Friday, September 23, 2011

Breath Of Fresh Air


I spoke to my supervisor about poor test results.  Instead of hearing, "If you did this and that, the kids would pass.  I can get everyone to pass and get a grade over 80",  I heard "I have the same problem in my class.  Even the kids in my calculus class are getting the simplest factoring expressions wrong.  The chairperson another department said not one of the freshman did the required review assignment. I don't have an answer for you."

Then, the chairperson said,
 IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!!!!!!  THERE  WERE PROBLEMS BEYOND MY CONTROL!!!!!!!!  NO ONE COULD DO ANY BETTER. 
We then continued the conversation and both agreed that the kids are coming in so ill prepared because of the coddling and special treatment they received in high school where no one was allowed to fail, where credit recovery and creative transcripts were the norm, where disrespect went unpunished, calculators ruled the math class and graduation statistics were all that mattered.

If  European and Asian countries are producing a higher performing high school graduate, it because they aren't giving their students credits for breathing and sitting.  We have to stop this.  A generation has already been lost.  How many more can we afford to lose in this manner.

3 comments:

ChiTown Girl said...

Is it wrong that I want to shout "AMEN" and give your supervisor a bear hug? :)

Ms. Tsouris said...

It's just too bad that this educational reality doesn't exist until college, when students like the ones you're describing get a dose of what true academic rigor consists of. The "accountability" crew has turned high school into yet another playground for students who can get away with very little, if any, learning.

Anonymous said...

The words that were told to you in bold capital letters were the exact words that the pre-k consultant said to me this week.

THE EXACT SAME WORDS!