[crystalblue]

What can be done to improve the educational system in florida?

Referring from Kindergarten to College...

[annerk]

Fire underperforming teachers, stop teaching to the test and instead teach kids how to think, and stop wastefull spending like requiring the purchase of new textbooks every year when the previous years books are fine.

[dmccauley]

Originally Posted by annerk

Fire underperforming teachers, stop teaching to the test and instead teach kids how to think, and stop wastefull spending like requiring the purchase of new textbooks every year when the previous years books are fine.

I couldn't agree with you more about teaching to test. My gf is a teacher up north and says the same exact thing.

[Aconite]

Originally Posted by annerk

Fire underperforming teachers, stop teaching to the test and instead teach kids how to think, and stop wastefull spending like requiring the purchase of new textbooks every year when the previous years books are fine.

Can we throw in "trim the deadwood at the county level" as well? I still can't figure out why our school system pays people to work as principals...without actually locating them in a school.
Nobody who actually works for the system seems to know either-- or if they do, they're not telling.
And why one elementary school with 700 kids needs a principal, two assistants, a behavior specialist (who does all the discipline so the principals don't have to), and seven fulltime office staff (not counting parent volunteers) is completely beyond me.

[doggiebus]

One of the biggest problems in our schools today, other than bad teachers. Are parents, the lack of parent interaction with the kids education. I bet if we looked at the high performing schools there is a higher parent involvement and higher rate of parent involvement in their childrens lives.

[MiamiRob]

FCAT has been a disaster in regards to how much emphasis the state has put on it. All we have done is turn kids into "test takers" instead of actually learning something. What is even worse now is the FCAT is used against an entire school instead of using these tests to identify which students are deficient in their studies and helping them.

Another issue is high school graduation rates which are abysmal in Florida. Why can't we prohibit drop outs from either obtaining Driver Licenses or Employment unless they obtain a HS Diploma?

[grapico]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

FCAT has been a disaster in regards to how much emphasis the state has put on it. All we have done is turn kids into "test takers" instead of actually learning something. What is even worse now is the FCAT is used against an entire school instead of using these tests to identify which students are deficient in their studies and helping them.

Another issue is high school graduation rates which are abysmal in Florida. Why can't we prohibit drop outs from either obtaining Driver Licenses or Employment unless they obtain a HS Diploma?

Hrrm... well, not everybody has to graduate high school... they can learn a trade or get work force training. How about stepping up the rigor of the high schools and actually make a high school diploma worth something again instead of a qualification to work at McDonald's but get no other work even if from student to student their course load was different. I.E. I had taken Calculus in High school and college level statistics, ap physics, ap chem, ap english, ap computer science AP history etc. . yet my h.s. diploma to an employer is worth nothing more than somebody that took remedial math and only got as high as algebra I and Geometry (I took these in middle school when I was 12 and 13 years old) Employers never gave a **** about what classes I took and knew several dumb asses getting jobs through college and after just because they knew somebody who knew somebody. H.S. was a BREEZE, never did homework or anything.

OK yeah, that got me into a better college, sure... that I had to PAY 20K dollars for! what if I didn't want that and thought most of what they taught at a state 4 year school was ALSO pretty worthless to do with anything for my career and would have learned more at 1 year on the job just going straight to work and would have made a lot more money by now... What if I don't WANT a career of law or medicine or academia trying to be ultra successful studying my brains out then have a high stress job but just want a normal damn life with a STABLE middle class ass job to get started for what I am already qualified for and skip the 8 years of garbage in h.s. and college. Many of my peers are STILL doing that and haven't worked a lick in their life, then will be servants to their jobs for another 50-60 years. Come on, mandatory health classes costing me 500 bucks to take? Some U.S. Constituion class I learned in middle school history? Some multicultural crap I've seen on Discovery channel and have actually LIVED in Africa? Pleaseeeeee. complete waste of time. Luckily I AP and CLEP'd out of a bunch of this crap and glad they are letting you do that, would have CLEP'd out of more if I wasn't convinced by people to "take the classes, you'll learn stuff and develop"

College in the U.S. is more about making people politically correct drone bots complying to societal norms than learning real job skills.

