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Old 07-20-2011, 11:20 AM
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flacaltenn flacaltenn is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
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TyBrad:

Not only do I believe in all 5 of your suggestions -- but I'm also empathizing about all the misdirection that you have to grin and bear.. Kinda explains that "a little too happy" avatar of yours....

That leaves the whole lesson of the Atlanta teacher "civil disobedience" and what to do about the "equality" aspect of public education..

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Yes, I am appalled by those stats- are these numbers different than they were in the 70's, or just more examined now? If the former, what's the fuss about- the realization and publication that we are a society rife with dummies? We proceeded through three decades since; there are still trailer-types, there are still techies, still professionals, still leaders, still followers, still servers, still fixers. What does it all mean?

But are all curricula in all districts across the country aligned to these standards? Are there teachers strongarmed into teaching out of their content areas? I am still going to maintain that factual recitation is not relevant in a pre- or teen's life if they are not academically slanted. In the end, education is a white man's game as far as many inner city kids are concerned when they are just trying to survive, fend off a family member for one reason or another, or just trying to stay alive. They will not care about the connection between the Yalta Conference and Acts of Congress. They will not care about poetry, and so on. So what do we do? As I mentioned already, non academic offerings, for one. I am just sick and tired of this "everyone can do anything" attitude nowadays and it set up students to feel more failure if they are not meeting the standard of success that is set upon them. Parental guidance is one thing, parental pressure to have their Level 4 special ed. student in an inclusion class without thinking about all of the peripheral assistance needed is another entirely.
All those questions are NOT just educational issues. And this is the part that I'm interested in tackling. Realizing that many well-meaning folks like Bill Cosby and now the FaceBook guy have dived head-first into this morass and ended up beaten-up and abused.

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I am still going to maintain that factual recitation is not relevant in a pre- or teen's life if they are not academically slanted.
It could be MORE important for those who are "not academically slanted". They need a light-weight survival kit for life skills, not a sampler platter of elegant notions. Is it WORSE than it used to be? When is it too late to intervene in the tracking of their academic careers? Those questions are WHY we need to measure students at LEAST up to the 8th grade or so.. Armed with that kind of knowledge, we can start a triage that slices and dices thru the confounding socio-economic issues. There is a HUGE fraction of that constituency that WANTS to succeed. When DC actively pursued their voucher program, there were 10 applicants for every slot. Even lefties like Dianne Feinstein eventually got on board. Private industry kicked into the game to increase the quotas that could be filled. It's criminal to moan about the hopelessness of value decisions like "it's a white man's game" until you remove those who DON'T subscribe to this feeling. You HAVE to let them have an out. I sincerely believe that the payoff would be huge. What DC needs is publically subsidized college prep academies (6thgrade -> 12??) with a number of slots == to the number of VOLUNTARY applicants. (There goes my Libertarian Party membership) .. Not lower expectations.

I guess maybe I'm a true Liberal in my heart. But I am one of those who at least "hopes" that "everybody can do anything". Doesn't mean I want to change the PGA rules to allow carts on the tour courses. Or shine on folks with REAL handicaps about equal performance in all areas.. But as I naively state over and over again. I COULD make chemical engineers out of a busload of burger flippers if I could lock them up and whip them enough.. Nothing too criminal. Just the same level of abuse that the great coaches of the SEC conference apply to their players to get to a championship level..

That and and a menu of "vocational options" or "co-op learning" or apprenticeships for the remaining public school "bottom dwellers" that actually presents opportunities that will reward sitting in the classroom for 12 or 14 years and GETTING a diploma..

I've seen many documentaries about this very problem of public school triage. But I've yet to "Waiting for SuperMan".. Have YOU seen it? I think I'll rent it this weekend..

Last edited by flacaltenn; 07-20-2011 at 11:31 AM.
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