Posted on 01/06/2005 7:58:45 PM PST by Kevin OMalley
I would think a degree based on an exam, assuming it was appropriately difficult, would be better than a diploma at determining a students proficiency.
I have two masters degrees but also think a Masters or Doctorate based on appropriate exams would be better than the current degreees. Yes I know all about the orals, theses, dissertations etc.
I would far prefer a teacher who passed a difficult exam to get their certificate to one who completed an education degree program at a University.
The universities are filled with immigrant professors with accents so thick that you can barely make out one sentence. They couldn't teach well enough to save their daughter's life, but they're really good at passing exams.
>>>The FR HS diploma proposal has nothing to do with indoctrination. I was answering your implied conditional.
What is the point of a FR diploma? Think about that for a minute, the fact that it is assocated with FR is a big clue.
>>what if you're a child who isn't being taught faith & morals?
Then I doubt you'd be interested in a FR diploma in the first place.
>> How can you escape the prison of PC moral relativism being force fed in our high schools today?
I already gave you the answer: home school. but that doesn't imply home indoctrination either. All we need are more rabid capitalists (most of whom's moral positions are flaky). Admittedly the left is pumping out rabid socialists and communists. But it's like fighting evil with evil, not a real solution.
I don't recall having a single immigrant professor at any of my schools except one Hungarian refugee who was a right wing fanatic, and I liked him.
The ability to teach, imo is more inborn than learned. Sort of like being a sprinter. You can improve a little but you can't put in what God left out.
"fighting evil with evil"
Capitalism is not evil.
>> leftist and liberals suck big time and to vote for Dubya.
A perfect example of what I mean.
This isn't education, it's training. There is a big difference. Liberals don't suck on every position, and neither do leftists. (That doesn't mean there isn't a high number of issues they do suck on. ;-) )
Just as every milkmaid thought they were bible scholars back in the day of Martin Luthor, many in the homeschool movement think they are political and economic experts. (The problem is there is no perfect system, and there are moral truths contained in the systems.)
Why not teach your children critical thinking skills, Epistemology , and your faith?
We have a bunch of ignorant leftists running around. Let's not add ignorant rightists to the mix. Instead, add people who really can't be pegged -- people who can think each issue through.
I was remiss in not applying to UCSD in time for the Fall 1973 quarter, but my application was accepted for Winter 1974. I filled in the summer with a microbiology class and the Fall semester with 16 units of math, chemistry, English and PE. At UCSD, I took 18 to 22 units every quarter and double summer school sessions again. I graduated with a BA in Molecular Biology from Revelle College, UCSD in June 1976 at age 19. School is a time to work your butt off to get ahead of your peers.
The GED option was not an option in 1973. UCSD had a bunch of requirements that were satisfied by specific courses completed in high school. American history and government classes in particular. The high school German classes just were not up to snuff for the Revelle foreign language proficiency. That requires a score of 680 or above on the SAT II in the language plus a verbal interview with native speakers. The interview starts with a requirement to read an article in a current magazine, then discuss it with the interviewer.
I'm not sure the GED is necessarily the road to success. It is a short cut out the door. If you have the personal discipline to continue studying the necessary material to move ahead academically, then it is probably OK.
I should have pursued a double major in electrical engineering and computer science. That wasn't the preferred route to medical school. The affirmative action quota systems and medical malpractice suits and insurance caused me to re-evaluate my career direction. Barnes & Noble, HBJ, Amazon and others deserve credit for making the necessary computer science and electrical engineering books. I'm doing what I should have done now.
Kudos to your daughter for all her hard work, and here's wishing her success in her career.
Not everyone can afford to bypass free high school classes to attend community college in lieu of HS. And in HS the student has extended time to concentrate on a discipline, for ex., nine months to master a foreign language vs. a three-month course in college. There's no way that a first year college language course (ex., Spanish I) is equivalent to a full nine months of study in HS. This is the best way to give a student a thorough grounding in disciplines such as foreign languages.
I can testify to this fact. I studied two foreign languages in high school, then started a third from scratch at college, and nothing beats the intense language study at the HS level.
There's a great documentary, "Spellbound", which serves as a perfect illustration of the values of following this educational method, if the child has responsible, well-informed parents at the helm.
"nothing beats the intense language study at the HS level."
Except going and living in a country where they speak that language and very little English. There is nothing like a long haired dictionary, in my experience. It is all a matter of motivation.
The way we did it was have her get a good SAT score (1300), declare her as having skipped a couple of grades and being a HS senior, and enrolled her in a program at the local community college where smart highschoolers can do their senior year at the college, and pick up college credits that are transferrable to a regular 4-year college.
If your kid is a homeschooler wanting to go to college, and your local CC has a similar program, I would recommend it. It gives the kid a lot of credibility when applying to places if she already is doing college work at an accredited college and getting good grades
But a solid educational preparation should be made beforehand.
I encourage every student to take at least three years, not just the required two, in a foreign language. If for no other reason, it looks great on your college application, when you take more than the required minimum.
Obviously the one with the AA degree. But most people with GEDs don't go on to get AAs.
You are correct, but now you are being disingenuous.
I never mentioned anything about a college degree.
Obviously if someone with a GED gets a college degree then they will be more attractive as a job candidate than someone who just has a high school diploma.
But if an employer sees two people, one with a GED, and one with a high school diploma, and no college for either, he is probably going to favor the candidate with the diploma.
And, yes, I do know such a thing.
I understand that there is a lot of hatred of public schooling on here, but the fact remains that most employers prefer high school diplomas to GEDs when you leave college out of the equation.
There's another thing to consider about pushing your kids into community college at age 16: they'll be dealing with older and more mature kids. They'll be dating older and mature kids. Food for thought. If your 16 year old daughter thinks she's facing pressure to have sex by high school boys....
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