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A pretty damning indictment of our country's crappy public school system. It's unconscionable to try to defend it.
Actually if you think about it K-12 is a reflection of American society.
And we are changing..look at the changing demographics of many states.
As the number of low performers increase the overall scores will decrease.
And no matter which tests you look at, school district, state, federal or even PISA the breakdown of scores are all the same...Asian, White, Hispanic, Black. The changing scores is a reflection of the changing demographics of the US.
The parents (notice plural) have more do to with a child's ability to learn than what school someone goes to or how much is spent per student. Children growing up in an environment where education is valued and studying enforced will always do better than those with disengaged parents.
True.
They changed the demographics of a previously "exemplary" elementary school here, and now scores are in the toilet.
Actually if you think about it K-12 is a reflection of American society.
And we are changing..look at the changing demographics of many states.
As the number of low performers increase the overall scores will decrease.
Yes, but it's not plausible that 2/3 of the country is only capable of below average academic achievement. The problem is that the public education ideology and practices over the last 40+ years: shifting away from academic rigor and grouping students by skill level/ability and towards social engineering and a pc agenda, have dragged the academic achievement of average and above students down. I've posted a link to the article that examines the problem in detail:
If public educators refuse to fix that problem, it's time to take their damaging control away from them and give it back to individuals in the form of school choice/vouchers.
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And no matter which tests you look at, school district, state, federal or even PISA the breakdown of scores are all the same...Asian, White, Hispanic, Black. The changing scores is a reflection of the changing demographics of the US.
Yes, but again... low-achieving minority demographic groups combined don't constitute 2/3 of the U.S. population. Therefore, 2/3 of all U.S. public school students shouldn't be functioning below grade level. But yet, that's what is happening...
Actually if you think about it K-12 is a reflection of American society.
And we are changing..look at the changing demographics of many states.
As the number of low performers increase the overall scores will decrease.
And no matter which tests you look at, school district, state, federal or even PISA the breakdown of scores are all the same...Asian, White, Hispanic, Black. The changing scores is a reflection of the changing demographics of the US.
K-12 is a reflection of our culture, not necessarily the same thing as demographics.
It has been reported that students in NYC speak 200 different languages, a reflection of extreme diversity not seen anywhere else. Yet, the city's test scores are not rock bottom. Why is this?
Seems to me that the US people have an extravagant faith in the ability of education to solve all its problems. The reality is there are limits to the ability of schools to compensate for problems outside the classroom, indifference to education, dysfunctional homes and violence that discourage learning.
When one looks at some of the least diverse states, one would expect them to consistently perform better than the most diverse states, yet this is not the case, across the board.
Some blame the liberal education systems, yet Massachusetts is the top performing state. How is this possible?
Is there a direct correlation between scores and the economies? North Dakota's scores are not particularily good, yet their economy is booming. Texas has a substantial Hispanic immigrant population and all the issues associated with this, yet has a stronger economy than many other states, in spite of or perhaps, because of this.
On the flip side, Japan consistently outperforms the US on tests, yet their economy languishes.
Germany does not score particularily well, yet it is the economic engine of Europe.
Asian American students in the US attend the same " liberal" public schools and generally do better than all other demographics in the same schools. Could it be the Asian culture puts a higher value on education than other cultures? Could it be that the Asian culture does not expect the school to solve all their problems? Could it be that it is unlikely top performing Asian students are simply more focused on acedemics?
The top performing public schools tend to have more Asian American students. Generally speaking, non Asian students in the same schools do not perform as well as the Asian students. Does the term " tiger mom" ring a bell?
K-12 is a reflection of our culture, not necessarily the same thing as demographics.
It has been reported that students in NYC speak 200 different languages, a reflection of extreme diversity not seen anywhere else. Yet, the city's test scores are not rock bottom. Why is this?
NYC is very segregated with distinct neighborhoods.
Take a look at the scores for various schools ..there are some that are totally in the tank.
The K-8 schools in Washington Heights have only 35% passing Math in 3-8 grades.
Demographics:
STUDENTS 24,884
POOR 84%
WHITE 3%
BLACK 7%
HISPANIC 89%
ASIAN 1%
I grew up in that neighborhood in the 70's..majority Irish, Italian, with Blacks and Puerto Ricans also living there.
Today it looks like a third world country and the school test scores reflect just that.
Last edited by HappyTexan; 08-09-2014 at 10:07 AM..
They can be higher paying if one starts one's own business.
.
Most small businesses quickly fail for reasons due to the business owners. Many failed business owners blame their failure on government. Many would be business owners don't even try, because of self defeating beliefs.
A small number of failed business owners LEARN from their experiences, instead of blaming and try again.
The ability to LEARN from mistakes, instead of blaming the system, seems to make a huge difference between success and failure.
K-12 is a reflection of our culture, not necessarily the same thing as demographics.
It has been reported that students in NYC speak 200 different languages, a reflection of extreme diversity not seen anywhere else. Yet, the city's test scores are not rock bottom. Why is this?
They have selective enrollment public schools. One has to have high test scores to be admitted. The achievement of those students pull up the average.
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Seems to me that the US people have an extravagant faith in the ability of education to solve all its problems. The reality is there are limits to the ability of schools to compensate for problems outside the classroom, indifference to education, dysfunctional homes and violence that discourage learning.
Not true at all. A LOT of the damage done could be reversed by grouping students by skill/ability level, therefore much more accurately targeting instruction to each student group/class. Everyone learns more that way as teachers don't have to cover a 5+ year proficiency range in a single class.
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When one looks at some of the least diverse states, one would expect them to consistently perform better than the most diverse states, yet this is not the case, across the board.
Again, when classes aren't skill/ability grouped and the curriculum adjusted accordingly, that is the known and expected result.
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On the flip side, Japan consistently outperforms the US on tests
They group students by ability/skill level. Though the author is pushing Common Core and in doing so claims that CC groups students by ability/skill level, I have never seen anyone but her express that claim. She is however, exactly spot on when it comes to explaining why academic achievement in the U.S. lags the countries that do group by ability/skill level.
Quote:
"...you may ask: Why have both Germany and Japan surpassed the U.S. academically? In those two countries, they tend to group students homogeneously according to academic skill levels, as we once did. However, in the 1980s, the United States changed its educational model. In an effort to neutralize the differences and inequalities of minority and economically challenged students, we threw the baby out with the bath water and penalized the academically accelerated child."
I grew up in that neighborhood in the 70's..majority Irish, Italian, with Blacks and Puerto Ricans also living there.
Today it looks like a third world country and the school test scores reflect just that.
Throwing lots of money at schools filled with inner city minorities can't fix their bad test scores. The problem lies at home. It's because of their poor parenting skills and being in cultures that don't value being intellectual. Inner city culture just doesn't care about complex math and the sciences. Heck, they don't even care to learn how to speak and write proper English. So naturally they will fail in their academic studies.
But they will excel at break dancing, rapping and basketball because of the role models that they admire.
America has a new racial minority which will sweep the black minority under the rug never to emerge.
Notice to black people, today is as good as it will ever get!
True for many, no matter which country, race or ethnic background.
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