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Umm --- define "proficient" in history? Since the determination of what constitutes "proficiency" is perfectly arbitrary, the figure "12%" is also perfectly arbitrary, and might as well be 5% of 81% or any other figure you like, simply define "proficiency" to be the level attained by that number of students.
How would you determine what percent of students can remember telephone numbers, or can boil an egg, or can climb over a fence, at a level that would constitute "proficient"? How many words would a student need to spell correctly, to be "proficient at spelling"? Cat? Parallelepiped? Somewhere in between? Where?
The number of students that are more proficient than average is exactly 50%, no more, no less. Obviously, wrong criteria. What's the right criteria?
I did a workshop yesterday where the presenter gave us unusual words. We were supposed to devise a pronunciation and meaning, and present it to the class. Because my partner looked up the original word before we were given instructions, we were given another--floccinaucinihilipilification. Because I am proficient in spelling, I could recall it now without looking. Remembering the meaning was more difficult. We claimed it meant the widespread practice of shaving off all body hair! In reality, it means "the judgement of something as worthless". It is only used as an example of a long, unusual word. At what point does a word become "in" or "out" of a "proficent" vocabulary? Who decides, and based on what criteria?
My honors professor in college was an attorney. He always taught that the law itself does not have any power. It was the interpretation of the law that held sway and the interpreters who held power. If anyone has read 1984 or Alice in Wonderland, then you know that the meaning of a word may be manipulated. This is part of the institutionalized fraud that current education laws have engendered.
There are large populations that have enjoyed the opportunities that began opening up in the latter part of the 20th century. But I doubt if there has been any serious changes in the overall literacy levels since then. I believe that most people read and calculate about as well now as they would have if they had lived then. An exception may be the lowest income group that has probably lost ground as the size of the group has swelled.
What has changed is the expectation that everyone will complete a college-prep 12-year curriculum instead of leaving school at 14-16 if you weren't going to college and wanted to start working then. Insurance policies no longer allow any under 18 to work most manual labor jobs in construction, etc., so it's almost impossible for anyone underage to get a full-time job that would lead to a career.
When I started teaching, there was no compulsory attendance at all. Kids routinely left school to work as soon as they thought it preferable. School was significantly less demanding. It was possible for a kid who wanted to run a tire shop or work in an insurance office (for example) to get a diploma with 18 credits, where the two math credits were consumer math and business math.
When the first exit exams came along, those were the kinds of math questions that were required--percents, decimals, fractions, commissions, discounts, unit conversions, etc. Then the state "raised the standards", so that now we only test Algebra I for graduation, but we also require Geometry. At one point, they finally dropped Algebra II, which pushed many students to drop out or get their GEDs.
We now require 28 credits for graduation. There are no practical math classes at all. There is a general education track that only requires 24 credits and no foreign languages or advanced maths, but teachers have been reprimanded for informing the students about this option. In an ironic twist, the added expectations have actually pushed students to leave school because they know they can't pass chemistry or Algebra II (it's back!). Schools get hurt because of their dropout rates, but at least the ones who are left are more likely to be able to pass the really difficult classes that weren't even required before the 1980s.
One of the major problems with NCLB is how the terms are defined. It certainly does seem as if the system is set up with "gotcha" in mind. At the very least, it feels that way.
It would be fun for everyone here to take a standardized test and see who they blame for coming up short.
Well make sure it's K-12. You get three chances to pass.
If you behave during summer school though you'll get passed regardless.
They are not blaming anyone. You see they got "passed".
But did they really pass ? And now they are in the next level and starting off even further behind.
Once you leave HS seems there is no more blame. Because if you fail, it's up to you to get remediation and take it again. There's no blame and there's no social passing.
I have always enjoyed history, but what really ignited my passion was genealogy. Once I learned that my mother's ancestor John Perkins arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony with Roger Williams, I was well and truly hooked. I've tried to help my children understand that when it comes to early colonial history, at least, they have a deep and living connection to the names, events, and dates in their textbooks. Additionally, my spouse's career has given us the distinct pleasure of living in and traveling to a variety of places around the United States. It's one thing to read about Gettysburg; it's quite another to stand on the battleground.
