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It's ok to be bad at math and science. What's not ok is crowding schools with kids that don't take their education seriously. Journalism school gets a bad rap because the vast majority of kids that attend aren't really interested in taking their education seriously. Same thing with Art History, Communications, and all those other "softie" majors that are easy to rag on. These could be excellent programs if they weren't overcrowded with kids who value being in college over getting an education.
She's a good person, but I could see her partying and doing things that are a bit unsavory when she gets to college. Really hope it's not a waste, because I genuinely want her to do well, despite the fact that I would probably never major in journalism.
I think students should be pushed to their maximum ability. Our schools are not doing a good job of this. Many smarter kids are not being pushed to their ability while students with lower abilities are being pushed to be college ready. I've sat in HS biology and algebra classes and worked individually with students who will never pass the state exams on these subjects. They are being pushed beyond their abilities.
I agree.
The majority of local towns have club sports? Where do you live? If local towns picked up sports from high schools, the expense would simply be transferred from one tax to another.
Local towns tend to have club sports (public) for younger kids, say middle school and lower. Older kids either go through private clubs or the high school system.
The majority of this money goes for medical care and food stamps for women with dependent children. Would you suggest forced sterilization?
I tend to agree with you. I don't know how it will work or how much time it will take. What we are currently doing with public school education is tweaking something that really has changed that much in 100 years. Many of the changes have made it worse. Some of the fundamental changes need to address that students can't be forced to learn and that everyone should be pushed to their maximum potential. Too many students who have ability slide by because it is the easy option.
I was never a full-time teacher but I've subbed for the past few years and have witnessed some of this first hand. In some school districts, class periods are as short as 39 minutes. I have tried to correct something as simple as a multiple choice test during a planning period, and found it impossible to correct 130 or more tests in that time. Student writing today is so poor that even matching questions can be a challenge to figure out which letter they intended.
You can't categorize all teachers the same. I see teachers who work extremely hard to provide the best educational experience possible. I see others who barely show up.
I wasn't trying to categorize all teachers the same. I do not think teaching is a cushy job. I'm just saying, it's very difficult to talk salary with teachers. Many talk of the enormous hours they put in outside of work. I gave the experience of one person. My personal experience, knowing a number of teachers, is that it's not as bad as many say. As you say, teachers run the gamut, just like in any other profession.
It sounds like you have had some personal experience with a teacher(s). Teachers today are strongly encouraged to have personal communications with parents. This communications is mostly to make parents aware of issues in school and ideas on how they can support their child. I was at one school where every teacher who contacted one mother was told they were racist and would accuse the teacher of discriminating against her children.
The issue you see with teachers commuting from far away is a common one. I see teachers commuting a great distance because it is not easy to change school districts in Pennsylvania. This discourages teachers from working more hours and being involved with after school activities. It also means many teachers are stuck in schools where they are unhappy.
This is another issue in almost every occupation.
This is not the attitude in my rural area. Anything to do with STEM and computer technology is considered a must have. The entire county came close to voting to fund a STEM academy with little details on what services it would provide and how it would be incorporated into the existing school curriculum.
All students do not have the aptitude for a STEM major in college. There are not jobs for a huge increase in STEM majors.
The first place to address STEM careers in this country is to increase the number of slots in medical schools so that we don't have to import so many doctors. We have a lot of qualified people in this country who could go to medical school but are not accepted. We then import people from other countries to provide our medical care.
There are far more applicants to medical school than there are places for.There's no huge importation of doctors, and in fact it's hard for a foreign-educated doctor to get a license in the US.
1. Do you know this for a fact? Knowing math and science is one thing, teaching it is another. I've recently encountered several social studies student teachers who I didn't think were qualified. I've encountered more good than bad math and science teachers but it raises the question: how many teachers have you actually observed and have first hand knowledge of in order to have this opinion?
2. Are you referring to federal, state or local politicians? I think this varies by state.
3. I agree.
What percentage of an average high school class should be taking AP chemistry, AP calculus, AP stats, AP physics, AP biology, etc.? Determining an average high school is tough, but I would estimate that somewhere between 7% and 15% of an average HS should be taking these classes. In some affluent suburban schools the number might be 75%.
