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There is nothing inherently wrong with fairness, and I'm not gonna pick on the SJW crowd. They have a job to do.
But some battles ain't worth picking. This one definitely isn't. Black kids don't give a damn about tech, and really, there's nothing wrong with that.
As a black tech professional I think there is a problem. As most emerging markets and majority of jobs in the foreseeable future are going to be STEM focused.
As a black tech professional I think there is a problem. As most emerging markets and majority of jobs in the foreseeable future are going to be STEM focused.
Now, though, we have to start talking about the "talented tenth" and realize that both W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington were right. The peak has to continue to aspire to the heights, but we can't forget that as a people-group we are still lacking a broad foundation. When the education system puts all its effort and encouragement into what is really only a minority of students, the majority is left behind, and that's exactly what the education system is doing right now.
To be honest, the African-American people-group needs some intelligent and benign tracking right now. Someone needs to identify the fact that kids who are pushed to become computer programmers but actually lack the talent might do very well for themselves and the community as master electricians eventually owning their own businesses. We have to give those kids that dream--the dream to own a barbershop or a plumbing business.
A quick anecdote: I headed for college when I was graduated from high school. My best buddy went instead to welding school. But he took the further step of learning to weld exotic metals. During the 80s, he was one of a handful of welders in Texas who could repair oil drill bits in the field--and broken drill bits cost oil companies thousands of dollars an hour. When oil companies called him, they didn't even ask his fee they only asked his availability: "Can we send a helicopter for you now?" He retired in the 90s...I'm still working.
We used to do that--the African-American communities used to be filled with black tradespeople and business owners, and they were the foundation of the talented tenth.
Last edited by Ralph_Kirk; 04-04-2016 at 10:09 PM..
As a black tech professional I think there is a problem. As most emerging markets and majority of jobs in the foreseeable future are going to be STEM focused.
This nation will always need nurses, plumbers, roofers, mechanics, accountants, Middle managers, fishermen, franchise owners, human resources personnel, teachers, etc.. black folks will survive just fine without a bunch of us going into tech.
Now, though, we have to start talking about the "talented tenth" and realize that both W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington were right. The peak has to continue to aspire to the heights, but we can't forget that as a people-group we are still lacking a broad foundation. When the education system puts all its effort and encouragement into what is really only a minority of students, the majority is left behind, and that's exactly what the education system is doing right now.
You have it exactly backwards. Our country's K-12 public education system is catering to the lowest common denominator student (below average, by definition), and as a result the U.S. has a lower percentage of highly performing students than other industrialized countries.
Quote:
"Conventional wisdom is that top U.S. students fare well compared to their peers across the globe. According to this line of reasoning, the US doesn’t make it on the list of the top 25 countries in math (or top 15 in reading) because America has higher poverty and racial diversity than other countries do, which drags down the national average.
Wrong.
The latest 2012 PISA test results, released Dec. 3, 2013, show that the U.S. lags among 65 countries (or sub country entities) even after adjusting for poverty. Top U.S. students are falling behind even average students in Asia."
You have it exactly backwards. Our country's K-12 public education system is catering to the lowest common denominator student (below average, by definition), and as a result the U.S. has a lower percentage of highly performing students than other industrialized countries.
I think you honestly misread me. I said:
"When the education system puts all its effort and encouragement into what is really only a minority of students, the majority is left behind, and that's exactly what the education system is doing right now."
What I meant is that the education industry right now is leaving a majority of students behind because its primary effort is toward putting them into a bachelor's degree program immediately after high school--which only a minority of students are intellectually capable of making good use of. By not putting the majority of its effort and encouragement in the direction the majority of its students should be going--which is not a bachelor's degree (at least not immediately out of high school)--the education industry is failing what ought to be its real mission.
The point I make is this:
The education industry in the US--which includes high schools, banks, and government--is committed to getting as many kids as possible into college, each paying tens of thousands of dollars into the system (or committed to student loans that will provide tens of thousands of dollars of interest to the government or to banks over time).
They don't really care whether those kids are ultimately successful, or that they enter programs that will be valuable to them (even as determinable at the time) only that they are committed to the payments. And they begin pounding this into the kids at a young age, non-stop and without mentioning equally viable alternatives. Non-dischargeable debts for a product of questionable worth--kind of what gangster loan sharks do.
In this effort to get as many kids into the college system as possible, many schools offer nothing but college prep curricula. If they do offer anything "vocational," it may be a few courses, rarely a genuine full curriculum, and even more rarely will counselors identify kids who should go that route and encourage them into it. Rather, counselors pound college, college, college. Government pounds college, college, college. Banks pound college, college, college. Money for trade school? "Where dey do dat?" (Well, the GI Bill will do that, but high school counselors don't point kids to the military, either).
