Education crisis? Or acceptable outcomes for this country.

Cynical said:

Education at the higher levels (high school/college) needs to be more practical. A student gets a general education of an array of subject matter from K to 8th grade. Does one really need another 8 years of general education classes? Complete waste of time and money. At the higher levels there needs to be more of an incorporation of employment possibilities as well as a greater focus on a students interests and abilities. I don't know if this will ever happen because the education establishment is so entrenched and is very powerful. The only way education will reform is if there is a concerted private sector competition that establishes relationships with businesses to provide students a less expensive and more streamlined approach to get employees into businesses.

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We form relationships with the community and local businesses here. We have shifted to an Inquiry based educational model were we have students designing projects (for example we had a group learn how to create a bike track where they had to go and get Board Approval (create presentations) and get local investors using a business model and another learn about Crime Scene Investigation by combining a psychology course and a maths one) . I taught a class this year where I brought in local citizens, mostly from a retirement community, were students taught them how to use computers, the internet, Facebook, coding, etc and I facilitated their learning and assessed them on outcomes based off of core competencies such as how well they planned, their engagement, collaboration, etc. as well as a tangible outcome... but mostly it is about the process. Anyway...

Originally Posted by Checkerboard Strangler: We either get ready to accept UBI, [i.e. universal basic income], or a robot tax, or make a moon shot sized investment in MASSIVE higher education programs for everyone, starting at the high school level. ...
QUOTE=I'm Supposn;1070897787]Checkerboard Strangler, each of the 50 states have opportunities to devise their own improvements without intervening or harming their neighbors. Paraphrasing Mark twain, we all talk of education and states’ rights, but the states themselves have failed to step up to the extent of their responsibilities.

The federal “no child left behind’ program certainly was correct to begin with prekindergarten. Children unprepared to enter high-school were lost to us unless they later received some general education and training in the U.S. military.

Every parent or guardian should receive their children’s’ scores and explanations of standard annual federal tests. Those tests’ averages and median scores for each county, town, city and state should be published by the federal government. That would enable voters to hold legislators and administrators for the public schools within their jurisdictions. If those average and median scores of individual schools were published, individual school administrators could be held more responsible. ...[/QUOTE]

Respectfully, Supposn

I'm Supposn said:

Checkerboard Strangler, … You write “accountability issue wasn't the problem”. If the test did not demonstrate competence, then the tests do not serve their purpose and government should be held accountable for that. (I personally find fault with my grand-children’s schools introductions of arithmetic to kindergarten and early school grades).

The reading tests should not be oral exams. They should require the children to comprehend what they’ve read. Similarly, social studies and science tests should not test recall of names, dates, and facts, but again comprehending what was read and reaching logical conclusions based upon the information provided within the test questions.
If the children in your school district were able to pass federal tests but were taught nothing of value, Then the government of that district should be held responsible. Was the entire state failing their children, or just a few backward school districts?

I had not seen the question of subjects other than math, and I don’t know if the tests were uniform throughout our entire nation. If they are not nationally uniform, the U.S. congress is failing our nation's children.

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Respectfully, Supposn

Bodhisattva said:

Kids are coming out of the system well educated, for those that bother to try.

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Bingo!

Here in Los Angeles, the cops rushed this week to a local high school because students and parents were fighting one another on campus.

Oh, yeah, it's the educational system that is at fault! More taxpayer money, please!

Carjosse said:

When outcomes are consistently bad or getting worse, the problem is most pronounced in Southern states. Hell Oklahoma decided to cut an entire day of school off of the week in the name of cost cutting:

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Yeah buddy!

Even more time off for teachers!

Risky Thicket said:

The single greatest determinant of academic achievement among children with equal ability is parent involvement.

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Sort of. It is whether or not they are married, which in turn creates better stability and parental involvement for the child.

cpwill said:

Sort of. It is whether or not they are married, which in turn creates better stability and parental involvement for the child.

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It should probably be defined as a stable, loving, supportive home. Parent, parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, foster parents are all more than capable of this. Now, if the supporting people are limited in education, you would at least hope they seek assistance from other readily available resources.

charliebrown said:

It should probably be defined as a stable, loving, supportive home. Parent, parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, foster parents are all more than capable of this. Now, if the supporting people are limited in education, you would at least hope they seek assistance from other readily available resources.

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...Sort of. While any addition of love and care by responsible adults is generally better, the social science stats are clear - children raised in a home with married biological parents outperform the children who aren't.

TheParser said:

Bingo!

Here in Los Angeles, the cops rushed this week to a local high school because students and parents were fighting one another on campus.

Oh, yeah, it's the educational system that is at fault! More taxpayer money, please!

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Yep... it is amazing what happens when people put things in proper context