Public School Education System Thread

[katarn]

Schools don't teach that to twelve year olds.

tisk, tisk, don't use Texas as your metric. Georgia teaches algebra as early as 6th grade. There's nothing in those equations that wouldn't be covered in algebra 1 expect for them being multi-variable.

I know some states, especially on the East coast, teach math faster, but much of the rest of the nation doesn't. I'm using more than Texas- although you are right to point out the limitations of personal experience- but Algebra 1 is perhaps less complex these days than you realize. I'll look for stats soon, but for now: these classes are necessary in high school. I'm just arguing that they are less developed for many students nationwide than you may believe.

A standard path for high school in the mid-West at least is algebra 1, geometry/algebra 2, algebra 2/geometry, trig/pre-calc.

[katarn]

More addressing the point of the last few pages, apart from the intrinsic value of knowledge I believe exists, you need to provide a base for further learning in high school. Jim might not realize he is good enough at math if he never encounters it before becoming a plumber, and Alex might not make it in college, or might have to take years and incredible costs to remedy his lack of progress early on.

[Okeefenokee]

More addressing the point of the last few pages, apart from the intrinsic value of knowledge I believe exists, you need to provide a base for further learning in high school. Jim might not realize he is good enough at math if he never encounters it before becoming a plumber, and Alex might not make it in college, or might have to take years and incredible costs to remedy his lack of progress early on.

It seems like that needed a finish. Jim and Alex might, but...

[SuburbanFarmer]

More addressing the point of the last few pages, apart from the intrinsic value of knowledge I believe exists, you need to provide a base for further learning in high school. Jim might not realize he is good enough at math if he never encounters it before becoming a plumber, and Alex might not make it in college, or might have to take years and incredible costs to remedy his lack of progress early on.

That is a solid point.

[The Conservative]

More addressing the point of the last few pages, apart from the intrinsic value of knowledge I believe exists, you need to provide a base for further learning in high school. Jim might not realize he is good enough at math if he never encounters it before becoming a plumber, and Alex might not make it in college, or might have to take years and incredible costs to remedy his lack of progress early on.

Not everyone is geared or wired to go to college. You can educate however you wish, but let's be honest, there are always going to be those who work in stores and flip burgers for the rest of their lives.

My grandfather was the first to go to college, he originally was going to be a doctor, then WWII happened. He came back and went back to school to get a Business degree. From there he worked his way up the food chain to become the Director of Acquisition of R&E for MITRE.

Today that kind of opportunity doesn't exist except for those who know people. It's no longer what you know, more of who you know. I was lucky with the job I have now, but there is no such thing as loyalty anymore. Places like unions have some level of protection, but we are still far away from what needs to be done to guarantee everyone has an opportunity for a job.

[katarn]

More addressing the point of the last few pages, apart from the intrinsic value of knowledge I believe exists, you need to provide a base for further learning in high school. Jim might not realize he is good enough at math if he never encounters it before becoming a plumber, and Alex might not make it in college, or might have to take years and incredible costs to remedy his lack of progress early on.

Not everyone is geared or wired to go to college. You can educate however you wish, but let's be honest, there are always going to be those who work in stores and flip burgers for the rest of their lives.

My grandfather was the first to go to college, he originally was going to be a doctor, then WWII happened. He came back and went back to school to get a Business degree. From there he worked his way up the food chain to become the Director of Acquisition of R&E for MITRE.

Today that kind of opportunity doesn't exist except for those who know people. It's no longer what you know, more of who you know. I was lucky with the job I have now, but there is no such thing as loyalty anymore. Places like unions have some level of protection, but we are still far away from what needs to be done to guarantee everyone has an opportunity for a job.

I absolutely agree. On your first point: the trends that are shifting the white-blue collar ratio towards white collar in the US means that many people are going to go on to college, and many comparatively simple jobs will require a degree that haven't in the past (education inflation).

For me, these predictions plus a belief in the value of learning for learning's sake to a person means that we should teach people as though they were to go on to college- providing vocational programs for those not. Even though they won't use much of it, I believe there is still value in the learning.

[SuburbanFarmer]

There's value in actual learning, but very little of that happens in grade school. Forcing burger cooks to memorize data for testing is not education.

[Fife]

Forcing *anybody* to memorize data for testing is not education.

Close the government schools.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Forcing *anybody* to memorize data for testing is not education.

Close the government schools.

If we can't get any kind of reform to happen, I may have to agree with you.

[Martin Hash]

Forcing *anybody* to memorize data for testing is not education.

Close the government schools.

If we can't get any kind of reform to happen, I may have to agree with you.

ditto

p.s. Kid Rock's going to win.