As the country struggles to pay billions for three wars, states continue to shutdown basic services and programs. Chicago this week joined other jurisdictions in dropping writing as part of the standardized exam for students to save $2.4 million a year. It is not clear if children will be given lessons on the oral tradition of story telling and refreshers in cave drawing.
Schools Superintendent Christopher Koch explained, orally, that “writing is one of the most expensive things to assess.” Oregon and Missouri also recently cut writing from exams. This is part of a broader rollback on school programs and resources that could prove disastrous for this country.
With writing ability already falling in our country, such decisions accelerate our decline as a competitive educational system.
While other countries are investing heavily in producing highly educated and productive students, we are cutting whole grades to allow us to keep spending on more important things. The inevitable result is that our population will become less and less viable in the modern economy — a nation of consumers without a productivity to match our appetite.
Source: WLS
kderosa,
“Elaine, we shall see, the devil is in the details.”
I have no idea what you’re referring to. The details of what?
Elaine, Several of those occupations are at the low end of the pay scale too. There isn’t much social support for those occupations in that a good wage is positive support and reinforcement. Amazing isn’t it, there are professions in that list that society would be hard pressed to do without but give little actual, tangible respect to.
@OS, your list of discrediting techniques is truly a marvel to behold. Good for you. One can never have enough ad hominems up his sleeves.
@Elaine, we shall see, the devil is in the details.
Mespo, you nailed it. Dishonorable hardly touches the caddish behavior toward some of the best posters on the internet. The person with the least to offer seems to get off on insulting those with the most to contribute. 🙁
kderosa,
“Let me guess: whole language lover”
Wrong again!
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lottakatz,
My daughter sent me the following link recently (10 Most Depressing Careers). She and her husband are both social workers. I enjoyed teaching–but things have changed in education since I retired.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/slideshow/money/28346815/detail.html?qs=1;s=1;p=money&dm=ss&tn=b
@Mespo if that makes you feel good about yourself, you go right ahead.
After your rather dishonorable behavior towards Elaine who contributes more here in one sentence than you do with all the verbose, convoluted arguments fraught with dubious and comically wrong “facts,” and who is the epitome of both graciousness and education, I now dub you “cad-erosa.”
Elaine M.: ” I’d say that early education is where the foundation for teaching critical thinking and writing skills is laid. It’s a long process. I’d add that teaching young children how to read words and comprehend what they read is also a primary function of early education. Learning how to read and to infer from text is of the greatest import.”
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I agree. Unfortunately, if you check out the list at the below link you will notice that primary education/social work fields have among the lowest wages and least potential for long-term economic gain. There is a problem IMO with a societies priorities when a job applicant with an undergraduate degree in Interior Design can look toward a (average) higher starting salary than someone with an undergraduate degree in Primary Education or Social Work. Not that I don’t like a nice bit of interior design but, it makes me wonder.
http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/degrees.asp
@Elaine, I’ll take that as a compliment coming from the cut and paste queen.
Let me guess: whole language lover? Or whatever they’re calling it these days — balanced literacy.
kderosa,
I see you’re still avoiding answering the question about your educational expertise. Better to get your information on the subject second hand. You know somebody who knows something about education. Maybe you weren’t good at making macaroni collages–but you sure know how to cut and paste.
🙂
kderosa,
I may be privy to your background in education, and I am looking forward to watching the debate regardless of demands for credentials.
@Elaine. Thanks for the collage tips, I suspected you had some experience. I think you know that no one fails out of ed school regardless of the skill at which they design their collages. Did you also know that Ed school majors have some of the lowest SAT scores? It’s not one of the most prestigious credentials. In any event, it’s what you got, so I’m hoping you’ll be able to keep up better on education issues than you do in other areas.
kderosa,
I guess you’d prefer not to provide information about your educational expertise–or lack thereof. Am I to assume that you’ve had no classroom experience? Did you flunk out of your educational program because your macaroni collages were subpar? Next time, don’t boil the macaroni!
😉
@Elaine, you don’t seem very secure in your knowledge of education. How many macaroni collages did you make to get your credential?
@Blouise, I know what attribution is. I also know Dan Willingham, so if you have any questions I’ll pass them on. His last book was very good.
Attribution is a nod of respect to the originator.
It also gives others a jumping off point should they be intrigued or curious and wish to read more. The willingness/need to learn more is a mark of the truly educated.
Otteray,
Maybe kderosa has “cut and paste” educational expertise. One might infer that.
“…I’ll use my own judgment…”
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Wow! Another existential moment. 🙄
kderosa,
I’m just wondering what your educational expertise is.
@Elaine, I didn’t mean to exclude you, if you wanted to be included. But, I don’t know if you agreed with the statement or not, so I didn’t want to be presumptuous.
@OS, thanks, but I’ll use my own judgment as to what needs attribution and what doesn’t.