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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8094
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| Posted: 03 June 2023 at 6:25am | IP Logged | 1
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Keeping large swathes of kids back is a failing system, not failing kids.
I am in favour of streaming kids into similar cohorts but that is because that
allows flexibility of teaching methods - choose the method that suits the
cohort.
Be that testing, continuous assessment or a mix.
Keeping kids back a year is a terrible idea.
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Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5727
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| Posted: 03 June 2023 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | 2
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Politicians are terrible educators. They should fund what educators have figured out works, and understand that "what works" changes with time. But most politicians have no idea how to teach, they are pandering to a block of voters.
Deciding anything based on one test is not only ludicrous, it is unscientific and inhuman. School end up re-testing and re-testing, which is just a waste of money and time.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134288
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| Posted: 04 June 2023 at 12:25am | IP Logged | 3
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The system is too often less about education than it is indoctrination. Beyond the necessary three Rs, far too many special interest groups force their agendas on local schools. Myths and legends—fairy tales—get taught as science and history. And any kids who might want to make something of themselves get short changed. But the voters continue to be dumb and malleable.
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Wilson Mui
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4584
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| Posted: 04 June 2023 at 12:59am | IP Logged | 4
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TN's K-12 program is ranked 39th in the country according
to US News and World Report, so maybe the test results are
not that far off.
School officials seem more concerned about banning books,
critical race theory, and anything related to sex in the
classroom than actually teaching kids.
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Tim Cousar
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 1669
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| Posted: 08 June 2023 at 11:07pm | IP Logged | 5
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Peter Hicks: I’m confused. Why are straight A students failing a standardized test?
Perhaps it's a bad test.
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Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
Robotmod
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 36313
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 12:23pm | IP Logged | 6
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Brian Miller wrote:
| Our system already gets only 6 weeks off for summer anyway and if their families planned vacations or anything? |
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So in TN school ends in July and returns to session in August?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 12:35pm | IP Logged | 7
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I’m reminded of the Canadian schools I went to—nine of them—where the year began on September 1st (assuming that was not a Saturday or Sunday) and ended on June 30th (same assumption).Crazy part was, it Sept 1 was a Friday the year would begin on a Friday, and if June 30 was a Monday, that was the day the year ended. Apparently it didn’t occur to any of the bureaucrats to just snip those days.
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Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
Robotmod
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 36313
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 2:18pm | IP Logged | 8
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Granted it was a long time ago, but our school year in Minnesota didn’t start until after Labor Day (still the case today as people want that last holiday for cabin life) and ended roughly in middle-to-end of May. Even now, I think the school year for K-12 ends the first or second week of June, giving kids at least 10 weeks off between school years.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31543
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 2:20pm | IP Logged | 9
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So in TN school ends in July and returns to session in August?
********
The school years differ from county to county. In ours, we’re on what they
call the year-round system which is based on periods of 9 weeks instead of
6 like when I grew up. They start usually around the 21st or 23rd or so of
July. Then they’re out usually the last week of May or first week of June.
They go for 9 weeks, then off for 2. Then 9, off 2. Then 9, off 2. Then 9 and
out. And approximately 6 weeks later it starts back up. Sometimes that last
break (spring break) is only one week. It depends on how many snow days
they used in the winter.
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Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5727
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 3:38pm | IP Logged | 10
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The crazy thing is how schools where I've worked feel it important to start as early as possible, so as to have more instruction before they have to give the standardized tests. I don't even think this matters. A week more isn't going to get the kids to pass the test.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134288
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 3:59pm | IP Logged | 11
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In the age of smart phones, it seems like testing is no longer necessary. Education has traditionally failed by expecting kids to not only START at the same point*, but also to FINISH at the same point, with kids who don’t learn as quickly and completely as others being ridiculed and humiliated. (Yes, I speak from personal experience.)With smart phones it is no longer necessary for anyone to memorize anything, and studies have shown our ability to memorize is, indeed, beginning to atrophy. Anyway, as I’ve said many a time, I would not want to be operated on by a doctor who was working entirely from memory! ——— * Something severely skewed by the arrival of SESAME STREET.
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Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4635
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| Posted: 09 June 2023 at 6:38pm | IP Logged | 12
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I did summer school once for maths, between grades 7 and 8. The grades I remember (western Canada) were H A B C I and F. I was Incomplete (you had to do make up work/re-test). F was plain and simple Fail. I remember one kid 'held back' way back in Kindergarten, and later two kids who failed the grade above that were in my grade 6 or 7 class. I Failed French (twice) and a Drafting class (once) but neither were essential to graduation to the next grade. Contrariwise to being a total dumpkopf, I got Honours in art (twice) and home economics (once).
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