[aardogfsu]

Originally Posted by MAXIALE02

I'm glad you don't have kids too
I suppose if these kids were wearing argyle and ties then you would let them be, eh? You can't judge a book by its cover. You sound really old or really jaded. Did you ever go through a "phase" as a kid?

Saw a kid run up and kick a girl right in the middle of the street. Trash.

[MAXIALE02]

Originally Posted by aardogfsu

Saw a kid run up and kick a girl right in the middle of the street. Trash.

Well you didn't mention that. I think most people are A-holes and apples don't fall far from the tree.

[Everdeen]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Not at all. I can understand why you might be upset -- which is why I prefaced with "Hope you don't take this the wrong way."

Sorry Scoop, you don't get to preface a rude comment with, "Hope don't take this the wrong way" - and that is what calling someone disingenuous and dishonest is - and think it excuses you. I took it exactly the right way; you were being rude and snide.

But if you call someone a first-rate athlete and they aren't in the Olympics, then they aren't really first-rate. The Olympics is first-rate. Professional sports is first rate. If you call someone a first-rate scientist, then they had better be working at JPL or Los Alamos or CERN or similar. THAT is first-rate.

To call ANY school in CCSD "first-rate" is to basically give up. "This is as good as we're ever going to get. There will never be any improvement on this system. These are the best schools we are capable of." Let's call them "first rate" and call it a day. It's good enough for Clark County.

So pardon me for comparing the schools in CCSD with the finest institutions in the country and asking, "Why can't we have THAT?" Yes, I absolutely realize that not everyone wants or needs a prestige school. But there are students here in Clark County who could benefit from a Deerfield or a Hotchkiss and they don't have any options (unless their parents are wealthy enough to make it happen elsewhere.)

So yes. I have a different opinion of what constitutes "first rate." And I see "first rate" as something we should be striving to attain. If you think that ANY school in CCSD can go head-to-head with the best our country has to offer, then we can agree to disagree.

If you would bother to actually look up the meaning of first-rate, you would would know that it is used synonymously with "excellent".

Again, publish acceptable definitions and then we won't have to go through this again.

[Everdeen]

Originally Posted by MAXIALE02

Does anyone have any experience or opinions of Nevada Virtual Academy?

I am a huge fan of home schooling. The problem is that, sometimes, the work may be too advanced for parents too assist - although, that is true of traditional school as well.

I had a student who took my 8th grade honors math class as a 7th grader. Since we had nothing to offer her for 8th grade on our campus, during one period every day, she would go to the library and, I believe, would work on geometry via Nevada Virtual Academy. She washed out. Mathematics is very difficult to learn for most people if they are not in a classroom and even harder for a young person. Be aware that this may happen and that you may have to hire a tutor from time to time.

I don't know anything about the presentation of the material that they do for Nevada Virtual Academy, but it is probably fine. It's like anything else, you get from it what you put into it. I would ask to view some of the lessons prior to making a decision on enrolling your child.

[MAXIALE02]

Thank you Everdeen. I feel like I'm getting the hard sell. I've received 3 emails and 2 phone calls in the last 2 days.

[von949]

Originally Posted by Everdeen

They are used inappropriately and are highly controversial. Cheating, by adults, is rampant. Children are stressed to the point of tears, especially at the elementary level, while schools try to instill the importance of them. They are very expensive and do not give an accurate representation of students' levels. There is big, big money in the testing movement and the test writing companies are lobbying for even more, for obvious reasons.

Your kids don't have to take them. With the exception of the high school proficiency exam, they are of no consequence to the student, really. Sometimes, they are inappropriately used to pigeon hole students. Some states have an official opt out procedure - I'm not sure about Nevada, but it really doesn't matter. You will be harassed and harangued if you were to broach such an idea with your child's school, so you would have to have a pretty sturdy backbone.

As someone who sees what goes on year after year, I see how detrimental they are to our educational system.

You got that right. My daughter's schools is asking for as much parental help as possible. Teacher's aid, assistant, runners, people to serve/prepare food in class rooms. This test is a huge deal. Even though the intentions of the test may be skewed, a test never really hurt anyone. Plus my daughter loves to look at where she stands with the rest of the school system.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Sorry Scoop, you don't get to preface a rude comment with, "Hope don't take this the wrong way" - and that is what calling someone disingenuous and dishonest is - and think it excuses you. I took it exactly the right way; you were being rude and snide.

If you would bother to actually look up the meaning of first-rate, you would would know that it is used synonymously with "excellent".

Again, publish acceptable definitions and then we won't have to go through this again.

And I don't toss around the word "excellent" lightly. Do you really think there is an excellent school under the CCSD umbrella? I do not.

[Everdeen]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

And I don't toss around the word "excellent" lightly. Do you really think there is an excellent school under the CCSD umbrella? I do not.

Luckily for the rest of us, you don't get to decide what "excellent" means.

From today's Sun:

Four CCSD high schools ranked among nation's most challenging - Las Vegas Sun News

Evidently, there are many people who think ATEC is excellent.

[Everdeen]

Originally Posted by MAXIALE02

Thank you Everdeen. I feel like I'm getting the hard sell. I've received 3 emails and 2 phone calls in the last 2 days.

A hard sell on what?

[ScoopLV]

Even that list is skewed. They take all the top schools in the country, and simply throw those results out because they're so much better than average. And I can understand why -- these are private schools that can pick and choose exceptional students. Of course they're going to lead the pack.

Think about your anecdote about the 7th grader taking 8th grade classes. "We had nothing to offer her."

My point to all of this is we need to step up for those students who are far ahead of their peers. We have nothing to offer them. Our best school is more than 500 places down on a national list that already dismisses the top 500 or so schools in the country as "too good."

Students can still receive a good education. Motivated students with ambition can even achieve excellence (but they'll be doing that on their own). At the end of the day, the yardstick for school system excellence is the percentage of students who go on to top-tiered universities. And we are woefully lacking in that regard. And that's why I will not use the word "excellent" or "first-rate" when it comes to CCSD.