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Mixed-Level Classes at Evanston High School Defended (Good & Bad students must be in same classes)
Evanston Roundtable ^ | 10/15/08 | Mixed-Level Classes at ETHS Challenged, Defended at PTSA Meeting

Posted on 10/20/2008 9:37:45 AM PDT by prolifefirst

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To: nmh

“Scatter the smart ones that will do ALL the work at a slowed down pace and lift the dumb/stupid ones UP through that. In educrat circles it is known as comparative learning.”

Hey - watch it. They’re just spreading the wealth around. (”Sounds a lot like socialism to me”).


21 posted on 10/20/2008 10:19:13 AM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant, Never Fearful)
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To: prolifefirst
They are primarily concerned about the gap in achievement between black and white students.

Bringing black scores up is hard.

Crippling white students scores to bring them down is easier.

22 posted on 10/20/2008 10:21:37 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell)
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To: prolifefirst

For years I have been noticing this trend — excuse me, it isn’t scientific and all...but what it is, is just good ol’e fashioned common sense.

Just about 1991 when RAP started becoming very main stream...was about the same time teachers were no longer allowed to discipline the “disruptive” students in the classroom for fear of litigation...so, the student was removed from the classroom - the reality of that situation is, instead of insisting that the student behave, mind the teacher, and pay attention we instead came up with an excuse for the behavior — ADD/ADHD and shuffle the child off to the slow learning class.

The conservative minded tough teachers got tired of fighting the school board about un-ruly students with little to no support and they started leaving, retiring, or moving on to something else where they didn’t have to put up with the BS.

Then, entered the “easier softer liberal” teachers…with the students now with ADD/ADHD and the “let’s love everyone” BS — kids started becoming more and more violent - why, because there are no consequences for anyone anymore…everyone is a victim of something and no one is responsible for their behavior or actions.

Well, they are still behaving badly there — why, because the child isn’t receiving disciple at home, how on earth could you expect the child to conform to societal norms in public when they have never seen it or had it enforced in the home.

All the RAP culture has taught young AA males is, “you are a sucker if you let the man tell you what to do.”

You can still get rich and live the “high life,” even if you don’t have a HS education...then, when reality sets in and they find out that they can’t get a job at McDonalds because they don’t have HS diploma — then they become a “victim of the system.”

The problem with that culture is there is “no accountability,” in the home or at the school.

Stop the bad behavior, re-establish strict guidelines for performance and conduct on school property with swift and meaningful punishment for bad behavior and I can assure you — the bad behavior goes a way.

Leave the kids in the gifted classes alone — they are our only saving grace.


23 posted on 10/20/2008 10:22:34 AM PDT by areukiddingme1 (areukiddingme1 is a synonym for a Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and tired of liberal BS.)
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To: 21twelve

We switched my son to private school for high school because he wasn’t getting pushed hard enough in the public school system.

The public high school only had 1 honors class for freshmen. Every subject has honors classes in the private school. Also, the level of students in the private school is much higher in the private school.

I knew toooooo many gifted kids in college who couldn’t handle studying in college. I would prefer that my gifted kids learn how to work hard while they are younger.

At the same time, I just want my special needs daughter to be at grade level. I also think she will eventually go to college because she is very good at math. I don’t know what her career will be, but it should be math related and not writing.

I’ve thought seriously about homeschooling my special needs daughter because it would be so easy to tailor her education, but she loves going to school. She loves the social aspects. She loves being around the kids. She loves her teachers. She loves playing on the softball team. It just makes our evenings a living H*** trying to get homework done!!!!!!!!!!!


24 posted on 10/20/2008 10:25:18 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: areukiddingme1

We met with my daughters’ teachers and principal just last week.

They used to separate the kids based on their levels, but now they have put all the kids together. One of their reasons was that the misbehaving kids were all in the lower level class.

It’s hard because my special needs daughter is lower level work wise, but she is very well-behaved. I would hate her to be lumped with a lot of misbahaving kids.


25 posted on 10/20/2008 10:28:44 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: prolifefirst

This playing around with mixing achievers and non-achievers makes no sense, no matter what color, either.

I live in a ‘white-collar, mostly white town. Years ago, when my kids were in grade school, someone got the bright idea to align the A students with the C students, and the B students with the D/F students. The idea was to bring up the level of the lower grade students. It wasn’t a popular idea and after a while it was quietly dropped. I guess that if it worked the way it was supposed to it would have stayed.

How about looking for the root cause of the underachievers and do something about that!!


26 posted on 10/20/2008 10:35:10 AM PDT by Exit148 (Founder of the Loose Change Club. Every nickle and dime counts!!)
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To: luckystarmom

“It just makes our evenings a living H*** trying to get homework done!!!!!!!!!!!”

My one twin daughter - it’s like pulling teeth to keep her on task. Not a huge problem, but more than once have discussed getting her checked out. But I view it as just “typical” kid behaviour. My son was ALWAYS very diligent, rule oriented, etc. The one daughter is perhaps the most “normal” but perhaps a bit TOO normal. And the other daughter drags her feet on EVERYTHING, her mind is ALWAYS thinking about something - just not often enough on the task at hand. (She is also the wittiest and most observant!) They all have their special niche and the trick is to find the way to reach that niche in their own way.

An old boss of mine when asked how many children he had would always answer “Three. One of each.”


27 posted on 10/20/2008 10:35:52 AM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant, Never Fearful)
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To: 21twelve

We were actually getting the handle on homework with my special needs daughter, and then last October she had a grand mal seizure, and since she has been diagnosed with epilepsy and put on anti-seizure meds.

