To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Friday, January 20, 2006
This Is Scary
There's a new study out, and it makes the public school system look... abysmal.
First, all of these skills should have been taught in JUNIOR HIGH. If you make it out of eighth grade, then you should be able to read a table and balance your check book. No ifs, ands or buts.
Second, if you are not competent at those skills, the blame falls on two groups of people- whatever school you went to, and your parents for not making sure you know how to do those things.
Third, my kids (in 6th grade) can probably do all of those things (balancing a checkbook would have to be explained, but that's just because they've never had to deal with one). I know for a fact that they can interpret tables and calculate tips. As for understanding arguments in editorials... oh, yeah- they understand... and they're quite opinionated. Hopefully I can convince them that they never need to understand credit card offers (except to throw them in the trash)- I'd love to have my kids stay debt-free. I'm working on that.
What does that say about the public school systems in the US if kids going to college can't balance a checkbook (that's about as basic of math as you can get!)??? Yes, you can call me a hypocrite if you want to- T1 and T2 are in the public school system right now. Unlike some parents, however, I take the time to make sure my kids have the basic skills to get through life, and we talk about what propaganda they're learning and what the truth really is. And, yes, if given the chance, I'd homeschool them again.
Here's something else that's... scary...
Like I said, this is an indictment of the parents as well as the schools. The public school system, honestly, isn't there to teach your kids life skills. Geez- they have enough trouble trying to teach kids to read. If your kids aren't learning the basics, whose fault is that? YOURS.
More than half of students at four-year colleges - and at least 75 percent at two-year colleges - lack the literacy to handle complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers, a study found.A couple of thoughts jumped into my head when I read this...
The literacy study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the first to target the skills of graduating students, finds that students fail to lock in key skills - no matter their field of study.
The results cut across three types of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents and having math skills needed for checkbooks or restaurant tips.
Without "proficient" skills, or those needed to perform more complex tasks, students fall behind. They cannot interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school.
First, all of these skills should have been taught in JUNIOR HIGH. If you make it out of eighth grade, then you should be able to read a table and balance your check book. No ifs, ands or buts.
Second, if you are not competent at those skills, the blame falls on two groups of people- whatever school you went to, and your parents for not making sure you know how to do those things.
Third, my kids (in 6th grade) can probably do all of those things (balancing a checkbook would have to be explained, but that's just because they've never had to deal with one). I know for a fact that they can interpret tables and calculate tips. As for understanding arguments in editorials... oh, yeah- they understand... and they're quite opinionated. Hopefully I can convince them that they never need to understand credit card offers (except to throw them in the trash)- I'd love to have my kids stay debt-free. I'm working on that.
What does that say about the public school systems in the US if kids going to college can't balance a checkbook (that's about as basic of math as you can get!)??? Yes, you can call me a hypocrite if you want to- T1 and T2 are in the public school system right now. Unlike some parents, however, I take the time to make sure my kids have the basic skills to get through life, and we talk about what propaganda they're learning and what the truth really is. And, yes, if given the chance, I'd homeschool them again.
Here's something else that's... scary...
Most students at community colleges and four-year schools showed intermediate skills. That means they can do moderately challenging tasks, such as identifying a location on a map.Yikes. The year that we homeschooled (4th grade), the boys not only learned how to read a regular map, but they learned how to read a topographic map.
Like I said, this is an indictment of the parents as well as the schools. The public school system, honestly, isn't there to teach your kids life skills. Geez- they have enough trouble trying to teach kids to read. If your kids aren't learning the basics, whose fault is that? YOURS.
