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the k12 teachers-- all too often white-- are the new whipping boys for the empowered underclass that demands benefits and status without contribution. the overall cry is for retribution. no i do not think teaching excellence will resolve all k12 issues.
Leaving with a skill is much more important, but that skill should match the abilities with the individual. All should come away with certain basic skills that are shared. But each should come away with specific skills matching their current intellectual & emotional maturities as well.
I have a gf that was an inner city English teacher and based on the stories I've hear I have to wonder, for some students, if it's home life rather than their innate intellect. Her school was pretty ghetto and these kids lived hard lives. I imagine they would remain a segment that falls through the cracks regardless of college-prep or vo-tech. With that said, I again like the idea of failing students at least having other options in the interim with at least a chance in the future to turn towards a better education.
That won't work. They'll just threaten teachers with violence if they don't give the grades that earn them the pay. They have been raised to believe that their failure is everyone's fault but theirs. They'll blame the teacher when they don't get the pay for their grades. You have to find a way to make students accountable for learning.
Is that what typical kids are doing these days? I was under the impression that AP and honors classes were for the "bright" students and everybody else had the same curriculum, but not as advanced. You're saying all students are now taking honors? It's been some time since I've been in HS, but that would really surprise me if it were case. As for test prep, I also had no idea this was typical for today's students.
Can any of the teachers here attest to this?
I certainly don't think all kids should be taking honors classes, so I'm with you on that. And I do like the idea of what you propose here. Although, I would worry about kids leaving HS academically short changed. Being uneducated is like a disability imo, but I guess (I don't really know) many kids are leaving HS no differently as it is.
Leaving school "academically short changed" would be having spent 12 years and not acquire the skills to learn anything that will earn a living.
Now, I differ a bit from some others here in that I would not expect a tech-prep secondary education to turn out plumbers or electricians or medical technologists, but would give them the hard foundation to quickly learn any of those further skills.
Leaving school "academically short changed" would be having spent 12 years and not acquire the skills to learn anything that will earn a living.
Now, I differ a bit from some others here in that I would not expect a tech-prep secondary education to turn out plumbers or electricians or medical technologists, but would give them the hard foundation to quickly learn any of those further skills.
That to me would be the basics- the 3 Rs. Solid reading comprehension (material running whatever gamut) and a pretty good grasp of maths and sciences. I go back to what I said earlier in the thread that if a kid leaves HS without these basic fundamentals it's a failure on the part of parents.
That to me would be the basics- the 3 Rs. Solid reading comprehension (material running whatever gamut) and a pretty good grasp of maths and sciences. I go back to what I said earlier in the thread that if a kid leaves HS without these basic fundamentals it's a failure on the part of parents.
I will have to agree with you there. I remember first realizing that there was something wrong with the way dd read in 3rd grade. Her teachers told me she was doing fine...that she was making progress...and she was. However, it turned out she would not continue to do so. Dd had the most common reading issue seen in bright children which is she memorized words rather than decoding them. While her memorized vocabulary was above grade level, she could only decode something like 5 consonants. She could not sound out words she did not know. She guessed based on context which is what I was picking up. Once someone corrected her she would remember the new word and off she went. The only problem with this is that there is a limit to the number of words that even a bright child with a good memory can memorize and once they max out their ability to memorize words, they start losing ground. Without decoding, dd would have stopped progressing in reading in about the 4th grade.
Anyway, I ended up buying hooked on phonics and having dd teach it to her little sister which resulted in both of my kids being able to decode words. Parents are the last line of defense. Had I not had dd tested, she could easily have been one of those kids who got to high school and couldn't read. From what they told me when she was tested, kids like her do well until about 4th grade and then start to slip. By middle school they're becoming adept at hiding the issue and just seem to be kids who don't like to read. In high school everyone is asking how come you didn't know your child can't read?