Also, keep in mind that some of our best and brightest students see a career on Wall Street as more lucrative. They would rather be making deals as opposed to dealing with technology.
We've made people focus on "money" to the point, choices in learning is more about money than making career choice which can provide a living, but moreso be qualified and skilled to make a contribution.
We see the results everyday - not only has the nature of commercialism become "insidious", the manner, mode and script presentation plays to the "insidiousness which is so predominant in how we've groomed society".
Ethic's, Humanity and Social Studies are not "cliche" rather than being integral parts within the spectrum of the education system, all the culture building programming is minimized of deleted from programming.
The sad part is the administration above the ranks of teachers- are now groomed into "script format" so rigid, with academia score testing, and trying to appease the "School Boards", (of which is often packed with people who ride these positions like a horse trained to be docile)
We can't always blame the teachers, not all will ever be great, but many can and will do better if the system becomes aware to understand the methodology of how learning is achieved and how teaching can and is engaged to address a changing world.
Now, there are so many offshoot models, until that too has pushed a level of confusion, and when profit making is factored,then there comes the mass volume of "tunnel focus" programs, which still omit what is necessary for full rounded learning.
One thing about history in American, when there were basis of "God" based values built into the system, National Nation style pride in nation, we had a foundation with a principle based core which mandated "ethics", regardless what category of curriculum was being promoted and taught.
Sadly, the situations has worsened, because society has in many ways lost its direction. The concept of middle class was not just about money, but a value system with ethics and communal structure which supported a stability concept of many things which are today missing. (except some of the wealthy communities still try to aspire to have a broader base, except they omit ethics and think in terms to teach "profit obsession", rather than cultural, social and humane contribution.
It is not a one dimensional issue, and that is the point I'm making. We have to look at this in a comprehensive perspective and it has to be re-developed with considering of a conglomeration of factors in a comprehensive format, which again, places humanity, social, public, private, industry, and community and all such things into how and what is taught within the mix. This includes getting back to the American way of learning - to place emphasis on the "who", what, when, where, how and why. This is where the attentions of the student is regained. Then, we can utilize some of the advancements gained and learned from other nations and their cultures as to improving learning.
I think students should be pushed to their maximum ability. Our schools are not doing a good job of this. Many smarter kids are not being pushed to their ability while students with lower abilities are being pushed to be college ready. I've sat in HS biology and algebra classes and worked individually with students who will never pass the state exams on these subjects. They are being pushed beyond their abilities.
The majority of local towns have club sports? Where do you live? If local towns picked up sports from high schools, the expense would simply be transferred from one tax to another.
The majority of this money goes for medical care and food stamps for women with dependent children. Would you suggest forced sterilization?
I tend to agree with you. I don't know how it will work or how much time it will take. What we are currently doing with public school education is tweaking something that really has changed that much in 100 years. Many of the changes have made it worse. Some of the fundamental changes need to address that students can't be forced to learn and that everyone should be pushed to their maximum potential. Too many students who have ability slide by because it is the easy option.
I was never a full-time teacher but I've subbed for the past few years and have witnessed some of this first hand. In some school districts, class periods are as short as 39 minutes. I have tried to correct something as simple as a multiple choice test during a planning period, and found it impossible to correct 130 or more tests in that time. Student writing today is so poor that even matching questions can be a challenge to figure out which letter they intended.
You can't categorize all teachers the same. I see teachers who work extremely hard to provide the best educational experience possible. I see others who barely show up.
It sounds like you have had some personal experience with a teacher(s). Teachers today are strongly encouraged to have personal communications with parents. This communications is mostly to make parents aware of issues in school and ideas on how they can support their child. I was at one school where every teacher who contacted one mother was told they were racist and would accuse the teacher of discriminating against her children.
The issue you see with teachers commuting from far away is a common one. I see teachers commuting a great distance because it is not easy to change school districts in Pennsylvania. This discourages teachers from working more hours and being involved with after school activities. It also means many teachers are stuck in schools where they are unhappy.
