Text 19808, 70 rader
Skriven 2006-05-10 12:04:20 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 19791 av JOHNJWILSON (1:123/140)
Ärende: They couldn't get worse
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JOHNJWILSON -> VERN HUMPHREY wrote:

 ->> (5-08) 18:41 In an extraordinary turn of events, an Alameda County
 ->> Superior Court judge issued a tentative ruling today prohibiting the
 ->> state from carrying out its plan to deny diplomas to tens of thousands
 ->> of high school seniors in the Class of 2006 who have been unable to pass
 ->> the exit exam.

 J> If that isn't a wake-up call I don't know what is.

 J> If you didn't pass the state exam on the constitution you did not pass the
 J> eighth grade. (In California...in the forties, where the tuition
 J> in Junior colleges was zip, zero, nada.)

 J> .and now the U.S. is ranked 28th?

 J> I don't remember the exact figures but we are producing
 J> something like ten percent of the number of engineers
 J> which China and India are cranking out every year...

 J> ..and so on.

 J> Scary stuff...

 >> This is the first year the exam was to be a graduation requirement.

 J> Good. About bloody time.


 ->> California's high school exit exam carries strong support among voters
 ->> and the business community -- future employers of today's high school
 ->> students -- who share O'Connell's view that a diploma should indicate a
 ->> basic level of academic skill.

 J> You'd think ...

 J> --------
 ->> The suit, Valenzuela v. California, claimed that students who have
 ->> repeatedly failed the test -- especially English learners -- have not
 ->> had a fair opportunity to learn the material because they are more
 ->> likely to attend overcrowded schools and have teachers without proper
 ->> credentials.

 J> So they should issue diplomas without worth?


 ->> Judge Freeman said he was inclined to agree.

 ->> **********************************************************************

 ->> You can find the test at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/resources.asp
 ->> complete with released questions from the 2005 version.

 ->> Reading it, I was embarrassed that the standards are so LOW!

 J> Thanks for taking the time.


 J> When do standards change from "low" to "dangerous" ?


We've been on the slippery slope for the last 30 years at least, and gathering
speed day by day.

I've been in or around teaching and school systems all my life.  The school
systems today are a faint shadow quality-wise of what they were when I was a
kid - computers and other high tech notwithstanding.

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