American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
After a hard day on the road yesterday, I had to shut down in a dirt lot, with no truck stop or facilities nearby. This isn't a big deal, really, except that I have another hour to wait before I can roll this morning and there is no coffee. So how do I get my morning jolt in lieu of caffeine? By reading the major newspapers, of course. After all, nothing gets the blood moving like contemplating idiocy.
This morning's specimen is brought to you by the good folks at the Washington Post, who remind us that failure is not an option. Really, it isn't. At least not at West Potomac High School, where the dreaded "F" grade has been, for the most part, relegated to the dust bin. Instead of receiving an "F" for failure, students now receive an "I" for incomplete. That way, they can go back at their leisure and satisfactorily complete the work later.
"It's a huge paradigm shift," said school principal Clifford Hardison, demonstrating that he has a rare gift for both lunacy and understatement. "Once they demonstrate mastery, you give them credit for what they know," added Prince William's associate superintendent for high schools Mickey Mulgrew. "Who cares if you learned it on Monday or Tuesday, as long as you learned it." Does anyone care if Johnny can't write a coherent sentence until after he graduates high school, as long as he can eventually tie some words together? Obviously, bureaucrat Mickey Mulgrew can't be paid enough to care.
But Principal Hardison let the proverbial cat out of the bag when he let slip that West Potomac High students earned approximately 2,000 "F"s at the end of the last school year. That, I suspect, is the catalyst for this head in the sand approach to education. It lets under-performing students and teachers off the hook. The capacity for human rationalization is almost without equal. Coat that capacity with the kevlar of union protection, and you have a system that is supremely impervious to reason, persuasion, and reality.
In the near term, the losers are the students. As 16 year-old Harmain Raif said, "It more or less says that all the hard work I'm doing isn't going to be worth anything." For the students who couldn't articulate their thoughts for this or any other article, but who will nonetheless be sent through the system anyway, the consequences of failure acknowledged or not will deal them a harsh blow later.
And for the country at large, the great progressive obsession with equality of outcome will have dealt yet another body blow to American exceptionalism. Meanwhile, in the real world, I have a deadline in St. Louis to keep. Failure on my part means production line delays. What should failure on the part of the education establishment mean for its members?
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Nov '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Wow.
I went to high school in Fairfax County many moons ago, back when it was considered one of the best systems in the country (not that that ever meant much). Back in the day, the teachers at West Springfield High School never hesitated to liberally sprinkle report cards with Fs if the situation warranted it.
And then there's Montgomery County. Montgomery is similar to Fairfax--wealthy, metro DC, etc--except that it is in Maryland, the "Free State," which ironically enough has endeavored to enslave its population to Big Government for decades now. (Thank you, God, for making me a Virginian.) According to the article Montgomery County "recalibrated its failing marks several years ago to score Fs as no lower than 50 percent when calculating grade averages, rather the far more damaging zero." I like that: Damaging. That's classic. So Johnny might have earned a 37, but he'll get a 50 anyway.
Frankly, I can't decide which is worse: An "I" that gives slackers the chance to complete work...whenever, or an artifically inflated "F." Not that it matters, I suppose. To quote Derbyshire, we're doomed.
May '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
No, it's not a "paradigm shift." Unless "paradigm shift" is now another one of those three-dollar phrases that has been absorbed and rendered meaningless by ed skool nincompoops.
May '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
What's striking to me is not only are administrators and teachers not being held accountable, but also apparently the school boards aren't as well. So many people assume because the teacher has the position and is there year @ year and went to college, we hope, that somehow they are qualified. Well I have had my share of run ins with teachers and the bottom line is if they were held to the same standards of production and decorum that we are out in the private sector are held to, they would have been fired years ago. I recently was hung up on because I was questioning the value of a work sheet that was used in my son's classroom. If one of my customers was questioning me and I had chose to hang up on that person, they would no longer be my customer. Private Sector vs Public Sector in the end who will be viewed to be the most bang for your buck at the least cost. Private every time its tried.
