Public Schools vs. Private Schools.

[derrida]

Originally Posted by KevinTheHerbivore

Yeah, the problem with stupid ideas like this, aside from them being stupid, is that they are an ineffective way to judge the level children are at.

For example, the school district I work in sets very high standards forr K-2nd grade students, higher than those we had roughly 20 years ago or so. Kids are expected to know certain words, certain numbers, have a grasp on certain mathematic skills, etc. So teachers, feeling the crunch from these standards, teach for the tests. Kids are taught according to what it would take for these kids to pass.

So it's funny, the Austin Independent School District has really high standards of literacy for children in Elementary School, kids pass these so-called standards in math and english, but then most aren't at a 6th grade reading level by the time they reach middle school. Hmmm.....I wonder why? Could it be that the crunch from such high standards forces teachers to pander MERELY to those standards, thus neglecting other important aspects of the ciriculum...?

Perhaps a battery of standardized tests is an inefficient measure of progress, but surely you see the folly in promoting a student simply because they spent a year in a classroom.