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Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

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Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#61

Post by StanislavPetrov »

mrguyorama wrote: post #17
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During the first year of schools being shutdown, I was dating a middle school guidance counselor and her experience matched what you posted. She had a very difficult time contacting parents and if she was able to get in touch with them, most said there was nothing they could do about their child choosing not to participate in remote school. She was entirely powerless to do anything except offer remote tutoring servic…

At the end of the day, if parents don't value education, there's nothing an educator can do to fix that. Even truancy laws can't force a kid to pay attention and do their homework.

Even if there's nothing an educator can do to fix it, what they can do is give the student a failing grade for failing to complete the course. It is a slap in the face to every student who shows up and does the work to "socially promote" kids who don't do the work. Combined with the ongoing elimination of standardized tests, we are left with no metrics to judge students. It is no surprise that our colleges and other "higher educational institutions" are filled with people who should not be there, because they don't even have a basic education.

Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#62

Post by lern_too_spel »

sn0w_crash wrote: post #38

Is anyone surprised? We have a sizable number of people in western academia saying math is racist.

Or rather, we have a sizable number of people outside of academia who are unable to comprehend the difference between people saying that instruction is racist by letting some people get lower standard education and people saying that math is racist.

Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#63

Post by SQueeeeeL »

adam_arthur wrote: post #55
SQueeeeeL wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Omg, yes! I don't understand how people don't realize this, relevant YouTube video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hncVNNabglc

What is there to realize? Look at the studies and data. There will always be outliers who get ahead via nepotism, that's life. There are also many wealthy kids who end up squandering it all

Wait, can you please share these studies and data with me? I'm really tired of all my liberal friends telling me that just because someone grew up "without internet", that means there somehow unprivileged. Why don't parents just take them to the library, lol

Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#64

Post by sn0w_crash »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #62
sn0w_crash wrote: post #38

Is anyone surprised? We have a sizable number of people in western academia saying math is racist.

Or rather, we have a sizable number of people outside of academia who are unable to comprehend the difference between people saying that instruction is racist by letting some people get lower standard education and people saying that math is racist.

? Ive read this twice and have no idea what was said

Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#65

Post by Test0129 »

skyde wrote: post #54
Test0129 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An entire generation of students is at risk of forever being behind. That ship sailed when Common Core was introduced. Teaching kids neat hacks instead of actual math will permanently stunt their progress.

what do you call "neat hacks instead of actual math "? kahn Academy is teaching the Common Core math, and I don't see how it's not actual math.

Just because Khan Academy teaches it doesn't mean it's the most effective, most useful, or even correct method. They too are victims of needing money. Teaching what is currently being taught has been their bread and butter since the early days.

I can only speak from examples I've seen from young ones in my family "acing" early math and suddenly struggling with trivial stuff like Geometry, more advanced fractions, factoring, etc.

Common tricks like so-called "number bonds", "colored numbers", excessively complicated math for simple arithmetic by using shapes, preferring "regrouping" to carrying, etc.

All of these are valid, and with the correct level of sophistication a student can learn these tricks fast and use them correctly. The issue is you're dealing with kids who haven't gotten any sophistication yet. The reason things are initially taught rote is not because of some shibboleth of mathematics but rather mathematics can be useful without always knowing exactly why something works. There are some examples of common core problems floating around the internet that border on introductory number theory. The premise of it is ridiculous. Your child arrives to high school or college with a cobbled together book of poorly learned tricks that end up having profound influence over their ability to digest actual complicated math.

To drive the point home a "common core" version of calculus would have you learning real analysis long before you even understood a derivative. It's asinine.

Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#67

Post by darthrupert »

DontchaKnowit wrote: post #7

I taught summer school math to 8th graders for a brief spell. I was teaching them addition and subtraction. I shit you not. It's really sad. And it did not matter how they performed, if they showed up for class, we passed them and sent them along. Also if they didn't show up, we passed them and sent them along anyway. We should be absolutely ashamed of the public school system in our country. It'd corruption and perv…

Please note that nearly every country in the West is facing similar downward curves. Also countries like Finland, who were at the top for several years.

The US school system may have its separate problems, but the wider issue is not just there.

Re: Just 26% of US 8th graders proficient in math, in biggest-ever setback

#68

Post by bsder »

prottog wrote: post #52
blacksmith_tb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That appears to be a false equivalency, Yao Ming doesn't "value" being tall, he is tall. Parents who don't value education may be crappy parents, or they may be hard-eyed realists who think nothing will better the lot of their children. But it's in the interest of a society to not have large numbers of uneducated and angry young people causing havoc.

I don't know that society can handle a government large enough to ensure that large numbers of uneducated and angry young people do not exist, if the majority of parents do not care to educate their children . Put another way, I'm advocating for policy that incentivizes parents to be good parents, instead of one that raises children in their stead if they fail to be good parents.

> if the majority of parents do not care to educate their children.

I don't agree that this is true. I might agree that a majority of parents now don't understand how to educate their children or have the excess capacity to do so.

Reading to your child means that you have literacy above your child as well as having time. Doing well in school presupposes that your parents know how to do well in school. Navigating bureaucracy is a skill learned by the upper-middle class and above.

Working the system is difficult when you spend most of your time simply trying to avoid having that system grind you apart.

Providing a public education to everyone is how society can help ameliorate some of those issues. It also is the most cost effective by a long, long margin.

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