The AL State Board of Ed Does it again...

[jthomas666]

We've dumbed down the graduation requirements even further: Yay?

My wife saw that last night and almost blew a gasket.

Basically, lowering the bar makes it easier to meet NCLB requirements. The state superintendent is saying that the change will make it easier to attract big business to Alabama because they’ll have ready access to an educated workforce.

I'm starting to suspect that the superintendent spent his infancy feasting on lead paint chips.

 

[gmart74]

a few years ago i recall Alabama talking about changing pi from 3.14 to 3 bc it was too hard to remember. did that ever actually happen? i remember being so proud of my home state at that time.

 

[jthomas666]

a few years ago i recall Alabama talking about changing pi from 3.14 to 3 bc it was too hard to remember. did that ever actually happen? i remember being so proud of my home state at that time.

No--though a member of the UA math department almost had an apoplectic fit trying to explain to the legislature why they couldn't just redefine pi.

 

[cbi1972]

a few years ago i recall Alabama talking about changing pi from 3.14 to 3 bc it was too hard to remember. did that ever actually happen? i remember being so proud of my home state at that time.

It was an April Fool's Day hoax, but it works because it's believable.

Our little "Alabama Legislature mandates pi=3" April Fool's story (NMSR Reports, April 1998, May 1998) is still going strong! On April 1st, I posted an April Fools news story by Mark Boslough on talk.origins. But, as the story was forwarded from person to person, all of our deliberate hoax hints were deleted

Indiana came close to something like this in 1897, though:

"An ex-teacher from the eastern part of the state was saying: 'The case is perfectly simple. If we pass this bill which establishes a new and correct value for pi, the author offers to our state without cost the use of his discovery and its free publication in our school text books, while everyone else must pay him a royalty.'"

The roll was then called and the bill passed its third and final reading in the lower house. A member then showed the writer [i.e. Waldo] a copy of the bill just passed and asked him if he would like an introduction to the learned doctor, its author. He declined the courtesy with thanks remarking that he was acquainted with as many crazy people as he cared to know.

 

[bamapuppy]

We've dumbed down the graduation requirements even further: Yay?

My wife saw that last night and almost blew a gasket.

Basically, lowering the bar makes it easier to meet NCLB requirements. The state superintendent is saying that the change will make it easier to attract big business to Alabama because they’ll have ready access to an educated workforce.

I'm starting to suspect that the superintendent spent his infancy feasting on lead paint chips.

Want big business. Raise the bar on education. Lower taxes. I live in NC, and we are having all of the businesses leave. Taxes are too high here. Alabama is competing with Tennessee, and Florida. No income tax.

 

[Tide n True]

Want big business. Raise the bar on education. Lower taxes. I live in NC, and we are having all of the businesses leave. Taxes are too high here. Alabama is competing with Tennessee, and Florida. No income tax.

First of all, Alabama has the most stringent interpretation and implementation of NCLB in the country. Many other states still have an 8th grade level "state test," whereas Alabama's graduation exam is at an 11th grade level. Furthermore, you cannot "raise the bar" on education while lowering taxes and decreasing the dropout rate. Something has to give.

When the standards were increased in 1998 on the graduation exam, then again in 2001 with NCLB, the dropout rates went up. A state full of dropouts isn't attractive to industry.

 

[derek4tide]

"No child left behind"?..........more like no child left behind, 'cuz we ran over them.

 

[IH8Orange]

a few years ago i recall Alabama talking about changing pi from 3.14 to 3 bc it was too hard to remember. did that ever actually happen? i remember being so proud of my home state at that time.

The easiest and most accurate way to remember the value of pi is: 22/7.

That's close to within 0.04%.

355/113 gets you to within 0.00003%.

So just remember Musso/Barker.

 

[rpeastep]

The easiest and most accurate way to remember the value of pi is: 22/7.

That's close to within 0.04%.

355/113 gets you to within 0.00003%.

So just remember Musso/Barker.

What is so hard about remembering 3.14?

And what exactly would be wrong with eliminating the stupid 16 year old drop out crap. Keep them in school until they are 18.

 

[IH8Orange]

What is so hard about remembering 3.14?

There's nothing hard about remembering 3.14. There's nothing any harder about remembering 22/7. You get a slight bit more accuracy and if you are working a complex problem on paper, it's easier to manipulate an equation with 22/7 than the 3.14 because you're operating with integers until you need to make the final calculation. That's just my opinion, anyway.

 

[Tide n True]

What is so hard about remembering 3.14?

And what exactly would be wrong with eliminating the stupid 16 year old drop out crap. Keep them in school until they are 18.

When you have 19 year-olds in the 9th grade, keeping them in school until they're 18 doesn't exactly make sense. Kids who aren't going to try simply aren't going to try. I think it would be best to let only the students who maintain 80 as their GPA continue to High School...kind of like they do in Japan. If you're not going to try hard or if you're simply too dumb to make it, it's time to go work in a factory.

 

[Ark-Tider]

If you're not going to try hard or if you're simply too dumb to make it, it's time to go work in a factory.

