Monday, October 18, 2004

HUGE INCOMPETENCY EXPOSED IN CALIFORNIA

Though that is hardly a surprise

Nearly six months after giving the first statewide exam to identify students who aren't prepared for university-level course work, California State University officials found that nearly 80 percent of high school juniors they tested are not ready for college English. The same test - called the Early Assessment Program - dealt better results in math, with 45 percent of participating juniors posting scores too low to prove they are ready for college-level math. "The scores reveal what I've been saying all along," said Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction. "We must make our high schools more rigorous if we want our students to be prepared."

CSU officials emphasized the numbers released Wednesday are somewhat inconclusive because the test made its debut this year and has no basis for comparison. Still, they underscore a problem that continues to hound the 23-campus CSU system: Large numbers of freshmen, despite being among the state's top one-third of graduating seniors, aren't prepared for the academic rigors of college. Last fall, nearly half of CSU's incoming freshmen weren't proficient in English and nearly 40 percent weren't prepared for college math. Remedial courses in both subjects cost the CSU system nearly $30 million last year. "We want to be able to take those dollars and direct them to students who are already prepared," said David Spence, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for CSU....

CSU faculty have created a senior-year English course for high schools with heavy emphasis on critical thinking and writing. Current senior-year English courses center around literature, but often lack college-level writing assignments, according to CSU officials. Faculty have also developed math diagnostic tests to help students and teachers identify weaknesses.

More here.





WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DISCIPLINE IS POLITICALLY INCORRECT

Ashley Fernandez, a 12-year-old, attends Morgan Village Middle School, in Camden, N.J., a predominantly black and Hispanic school that has been designated as failing under state and federal standards for more than three years. Rotten education is not Ashley's only problem. When her gym teacher, exasperated by his unruly class, put all the girls in the boys' locker room, Ashley was assaulted. Two boys dragged her into the shower, held her down and fondled her for 10 minutes.

The school principal refused to even acknowledge the assault and denied her mother's request for a transfer to another school. Since the assault, Ashley has received numerous threats, and boys frequently grope her and run away. Put yourself in the place of Ashley's mother. The school won't protect her daughter from threats and assault. The school won't permit a transfer. What would you do? Ashley's mother began to keep her home. The response from officials: She received a court summons for allowing truancy.

Then there's Carmen Santana's grandson, Abraham, who attended Camden High School. After two boys hit him in the face, broke his nose and chipped his teeth, Abraham was afraid to go to school. Guess what. His grandmother was charged with allowing truancy when she kept him home while she tried to get permission for him to finish his senior-year studies at home. Lisa Snell reports that "more than 100 parents have removed their children from Camden schools because of safety concerns. The school district's response: a truancy crackdown."

Nationwide, there were approximately 1,466,000 violent incidents that occurred in public schools in the 1999-2000 school year. Violent incidents, according to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon. Most school violence occurs in inner-city schools. During the 1999-2000 school year, 7 percent of all public schools accounted for 50 percent of the total violent incidents, and 2 percent of public schools accounted for 50 percent of the serious violent incidents.

More here.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

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