Can we talk about school.....particularly quizzes, test, mid-terms, and finals?

[hal9000]

Looks like tons of schools are canceling mid-term exams this year due to "learning gaps", covid cases, tests stress students out.

What does everyone think about this?

I think it does students a disservice since these are things they'll have to deal with in college.

Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong and none of the sh!t you do in high school really matters and most kids figure stuff out when they leave high school and get to college or their new job or vocation.

 

[hammies]

Tons of kids show up at college and are in way over their heads, and more students than eveer are showing up at 4-year schools totally unprepared. This has been going on for a while and is rapidly getting worse. Tons of articles and statistics bear this out. These students have to spend their first year taking remedial math and english courses just to get to where they should have been straight out of high school. Most of these kids end up dropping out.

Colleges, especially public ones, are to blame because they are mandated to let more and more kids in, so they remove as many barriers to entry as they can. Makes the numbers look good and politicians are happy to point to the great success that so many kids are going to college.

High schools are equally to blame because they make it easy as sh!t to graduate a-g eligible and they push a lot of kids into college that really shouldn't be going. Makes the numbers look good and school boards are happy to point to the great success that so many kids are going to college.

Professor Autoprax might have a word or 2 on this subject.

 

[GromsDad]

The incompetent's leftists running state governments, teachers unions and school districts have fukked up in monumental fashion. The system is broken, it was broken on purpose, and the people who broke it certainly can't fix it.

At the end of the day, the majority of kids will find their place in society regardless of the failed brick & mortar education system. Success has little to do with the schools to begin with and is largely based on what goes on in the home. Its the morons and hoodlums that society has to worry about and that again is largely the result of what goes on at home.

 

[kidfury]

You alright bro, back from your trip?

 

[grapedrink]

Why do you hate equity so much

 

[hammies]

The incompetent's leftists running state governments, teachers unions and school districts have fukked up in monumental fashion.

Partly true, but conservatively run states are not any better.

The system is broken, it was broken on purpose, and the people who broke it certainly can't fix it.

I wouldn't be so quick to ascribe nefarious motives to the people who make educational decisions at the state and local level. They may be incompetent but are not generally malevolent in their motives.

At the end of the day, the majority of kids will find their place in society regardless of the failed brick & mortar education system. Success has little to do with the schools to begin with and is largely based on what goes on in the home. Its the morons and hoodlums that society has to worry about and that again is largely the result of what goes on at home.

Your first sentence and last sentence are mostly true. Your middle sentence ignores the large body of evidence that people with a bachelor's degree will, on average, make $900K - $1M more in their lifetime than someone with only a high school education.

 

[GromsDad]

Partly true, but conservatively run states are not any better.

I wouldn't be so quick to ascribe nefarious motives to the people who make educational decisions at the state and local level. They may be incompetent but are not generally malevolent in their motives.

Your first sentence and last sentence are mostly true. Your middle sentence ignores the large body of evidence that people with a bachelor's degree will, on average, make $900K - $1M more in their lifetime than someone with only a high school education.

Right now there is no doubt that education is function better in red states. That being said, even in red states, leftist have tentacles deep into the education system.

If you think people like Phil Murphy on down don't have nefarious motives in the things they've done I don't know how to help you.

I think time will show that a bachelor's degree has a diminishing role if economic success as the bachelor's degree of today isn't what it was 20 or more years ago.

 

[kidfury]

Right now there is no doubt that education is function better in red states.

The proof is in the pudendum

 

[StuAzole]

This is not happening where I live. God Bless conservative California.

 

[Chocki]

 

[GromsDad]

 

[hal9000]

More and more I see parents doing a lot of over-parenting and complaining to the school when Johnny gets a little stressed out by tests and quizzes, and the BOE and/or superintendent caving to their whims.

The result is lowered expectations, a watered-down curriculum, and students equipped with fewer skills. Believe me when I tell you teachers are furious about this and many are leaving the profession.


Hammies is spot-on......there's a colossal disconnect between secondary education and college and nobody knows what to do about it. Some of us got into the profession partly because we wanted to make a difference on that front but it's mostly a losing battle.




P.S.: As usual, Gromsdad adds nothing substantive to a conversation and shows his complete lack of understanding of an issue.

Keep looking through the lens of political polarization, it makes you look really smart.

 

[GromsDad]

The incompetent's leftists running state governments, teachers unions and school districts have fukked up in monumental fashion. The system is broken, it was broken on purpose, and the people who broke it certainly can't fix it.

At the end of the day, the majority of kids will find their place in society regardless of the failed brick & mortar education system. Success has little to do with the schools to begin with and is largely based on what goes on in the home. Its the morons and hoodlums that society has to worry about and that again is largely the result of what goes on at home.