Make them learn Spanish or Chineese though. We want them to have a fair shot.

 

[JAXFLBAMAFAN]

When you have 19 year-olds in the 9th grade, keeping them in school until they're 18 doesn't exactly make sense. Kids who aren't going to try simply aren't going to try. I think it would be best to let only the students who maintain 80 as their GPA continue to High School...kind of like they do in Japan. If you're not going to try hard or if you're simply too dumb to make it, it's time to go work in a factory.

I don't disagree with your idea. The only problem with it is all of the "factories" have closed and moved to China.

Drop outs hurt everyone and they end up soaking up tax dollars from being on the government dole.

This is a systemic problem that begins and ends with the breakup of the traditional nuclear family.

Unfortunately, government schools as currently configured, are as good as they are going to get.

 

[It's On A Slab]

When you have 19 year-olds in the 9th grade, keeping them in school until they're 18 doesn't exactly make sense. Kids who aren't going to try simply aren't going to try. I think it would be best to let only the students who maintain 80 as their GPA continue to High School...kind of like they do in Japan. If you're not going to try hard or if you're simply too dumb to make it, it's time to go work in a factory.

If a kid isn't college material, he should be sent to a vocational/technology option after a certain age/grade. A kid who isn't college-bound should be learning a skill/trade, or some other terminal option.

 

[rpeastep]

When you have 19 year-olds in the 9th grade, keeping them in school until they're 18 doesn't exactly make sense. Kids who aren't going to try simply aren't going to try. I think it would be best to let only the students who maintain 80 as their GPA continue to High School...kind of like they do in Japan. If you're not going to try hard or if you're simply too dumb to make it, it's time to go work in a factory.

If they knew they had to spend the extra 2 years in class, they might actually absorb more of it rather than just hanging in until they are 16.

 

[Tide n True]

If a kid isn't college material, he should be sent to a vocational/technology option after a certain age/grade. A kid who isn't college-bound should be learning a skill/trade, or some other terminal option.

That's how most other countries do it. After 8th grade of general education, students are placed onto tracks (there are usually three of them). The first track is an occupational track in which students are groomed for unskilled labor (basically, courses on being polite, bathing, and showing up on time). The second track is a bit more advanced in which students are groomed for skilled labor (like welding, construction, etc.). Students on this second track have the option of going to a two year college which would then make them eligible to enroll at a four year college. And the final track is an academic track which prepares students for enrollment in a four year college.

Students are able to "test up" to a higher track if they or their parents do not agree with the track they are on, but they must pass the test before they are allowed to take the higher level courses. As it is now in Alabama, students who barely passed 8th grade can take honors classes in High School.

This system is efficient and it better prepares all children. Unfortunately, the first hint of it being implemented in the U.S. would lead to left-wing groups screaming "racism" and "inequality," because we all know that a higher percentage of minorities would be on the lower two tracks.

If they knew they had to spend the extra 2 years in class, they might actually absorb more of it rather than just hanging in until they are 16.

When parents receiving welfare money is contingent on the kid being enrolled in school, it doesn't quite work like you would think. Like I said, in the system where I teach, there was a 19 year-old in 9th grade and a 6th grader who drove to school. Free lunches and breakfasts contribute to the problem, because if the parents don't have to pay to feed their little thug three squares a day, they have every incentive to keep them in school.

 

[IH8Orange]

If a kid isn't college material, he should be sent to a vocational/technology option after a certain age/grade. A kid who isn't college-bound should be learning a skill/trade, or some other terminal option.

The truth is that a lot of kids that don't do well in school are actually among the most intelligent. Some kids just don't thrive in a lecture/homework/test environment. However, ask them to make practical use of knowledge and suddenly their brilliance is evident. That often sparks a new interest in hitting the books because knowledge helps them improve their abilities in the practical realm.

 

[Ldlane]

The truth is that a lot of kids that don't do well in school are actually among the most intelligent. Some kids just don't thrive in a lecture/homework/test environment. However, ask them to make practical use of knowledge and suddenly their brilliance is evident. That often sparks a new interest in hitting the books because knowledge helps them improve their abilities in the practical realm.

Good Answer! It's called "differentiating instruction"!

 

[always4bama]

The truth is that a lot of kids that don't do well in school are actually among the most intelligent. Some kids just don't thrive in a lecture/homework/test environment. However, ask them to make practical use of knowledge and suddenly their brilliance is evident. That often sparks a new interest in hitting the books because knowledge helps them improve their abilities in the practical realm.[/quote]


The way we do education needs to change starting in Middle school - why can we not introduce technical training in 6th grade. Plus schools can have after school programs that provide some interesting options like photography, art, and so on to keep the students engaged and off the streets and not at home alone. Students that can find a hobby can often find ways to stay engaged in academics.

 

[Crimson Pig]

In one of my Calculus classes we were required to remember up to...

3.1415926535

Why? Teacher was an ........ Others only had to up to 3.14159 which isn't unreasonable.