An Olive Branch

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 16:46:01 -0500, Margy Natalie
wrote:

Ok, I've been too busy to read the newsgroups but you guys are really nuts! No
Child Left Behind does NOTHING to improve student achievement. The schools
often have little to work with in the first place and I'm not talking $$. I
teach in one of the best schools in one of the best systems in the country. My
school has an upward of 98% pass rate on the science SOL (our standards test)
but some of our kids aren't passing and no matter what I do they won't. Do you
know if you have a borderline mentally retarded student taking science for
learning disabled kids they need to pass the test? Well, if the retarded kids
can pass, how good is the test?

This sounds like a modernized version of "outcome based education" and
most of us know how well that worked.

Passing a kid who does not have the capability of doing the work is
not doing them any favors. Passing a kid who won't do the work is not
doing them any favors either.

I feel sorry for the kids in situations that prevent them from doing
their work, but again that is not the schools, or teachers fault and
it is not doing the kind any favors by passing them.

Lowering the qualifications for passing the tests does everyone a
disservice.

Let's face it, If you or I, or any adult doesn't have the capabilities
to do a job we were hired to do, we are fired. If we don't do the
work, regardless of our capabilities we still get fired. What happens
to the kid who is passed through school without the ability to do the
work, or who doesn't do the work? At best they can hope for menial
labor and the odds are they won't do well there either.

Life is harsh. If we don't have the education we can not compete. If
we don't have the capability, we can't compete. There are many who
just do not have the capability to do so and the system has to
accommodate them, but it shouldn't drag the entire educational system
down in the process.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com