Sep '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
This gradual slide in standards affects what we in "higher" education deal with as well. One year I assigned a take-home project to students in a college mathematics class. After the papers were graded and returned, a student stopped after class to complain about his grade: 84%. I looked at his paper and showed him where he had made mistakes, and said that 84% was what the paper deserved. The student looked outraged and said, "But I worked so hard!"
This attitude mystified me until one day when I was talking with a high school science teacher. I mentioned this student's reaction to her and she said, "Oh, that's because in high school, students get A's just for turning work in. It doesn't have to be correct!" This teacher worked in the Boston metropolitan area, not some tiny place that might be a strange exception to the norm.
After that, I've made sure to explain to my classes on the first day that, in mathematics at least, just doing some work isn't enough--they need to get the correct answers. Just in case anyone has the opposite impression.
May '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Back in 2003, I taught at a Virginia middle school where the principal told the teachers to replace all zeros with 50's for the first grading period. So, you know, the kids could feel better about themselves. We used a computer grading system where we recorded every grade, so they warned us if we didn't add the 50's, the office would. That was one of the worst teaching experiences of my life.
Sep '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
I wonder if this was on Tim Geithner's mind a couple of years ago.
Sep '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
What is missing from this conversation is the pressure brought upon administrators and teachers to give inflated grades from parents. Parents who are shrill. Parents who have lawyers or are lawyers. Even if a teacher has a backbone, and stands up to the parent, it is most likely the administrator will not. The administrator caves, therefore, the teacher as no choice.
I was in my first month of teaching. I was hired to end the year after a teacher moved due to her husband's transfer. I had given a writing assignment. It was fairly routine for a fourth grade class. Write a paragraph about topic A. I was at a PTSA meeting. A parent of a student approached me about the assignment. She wasn't complaining, but only getting clarification on what I wanted of her child. Without asking, the principal jumped in. Looking at me, he asked: "Is this assignment really necessary?" What was I suppose to say. I was in my first four weeks of my career. Also, I was somewhat dumbstruck. I thought he was on my side.
Out of the 15 administrators I've had, three of them have stood up to parents.
Aug '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Newly discovered 'paradigm shifts': Money does grown on trees; there is such a thing as a free lunch; life is a bowl of cherries; that thing you lost did just get up and walk away. Then civilization deteriorates until everyone lives in a crime-ridden slum. Then we start over.
May '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
If this truly were do it until you pass it would be preferable to "give the kid a 'C' and get him out of my hair on to the next grade."
We homeschooled our kids, never gave them an "F" because it was "you will do this, you will do it until you get it right, and you don't do anything else until you do it" resulting in every kid learning the hard way that his or her school year wasn't over until they finished their work, even if that meant they never got a summer vacation or holiday, or had to work all day Saturday.
But somehow I don't think that's how it works at this school district.
Aug '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Do teachers and administrators have any clue that they are preparing students to go out and have at least some modicum of success, which in turn pays taxes (their salaries) at some later date?
This simple ecosystem/foodchain relationship appears to be completely lost on them, and I thought it was just basic 6th grade science.
Oh, and Layla, we appear to have been neighbors in the past - I was in Fairfax Co. Schools as well (Lake Braddock) - I remember it being good, and we had to work hard. It's sad to see the state of things now.
Jul '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Good thinking Mr. Mulgrew. There's obviously no purpose to push kids to learn based on a timetable.
I mean, what should the school do if kids learn a lesson quickly? Teach them something else?
Edited on Nov 14, 2010 at 8:38pmNov '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Kyle_M: Do teachers and administrators have any clue that they are preparing students to go out and have at least some modicum of success, which in turn pays taxes (their salaries) at some later date?
This simple ecosystem/foodchain relationship appears to be completely lost on them, and I thought it was just basic 6th grade science.
