They dumbed down the schools until anyone could pass, and the HALF that DO pass........can't read or do math

Left Behind, Way Behind
BOB HERBERT
August 29, 2005
www.nytimes.com
First the bad news: Only about two-thirds of American teenagers (and just half of all black, Latino and Native American teens) graduate with a regular diploma four years after they enter high school.

Now the worse news: Of those who graduate, only about half read well enough to succeed in college.

Don't even bother to ask how many are proficient enough in math and science to handle college-level work. It's not pretty.

Of all the factors combining to shape the future of the U.S., this is one of the most important. Millions of American kids are not even making it through high school in an era in which a four-year college degree is becoming a prerequisite for achieving (or maintaining) a middle-class lifestyle.

The Program for International Assessment, which compiles reports on the reading and math skills of 15-year-olds, found that the U.S. ranked 24th out of 29 nations surveyed in math literacy. The same result for the U.S. - 24th out of 29 - was found when the problem-solving abilities of 15-year-olds were tested.

If academic performance were an international athletic event, spectators would be watching American kids falling embarrassingly behind in a number of crucial categories. A new report from a pair of Washington think tanks - the Center for American Progress and the Institute for America's Future - says an urgent new commitment to public education, much stronger than the No Child Left Behind law, must be made if that slide is to be reversed.

This would not be a minor task. In much of the nation the public education system is in shambles. And the kids who need the most help - poor children from inner cities and rural areas - often attend the worst schools.

An education task force established by the center and the institute noted the following:

"Young low-income and minority children are more likely to start school without having gained important school readiness skills, such as recognizing letters and counting. ... By the fourth grade, low-income students read about three grade levels behind nonpoor students. Across the nation, only 15 percent of low-income fourth graders achieved proficiency in reading in 2003, compared to 41 percent of nonpoor students."

How's that for a disturbing passage? Not only is the picture horribly bleak for low-income and minority kids, but we find that only 41 percent of nonpoor fourth graders can read proficiently.

I respectfully suggest that we may be looking at a crisis here.

The report, titled "Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer," restates a point that by now should be clear to most thoughtful Americans: too many American kids are ill equipped educationally to compete successfully in an ever-more competitive global environment.

Cartoonish characters like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton may be good for a laugh, but they're useless as role models. It's the kids who are logging long hours in the college labs, libraries and lecture halls who will most easily remain afloat in the tremendous waves of competition that have already engulfed large segments of the American work force.

The report makes several recommendations. It says the amount of time that children spend in school should be substantially increased by lengthening the school day and, in some cases, the school year. It calls for the development of voluntary, rigorous national curriculum standards in core subject areas and a consensus on what students should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school.

The report also urges, as many have before, that the nation take seriously the daunting (and expensive) task of getting highly qualified teachers into all classrooms. And it suggests that an effort be made to connect schools in low-income areas more closely with the surrounding communities. (Where necessary, the missions of such schools would be extended to provide additional services for children whose schooling is affected by such problems as inadequate health care, poor housing, or a lack of parental support.)

The task force's recommendations are points of departure that can be discussed, argued about and improved upon by people who sincerely want to ramp up the quality of public education in the U.S. What is most important about the report is the fact that it sounds an alarm about a critical problem that is not getting nearly enough serious attention.

The destruction of America continues.

Destroy the middle class by exporting good paying jobs...check!
Destroy the lower rung jobs that people can use to pull themselves out of poverty or work until they get out of school or get some training by importing millions of third world slaves...check!
Destroy the education system by enforcing no fail policies, requiring education for illegal alien invader troops, avoid the fundamentals and instead teach alternate lifestyles, and use the public school to advance social agendas instead of learning...check!
Destroy the education system in order to create an advanced education system that requires literate students from foreign nations who steal our advanced research...check!
Employ foreign nationals to staff our military with the promise of citizenship at the end of their enlistment...check!
Destroy property rights...check!
Instill a national sense of fear in order to further destroy the Bill of Rights and the Constitution...check!
Destroy the family with social engineering and vast social programs that reward single mothers...check!
Bring the water up to boil...check!

Declare a state of emergency; ask for UN support to quell the rebellion at home...Working on it!

What do they need to extend the school year for? If you have a classroom full of kids sitting there like zombies all year, it wont make a damned bit of difference.

Just keep throwing money at the problem...hire a bunch of PHD's for Gods sake!

I doubt its the teachers, rather I think its the parents who dont give a shit if there kids suceed in life.

My wife, a school teacher, told me something very interesting at dinner the other day.  She was talking about the state mandated placement exams that are taken by students in 3rd, 5th, and some other grades.  

She said that kids who have learning deficiencies or "special needs" consistently place higher on these exams than kids who come from lower socio-ecomomic classes.  I just thought that was interesting

I doubt its the teachers, rather I think its the parents who dont give a shit if there kids suceed in life.

+1


I'm still amazed at how utterly stupid parents are today.  Damn.  Need a damn license to carry a gun but anyone who can spread their legs can have a child.  

