From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Fri Aug 24 2001 - 16:35:23 MDT
From: "Mike Lorrey" <mlorrey@datamann.com>
> Most of the countries that score higher than US kids on tests do so
> specifically because they have a multi-tiered school system that weeds
> kids out around the 6th or 7th grade, sending the achievers to
> university prep high schools, and those that don't to vocational high
> schools. The kids that take these comparison tests are only from the
> university prep high schools, not the vocational ones, which is why they
> score so high.
Oh, I thought you were talking about specialization in US school system. Yes,
it does make sense to structure instruction according to students' aptitudes.
US science education probably would not suck quite as badly if it were not
impeded by outcome based education.
> NOTE: Just because a kid goes to a vocational school doesn't mean they
> don't take courses in subjects that would be considered part of a
> 'classical liberal' education. They take core competency courses just as
> prep school kids do, they just take vocational classes as well, instead
> of taking four years of science and four years of math, they take a
> couple years of each and the rest in vocational classes to learn
> marketable skills.
Some of the smartest kids might elect to attend vocational classes just to get
away from some of the propaganda in the liberal classes. Likewise science and
math may attract students with above average intellectual honesty, because the
grading system for math and science is not as susceptible to subjective
evaluation as the liberal arts.
> This is one of the big problems. Teachers work to eliminate vocational
> training because of career elitism, they don't want to be seen as
> 'vo-tech' teachers. No teacher is less respected than the shop teacher.
> He is usually seen as a bumbling hick who spends his off hours coaching
> the football team.
Yes, that sounds accurate to me. Academic elitism is also based, I think, on a
hierarchy of political correctness. It's considered unintelligent to disagree
with or to criticize the dominant political paradigm. So, the bottom line is
US science education sucks because elitists who don't particularly like math
and science are in charge of the system.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego
Everything that can happen has already happened, not just once,
but an infinite number of times, and will continue to do so forever.
(Everything that can happen = more than anyone can imagine.)
We won't move into a better future until we debunk religiosity, the most
regressive force now operating in society.
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