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Originally posted by TheIceMan
1. Should we (Americans) continue to "dumb down" our education system just so students can pass and in essence enter the "real world" not having learned basic reading and arithmetic?
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Unfortunately, with lawsuits running ramped, this is a difficult one to tackle. Here's an example of a situation: A girl is 18 years old and a Senior. Her reading level is approximately equivalent to that of a 3rd grader, and her math level is equivalent to that of a 5th grader. She has little to no short term memory. Teachers have recommend that the girl be tested in order to receive special education benefits. The mother refused the tests. Every year a teacher has tried, and every year the mother refused.
Like I said, this girl is 18 and a Senior. This is her last year of high school. She took the State's minimum basic skills test and failed. In our state, we have a "second chance" test that's more difficult than the original test and much more comprehensive. So she's been in the process of taking this test. She's failing it presently. Graduation is 3 weeks away. Her name was removed from the list of graduates, and her mother is threatening lawsuit. We have all tried to help her daughter, but she doesn't see it that way. The mother is the one who has failed this child, not the system.
We were not "dumbing down" anything.
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Originally posted by TheIceMan
2. Why is only Florida administering this test? Should it be required on a national level. European and Asian countries require this of all their students. In fact, many require that the students pass a comprehensive exam before they are allowed to advance to the next grade level.
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Florida is not the only state administering a minimum basic skills test. Every state has their own version. It is up to the individual State Department of Education (DOE) to develop and administer this test. In our state, different exams are given at different grade levels (3rd, 4th, 8th, and 11th grades).
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Originally posted by TheIceMan
3. Finally, now that the spotlight is once again on education, what should be done to correct this national problem called "social progress" that is, to pass a student simply to pass even if the student should not move up to the next grade level.
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Was the spotlight ever OFF education? Everyone sits there and constantly wants to blame the educational system for the problems that happen in the classrooms of America. Let's take a look at the parents who don't give a flying fuck about their own children. There are more people who are unfit parents in the United States than there are in other countries. Education is not a priority to an uneducated fool, so why expect them to push their children to be educated?
My Master's thesis dealt with the US moving towards a National Curriculum, but as I've witnessed first hand what is REALLY going on in US classrooms, I doubt this is a solution. It's great that all these people want to point fingers at where the problem is, but these people haven't the foggiest idea what it's actually like to be an educator in today's classrooms.