"Is our children learning?"
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Baltimore City Schools has reached an alarming low in student performance. Project Baltimore has learned, during the first three quarters of this year, nearly half of high school students in City Schools earned a grade point average below a D.
When Jovani Patterson ran for Baltimore City Council President last year, he ran on a platform that included accountability in education.
“They take. They take. They take. Yet, despite the amount of money they get. We don’t see much change. Our schools outspend 97% of other major school districts,” Patterson said during a 2020 campaign ad.
On the other end of the chart, 21 percent of city high school students earned a GPA of 3.0 or better; a B average. That’s about half as many who earned below a D. We can also see the district lost 706 high school students during the first three quarters of the year.
Can this be put at the feet of the teachers' unions? How about the parents?
/George who's watching "The Wire" and getting very discouraged
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Progress in school is mostly just about showing up everyday.
Whether or not you'll be successful depends on the attitudes and aptitudes a student brings in.
I think there's probably a rare subset of teachers (on the really good and really bad end of the spectrum) - that have a big effect on kids.
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I wouldn’t use Baltimore as your go to reference for US Schools…
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I’m a little surprised they are bothering to give Ds or Fs anymore. At some point they will just stop doing that and the issue will be solved.
Education is extremely important.
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I’m a little surprised they are bothering to give Ds or Fs anymore. At some point they will just stop doing that and the issue will be solved.
@horace said in "Is our children learning?":
I’m a little surprised they are bothering to give Ds or Fs anymore. At some point they will just stop doing that and the issue will be solved.
The whole point and fabric of this thing is breaking down.
What's the point of school anymore? There's something about giving citizens basic competence, but outside of that I always saw it as a sorting mechanism.
It's not perfect, not sorting mechanism can be - but, I think more and more people think a sorting mechanism isn't socially useful... or at least fair.
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I’m a little surprised they are bothering to give Ds or Fs anymore. At some point they will just stop doing that and the issue will be solved.
@horace said in "Is our children learning?":
I’m a little surprised they are bothering to give Ds or Fs anymore. At some point they will just stop doing that and the issue will be solved.
Grade inflation is a thing, and has been for a really long time.
It raises some interesting questions, such as, "Johnny got a 3.8 GPA in college, but how does that translate to the ability to function in the real world?"
I read (and usually don't comment) on some of the "Puzzle" threads. They require a type of thinking and training to which I was not exposed. Not my world - I grew up and lived in another world.
So, how do these "straight A" students fare in the real world, where performance counts for much more than a transcript? How is a prospective employer to distinguish between all the 4.0 GPAs that come across his desk?
It seems to me that the dumbing down of the academic standard can be, if it hasn't already, become a real problem.
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Baltimore City Schools has reached an alarming low in student performance. Project Baltimore has learned, during the first three quarters of this year, nearly half of high school students in City Schools earned a grade point average below a D.
When Jovani Patterson ran for Baltimore City Council President last year, he ran on a platform that included accountability in education.
“They take. They take. They take. Yet, despite the amount of money they get. We don’t see much change. Our schools outspend 97% of other major school districts,” Patterson said during a 2020 campaign ad.
On the other end of the chart, 21 percent of city high school students earned a GPA of 3.0 or better; a B average. That’s about half as many who earned below a D. We can also see the district lost 706 high school students during the first three quarters of the year.
Can this be put at the feet of the teachers' unions? How about the parents?
/George who's watching "The Wire" and getting very discouraged
@george-k said in "Is our children learning?":
How about the parents?
Yes, of course, the parents have failed. They are failures.
We established that here years ago.
To be honest the poorest schools probably get too much money.
They have reached the point where they act like the money is the goal.
The Equity people will take care of them just for being alive.
And if they want privilege it is there for the taking.
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What is particularly sad is getting rid of gifted student programs. Whatever the problems of education, don't take it out on the people most suited to making the world a better place, especially when we are competing in a far more engaged international community.
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What is particularly sad is getting rid of gifted student programs. Whatever the problems of education, don't take it out on the people most suited to making the world a better place, especially when we are competing in a far more engaged international community.
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This is one of two of the most serious issues facing this country. If our descendants end up speaking Mandarin, it will be in large part due to a deterioration in literacy and manners. The two are intertwined. Yes, politics, but in the present culture divisive politics is a breeding ground for proliferating ugliness in the way people treat each other. We treat each other today in ways that were unheard of 20 years ago. It is appalling, and I see no way to stop or reverse it.
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This is one of two of the most serious issues facing this country. If our descendants end up speaking Mandarin, it will be in large part due to a deterioration in literacy and manners. The two are intertwined. Yes, politics, but in the present culture divisive politics is a breeding ground for proliferating ugliness in the way people treat each other. We treat each other today in ways that were unheard of 20 years ago. It is appalling, and I see no way to stop or reverse it.
@catseye3 said in "Is our children learning?":
This is one of two of the most serious issues facing this country. If our descendants end up speaking Mandarin, it will be in large part due to a deterioration in literacy and manners. The two are intertwined. Yes, politics, but in the present culture divisive politics is a breeding ground for proliferating ugliness in the way people treat each other. We treat each other today in ways that were unheard of 20 years ago. It is appalling, and I see no way to stop or reverse it.
This is one of the best, and most sad, things I've read today. There's a lot of stuff in that post that can be unpacked, but it's quote-worthy regardless.
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It all depends on the parents. Look at the current unrest in Loudon County. Parents are uniting against something they do not want taught in their schools. If I read things correctly, the county is known for having good schools and parents of whatever political stripe want to continue that tradition.