This is not the attitude in my rural area. Anything to do with STEM and computer technology is considered a must have. The entire county came close to voting to fund a STEM academy with little details on what services it would provide and how it would be incorporated into the existing school curriculum.
All students do not have the aptitude for a STEM major in college. There are not jobs for a huge increase in STEM majors.
The first place to address STEM careers in this country is to increase the number of slots in medical schools so that we don't have to import so many doctors. We have a lot of qualified people in this country who could go to medical school but are not accepted. We then import people from other countries to provide our medical care.
1. Do you know this for a fact? Knowing math and science is one thing, teaching it is another. I've recently encountered several social studies student teachers who I didn't think were qualified. I've encountered more good than bad math and science teachers but it raises the question: how many teachers have you actually observed and have first hand knowledge of in order to have this opinion?
2. Are you referring to federal, state or local politicians? I think this varies by state.
3. I agree.
What percentage of an average high school class should be taking AP chemistry, AP calculus, AP stats, AP physics, AP biology, etc.? Determining an average high school is tough, but I would estimate that somewhere between 7% and 15% of an average HS should be taking these classes. In some affluent suburban schools the number might be 75%.
Also, keep in mind that some of our best and brightest students see a career on Wall Street as more lucrative. They would rather be making deals as opposed to dealing with technology.
To your question about what do I know about my first statement? From 32 years of teaching science
What are your thoughts on the modern schooling system?
They aren't good thoughts.
Billions of taxpayer dollars that used to go to education and facilities now go to testing companies. And what have we learned from all of this testing?
Every school performs as well as the demographic it serves.
And we knew that before all those billions were flushed down the testing toilet.
To your question about what do I know about my first statement? From 32 years of teaching science
I respect that! So you think it is really a pay issue? My local high school has two people with PhDs teaching chemistry. One left private industry to teach high school. One of the biology teachers is an Ivy League graduate.
In Pennsylvania, we graduate a surplus of teacher in most fields. The only field where I have heard districts have had difficulty is physics, and some foreign languages.
Many districts in PA also pay considerably above the national average. Many teachers in suburban Pittsburgh school districts are making significantly above $100,000 with not that many years of experience.
I wonder if the qualified people are available or school districts don't do a good job of recruiting the available talent?
There are far more applicants to medical school than there are places for.There's no huge importation of doctors, and in fact it's hard for a foreign-educated doctor to get a license in the US.
The article that you provided states that: "that 22 percent of all the licensed doctors in the United States went to medical school outside the country."
I agree that it's hard for a foreign-educated doctor to get a license in the US. The fact is that it is project that, "By 2020, America’s doctor shortage is projected to reach 91,500 too few doctors, with nearly half of the burden falling on primary care."
We do need to import more doctors and we need create more medical school and residency slots to meet this need. Regardless of how they get to be doctors in this country, the result is we have a very high percentage of foreign born physicians.
^^Projections are like the weather forecast. I do agree there need to be more slots for med students. However, that is not an issue for the K-12 system to address.
I respect that! So you think it is really a pay issue? My local high school has two people with PhDs teaching chemistry. One left private industry to teach high school. One of the biology teachers is an Ivy League graduate.
In Pennsylvania, we graduate a surplus of teacher in most fields. The only field where I have heard districts have had difficulty is physics, and some foreign languages.
Many districts in PA also pay considerably above the national average. Many teachers in suburban Pittsburgh school districts are making significantly above $100,000 with not that many years of experience.
I wonder if the qualified people are available or school districts don't do a good job of recruiting the available talent?
To be honest I wonder if schools/the education system actively discourages it. When I got out of the service I was looking to be a teacher (BS/MS Physics) which as you say above they supposedly have difficulty with. Even took the Praxis exam (99 percentile). But I couldn't get any school to even talk to me because I didn't have a degree in education (Yes, I know about troops to teachers but couldn't find any schools interested). Between my experiences trying to get in, talking to others, and working with school systems professionally, I've concluded the education system does not want Subject Matter Experts, but is more focused on those who fit in with the social "feel good" philosophy. Eventually talent goes where it's wanted.
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What are your thoughts on the modern schooling system?
