The Californian Education System: Then and Now. Your Opinions Please! (Oroville: 2014, home)

[EdJS]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Not if students are involved in honors/AP courses, and/or doing EC activities like sports or clubs later in the day. (My HS days went from 7:00am ~ 6:00pm)

On the other hand, I graduated high school in 1980, and in my senior year I finished school every day at noon. I only needed four classes each semester to graduate, and I took them all in the morning. And I wasn't slouching either -- three of those classes were AP Calculus, AP Physics, and AP English.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by EdJS

On the other hand, I graduated high school in 1980, and in my senior year I finished school every day at noon. I only needed four classes each semester to graduate, and I took them all in the morning. And I wasn't slouching either -- three of those classes were AP Calculus, AP Physics, and AP English.

The AP Physics/Calc/Chem were always the 7:00am classes. But one has to make quite a commitment to HS sports after 2:30 to stay on the team. Games and practices always go til dark.

[CA4Now]

Grades 1-12 in CA public schools from the 1960s to the early 1970s, which was fine; our family lived in one of the top ranked public school districts in the state. Too many budget cuts since the 1980s. We actually took our kids out of public school after 8th grade and sent them to parochial high schools. CA is something like 43rd in per pupil funding now, depending on the source one reads. That, in combination with societal changes (e.g. lack of discipline, parents seeing themselves as their kids' friends, etc) has made the classroom a different environment and one in which it is much more difficult to teach.

[EdJS]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

The AP Physics/Calc/Chem were always the 7:00am classes. But one has to make quite a commitment to HS sports after 2:30 to stay on the team. Games and practices always go til dark.

Ah, I was never into sports. Always took the minimum PE I could get by with. In 12th grade PE was no longer required so I didn't take it anymore.

Instead I enrolled in a special program where I could take classes at the local university in the afternoons. So that's how I spent my time.

[jw2]

If you didn't get a good education in California it is your fault and your parent's fault. There are several programs that will accommodate the most gifted students. The state university system is unparalleled.

The average school scores are not necessarily a good indicator on what kind of education a specific student can achieve. California does have a large amount of low achievers as well.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Not if students are involved in honors/AP courses, and/or doing EC activities like sports or clubs later in the day. (My HS days went from 7:00am ~ 6:00pm)

These are my current observations of K - 8.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by jw2

If you didn't get a good education in California it is your fault and your parent's fault.

Since when are kids buying homes? And maybe the parents can't afford a home in a good school district. BTW, magnet schools have very long waiting lists.

The state university system is unparalleled.

Originally Posted by possum_magic

I am particularly interested in elementary level, but would love to hear your thoughts on K-12.

[oldtrader]

The whole U.S. school system is apparently doing a terrible job of educating people, and it has been going on for a long time. When compared with other developed countries in we come out right down by the bottom. Imagine out of 23 countries, the U.S. comes out at 21st with only beating out Italy and Spain by a small bit.

The problem is getting worse all the time, especially in some areas like California. No wonder companies go outside the U.S. to hire workers for jobs needing lots of Science and Math skills.

[OwlKaMyst]

When I was in school in the 70's & 80's, I often heard my mom say something about how much more she had to do in school and how much more advanced the lessons were for the grade I was in.
Now my youngest is a senior in HS and I am shocked as the the 'requirements' for graduation. I had to learn algebra and geometry, a total of 3 years of math in HS. My daughter only needs two years, and those two years are any two math classes, no geometry required and if a student struggles with math, they are put into a class for their skill-level.
I was required a psychology class, my daughter is not.

A few years after I graduated, I went to a community college for a couple semesters(80's). I had a lot of homework and study to get through classes. Being on my own and payin for everything required a full time job. Eventually I could not afford or have the time to do both, so I quit school.
Life is different for me now and so I returned to school. I was really surprised as to how little effort was required of me. I really was prepared for the 'workload' that my education was going to give me. But I found that is no the case. Where I had a paper due every 2 or three weeks, I have two papers due per semester. Way less work.

I have ideas about education reform that would totally change the way the system works. There would no longer be grades by age, yes grades as far as when was learned, but these 'scores' would not have the same significance they do now. After all, bad grades does not make a stupid person and we have all known that straight A kid who had absolutly no common sense.
Children would learn the basics through their natural interests and thier talents and strengths supported an encouraged.
I think too much pressure has been put on children to 'keep up' and not all children are mentally ready for some material. So when they struggle, it makes trying to learn harder. Then with little or no understanding they get passed on with a low, but passing grade.
As an example; a student can excel in math but struggle with spelling, they should not be held back for their weakness, but concentrate on the weakness and utilize the strengths. Let them advance with the things they grasp, let them run with it, the rest (weaknesses) will catch up enough if given the right kind of attention.

[BeauCharles]

Small town school districts in Gridley, Oakdale and Mariposa from 1966-1978. I count myself very fortunate to have gone to school in them when I did. That was a boom time in California and there was plenty of money for good facilities, new books, cafeterias (with decent food cooked on site), libraries, free driver's training and a traditional September through early June school year. Schools that those were utterly safe back then as well. In retrospect it was like Leave it to Beaver or the Brady Bunch.

My nieces and nephews today don't have it nearly as well. Schools are strapped for cash (with kids out peddling stuff door-to-door to fund programs, no drivers training in high school, decreased class time and larger class size), academics don't seem to be as good, respect for the staff is pretty low and the campuses don't seem as safe. Even in Oroville in the mid 2000s two of my nieces were held hostage for several hours (along with the rest of their classmates and teacher) by a crazed student with a gun. It all ended with everyone safe, but nothing like that happened in the 1970s.

I feel sorry for kids of today.