I could do most entry level jobs in any field with the normal training you get straight out of h.s. no problem but had to pay for a 4 year degree which didn't teach much of anything relevant and that piece of paper isn't worth much either.. Oh noooo, the employers now want a damn MASTERS as qualification instead of years experience or actual effing knowledge. To me just seems like the system wants to suck some more money out of you.

Other countries are blowing us out of the water in education, in Asia they are taking equivalent to our Calc III is in high school.

Honestly I could have done this in h.s. as well, so could many of my peers, but these classes were not even offered!

Now I feel locked in again and working on another crap piece of paper everybody says they want ... at least these Grad level classes seem valuable, but still they are the SAME damn classes only an additional research paper. I think a lot of people could skip straight to them right out of h.s. honestly instead of toiling away in useless h.s. classes and useless college classes wasting 8 years of my life.

Hey maybe they are teaching better stuff at the Ivy's and wannabe Ivy's, but hey, being lower middle class and white in this country, don't have access to that! But, they probably aren't, from what I hear it is more of the connections you get with it than anything... Is this what the country really wants? Some stupid good ol boy connection system/frat system? Or some actual efficiency and quality work. Pluralist theory be damned, this is a country ran exclusively and powered exclusively by the elites and they have the masses chasing some magical carrot on a never ending hamster wheel.

not sure that much about it, but it seems military training classes have their stuff together in comparison. <---could be wrong on this though but they seem to teach you a high skill trade straight out of h.s. and they have great benefits if you don't get killed.

the best education offered to most people in this country is self studying at a public library, read the ancient greek and roman philosophers, they had it all figured out already back then.

/rant.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by grapico

To me just seems like the system wants to suck some more money out of you.


the best education offered to most people in this country is self studying at a public library, read the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, they had it all figured out already back then.

"Dispense with the education of the schools, and have good masters at home instead."

Good education begins at home, mother (female), father (male), children.

Yes, the US ruling classes, and their parasites (county school board executives and employees, for example), have turned into a cabal of uncreative, unproductive rent-seekers whose objective is to lord over idiots in a rule-by-telecommand system, much easier than trying to productively channel the energies of a vibrant middle class, ask Fidel.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by crystalblue

What can be done to improve the educational system in florida?

Referring from Kindergarten to College...

To get back on topic, it would take commitment from people in leadership positions, starting with the family, but also very importantly from business leaders who to a significant degree shape politics and government structures.

You ask about Florida. I suppose what sets Florida apart from many other states, mainly the northeast which is the common point of comparison, Florida has been largely populated by retirees and in any case a significant proportion of people who brought their wealth with them from elsewhere, not people seeking the creative challenge of setting up productive, get-your-hands-dirty enterprises on a corporate scale.

To be sure, there are counties where private businesses and government institutions work together to improve, or at least target, school curriculum, but overall the impact of such programs is relatively small.

To the extent that tourism, retirees and luxury real estate are the main drivers of the Florida economy, the quality of the educational system will reflect that.

To the extent that more balance can be introduced to economic policy, with a greater emphasis on real productive enterprises, including agriculture and manufacturing, from basic to high technology, the quality of the education system will reflect that.

The problem persists when households remain indifferent and there is an unhealthy blending between private business and government and the focus becomes maintaining the status quo (under any name).

[annerk]

To grapico's post:

The State of NY has resolved that problem. There are two levels of high school diplomas. One is a general diploma, the other is a Regents Diploma. The Regents diploma is much more difficult to obtain, and has more required courses that are taught at a higher level.

Having a Regents diploma sets you apart from other graduates. Having a Regents will definitely give you a leg up on college acceptance, and msot employers realize that applicants on a Regents track or with a Regents diploma are overall going to be brighter and have a higher level of education.