I also moved my kids to a school that used Singapore math when they brought Everyday mathematics into our district. It was every bit the disaster we warned it would be. The district is still reeling from the inability of students to progress to algebra even though EDM was replaced a few years back. The class of 2016 will be the first graduating class that started EDM in kindergarten. We have seen our test scores drop like a rock in the past few years. I had to move my kids out once I knew what EDM was and its history of dismal results in high school because kids can't transition to algebra.
The district now has a crisis intervention program in place in middle school intent on shoring up the math ability of the kids who came up through EDM but it will be a few years before they are graduating. The class that takes the ACT this year and next will be the bottom for us because these kids didn't get the intervention and were in EDM the longest.
And they continue to sell this program across the nation. The district I teach in just bought it and implemented it in all elementary grades this year. At least I won't be here when those kids hit high school.
I know of only one district that has implemented EDM with good results and they have thick supplementary binders for each grade and an intensive middle school math program designed to get kids ready for algebra in 9th grade. They have kept the good parts of the program and addressed the bad ones and done so beautifully. Out of the box, however, it is garbage. Though I do hear they got rid of calculators in kindergarten.
That to me would be the basics- the 3 Rs. Solid reading comprehension (material running whatever gamut) and a pretty good grasp of maths and sciences. I go back to what I said earlier in the thread that if a kid leaves HS without these basic fundamentals it's a failure on the part of parents.
The typical basics do not include study in practical applications of the maths and sciences, and not enough practice in them to make them nearly second nature.
I don't know why it would necessarily be a failure on the part of the parents, unless we consider it their faults they did not put their kids in better schools.
My daughter's English teacher taught her that one places commas in a sentence where one would take a breath. Is it the parents' responsibility to make sure teachers know their own subjects?
I will have to agree with you there. I remember first realizing that there was something wrong with the way dd read in 3rd grade. Her teachers told me she was doing fine...that she was making progress...and she was. However, it turned out she would not continue to do so. Dd had the most common reading issue seen in bright children which is she memorized words rather than decoding them. While her memorized vocabulary was above grade level, she could only decode something like 5 consonants. She could not sound out words she did not know. She guessed based on context which is what I was picking up. Once someone corrected her she would remember the new word and off she went. The only problem with this is that there is a limit to the number of words that even a bright child with a good memory can memorize and once they max out their ability to memorize words, they start losing ground. Without decoding, dd would have stopped progressing in reading in about the 4th grade.
I applaud your reaction--I would have done the same (and did).
But why should it be the parents' responsibility to correct school system pedagogical practices? Why is it the parents' "fault" if the parent does not realize that the latest new teaching method will prove ineffective?
Why is it your responsibility or mine to go behind the teachers and correct their ineffective teaching theories?
Checking the kid's work is one thing; having to check the teachers' work is something different.
The typical basics do not include study in practical applications of the maths and sciences, and not enough practice in them to make them nearly second nature.
Well, I'm not a teacher so I don't know what the basics standard is, but those are the basics in my household from my pov. How does it differ from what's typical? Also, what do you have in mind IRT practical applications of maths and sciences? Chemistry and physics, for example, are around us all day in our lives. Understanding what we're seeing in the day to day (say when we're cooking, driving, not feeling well and taking meds, etc) ideally should be second nature imo.
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I don't know why it would necessarily be a failure on the part of the parents, unless we consider it their faults they did not put their kids in better schools.
Imo, it's the parents responsibility to know the material offered each semester and to be sure their children are learning it. The parents are at the guiding helm of their children's education. I know some disagree with that, but it's just how I see it. I'm responsible for what my kid learns. The teachers will be a huge help, but she's not going to slip through any cracks due to a bad teacher or school.
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My daughter's English teacher taught her that one places commas in a sentence where one would take a breath. Is it the parents' responsibility to make sure teachers know their own subjects?
I suppose that depends on how educated the parents are and what their educational priorities are.
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The district I teach in just bought it and implemented it in all elementary grades this year. At least I won't be here when those kids hit high school.