But the fact is: A bachelor degree alone isn't that valuable--most bachelor degrees need additional graduate work or certification (by paper or experience). Most kids are not intellectually cut out for additional years of academia. Most are not economically prepared to take on the debt at such an early stage of their adulthood. There are a whole lot of reasons why most kids should not go directly from high school into a bachelor degree program.
But the education industry is committed to making that happen anyway...they resist honestly offering any alternative to college.
High schools are committed to churning out as many "college prepared" (on paper) kids as possible to feed into this industry scheme. But because most kids aren't intellectually qualified for what a rigorous college prep program ought to be, high schools offer a watered-down college prep program that merely gets the paper to as many kids as possible.
They end up with kids that are neither well-prepared for real college work (not even in soft studies) nor well-prepared for rigorous technical vocational training.
The education industry in the US--which includes high schools, banks, and government--is committed to getting as many kids as possible into college, each paying tens of thousands of dollars into the system (or committed to student loans that will provide tens of thousands of dollars of interest to the government or to banks over time).
If what you posit is true, WHY are K-12 educational results overall so abysmal?
U.S. public schools educate only 26% of all public school students to even basic grade-level proficiency in math, 38% in reading, by 12th grade.
That in and of itself is bad enough, but pay very careful attention to the much lower basic proficiency percentages for Black students.
Black students' basic math proficiency percentage by 12th grade: 7%
Basic reading proficiency percentage by 12th grade: 16%
How is THAT in ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM preparing to "get as many kids as possible into college?" The majority of U.S. 12th grade students are BELOW 12th grade-level academic proficiency levels.
Quote:
In this effort to get as many kids into the college system as possible, many schools offer nothing but college prep curricula.
And they're not even good at that despite their singular focus.
This nation will always need nurses, plumbers, roofers, mechanics, accountants, Middle managers, fishermen, franchise owners, human resources personnel, teachers, etc.. black folks will survive just fine without a bunch of us going into tech.
Would it be nice? Yes...but the world won't end.
A lot of the jobs you mentioned are likely to disappear. That's just facts. The issue is that you really can't afford to fall behind when it comes to technology in today's world. There is no way around this. It is absolutely essential that every child in the foreseeable future is tech savvy and literate in terms of STEM. The thing is us, as black people, love to complain about Asians. But a HUGE reason why Asians have succeeded is because they saw a need, and decided to become a STEM focused culture. Black people honestly need to do the same thing.
This is the reason why I am trying to figure out my calling. But I honestly think that we really need to ramp us black children on the importance of STEM. I feel that science and math education is not even a priority for most black educators. And that is very sad. I feel to some degree that what most black communities need are STEM focused schools that are low cost. And I am hoping I can be one of those people who can meet those demands.
But anyone can open up a school. The key is that there is a psychological barrier in most black families that does not prioritize STEM. And even as a black man, I can't understand this. I have just noticed that obstensively that black people in this thread are bucking the idea of technology. Sorry, we already have enough black nurses, plumbers, etc. Tech is the future, we need to be apart of that future.
That in and of itself is bad enough, but pay very careful attention to the much lower basic proficiency percentages for Black students.
Black students' basic math proficiency percentage by 12th grade: 7%
Basic reading proficiency percentage by 12th grade: 16%
How is THAT in ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM preparing to "get as many kids as possible into college?" The majority of U.S. 12th grade students are BELOW 12th grade-level academic proficiency levels.
And they're not even good at that despite their singular focus.
I think you're committed to disagreeing with me on the principle of never being in agreement with me, ever, on anything.
I said:
"High schools are committed to churning out as many "college prepared" (on paper) kids as possible to feed into this industry scheme. But because most kids aren't intellectually qualified for what a rigorous college prep program ought to be, high schools offer a watered-down college prep program that merely gets the paper to as many kids as possible.
They end up with kids that are neither well-prepared for real college work (not even in soft studies) nor well-prepared for rigorous technical vocational training. "
I think you're committed to disagreeing with me on the principle of never being in agreement with me, ever, on anything.
I said:
"High schools are committed to churning out as many "college prepared" (on paper) kids as possible to feed into this industry scheme. But because most kids aren't intellectually qualified for what a rigorous college prep program ought to be, high schools offer a watered-down college prep program that merely gets the paper to as many kids as possible.
A high school diploma alone doesn't grant one access to a college admission except for maybe community colleges which really aren't that costly. One must also have minimum test scores to be considered for admission to most 4-year colleges/universities. And even then, having test scores that match the acceptance requirements doesn't guarantee an offer of admission.
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