Oh, and Layla, we appear to have been neighbors in the past - I was in Fairfax Co. Schools as well (Lake Braddock) - I remember it being good, and we had to work hard. It's sad to see the state of things now. · Nov 14 at 2:46pm
Hey, neighbor! Lake Braddock was one BIG school there, though even at WSHS I had a graduating class of 750....
Jul '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
I'm thinking most parents aren't all that involved with their kid's education I hear some places are banning homework. And it's probably parent (without the 's').
And/or lil' Johnny was earning 37s all last year, but now he's making 50s! He's improving.
Sep '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Jimmy Carter
I'm thinking most parents aren't all that involved with their kid's education I hear some places are banning homework. And it's probably parent (without the 's').
And/or lil' Johnny was earning 37s all last year, but now he's making 50s! He's improving. · Nov 14 at 3:39pm
That's right. Parents want the "A" on a sheet of paper. And most do not want to be bothered in any way in their child receiving that "A." When parents say to me they expect their children to make good grades, then I have to decide if that means "you will give little Johnny an A" or "I will make sure little Johnny does what it takes to make an A, just keep me informed." Sadly, most of the time it is the former instead of the latter.
All that said, does the educational industrial complex have a problem. Lots. Maybe I will start a thread of my own about that. Don't think I can keep it under 200 words, though.
Nov '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Standfast
All that said, does the educational industrial complex have a problem. Lots. Maybe I will start a thread of my own about that. Don't think I can keep it under 200 words, though. · Nov 14 at 4:27pm
Holy cow, YES, the edu-industrial complex is a horror.
I have an M.Ed, which enables me to homeschool my kids without getting any guff--official or otherwise--because people appear to be under the impression that the degree means something.
It does not. In fact, I was sure of only ONE thing when I finished my program and said sayonara to the pseudo-science and the experiment-crazy professors and all the multiculti claptrap: If I had any choice in the matter, I would never send my child to a public school. No offense intended to public school families for whom that model works, but it is definitely not for me.
May '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
The unspeakable truth of education is that half the population (by definition) is below the medium, and maybe, just maybe, needs a different style of education--not to mention different content, perhaps. But saying that would not be a good career move...
Diversity Means We are All the Same™
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
Okay, so I'm late to a conversation I started. There was this little business of an 11 hour drive I had to make today. I see that a number of educators have commented here, for which expertise I'm grateful. A question for you all please: Would the myriad problems you've identified be ameliorated in any meaningful way by some sort of voucher initiative, where parents take their child and the money that accompanies that child to the school of their choice? Would this prompt parents to be more involved, and force schools to perform?
Jul '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
I'm not an educational expert (though I play one on the interwebs) but I'll take a stab.
Probably, but it depends somewhat on the source & nature of funding. There are charter schools and charter schools. My wife is a former teacher, she taught in rural public, urban Catholic, and urban charter schools.
The Catholic school was of considerably higher quality than the others. The problem with the charter school (which was a better option than the local public school) was that the investment group looted it by manipulating student population figures (ad campaigns for counting day) and bloated administrative costs.
That said, the more charters the better. Most likely we'd see, over time, a bunch of crooks run out by superior producers.
Edited on Nov 14, 2010 at 8:40pmAug '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
There is no bottom to the pile of depressing stories about the state of education today.
Why, here's another one for you, on custom essay-writing services, if you weren't depressed enough already:
chronicle.com/article/article-content/125329/
The proposal was approved, and now I had six days to complete the assignment. This was not quite a rush order, which we get top dollar to write. This assignment would be priced at a standard $2,000, half of which goes in my pocket.
A few hours after I had agreed to write the paper, I received the following e-mail: "sending sorces for ur to use thanx."
I did not reply immediately. One hour later, I received another message:
"did u get the sorce I send
please where you are now?
Desprit to pass spring projict"
Not only was this student going to be a constant thorn in my side, but she also communicated in haiku, each less decipherable than the one before it.
The client in this particular example was a business school student.
May '10
Re: American Exceptionalism vs. Education Establishment
I haven't seen the students' scores, but I'll wager that this is just another attempt to hide the achievement gap.