zlacker

>>lxm+(OP)
I’m sure every generation feels like the next is going to turn the world to hell… but what the hell? I find it absolutely bonkers that gifted classes, math, homework and objective performance assessments are suddenly under fire as instruments perpetuating inequality. Does our education system leave much to be desired? Absolutely! Let’s pay teachers more and improve access to quality education for all students, not cognitively handicap the next generation.

>>throwa+2o
The crazy thing is that the bar is so low in the US.

Where I live, Hoboken, NJ, the high school math and reading proficiency rate are 8% and 44% respectively, while the graduation rate is >95%

What the hell are they doing if they're not even teaching kids math and reading? And why are they graduating them?

Grades aren't meant to be a feel good merit badge. They're supposed to be an accurate reflection of your level of knowledge relative to your peers. If it ceases to be that, then the selection just happens elsewhere. So now high school diploma isn't worth anything because everyone graduates. Hiring a high school graduate doesn't even guarantee you the person can read. Same thing happens in bachelors as schools become less selective and inflate grades.

>>bko+As
How on earth do we de-escalate from here? I feel that in the US it is impossible to summon the political willpower to make it HARDER to graduate HS or go to college, even if these things would make society better off.

My personal opinion is that the government should get out of education, just lower our taxes and let the free market handle the rest. Never gonna happen, however.

>>uejfiw+Dv
Public education is one of those rare positive externalities. I think it would be a mistake to abandon it.

If we wanted to succeed here, we would likely need to invest more money to hire more or superior teachers that could work individually with these students that struggle to meet the requirements. The worst part would be that even with that investment it may not even be enough. Some portion of the students who don't achieve are not interested in excelling, and individual attention may not help much there.

>>wyldfi+NB
That's untrue. I'll bet my life that the population of students uninterested in excelling is around 50 people in the entire US.

>>scolle+zP
As a teacher, I can name at least 50 that are uninterested in excelling. Mostly because they've been conditioned to be that way, usually by parents/community who see no value in education. You can work with them and get them interested, but it takes a lot to undo that conditioning (along with all the other stuff they've endured through their education years of being told "Well, you're just not an X person", etc.). It's also really hard to work with them and get them over that given the current way things are (seeing 150+ kids an hour a day).

>>dorcha+Ph1
It's not the responsibility of and not within the capabilities of the education system to undo the cultural damage that has been done by the worship of sports and crime above all else in popular media. What's needed is a revolution in role models.

>>nitrog+z52
I wouldn't say it's just those things, though I agree it's not the schools' responsibilities and that we definitely need a revolution in role models and in our culture.

Reminds me of the Key & Peele sketch 'If We Treated Teachers Like Pro Athletes' [0]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYOg8EON29Y