So kids are going to school less, getting lower test scores, and graduating at a higher rate...
Lets see, why is that?
1. The kids are simply being allowed to graduate with less skills. The quality of the MPS workforce continues to decline, and what is considered acceptable keeps declining as well.
2. Test scores are going down partially because more kids are coming to school (sometimes), and these are not the honors students who will raise test scores. So, part of the reason test scores keep going down is because kids who don't come to school enough to learn anything are coming to school just long enough to take a test. I bet if you only counted the tests of kids who attended school over 90% of the time, the scores would be better, and going up.
I just love how the paper and society in general continues to deal with these problems as if they were normal situations. Some kids don't come to school for weeks. Many kids keep changing schools because they have to move ever few months to avoid paying bills.
Friday, January 02, 2009
MPS graduation rates rise, but not test scores
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3 comments:
"I just love how the paper and society in general continues to deal with these problems as if they were normal situations...."
well, in black neighborhoods, there IS nothing abnormal about it, it is universal, that is one of the reasons for the social separation
that exists
"So, part of the reason test scores keep going down is because kids who don't come to school enough to learn anything are coming to school just long enough to take a test..."
or, coming in to meet minumums and/or court mandates, or, coming in just enough to not get booted from the team
"Some kids don't come to school for weeks..."
because we have forsaken the concept of the truant officer, the concept of truancy as grounds from removal of the home, and concept of detention facilities for youth, as opposed to "rehabilitation", and "parenting classes"
or, more frequently, because black kids are frequently shuttled between biological parents, adoptive parents, step-parents, and particularly grandparents, here and down south, and this instability is also regarded by the community at large as acceptable, even desirable
"The kids are simply being allowed to graduate with less skills..."
if higher scores rather than graduation rates are to be stressed, one solution is to outsource extracurricular activities, especially sports, eliminating complicity between coaches, teachers, and school districts to bounce along and push out illiterate students into the mainstream, freeing up funding and resources for the few kids are there, specifically to learn
the results would be concrete, immediate, and measurable
I know some of you here look down upon extra curriculars for some reason..
I do know for a fact that for atleast some of these kids, its the only reason they do go to school or get a 2.0 (minimum to play).
I know it is not the best to have them do as little as possible to play and then do jack shit right after the season, but the fact is they try harder during the season than at any other time...
The rest of your comments are right on...
Fewer. Fewer skills. Use "less" for things you can't count and "fewer" for things you can. For example, "fewer calories" and "less filling."
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