Two ?Radical Views on Education

Last week I encountered two interesting stories on education.

The first, from the New York Times, talks about a middle school in Minnesota that makes what seems to be a radical leap in policy.  They will evaluate students' academic achievements on the objective results of their tests.  In the process, the whole spectrum of what we call "school" for students is parsed out -- what they've learned, with their behavior and performance in an entirely different category.

Maybe you're thinking "Duh -- how obvious."  That's a natural initial reaction, I think.  It was mine, until I continued reading, and then that ol' lightbulb came on.

What is school about?  I remember my "brilliant" educational career.  Ask nearly any of my high school teachers what they thought of me, and with very few exceptions, they'd give me glowing reviews.  Why?  Because I knew how to, quoting this article, "do" school.

In any situation where my objective knowledge of a subject had to exceed my ability to "do school," I was in trouble.  I could usually find another student somewhere next to whom I looked better, either in terms of performance or personality, and this is what I comforted myself with.  I wasn't a total loser, wasn't at the bottom of the class.  But from this lofty place of middle-aged wisdom where I now stand, it's finally hit me straight on that my good grades did not come from academic achievement.  They came from knowing how to do school.  This is interesting, because I clearly remember how academic grades were shown separately from the "life skills" items (making good use of time, effort, following instructions, conduct, etc.).  But I know that in many cases, the higher grades came from having a good rapport with the teacher.

If the American educational system as a whole adopts these new standards, which separate actual learning from "acceptable behavior," then this is going to be great news for the kids who feel like square pegs -- who don't fit into an accepted social group, or who don't feel like schmoozing with Teach, or who dress funny or have bad attitudes, but who DO grasp the subject matter and can hold their own on tests.  It may also be a wakeup call for the students who are getting by on personality -- and even more so, for their parents.

The other story came from NPR, which had an update on the story of Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, where the teachers were nearly fired en masse, but then got to keep their jobs.  Now morale is low.  Some of the teachers who fought hardest against the firing spoke to the reporter about all they had done for the students - coming in early, staying late, buying glasses, paying rent, buying food.  They are resentful that these efforts don't count with the higher-ups who are pushing for educational reform.
Click Here to Read More..

School (Daze)

I had an epiphany last night -- while doing some filing, I ran across a folder containing all my school records.

Fifteen years ago or more, I took all the original report cards that my mother had saved and transcribed them onto a word processor. Then I printed it. Everything from kindergarten through 12th grade -- actual subjects, then such measures as "makes good effort," "plays well with others," etc. How many absences I had, and so forth. I also saved most of my grades from the two colleges I attended between 1976 and 1986 (one full-time, the other evenings).

Grades in math and related subjects were consistently soft, around a C or a 75 in most cases (we used letter grades in elementary school, then switched to numerical in 7th grade). That was the pattern that persisted all the way through college. Of course, in college, I had a dandy little safety valve called an "incomplete," and I took a lot of those before managing to pass statistics. I have one D throughout my entire academic career, and no F's.

The math didn't surprise me, but here and there I would run into a 75 in science, or even social studies. And last night, as I sat there looking at these things, I found myself thinking such thoughts as "That's unacceptable." Bottom line is, those C grades showed where I just didn't make the effort and didn't push myself, because I could have done better.

The surprise was my disapproval of these grades. At some previous time, I would have shrugged and said "Oh well...I ended up with a final grade of B," or "There was probably something going on in my life that I don't remember now," or some other excuse for mediocre performance. But I've noticed that during the last 6 years or so, my approach has shifted from doing what was required to attain a minimum standard and keep people off my back, to setting the standards myself. I think those low grades in science and social studies bother me because I KNOW I had it in me to pull A's and B's.

All of this matters because I'm planning to go back to school and get that damn Bachelor's degree once my finances have stabilized a bit. I've gotten information on several schools, both local and online, and am starting to visualize what the process will entail. I no longer want to "just get the piece of paper," as I've been saying for so long. I want to get the piece of paper after having turned in a good performance to earn it. Click Here to Read More..

Juneteenth - Check it Out.

June 19 is known as Juneteenth, a timely and forward-looking celebration that encourages education, knowledge and self-improvement.

It hasn't been publicized as well as it should be, IMO. I'd like to see it catch on.

http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm Click Here to Read More..

Theo-crazy

Viddy well, droogies.

They're firing public school teachers in Texas when they don't pass the religion test. Click Here to Read More..