Hal can't possibly debate honestly the role the politicians he's invested so much in supporting and the union he belongs to and supports financially in the failing education system. He doesn't have a leg to stand on if the conversation goes there. But but but PARENTS BAD for beginning to see and call out the failure.

 

[hal9000]

Hal can't possibly debate honestly the role the politicians he's invested so much in supporting and the union he belongs to and supports financially in the failing education system. He doesn't have a leg to stand on if the conversation goes there. But but but PARENTS BAD for beginning to see and call out the failure.

After reading these replies, I'm beginning to see why people say the American education systems (of which there are 50) are failing.

 

[GromsDad]

After reading these replies, I'm beginning to see why people say the American education systems (of which there are 50) are failing.
View attachment 122377

Knowing how cornered you are on this topic right now its plain to see why you respond as you do. You can't possibly call out the failure of the politicians you support and the union you belong to.

 

[hal9000]

The results of this study aren't even slightly surprising given the recent trends in education, and, in reality, this is a multI-variate problem with many factors at work (parents, outside-of-school-factors, teachers, admin, school boards, socio-economics, family income, the list goes on).

Are High School Graduates Ready for College? Studies Are Dismal | PublicSchoolReview.com

Delve into a number of recent reports and studies that show high school graduates may be ill-prepared for the academic rigors of college.

www.publicschoolreview.com

from my own observations, schools and parents aren't demanding enough from students (i'm
talking mainly about secondary education): setting high standards, developing work ethic, teaching/developing skills, and demanding personal responsibility and accountability.

In addition, we're so eager to push everyone into college when more people should enter a trade o vocational training.

 

[Ifallalot]

I have zero to argue with on either Hal or hammies' point on this thread

Now, can we talk about homework? If i take work home, i'm getting paid for it.

We scream and cry about 8 hour workdays and 40 hour work weeks, and how we need less, but then we make kids go to school for about that same amount of time AND expect them to work 1, 2, even 3 hours on homework after? And then there's idiot parents who won't let their kids do the important things like sports and extracirruclar activities because of the homework load?

 

[hal9000]

I have zero to argue with on either Hal or hammies' point on this thread

Now, can we talk about homework? If i take work home, i'm getting paid for it.

We scream and cry about 8 hour workdays and 40 hour work weeks, and how we need less, but then we make kids go to school for about that same amount of time AND expect them to work 1, 2, even 3 hours on homework after? And then there's idiot parents who won't let their kids do the important things like sports and extracirruclar activities because of the homework load?

Your point is well-taken, but I'm not sure if everyone who takes work home is getting compensated for it.

As for homework, I wholeheartedly agree, we should try to get all school work done at school, but I do think that homework is a reality for the upper-level high school classes, as is also true for college classes.

I think a fair compromise is "anything you don't finish in school, you finish on your own time", but teachers should plan activities that most kids should be able to realistically finish during class.

Kids need to get outside and run around. Enough cannot be said for brain-body connections.

 

[afoaf]

my kids have little to no homework each day

the local district has a policy about this...they are proactively capping it

it's great

we walk three miles on the beach or ride our bikes to RAT, buy the groceries for dinner, and do some chores

it's a nice evening routine

 

[enframed]

Striking the right balance of homework and physical activity is the key here, IMO. Kids need both. Both are important.

Homework not only builds knowledge of the subject at hand, if completed by the student, it also helps them become self-sufficient in their gaining knowledge, and, helps them live with boredom. This last point, I think, is not taken seriously enough. In my experience, kids don't know how to be bored. This absolutely is a necessary life skill.

Or maybe it isn't anymore with screens 24/7. Maybe I'm just old. Sometimes I think I"m nostalgic for the days of "Kill Your Television."

TV was weed. The internet tethered to a screen is methamphetamine.

I love the word "tethered."

Tons of kids show up at college and are in way over their heads, and more students than eveer are showing up at 4-year schools totally unprepared. This has been going on for a while and is rapidly getting worse. Tons of articles and statistics bear this out. These students have to spend their first year taking remedial math and english courses just to get to where they should have been straight out of high school. Most of these kids end up dropping out.

Colleges, especially public ones, are to blame because they are mandated to let more and more kids in, so they remove as many barriers to entry as they can. Makes the numbers look good and politicians are happy to point to the great success that so many kids are going to college.

High schools are equally to blame because they make it easy as sh!t to graduate a-g eligible and they push a lot of kids into college that really shouldn't be going. Makes the numbers look good and school boards are happy to point to the great success that so many kids are going to college.

Agree with all of that.

In the age of YouTube videos maybe vocational school isn't that necessary. One can learn how to do almost any trade by watching a video and following along. The only thing you don't get is "certification."