When I was barely 10 years old (I'm 21 now), I would reenact the battle of Gettysburg using construction toys resembling brigades, divisons, corps, etc how the military organized itself at the time. I watched the movie Gettysburg and read the book Killer Angels around the same time too. This was all on my own as well, although my older brother had a fascination too.
These sorts of things bring great context when its impregnated into your mind at a young age. I remember being told that General Longstreet had very advanced military strategies for his time. Of course as a preteen I did not understand what that meant but when I learned about WW1 in high school it came "alive" so to speak.
Actually visiting battlefields in PA and VA were just a treat at that point.
History is an umbrella under which a variety of HS-level courses fall, including political science, civics, American history, western civilization, and state-specific history. I took all of them in high school (and enjoyed them immensely, but I'm weird like that). Is there a particular area where our kids are falling short?
jmh, I think our recent graduate is entitled to express thoughts about his experience without incurring insult.
One of the largest areas of concern with the younger people today is their lack of ability to face adversity.
We are raising people who cannot handle the truth.
My statement is one of fact and not meant as an insult. No one at that stage of their life has a grip on the realities of life, and that is something they need to acknowledge in order to absorb the lessons they need to know.
When you fail in life, you are punished, and yet we now have adopted the position that to allow our children to learn that lesson is somehow wrong. Parents, and schools are not allowed to spank, for fear of being thrown in jail, and as a result both parents and teachers have trouble keeping control of kids.
Having had experience with corporal punishment at both school and home growing up, I can tell you it is the one thing that really gets your attention as a child, and makes the reality of the situation and your relationship with the adult world very clear.
At work today there are so many rules concerning not hurting anyone's feelings it is difficult to run a business without spending abnormal amounts of time and effort dealing with HR problems. There are constantly people being offended by something.
If you want to raise a generation that is incapable of dealing with life, and the fact that it really is unfair, and uncaring, and often cruel then we are doing all the right things.
It is little wonder we are incapable of competing in the world markets, and are sinking into financial ruin.
Doesn't surprise me America is ignorant science,math and now history.A history told me they are training students of today to be good test takers.ZHow can you be a good test taker if you can't apply what you know in life and work situations.
I've generally been impressed with the social studies curriculum at my kids' public schools, but I think it's challenging to create a program that engages an increasingly diverse student body. As I stated before, there are certain periods of history that I enjoy studying and recall easily (i.e., Colonial times), but I wouldn't consider another person uneducated because they can't explain the significance of King Phillip's War or remember who was involved.
What I do find discouraging is evidence that high school graduates are receiving an inadequate civics education. I think knowing how our government is organized and how it functions, along with what comprises our nation's founding documents and how and why they have been amended over time is essential for productive citizenship regardless of an individual's ultimate vocation.
BTW, jimh, my seventh grader was able to describe the difference between direct and representative democracy, and she was also able to give examples of each, so maybe our public schools aren't doing that badly after all.
Last edited by formercalifornian; 06-19-2011 at 07:26 PM..
Its the way they teach it nowdays. Instead of simply teaching history, they want to get "creative" with it. For example, in my dd history class, they learned all about "significant documents" and lumped in the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, US constitution, strung them together in such a way she had no idea what happened when!
Ok, she got a 99% in history, pretty good, eh? then, just yesterday, she asked was the Civil War between North and South China? Or was that North and South Vietnam? she's lost as a goose, yet according to the school system, an honor student, very "proficient" in history!
In many ways, I think often the history education today is actually BETTER than what we had in the past. Obviously many students are still not meeting what I consider to be minimal standards, but obviously that's not a new problem. I do think history and social studies in general remain undervalued and will continue to be under-appreciated as long as our testing focuses on other subjects, but do believe that the problem should not be framed as "kids today don't know as much as they used to know," but rather "many kids today still aren't learning as much about history as we think that they should." I think the overall history education trend towards more inclusion, a focus on interpretation and not just "facts", and the rise of quality educational programs in historic sites nation-wide (including many good outreach programs that bring the museum right into the classroom) are all positives. Like so many other things, though, history education reaches students in a very uneven fashion.
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In reality, it means "the judgement of something as worthless". It is only used as an example of a long, unusual word. At what point does a word become "in" or "out" of a "proficent" vocabulary? Who decides, and based on what criteria?
she's lost as a goose, yet according to the school system, an honor student, very "proficient" in history!
