In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Herman said:
>> Frankly, the public school system does not believe in
>> giving anyone of an IQ above 80 an education appropriate
>> to that.
>While this is sadly true in too many cases it is not universally
>true. There are many in public education who would welcome the
>opportunity to offer exceptional children a more appropriate
>education. Nor is the problem limited to educationists. Virtually
>all legislation is aimed not at helping all children, but at ensuring
>certain (very) minimum levels of achievment. No Child Left Behind is
>very clearly designed to force schools to ignore the needs of the
>gifted and very bright in favor of children who are struggling. All
>resources must be targeted to achieving minimum achivement for all
>children. Those children who score well on the required tests are
>mandated to be ignored unless/until the low end are all minimally
>proficient.
Most in public education would be unable to raise the
level anyhow; their own education and indoctrination
prevents that. Starting a little more than 45 years
ago, there was a major attempt to teach the teachers
of high school mathematics good mathematics. The
results were poor. There was also the attempt to
provide the elementary teachers with the understanding
of the "new math" which had been well tested on children;
again, the results were poor.
...................
>> Anyone who
>> thinks that children should be educated at the same rate
>> and in the same manner regardless of ability should be
>> considered as an enemy of decent education.
>Agreed. Unfortunately this makes most of congress and most serving in
>state legislatures the enemy of decent education. I wish I knew how to
>change this.
I can only think of one way. That is to establish a
voluntary voucher program, open to all, funded at a
proportion of the support for the public schools.
Let the marketplace take over, and abolish the idea
that the amount of time spent in school achieving
"credits" is a measure of knowledge.
>> Why do you
>> think that the present "honors" or "AP" courses are below
>> the level of the old college preparatory program?
>Ummm, because parents and many others in society have forced the dumbing
>down of eduction. For at least a generation we have had parents, in
>increasing numbers each year, more concerned with grades than with education.
>The public schools have just been serving this market.
The educationists destroyed the more academic schools
starting about 70 years with the claim that all would
learn more if children were with their age group. There
was some opposition at that time to the educationists,
but they managed to get it through as "the only experts",
and brainwash the public in the process.
If parents would demand that schools crack down it would happen. Instead they
complain that Jimmy or Jane has too much homework and that the homework is interfering
with the kid's extra curricular activities!? Watch the news, the "t
>oo much homework story" is running at least once/year.
>Until parental attitudes change the schools are powerless.
>Michael
>****************************************************
>Michael Granaas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Assoc. Prof. Phone: 605 677 5295
>Dept. of Psychology FAX: 605 677 3195
>University of South Dakota
>414 E. Clark St.
>Vermillion, SD 57069
>*****************************************************
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>.
>.
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--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
.
.
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