Poverty Level at Charlotte Meck Schools Greater than 50%

[vindaloo]

Originally Posted by stlterp

I spend a lot of time in Asia. I have also spent months in Eastern Europe (Czech Republic) There is a huge difference culturally in terms of respect for education. The environment is night and day, and it does start at home, but it permeates all levels of the society. Not all of it is positive (cram schools, insanely high student stress levels, university entrance based solely on tests, job placement based largely on university, etc) but it's a different ballgame.

-Right! we are not talking about students that are stressed about getting into university. We are talking about those that only go to school because their required. Besides, the levels of college educated students in Eastern Europe is much lower than in the U.S. They don't admit everyone. They have to have achieve high grades in secondary school.

I also think that Asian schools, by and large, do a really good job early on, but are less effective as students get older. They do a great job of teaching the basics, but not necessarily critical thinking, etc...which is why you see so many Asian grad students on US campuses.

- Why would not teaching critical thinking allow for so many Asian grad students on U.S. campuses?

No, money is not the end-all answer...Charlotte schools will always seem to cost a lot compared to some other districts around the state because of the complexity of urban schools, but that's not going to change overnight. But I don't get how punishing children for the sins (and omissions) of their parents gets us anywhere.

- I never mentioned punishing children. The only punishment that I recommend is that standards be set at a level that requires a level of effort and not lowered to the level at which the average 'non-achiever' can pass. The only punishment that I see is when achievers attend schools where standards have been set low to make the school look as if they are improving, and the achievers are not being challenged. The ones that wish to achieve and be challenged are the ones being punished. But, I am a former teacher ( a few years in the inner city) and a guy. I look at things from a different prospective probably. I believe in tough love.

[stlterp]

Originally Posted by bandibadji

- Ignorant parents should lose the idea that it isn't important to work with their child before kindergarten to teach basic social/learning skills. It is pretty easy to read or have meaningful conversations with pre kindergarten children.

How about this, as an example of "punishing" the children. Yes, there are many ignorant parents out there that have no business having kids. Yes, it would be great if all kids were raised in households where parents are really involved in their kids development/education from day 1...but that's unfortunately not the world we live it, and we have to deal with it. We can complain all we want about the parents, but it doesn't change the fact that the kids are here, and deserve a chance.

As far as Asia, my thought was not formed well. There are tons of kids out there who have great test scores, including TOEFL, but cannot carry on a functional conversation in English. You have a lot of students who are brilliant, and great at memorizing, but struggle with problem solving. It's the lack of critical thinking/problem solving emphasis in Asian schools and unversities that pushes many to Western schools (US, Europe, Australia) where there is a different environment and better opportunities.

[Glitterific]

Originally Posted by himain

Mull-I was speaking of Miami situations..Don't know what they are driving up here. Care to enlighten me??

I was also thinking to myself that poor Charlotte nabes don't have 80/90K cars in the driveway. 300M's and Magnums here and there yes.

If there is a S550 in a poor Miami neighborhood that isn't from people sitting around collecting welfare and food stamps, there is a strong possibility that someone's brother, boyfriend or cousin is selling coke.