Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I guess I should clarify myself. The SAT is not required here, but about 75% of the students take it at the teachers' urging. A little bit less take the ACT. In both cases, Lubbock schools consistently outscore the nation. I say this not to brag, but to give an example that jluke's high school experience is not represntative of all Texas schools. I thought that standardized test results would be the most concrete proof of this.
I agree that no one individual's experience is representative of the entire state's eudcation system. There are good and bad schools - both public and private - in all states.
The title of this thread is rather silly, although it is interesting to hear how people's experiences vary by state.
I found out some disturbing things about Oregon having the KKK. I found out alot of things I never learned in my US History class. Furthermore, the more I went on the internet, the more I found out that I was missing out on. I found out that there were in fact black people who were in the Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. I learned more reading on my own and surfing the internet and TV than in school.
Dang it pirate now I feel dumb lol I didn't know about black people in the camps! I didn't learn much but it wasn't because it wasn't taught I don't think, it's because I didn't pay attention. I am trying to learn more NOW, but it's about 20 years too late
Only three states (Utah, Missouri and Tennessee) currently require students to take a one-semester personal finance class before graduating high school.
Seventeen more states require finance skills to be covered in other subjects.
Indiana and Kansas are thinking about requiring it from Kindergarten to high school.
It wasn't required, but I took a money management class in 9th grade. Massachusetts cares more about useless requirements like making people take gym all 4 years of high school.
ACT and SAT scores should be used carefully and within context. I don't know the statistics about how many students in each state take each test, but it is true that there are regional differences. I grew up in Minnesota, where the ACT is the standard. If you were only applying to Minnesota, or possibly Midwest, colleges, then there was a good chance you wouldn't need to take the SAT. I would assume, then that the overall pool of students taking the SAT was more selective, as it includes primarily the kids who were considering out -of-state colleges. (not to in the least suggest that MN does not have top top colleges, but I would guess that the students applying to those would also be likely to include at least one out-of-region college on their list as well) Granted it's been 10+ years since I graduated, but in my experience Minnesota kids either took just the ACT or the ACT plus the SAT. Far fewer students took only the SAT. Those sorts of issues do skew data, and the tests weren't designed to compare education systems across the country, anyway.
Done well, an educational system should incorporate local life and issues into its curriculum. That doesn't mean that students shouldn't also learn about national and international issues. In many cases, the local perspective can be used to address broader topics and make them relevant (and potentially more interesting) to students.
And I'm not sure what the FFA remarks are about. I'm not familiar with the FFA's formal (is it formal?) curricululum, but do believe that every kid - future farmer or not - should know how food is produced and how it makes its way to your table, regardless of whether that table is in the city or country.
Colleges accept the SAT or ACT. I've seen the requirements for a lot of colleges and none of them require only the ACT or only the SAT. However, some require SAT Subject Tests.
Trying to break down an educational system by state makes no sense. There are drastic differences between different schools where I grew up, in SC. Some of them are in rural poverty, others are in the expensive neighborhoods. A lot of this has to do with parents, and parents' ability to expand their children's horizons, and that changes from household to household.
And as far as the original topic goes, this is true at my school at least. My school has a lot of faculty that grew up in this town and never left, so they assume the students will do the same. My math teacher even tells my class stories about what will happen when we go to UMASS Amherst. She assumes everyone will go. I applied to mainly out of state colleges and my guidance counselor was very unfamiliar with the way other states do stuff. Since the Boston area has a reputation of having good colleges, a lot of people think there's no reason to leave New England for college. I think other people have said this, but there's certain stuff that can only be taught by the parents. Parents have to take responsibility and travel with their family so their offspring will realize there are other places to live. My family has traveled extensively and that probably played a big role in me deciding to attend college in New Mexico.
I guess I should clarify myself. The SAT is not required here, but about 75% of the students take it at the teachers' urging. A little bit less take the ACT. In both cases, Lubbock schools consistently outscore the nation. I say this not to brag, but to give an example that jluke's high school experience is not represntative of all Texas schools. I thought that standardized test results would be the most concrete proof of this.
Maybe you should research the education system in Texas and how it ranks because your school definatly dosen't represent how all Texas schools are.
Maybe you should research the education system in Texas and how it ranks because your school definatly dosen't represent how all Texas schools are.
I hope your spelling doesn't represent how all Texas schools are, either.
Last edited by JMT; 03-14-2009 at 02:33 PM..
Reason: misspelled Texas!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
