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I agree that high school students are being graduated without writing coherently or without math skills. I do not agree that it is the liberals, or the teachers, who are responsible.
I place the blame on several things:
1. Educational standards that are taught and tested. Schools manage to these results, and teachers are graded on the test results.
2. Schools that do poorly are punished, not helped.
3. Students who are borderline or bored are encouraged to leave before graduation -they end up with GEDs, or nothing.
4. Parents who do not get involved with their student's education, and parents who push for higher grades.
5. Technology-too much time is spent on web surfing and cell phone obsessing.
I agree that high school students are being graduated without writing coherently or without math skills. I do not agree that it is the liberals, or the teachers, who are responsible.
I place the blame on several things:
1. Educational standards that are taught and tested. Schools manage to these results, and teachers are graded on the test results.
2. Schools that do poorly are punished, not helped.
3. Students who are borderline or bored are encouraged to leave before graduation -they end up with GEDs, or nothing.
4. Parents who do not get involved with their student's education, and parents who push for higher grades.
5. Technology-too much time is spent on web surfing and cell phone obsessing.
6. Grade inflation.
This.
I know quite a few teachers in different districts. They are NOT allowed to fail kids anymore. Even when the teacher can demonstrate why the child would actually benefit from repeating a grade, nope. Not allowed.
Teachers are also severely discouraged from sending their "problems" to the principal's office. They also are not allowed to make a child sit in the hallway or punish troublesome kids by making them do something like copy a definition out of a dictionary.
Also, teachers can only do so much. Even if a teacher has a breakthrough with a kid at school, that kid goes home and hears how he or shouldn't succeed in school, how they don't have to listen to the teacher etc.
High school graduates who can barely read, write and do basic math
You just described your nephew. Remember that thread you started where your nephew was getting ridiculed by some liberal elitist professor for his poor writing and argumentative skills?
You just described your nephew. Remember that thread you started where your nephew was getting ridiculed by some liberal elitist professor for his poor writing and argumentative skills?
There is a problem with graduates not being at the 12th grade level, we can see it even in many those that choose to attend college. The conundrum is that leaving back non-performing students dooms them to drop out, so what's the solution. Teachers are limited and many have parents that have no interest in education or holding their kids responsible. Problem is there are so many kids in the same boat they some how view it as acceptable to fail at education and gravitate to the least common denominator. Sheer laziness and lack of effort is widespread.
As a teacher I know teachers who say that they will never fail a kid, because it would hurt the kid's self-esteem.
Sometimes kids need to learn the lesson of failing. Report cards can't be a safe space.
Kids will turn in a so-so project with moderate at best effort and expect an A, because "I did it." Many teachers don't like being the teacher that "gives" out less A's, rather than looking at it as did the kid "earn" an A.
Hey not only are SAT scores down, self-esteem scores are at highs!
Do public school teachers write textbooks? Decide on curriculum?
Do public school teachers decide what will be taught at the teaching colleges?
Do public school teachers elect school trustees? Hire school superintendents? Promote to administration?
Do public school teachers decide how many students will be placed in a classroom?
For as long as memory serves educators have blamed their poor result on parents. IMO, we will always have some kids who need better parents. Looks to me like if all those educrats were as smart as they want us to think they are, one of them would have figured out how to teach the children of hookers, dope dealers and lazy arsed welfare moms.
It isn't the teachers who are dumbing down education.
They don't run anything beyond their own classrooms. The problem starts with governors and legislatures then gets compounded by bureaucrats.
And, as conservos like to shout at the top of their lungs, "The GOP controls most states and their legislatures!"
Yes, politics plays a huge role in the quality of public schools. One party's goal is to disband public education in favor of "privatization." That party has a vested interest in seeing schools fail.
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