I FIGURED OUT a long time ago that, if you think of the public as a PERSON, that person is a blithering idiot.
I guess that’s obvious. In my case, it took some figurin'.
So, naturally, the latest study to state the obvious—that high schools generally* suck—won’t affect the average American’s thinking.
I mean, if you tell a parent, “Generally, high schools suck,” you’ll get:
“Chunk, why do you hate America?”
Or: “Well, I guess that’s true for lots of high schools, but not my kid’s high school. My kid's high school is exceptional."
No, dude, probably your kid’s high school sucks, too.
From this morning’s New York Times: In Study, College-Prep Classes Left Many Unready:
Only one-quarter of high school students who take a full set of college-preparatory courses — four years of English and three each of mathematics, science and social studies — are well prepared for college, according to a new study of last year’s high school graduates released today by ACT, the Iowa testing organization.*Please note the presence of this weasel word: "generally." I do believe that there exist some pretty impressive high schools out there. I personally know some truly EXCELLENT high school teachers. Saying that "Xs generally (or mostly) suck" is not the same as saying that "all Xs suck." OK? And even if I were to say that all high schools suck, that would still be consistent with saying, "there exist some truly excellent teachers in high schools."
The report analyzed approximately 1.2 million students who took the ACT college admissions test and graduated from high school last June. The study predicted whether the students had a good chance of scoring C or better in introductory college courses, based on their test scores and the success rates of past test takers.
The study concluded that only 26 percent were ready for college-level work in all four core areas, while 19 percent were not adequately prepared in any of them.
…Cynthia B. Schmeiser, president and chief operating officer of ACT’s education division, said she was stunned by the low level of accomplishment for students who had taken the core curriculum, which was recommended 24 years ago in “A Nation at Risk,” a United States Department of Education commission report that prompted widespread efforts to improve American education.
...In 1999, Clifford Adelman, then a researcher at the federal Department of Education, found that the strength of high school work was the most important factor in determining college success, even more than the socioeconomic status of a student’s family. The new report, which cites Mr. Adelman’s research, makes the case that many high school courses are not providing the necessary quality that he described.
…Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, another Washington-based group that advocates standard-setting, said that as she traveled around the country, she found many schools not offering challenging work. “When you look at the assignments these kids get, it is just appalling,” she said. “A course may be labeled college-preparatory English. But if the kids get more than three-paragraph-long assignments, it is unusual. Or they’ll be asked to color a poster. We say ‘How about doing analysis?’ and they look at us like we are demented.”….
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY GOES FRIGGIN' NUTS:
University Diaries alerts us to this intriguing article:
Colleges offer on-campus resting places
ORANGE, Calif., May. 14 (UPI) -- College campuses, including Notre Dame and Chapman University in Orange, Calif., are offering burial plots for alumni and faculty.
Chapman opened a honeycomb structure designed to hold the cremated remains of alumni and faculty and Notre Dame announced plans to unveil a pair of limestone and brick mausoleums designed to hold full-body crypts, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
The Notre Dame crypts are expected to sell for as much as $11,000 apiece.
"People look back on their college years and say, 'Those were the best days of my life,'" cemetery consultant Mel Malkoff, who oversees Chapman's columbarium, told the Times. "Why not spend eternity there?"….
9 comments:
Chunk, why do you hate America?
Chunk, you should let America just be its idiotic self. Stop shoveling crap against the tide!
You mean I might be able to be buried at IVC? is that what the new theater really is for?
C'mon, Falwell's dead, and the world is a little better than it was yesterday. Let's be happy for a day or so!
You mean, we DON'T have the best schools on the planet?
This is AMERICA!
If I promise to be buried at Saddleback, can I get flex credit for it? I'd be contributing to growth.
The problem with American education is that no one wants to admit failure. Institutions want to process their students and send them on to the next institution. Standards mean trouble, because whatever ridiculously low standard you impose, people are going to be on the wrong side of it. Technically, this is called "failing." Take the high school exit exam, testing seniors on what they learned in eighth grade. Half failed. The state's response: renorm the test so that more people passed. Even so, principals were trying to promote the failures to the business community as solid workers -- trying to deny the failure. The difficulty with standards is that, if they are properly applied, you create a growing, permanent underclass, which is a threat to political and institutional stability.
I would make the right to vote contingent on passing the exam. Otherwise, the underclass might organize politically, and we would once again have a "Know-Nothing" party in this country.
I do not care where I am buried as long as I can be buried unembalmed, wrapped in a hemp shroud and placed in the dirt to be consumed by earthworms. If IVC will let me do that, then I will gladly fork over my money for a plot out by the remnants of the creek.
We have a 'Know-Nothing' party now - it's called the GWB, DC, & KR brand of Republicanism.
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