Quote:
Originally Posted by tirsales
Found another difference 
Classes with more then 33 pupils (or exactly 33 pupils if possible) have to be divided into 2 classes. I've had classes with between 7 (Chemistry advanced course 12th/13th grade) and 31 pupils - and it makes a difference! |
I was never in a class with less than 35 students (usually ran between 35 and 40) through high school. Now that you and others have have pointed out that class size makes such a big difference, I'm really ticked. I wouldn't be as dumb had I been in smaller classes throughout my life. Also, I'd have been much smarter had my family had more money, I suppose.
I'm sorry if that sounds sarcastic.
The following is in response to no one in particular. Just personal ramblings that I have a tendency to do when I don't know what I'm talking about, yet still want to put my two cents in.
Sometimes I think we just over analyze things. So much has changed over the years that the educational system has little resemblance to what it once was. And I guess I tend to over simplify the problems. I'm sure the teachers and others among us know much more about this subject than I, and I can only speak from my own experience, but I think the problems are more basic than I keep hearing.
For instance, (on the East Coast, not that it matters where) in Elementary School (through grade 7) each classroom had AT LEAST 35 kids (now they say that 25 are too many.) You sat in the same room all day with the same teacher who taught ALL the subjects. There was no gymnasium (the playground outside was the gymnasium), no cafeteria (you ate your brown bag lunch in the classroom), no auditorium, no “Social Promotions.” When you were promoted to the next grade level, there was no doubt that you EARNED it. What a simple old-fashioned concept. But it worked.
Teachers could discipline unruly kids. Students always showed teachers the utmost respect. Civility and manners were demanded at all times. You were corrected any time the word ain’t, a double negative, or other rules of proper grammar were broken. Bullying a classmate was NEVER tolerated.
The students in our school ranged from very poor to very affluent. Some homes had one parent at home to help mentor the child, and some (like mine) did not. I was a latch-key kid and both parents worked.
We also had a strick dress code to adhere to. No uniforms, but also no shorts, jeans, sneakers, open shoes, sleeveless shirts, t-shirts, short skirts, etc. Girls were never allowed to wear slacks of any kind and boys' hair could not hang over their shirt collar. Now it's all about freedom of expression and everything goes - pink hair, sandals, torn jeans, shorts, halter tops, pierced lips, pants hanging so low they're nearly falling off, and screan print tees with all manor of verbiage and graffiti both fore and aft.
Respect, civility and control is practically gone within the classroom setting and often at home too. Teachers are required to "teach to the test" rather than the core subject matter. The standards are being lowered to where in many districts (around here I'm sorry to say) teachers aren't allowed to give grades lower than a 50, 60 or in some schools nothing below a 70, no matter how badly a student failed. There is an idiotic reasoning that says if a student gets a 27 as a grade it would be harder for them to bring their grade up so they'd have little incentive to even try. A failing grade would hurt their self-esteem. WHAT???? There's no accountability on the part of the student. Nothing is really required of them anymore. They barely have to show up to warm a chair.
They have in-school suspension so that the school can show the child is there and not lose state funding (since state funding is based on number of bodies in attendance) and in addition, parents aren't inconvenienced to have to deal with their problem child during the school/work day. The schools still babysit them (because funding is at stake.)
As far as local funding, for years there was what was called "The Robin Hood Plan" where the higher school taxes collected in affluent neighborhoods and districts were shared with (given to) lower income neighborhood schools. I'm not sure if this still goes on (probably does to at least some extent) but I know it did for many years.
I have no idea how the educational systems in the rest of the world work, but in general the system of public education in the U.S. is degrading from the high standards it once had to an institution of babysitting warm bodies, giving social promotions and unearned diplomas to generations of young people who are totally unprepared to venture into the REAL WORLD where working hard, earning a living, getting along, failing as well as succeeding, and generally being responsible for yourself and your own actions are facts they'll be faced with, not some abstract concept.
We keep lowering our expectations instead of raising the bar.
Okay . . . fire when ready!