Education in America

[hey]

10%?

[Ksandra]

[brisk]

"Where'd you get that number?"

Entire video just made my day.

[Yabby]

One thing about the special ED program.

My job has a few contracts to local schools for their IT. The budget that the ED people get is MASSIVE. Most of the high/middle schools have 2 to 4 year old computers (A few classrooms hit the 5 year mark a few months back). The ED program has new computers/projectors/sound-fields/Elmos(Mini cams for the teachers desk, took over for those overhead projectors) EVERY SINGLE YEAR most of those things are replaced. Shit we ended up buying almost 300 I-pads because we had too much money to spend and nothing to spend it on (If you don't spend the money, you lose it next year which in itself is the most retarded thing because it forces you to spend money you don't need). We are also forced to label all ED bought items, and if found outside of an ED classroom someone is losing their job. If there is an overflow of money in one program (Special ED) you can't use it for others. Some class rooms have Ipod touch, Ipads, and other touch pads for EVERY KID IN THE ROOM, half of which have no use for it but the pretty colors.

It's a fucking joke the money spent on these programs, when others are forced to use old computers, teach in oversized classrooms, while others are swimming in the money.

[Kerberoz]

Especially when they could be equally entertained by a ball of scrunched-up aluminum foil.

[Shuvo]

I'm not sure if this is specific to certain regions in America or not, but for some years now I've been helping some FFXI American friends with their homework. The most shocking thing I've noticed is that the schools / colleges they go to are fully accredited, yet the final exams can be done online from their home. Is this normal over there? They just end up relying on software programs or friends to pass the final exams and don't think anything of it after.

The end result was that most of these friends have pretty decent qualifications yet lack basic knowledge of even simple algebra.

[Drex]

I'm not sure if this is specific to certain regions in America or not, but for some years now I've been helping some FFXI American friends with their homework. The most shocking thing I've noticed is that the schools / colleges they go to are fully accredited, yet the final exams can be done online from their home. Is this normal over there? They just end up relying on software programs or friends to pass the final exams and don't think anything of it after.

The end result was that most of these friends have pretty decent qualifications yet lack basic knowledge of even simple algebra.

My gen ed courses did this for online stuff, but the actual degree-oriented courses had you come take the exam in person at a testing center.

[hey]

My gen ed courses did this for online stuff, but the actual degree-oriented courses had you come take the exam in person at a testing center.

Same for my school. Time limits make it impractical to google every single answer, but there's nothing stopping us from looking up anything we don't know, or even having someone else do it for us.

[Pirian]

Same for my school. Time limits make it impractical to google every single answer, but there's nothing stopping us from looking up anything we don't know, or even having someone else do it for us.

Your honor code is stopping you!

[alexisamonster]

Same for my school. Time limits make it impractical to google every single answer, but there's nothing stopping us from looking up anything we don't know, or even having someone else do it for us.

man you guys are lucky, my classes normally have online homework, but all test are still done in a classroom

[Byrthnoth]

I had one stupid psych class where all the tests were online and he never changed them.

[Drex]

Oh, to make it more hilarious, one group of jersey shores set up a cheating ring where one of them would take the quiz, then copy and paste all the questions to the rest. They got caught because they were using campus mail. I mean, really? Really?! You can take the quizzes and tests with your texbook on your desk, your notes (lol) in your lap, and the powerpoint slides an alt-tab away, and you still resort to that?

[hey]

Your honor code is stopping you!

My what?




Oh, right. That.

[Caiyuo]

So I'd been reading about Michelle Rhee and her PAC StudentsFirst, and from what I can tell it seems like a campaign that's really well veiled as being purely for education improvement that's actually in this same group of reform-for-privatization. Is that the case? I initially thought she wasn't evil because of what circles her name was popping up in, but it seems to be changing quite a bit now with involvement with governors that are pushing, or have pushed, union-busting bills, including Scott Walker.

[archibaldcrane]

If kids can't read or do arithmetic by 5th grade, I don't blame shitty teachers, I blame shitty parents.

And if parents can't read, they shouldn't have fucking kids.

A lot of the rest falls into place when kids have the basic skills to build on. Kids pay more attention because they aren't hopeless, teachers can focus on the actual material they're teaching as opposed to getting kids to understand basic words, working conditions improve drawing better qualified people to the job, etc. etc.

Parents are BY FAR the biggest "problem" with education - not providing their children with the basic skills and discipline they need once they get to school. Teachers should get to line up their students on the first day of school and give them a basic skills test, appropriate for their age, and if they don't pass, turn them right back around home til they're ready.

[Plow]

If kids can't read or do arithmetic by 5th grade, I don't blame shitty teachers, I blame shitty parents.

And if parents can't read, they shouldn't have fucking kids.

A lot of the rest falls into place when kids have the basic skills to build on. Kids pay more attention because they aren't hopeless, teachers can focus on the actual material they're teaching as opposed to getting kids to understand basic words, working conditions improve drawing better qualified people to the job, etc. etc.

Parents are BY FAR the biggest "problem" with education - not providing their children with the basic skills and discipline they need once they get to school. Teachers should get to line up their students on the first day of school and give them a basic skills test, appropriate for their age, and if they don't pass, turn them right back around home til they're ready.

Everybody's busy working the longest hours their bosses will let them, we really need a good public preschool system at this point.

[Qalbert]

^This. God forbid people having to be responsible for the children they bring into the world.

[greenhills]

Parents are BY FAR the biggest "problem" with education - not providing their children with the basic skills and discipline they need once they get to school. Teachers should get to line up their students on the first day of school and give them a basic skills test, appropriate for their age, and if they don't pass, turn them right back around home til they're ready.

but then most children would never get any kind of education.