CMOS

Wanna know why this is?

Look at the teacher education taught in colleges. I really need to take a trip through the education department sometime with a digital camera so that everyone can see what exactly the teachers are being taught.

I have news for you: It isn't English, Math, or science....

Blaming parent really isnt the biggest part of it.....the school are more interested in making the child "feel" good..................the 6th grade in our town still has "snack time".....and they had a damned puppet show for 6th grade too................no shop course , no real athletics, just feel good  hiking,skiing,movie theater ,water park..................you can squeal all you want about parent but when a teacher passes a child against parents wishes,were screwed!

Quoted: Blaming parent really isnt the biggest part of it.....the school are more interested in making the child "feel" good..................the 6th grade in our town still has "snack time".....and they had a damned puppet show for 6th grade too................no shop course , no real athletics, just feel good  hiking,skiing,movie theater ,water park..................you can squeal all you want about parent but when a teacher passes a child against parents wishes,were screwed!

Teachers do this because they are not taught actual subjects when "studying" to become a teacher, but are instead fed massive ammounts of cirriculum based on "diversity".

For instance: In the education building of the local university, the first thing you see is a giant display on "diversity". In it are exhortations against using "gender specific terms" and to "constantly educate yourself on the diversity that exists in our society"....

I am going to borrow a digicam and see if I can't take a tour and show everyone what is being taught in these places....

Quoted: My wife, a school teacher, told me something very interesting at dinner the other day.  She was talking about the state mandated placement exams that are taken by students in 3rd, 5th, and some other grades.   She said that kids who have learning deficiencies or "special needs" consistently place higher on these exams than kids who come from lower socio-ecomomic classes.  I just thought that was interesting

Thats because the exams they take are designed around their deficiencies.  Normal students get a normal test.  They fail it because they spent the day screwing off or don't care because its not requierd to pass HS.

Like the MCAST test here, when they were testing its merit no student took it seriously since it was not required to get a diploma.  Now it is, but most kids still don't care because they feel it is unjust because the test is based on what they should have learned and not what they did, which is little.  When teachers are allowed to teach and not be harrased by kids and their parents lawyers, things will get better, but not till then.

Quoted: I doubt its the teachers, rather I think its the parents who dont give a shit if there kids suceed in life. +1 I'm still amazed at how utterly stupid parents are today.  Damn.  Need a damn license to carry a gun but anyone who can spread their legs can have a child.   CMOS

and if they are on welfare they get a raise every time they have another kid

Blame this on John Dewey at your next Teacher's Union meeting.


Of course, John Dewey's progressive education worked so well, that half of them probably won't know what you're talking about.


Also, blame all the criminally insane teachers who INSIST on teaching the 'sight-see' method of "Reading" to kids.

Of course I have teacher friends who take great offense if I hint that maybe public education has gone downhill greatly over the past 70 years...

Tag.

Quoted: Blame this on John Dewey at your next Teacher's Union meeting. Of course, John Dewey's progressive education worked so well, that half of them probably won't know what you're talking about. Also, blame all the criminally insane teachers who INSIST on teaching the 'sight-see' method of "Reading" to kids. Of course I have teacher friends who take great offense if I hint that maybe public education has gone downhill greatly over the past 70 years...

Phonics worked great for me and for every kid I went to school with. I don't know why on earth they decided to re-invent the wheel to the point that now there are companies producing phonics based courses and making a killing because schools aren't teaching kids to read.  

My mother taught me to read using simple phonics (no structured course) and it worked great. I was reading well before I ever went to K-5.

Quoted: Hey this isn't BS.

Nope. I don't make a habit of posting BS.

My wife started her first class this semester and first topic was diversity! I mean they can't even plan a lunch menu in classes without diversity being the number one theme without failing.  Doesn't matter if the potential users are of the same culture.   Tj

The indoctrination done in the "education" programs is ASTOUNDING. One fellow I worked with had his master's in education. While working on a computer problem one day (he worked in IT while waiting to find his "dream" teaching job, which he did find...and then left the public education world altogether 6 months later....) somehow we got on the topic of schools.

"Kids can't learn in a school that is run down" he said.

I, of course, was baffled. I asked when exactly in human history it became necessary to have a brand new building for kids to learn, because I had been educated in several run down buildings as had other people far greater than me. I argued that if a school focused on teaching kids actual topics and useful skills (math, reading, science, etc...) that it would ensure that they could succeed in the world. He seemed to think that the most important part of school was NOT learning actual subjects, but was rather socialization, identity issues, and a bunch of other psycho-babble. I politely informed him that according to his approach we would graduate a group of people into society who "felt" good about themselves and possibly "felt" very good about others, but would be absolutely useless as they don't know anything.

The teaching program at many schools is usually the home of the worst students, and the cirriculum is just rediculous. Entire classes are devoted to topics like "gender reversal exercises" and the like, which has NOTHING to do with making sure kids can read or write or do math. In fact, if you look at some of the gen-ed classes that those in the teaching program take, you will find that they are often the WORST writers and thinkers in the class, unable to articulate a cogent arguement to save their little lives. Give them some essay questions and you are guaranteed to fail them.