Now, the medication wears off in the afternoon, and she is really toast when it comes to any language based work after school. Also, stress can bring on a seizure, so we don’t want to stress her out. I don’t know if it’s the seizures or the medication, but her processing speed has gone down a ton since last year. She is a lot slower then she used to be.

After she takes her second dose of medication at 6, and she eats dinner, she can handle some language based homework, but it’s so late by then. She also sleeps more since her seizure. In the summer, she was typically sleeping 10-12 hours every day.


28 posted on 10/20/2008 10:42:50 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: 3AngelaD

Leftism is about equal outcome, not equal opportunity. The Utopian goal is to eliminate envy in the world. Their dream is completely unattainable though. The first problem is that envy is a choice, not an inevitability. There will always be those that choose it. The second is that there are many sources that prompt envy and they cannot cap them all. They can induce academic equal outcome by tripping up the smart kids but this does nothing to address athletic and artistic ability, talent, looks, personality, temperament, health, family. An envy free world is unquestionably unattainable. Efforts to achieve it are futile and a waste of limited resources. The goal of leftism is unsound from the start and should be recognized as a fast spreading pathogen infecting our culture. Life just isn’t fair and can never be made so.


29 posted on 10/20/2008 10:48:07 AM PDT by Reeses (Leftism is powered by the evil force of envy.)
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To: nmh

Hey watch what you say. Some kids are smart, but not in every area.

My special needs daughter can’t handle the language activities, but she is gifted at math.

Some kids are great at reading/writing, but not at math.

My special needs daughter is one of the hardest workers if she is given activities she can do.

By the way, I absolutely hate group projects!!!!!!!!! It’s not like the workforce. In the workforce, there is a boss who is in charge who assigns people to perform work that they hopefully can do. If a person doesn’t do the work, they are fired. Group projects in school do not work like that.


30 posted on 10/20/2008 10:49:32 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: luckystarmom

Sorry to hear of the medical problems. From your earlier posts she sounds like she’s got things pretty together (excels in math, grade-appropriate reading and writing, friends, sports, etc.). Obviously she is a tough one to overcome her difficulties like that. (Sounds like mom is a tough one too!)


31 posted on 10/20/2008 10:51:12 AM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant, Never Fearful)
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To: luckystarmom
By the way, I absolutely hate group projects!!!!!!!!! It’s not like the workforce. In the workforce, there is a boss who is in charge who assigns people to perform work that they hopefully can do. If a person doesn’t do the work, they are fired. Group projects in school do not work like that.

Group projects are big in parts of the workforce.

32 posted on 10/20/2008 10:51:20 AM PDT by E=MC2
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To: E=MC2

Without a boss????? There’s always a boss that assigns the work. There’s always a boss who is responsible for the output.


33 posted on 10/20/2008 10:57:23 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: 21twelve

She is one tough cookie. I just see her starting to give up this year with school. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her do that. There’s days where she just doesn’t want to do homework/study at all. You can tell she’s burning out. It’s got me concerned.


34 posted on 10/20/2008 11:00:09 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: luckystarmom

“It’s hard because my special needs daughter is lower level work wise, but she is very well-behaved. I would hate her to be lumped with a lot of misbehaving kids.”

And that is precisely where the inequity begins...the kids that are struggling to learn — but are there to learn it — that is the part of all this that is completely unfair to them to be sequestered off with the kids that don’t care whether or not they graduate because they think they are going to be driving around in a Cadillac Escalade and making six figure salaries a year like the RAP singers...

The disruptive students — the ones that make learning hard for other students should be forced — after so many visits to the principles office to attend some sort of vocational institution and leave the main stream educational system like that have accomplished in LA.

After the 1995 Watts riots, LA spent millions on the South Central Vocational HS system, which essentially replaced the traditional HS system for underachieving minorities in South Central LA — at least they are able to learn a trade and they are not disrupting the classroom.

When they graduate they at least have a trade that they can fall back on when the RAP contract doesn’t come through.


35 posted on 10/20/2008 11:05:32 AM PDT by areukiddingme1 (areukiddingme1 is a synonym for a Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and tired of liberal BS.)
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To: hilaryrhymeswithrich

Evanston has wealth on the waterfront and a ghetto to the west (Janeway Avenue?). I haven’t been there in a decade, but assume its schizophrenic nature hasn’t changed. Reminds me alot of Englewood, NJ: wealthy limo libs on one side of the tracks, poor welfare-dependent Dems on the other.


36 posted on 10/20/2008 11:10:39 AM PDT by Clemenza (PRIVATIZE FANNIE AND FREDDIE! NO MORE BAILOUTS!)
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To: Clemenza

Sounds like my school district. I live in San Jose in California. The district is only 2 miles wide, and over 20 miles long.

The northern half of the district is near downtown, and is primarily hispanic and poor.

The southern half of the district is well to do suburbia that is primrily white and asian.

A group of parents tried to split the district, but that didn’t work.

The needs of the northern half of the district are so different then the needs of the southern half. It’s really not fair to either group.


37 posted on 10/20/2008 11:14:01 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: luckystarmom

Do you always go back and forth with the private vs public school issue? Please do not send your daughter back to public school. She and parents like you are the last thing struggling San Jose schools need. I assume you live in the Southern more affluent end of San Jose?


38 posted on 10/27/2008 8:08:52 PM PDT by bawhora
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To: bawhora

I’ve had kids in both at the same time. I’m interested in both private and public school.


39 posted on 10/27/2008 8:45:56 PM PDT by luckystarmom
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