they are the nation's LARGEST organized lobbying organization.

I admit that the NEA is big, but I submit that there is a more influential lobbying organization by far. An Establishment of unparalleled influence--"the press."

"The press" belongs in quotes not because it does not have First Amendment protection (though some of it patently does not) nor because "the press" (by which is meant nothing other than journalism) is not the only printing business protected by the First Amendment. "The press" belongs in quotes because it is not supposed to be--but in a very real sense is--a single entity like the NBA.

The NBA consists of competitive divisions such as the Lakers, Spurs, and so forth. But in regulating that competition by such means as giving each division the exclusive right to place certain players on its roster, the NBA acts as a single competition-limiting entity. It does that openly and publicly, and has lost antitrust suits over that behavior.

Like any illicit entity, "the press" denies its own existence as an entity; examples of this are nauseatingly routine whenever a journalist submits to Q&A. But any establishment coheres around a "turf," and must "send a message" when its turf is violated. What is "the turf" of "the press?"

Victory in any debate makes and the winner's side seems moderate, fair, objective, and balanced--and makes the loser's position seem "extreme". The turf of "the press" is the appearance of objectivity. Actual objectivity is of course impossible--topic selection is a fingerprint of the ineluctable perspective of the writer--but "the press" manipulates the appearance by use of the excuse of the fog of breaking news.

"The press" coheres in the following code:

The objectivity of anyone who adheres to the party line that journalists are objective is never challenged by any other member of "the press".

If a Bernard Goldberg does write a Bias, he does not cease being a journalist--he is an unperson who "never was a journalist."

The PR sythesis of the appearance of objectivity by "the press" is so pervasive and so effective that it is actually possible, even easy, to use that imposture in the"liberal arts academic fields. History , for example--precisely the field which should filter appearances out and, at the price of the wait, reveal truth which current events conceal--can be guilty of producing only a second draft of journalism. Some "truths" of journalism persist by the citation of journalistic reports alone, without serious scholarship in primary source material. See for example, the many fatuous "proofs" of the "McCarthyism" canard.

[ntnychik]

the teachers themselves informed me of the administrator/teacher ratio mismatch.

Brownsville Elementary School in Bremerton, WA has 460 students and one principal. All 15 elementary schools in the Central Kitsap School District have one principal apiece. The middle and high schools have principals and assistant principals. The district has the normal administrative positions for a district of its size of 13,156 students. There are 880 certified employees (teachers) and about as many classified employees. 71.24 % of the annual budget is allocated to the classrooms. The % of budget allocated to administration is one of the lowest in the state, according to the district website. Class size ranges from 19 to 28 students per class depending on the grade. Teachers consider this to be fairly high; maybe that's why they're complaining. Caution against using admittedly left-leaning teacher union employees as unbiased sources. I'm not trying to bust your chops. I've been both a teacher and a school district administrator. If you have further questions, I'd be happy to help out.

[Cathryn Crawford]

It's an interesting thread, though I'm late to the party.

It seems to me that these problems - flunking exit tests - should have been caught and addressed long before these kids ever made it to high school.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Any American child who can't read by the age of 7 is lazy or blind, or culturally corrupted beyond average Americans' comprehension. Parents are culpable for their lazy children, bastards or not.

Hundreds of millions of 3rd world children practice reading by moon light, street light, or fire light.

Is reading and writing too white?

Would these illiterate kids learn the Koran? In or out of prison?

They deserve their future and the doom if they learn to prey upon productive Americans.

[ladylib]

Especially bright/sarcasm.

Think about it. When did the public schools really start to go downhill?

Parents of today's students went to school during the 70's and 80's.

I went to public school.

[Amelia]

It seems to me that these problems - flunking exit tests - should have been caught and addressed long before these kids ever made it to high school.

Exactly.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Exactly.

Well, I'm relieved that we agree. LOL.

[Amelia]

I do think that the public schools started going downhill as the baby boomers took charge of them.

Perhaps you'd also agree with my post here?

[ladylib]

Parents can demand excellence from their schools all they want, but they'll get nowhere if they are constantly stonewalled by those schools. Below is a student website run by students who are pretty savy about what is going on in their district:

http://www.fortbendisdsucks.com/

The Fort Bend School District in Texas is being audited by educationnews.org.

Maybe this action will spread to other public school districts all across the country.