My experience has been that the majority of them can't coherently express an idea and only manage to parrot cliches and slogans taught to them by their politburo NEA approved instructors who are just as vapid as they are.

There is a REASON why universities are being forced to teach remedial reading, writing and mathematics classes. It isn't because they want to. They are finding that a significant percentage of their students are NOT ready for college.

Then, of course, that brings us to the problem with a lot of colleges, namely that a good many of them don't TEACH. But that is a whole different rant.

Quoted: Quoted: Hey this isn't BS.   Nope. I don't make a habit of posting BS. My wife started her first class this semester and first topic was diversity! I mean they can't even plan a lunch menu in classes without diversity being the number one theme without failing.  Doesn't matter if the potential users are of the same culture.   Tj The indoctrination done in the "education" programs is ASTOUNDING. One fellow I worked with had his master's in education. While working on a computer problem one day (he worked in IT while waiting to find his "dream" teaching job, which he did find...and then left the public education world altogether 6 months later....) somehow we got on the topic of schools. "Kids can't learn in a school that is run down" he said. I, of course, was baffled. I asked when exactly in human history it became necessary to have a brand new building for kids to learn, because I had been educated in several run down buildings as had other people far greater than me. I argued that if a school focused on teaching kids actual topics and useful skills (math, reading, science, etc...) that it would ensure that they could succeed in the world. He seemed to think that the most important part of school was NOT learning actual subjects, but was rather socialization, identity issues, and a bunch of other psycho-babble. I politely informed him that according to his approach we would graduate a group of people into society who "felt" good about themselves and possibly "felt" very good about others, but would be absolutely useless as they don't know anything. The teaching program at many schools is usually the home of the worst students, and the cirriculum is just rediculous. Entire classes are devoted to topics like "gender reversal exercises" and the like, which has NOTHING to do with making sure kids can read or write or do math. In fact, if you look at some of the gen-ed classes that those in the teaching program take, you will find that they are often the WORST writers and thinkers in the class, unable to articulate a cogent arguement to save their little lives. Give them some essay questions and you are guaranteed to fail them. My experience has been that the majority of them can't coherently express an idea and only manage to parrot cliches and slogans taught to them by their politburo NEA approved instructors who are just as vapid as they are. There is a REASON why universities are being forced to teach remedial reading, writing and mathematics classes. It isn't because they want to. They are finding that a significant percentage of their students are NOT ready for college. Then, of course, that brings us to the problem with a lot of colleges, namely that a good many of them don't TEACH. But that is a whole different rant.

You hit the nail on the head.

I'm a TA for a freshman history class at my college.  The first day, the Professor has a powerpoint slide with pictures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, John Brown, etc...

He asks the class who the people in the pcitures are.  The first one thinks Davis is LINCOLN.  The next thinks that Lee is Grant!  Noone can identify John Brown (holding a gun and a bible at harper's ferry no less).

But when the prof asks why America is great, they all say "Because we're so diverse and we accept so many cultures!"    Wtf?  I felt like I was in DotD and I was the only one not bitten...

Well, atleast I know there will be lots of underlings for me to order around at work.

Quoted: But when the prof asks why America is great, they all say "Because we're so diverse and we accept so many cultures!"    Wtf?  I felt like I was in DotD and I was the only one not bitten...

Please oh please tell me that the professor is a Starship Troopers History & Moral Philosophy-style teacher and he ripped that ninny a new one...

I've noticed that noone has attacked the root of the problem yet. The reason our educational systems are failing is that they were doomed to failure from the start. How do I know this?

Its pretty simple actually. Normally, when one does a good job, one is rewarded, with more money, a bigger office, ect. And, when one does not do well on the job they are assigned, they are either demoted, or let go. However, our pubilc schools work just the opposite. When a schools test scores are failing, i.e. they are not doing well at the job they have been assigned, the logical thing to assume would be that they are punished in some sort of way. Fire the superintendent, cut funding, or cut the bad teachers loose. However, that is not what happens. They get MORE funding, MORE people, MORE buildings, the list goes on and on and on.

But what about the schools that do well, that do a good job (however few and far between they might be) and end up under budget for the year? You guessed it, since they are doing so well with what they have, lets go ahead and take a bit of your funding this year, ok? We'll send it over to this school, who needs more funding. You're doing ok now, so a little less funding won't hurt a bit.

So what do we have? Subsidation of failure. If you reward failure, and punish success, you'll get failure, 100 times out of 100. Why work hard, when you know you'll get more money and other handouts from just sitting on your ass? A little known fact, around 70% of public funding goes to administration. 70%. 70 cents out of every dollar YOU spend on pubilc schools don't go to the kids at all, but go to the wallets of the people sitting in the central office, the paper pushers.

As long as the system keeps rewarding failure, its going to get much much worse. The very sad thing is who will be on the loosing end. Its not just you and I, but our children.

-Storm