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We had a STEM discussion about the 1billion the fed govt. was going to put up to help get more minorities into STEM fields and THIS is exactly what I pointed out.
You cannot *fix* 12 grades of non-learning by handing out help at the college or near college level.
If you want more minorities (note: the right kind of minorities because there are tons of minorities in STEM fields from SE Asia) in STEM you have to start YOUNG.
Yup but I don't think the average person realizes why our standing fell. It's not the fact we now include all students. It's the fact we have no choice but to teach to the bottom of the class because the number we live and die by is their passing rate. It pains me not to be able to help the top of my class soar. There just isn't enough of me to go around by the time I spend all of my energies on that bottom 20% who are at risk of not passing state tests and not graduating.
Here in Michigan, they "raised" the bar by requiring all students take chemistry and algebra II in order to graduate from high school and turned around and rated schools on their graduation rates. What do you think happened to the bar in chemistry and algebra II classes across the state? ....How LOOOOWWW can you go....We're doing the limbo...
How low can we go with that bar ?
We have a ditch witch running now. The bar is below ground so kids don't have to exert any effort to go over it
So today was my first day mentoring an inner city minority student (12th grade) in lab in order to get her working on some real science that she's never had the opportunity to have access to in her life. Let's go over the checklist in educational background for someone entering the 12th grade in this program:
Have you ever taken chemistry? No
Have you ever taken physics? No
Have you ever taken biology? A little bit
--So what does DNA do? I have no idea
Do you know algebra? No
Ok how let's start off easy,
How many micro- and milli- liters are in a liter? No clue
How many milli- grams are in a gram? What does 500 milligrams look like in numbers on a scale that reads in grams?
If you divide 10^6 by 10^3 what number do you have left over? How about 10^-3 divided by 10^-6?
Shocking America. Wake up. You've failed your underprivileged youth. This 12th grader stands no chance, the buck was simply passed along to someone else while she was allowed to pass all the way into 12th grade when her math skills are borderline 3rd/4th grade level. How does anyone who has never studied basic physics/chemistry and doesn't even know what DNA does stand a chance at getting into college when her dreams are to become a doctor? At some point, we need to wake up and say the failure ends right now. For all of the whining about how minorities in underprivileged areas are leeches on tax payer dollar handouts, you'd think people would want to break the cycle of failure that leads to it in the first place. It's not this girl's fault every single adult in her life up until now has completely failed her in an epic fashion. And you wonder why so many people get caught in the cycle of failure that drains inner city youth? Look in the mirror. Everyone is responsible for this failure that leads to the same cycle all over again of poverty and crime. Fail America.
I disagree. The adults in her life are to blame......not me....not my wife....not my family. We have owned up to our responsibilities. I shall not be blamed for the dastardly culture that pervades in minority communities.
They can be different amounts but it will not change the final outcome that the United States spends more than most of the first world.
I hope most Americans understand this is about proper use of the funds we invest in education.
The DOE and entities such as teachers unions in America have clearly hinderd progress.
Not necessarily. If Country A spends $4500 per school aged child but only sends half of their school aged children to school, they spend $9000 per child they educate. The percentage actually going to school determines how much is spent to educate a child not the amount spent per child in the age group whether they go to school or not. You can't glean anything from the data presented this way. You need to compare apples to apples. Compare countries that educate all of their children to countries that educate all of their children. Seriously, if we did as other countries do and just kick kids out who don't measure up or who won't do the work, I could cut our spending too. We wouldn't have to spend anything on the ones we didn't educate and we could educate the ones left on less because educating kids who want to be in school is WAY different than educating kids who don't want to be.
Wrong-America has failed this child. Parents, community schools are what form America. Not to mention the DOE.
Our district is quite large and covers both a very affluent and poor area. The high school in the affluent area is one of the best in the country. The other one in the poor area is one of the worst. However, in terms of funding, the per pupil allocated funds for the poor school is around $14,000. In the affluent area, around $2,000. They even offer teachers bonuses, extra pay, and student loan forgiveness to teach at the poor district school.
Look, you can put the best teacher in the world in these schools but until the students themselves decide education is important, nothing will change. You cannot force them to learn but my question is why the heck are we passing them to the next grade if they aren't learning the material??
It is not our problem. Taxes have been paid to build schools, pay teachers, provide books. This girl's parents and this girl herself failed to take advantage of the education provided. So, she can join the millions of other low skilled workers when she "graduates" from high school. Good luck!
We has a STEM discussion about the 1billion the fed govt. was going to put up to help get more minorities into STEM fields and THIS is exactly what I pointed out.
You cannot *fix* 12 grades of non-learning by handing out help at the college level.
If you want more minorities (note: the right kind of minorities because there are tons of minorities in STEM fields from SE Asia) in STEM you have to start YOUNG.
I'm talking gradeschool young.
The USG has been funding Science/Math programs for over 50 years now.
They change the name of the program.
When you have to teach to the lowest common denominator (class diversity) you cannot challenge the smart ones. And you can't even do it in AP classes because these are now open to everyone regardless of their grade in that subject.
Children in K-12 are getting watered down education because "No Child can be Left Behind".
And with $$$$ attached to that the bar gets lower each year.
The state tests in Texas supposedly get more rigorous with each name change.
We went from TAAS to TAKS to STAAR but the tests didn't get more rigorous at all.
Same stupid sample questions. And these kids get 3 chances to pass and then get pushed on anyway.
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If Country A spends $4500 per school aged child but only sends half of their school aged children to school, they spend $9000 per child they educate. The percentage actually going to school determines how much is spent to educate a child not the amount spent per child in the age group whether they go to school or not. You can't glean anything from the data presented this way. You need to compare apples to apples. Compare countries that educate all of their children to countries that educate all of their children. Seriously, if we did as other countries do and just kick kids out who don't measure up or who won't do the work, I could cut our spending too. We wouldn't have to spend anything on the ones we didn't educate and we could educate the ones left on less because educating kids who want to be in school is WAY different than educating kids who don't want to be.
