Posted on 02/22/2007 12:03:31 PM PST by devane617
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 — Today’s high school students are taking seemingly tougher courses and earning better grades, but their reading skills are not improving, according to the results of a national assessment released here today that cited grade inflation as a possible explanation. .
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Is it really the terrorists we need to be worried about?
The joys of public ejamakshun. Glad my parents were relatively involved in my schooling.
But you and I won't be running America in 20 years.
Is it really the terrorists we need to be worried about?
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No, it is a totally dysfunctional government school (indoctrination) system that is dumbing-down our children. The libs of academia have no accountability. The strongest union (teacher's union) they are, in Washington, which panders to them, needless to say.
If I had to educate my two kids over, they would NEVER set foot in a goverment indoctrination camp. I would work two jobs if I had to, to pay for private, quality education, not mindless indoctrination.
It is pathetic what is coming out of our so-called schools.
Public opinion polls during presidential election years always show education as one of the highest ranking concerns of American voters. So it is not surprising that presidential candidates of both major parties always spend a great deal of time talking about their deep commitment to the education of “our nation’s children.”
This commitment always involves a promise to increase federal spending on public education – actually, government education – and also to fight for systemic changes aimed at improved school accountability, smaller classes, more teachers, more funding for infrastructure, and so on.
All of this new spending and systemic change is necessary, we are told each year, because our schools are in crisis. Thus, we have George W Bush and Ted Kennedy teaming up in 2001 to fix public education by giving us “No Child Left Behind,” which was supposed to fix a system supposedly already fixed by a 1994 piece of federal legislation called “Goals 2000,” which was supposed to fix a system already fixed by “America 2000,” which was a 1991 response during the first Bush administration to a 1983 Reagan-era federal report on education called “A Nation at Risk,” which was published a full four years after Jimmy Carter fixed the nation’s public school system by first establishing a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979.
You don’t have to be Nostradamus to see what the future holds if this trend is allowed to continue – more money thrown at ever larger failures, year after year after year. Has there ever been a year in which the federal government has spent less money on education than the year before? The US spends more per pupil than any other country. Has there ever been a year in which America has been able to declare that it has the best educated population in the world? Not that I’ve ever heard.
One nice thing about the free market is that when a business continuously delivers shoddy products to its customers at inflated prices, the customers eventually stop buying and the business is forced to shut its doors and stop wasting resources. Not so with federal programs. If a federal program – such as public education -- fails miserably at its stated purpose, then all the special interests and social engineering bureaucrats start screaming that the failure is due to a lack of funding.
Thus, the worse the performance, the more money these people get. Talk about a perverse incentive. Naturally, those who would argue that maybe it is time to stop throwing good money after bad, and that maybe it is time to get the federal government out of the education business altogether, will be greeted with horrified accusations that they don’t care about the education of “our nation’s children.”.
All of this new spending and systemic change is necessary, we are told each year, because our schools are in crisis. Thus, we have George W Bush and Ted Kennedy teaming up in 2001 to fix public education by giving us “No Child Left Behind,” which was supposed to fix a system supposedly already fixed by a 1994 piece of federal legislation called “Goals 2000,” which was supposed to fix a system already fixed by “America 2000,” which was a 1991 response during the first Bush administration to a 1983 Reagan-era federal report on education called “A Nation at Risk,” which was published a full four years after Jimmy Carter fixed the nation’s public school system by first establishing a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979.
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Yes, and what has Washington accomplished?? We still have outcome-based liberal "education"...pathetic.
I guess the only answere is more gov't control and more of my money?????????????
Let me try and get this straight. Grades are improving but reading ability isn't. Hmmm. Could it be that the tests are being dumbed down? Naw, they'd never do that.
No, they aren't. Today's HS students are taking courses so dumbed down that a retarded goat could pass them. However, with the Internet, American Idol, Xbox, and hip-hop crammed into their heads, they don't have the mental capacity to process anything that requires actual thought. And, they haven't been required to actually READ andything since . . . . . . well, BIRTH!!!
Not surprisingly, the best way to develop reading skills is to do lots of reading. I'm glad I was always an avid reader, because the schools would have quite happily graduated me only semi-literate.
Is it really the terrorists we need to be worried about?
I don't mean to disregard this study, but could it be that the students are just tested to death and don't take them seriously. I know quite a few that just check "c" on every question, but are otherwise very smart students. When I was in school I believe I took two tests in my tenur (Iowa Basics and SATs). Sure Iowa Basics was taken a few times over the 12 years, and SATs (pre-1 time and SATs-2 times). But it seems like they are constantly taking these tests everytime you turn around. I believe the kids are about done with these tests. I am being devil's advocate on this and perhaps maybe there is a problem but I think my post needs at least some consideration.
Today’s high school students are taking seemingly tougher courses and earning better grades, but their reading skills are not improving,..
Have to look at the bright side, they know how to use a condom,
Grade inflation is real and masks a multitude of student deficiencies. Period. That said, being able to train fares/schedules is a marginal metric at best, biased at worst. Proficiency with them is probably more a function of living in a metro area than actual literacy.
Many parents aren't aware of it, but there are options to high school. We homeschooled through the 9th grade, then enrolled in the community college for the "dual credit" program, so by the end of 12th grade the student has the opportunity to not only be awarded a HS diploma, but also an AA. Without too much effort, my son racked up 78 hours that were transferable to the state university. Best part, all 78 hours were tuition free under the dual credit program and he never set foot in a high school.
Thus, the worse the performance, the more money these people get.
Possible idea for kitten and cub.
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