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 Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:48 pm
For those of you who don't know, Integrated is "just-barely-passing-HS." I was tutoring a kid in Integrated math, and this stuff is fourth to sixth grade requirements - in high school! Seriously, there is too much lowering of the standards these days. This kid pulled out a calculator to do 5-(-2)! stressed
Discuss:
-Lower standards in public schools
-"Dumbing down" of academics (We have Integrated math, but the last year of Calc is next year. They're canceling it!)
-No skills: using calculators when they aren't necessary
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 8:13 am
yeah there is a fair amount of dumbing down in schools. Using NSW Australia as an example, the year 10 school certificate is an exam sat at the end of year 10, and the same exam is used reguradless if the student is IM, or anything. It is realistically designed as an exam for people who dont like school, or are not mentally ready/able to handle school, as an encouragement to go and complete year 12.
Im not having a gripe about it, its just having sat that exam 5 years ago, it doesnt give you a feeling of accomplishment, its not challenging enough to feel that going through 11 years of schooling was actually worth it.
There is a real need to smarten up the work done by the school board. We cant blame the teachers as they are only doing there jobs, following the set curriculum, its the higher ups that need a working through.
But on an interesting note, at least in Aust. the board are reviewing teh need for homework, as its need isnt really there, and it can be excessive, and mroe often than not, not actually relevant.
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:51 pm
I don't pull out a calculator at the drop of a hat, but I still tend to count on my fingers in my second-year-of-uni math courses. Fortunately I'm a biologist and we don't have to be as numerate as the other scientists, and I can still do the math.
I really disagree with the "No child left behind" stuff that's going on in public schools. I understand that it's hard to get a job without a highschool diploma, and I know that the people that tend to struggle are usually either recent immigrants that don't really speak whatever language the school is in, or lower-income people with less of an opportunity to study, but that doesn't mean they should just be passed.
Like, what job can you get with just a diploma anyway? I'm pretty sure it isn't necessary to clean the bathrooms at Walmart, or get a McJob. Just handing out a diploma isn't helping anyone, because it doesn't mean anything anymore.
A grade 12 student should be able to read. If they can't, then how successful can they be in the working world? I don't see how handing someone a diploma so they can do a minimum wage job will help them improve their lives. And any kids they have will come from the same difficult economic background, and have the same disadvantages towards learning. It's a very short term solution, because unless those people are better at school than their parents, they won't have a better life.
Not that I have a solution. I'm not blaming teachers, because they are told what to teach, and actively discouraged (in my part of the world) from failing anyone. And it definitely doesn't seem right that certain groups of people have a much higher chance of doing badly than others. I don't know. But I definitely believe that dumbing down school is harmful to everyone in it.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:58 pm
electricfeints Like, what job can you get with just a diploma anyway? I'm pretty sure it isn't necessary to clean the bathrooms at Walmart, or get a McJob. Just handing out a diploma isn't helping anyone, because it doesn't mean anything anymore. Actually, a diploma (or GED) is needed for many jobs in the United States. Depending upon where you live, upwards of 90% of low pay jobs require one. I know both Wal-Mart and McDonalds require a diploma in much of Oklahoma.
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:39 pm
zz1000zz electricfeints Like, what job can you get with just a diploma anyway? I'm pretty sure it isn't necessary to clean the bathrooms at Walmart, or get a McJob. Just handing out a diploma isn't helping anyone, because it doesn't mean anything anymore. Actually, a diploma (or GED) is needed for many jobs in the United States. Depending upon where you live, upwards of 90% of low pay jobs require one. I know both Wal-Mart and McDonalds require a diploma in much of Oklahoma. Yup. Although a lot of high school students can get jobs, it's a lot easier once you have a diploma.
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