The school I teach in is K - 12, I get to see all the kids and
teachers at work. We have many students at all levels that can
barely read or write. Who is at fault? From where I stand it is
pretty easy to assign blame. On occasion I have seen a poor
teacher, but in most cases it is the district, student and parents.
The district refuses to hold back students for any reason. I had a
student that basically did not attend school for more than a few
days for three years. The district said we had to pass him. Now in
high school, can't read or write, and the district wants to know why
he can't pass the state test and why the school does not make AYP.
We now have so many of these high school students that there is no
way the school can make AYP. The average number of absences in one
class was 35 days, hard to teach students that are not there. Many
of kids at the school come to school late, sometimes not until after
lunch. I see the teachers being held accountable, but not many
other folks. It would be awesome to see the school board held
accountable for some of the decisions they make. On 3/29/09,
Tatum8567 wrote:
> I understand what you are saying. I teach middle school and
> they can't create a sentence much less write an essay. I see
> how the students are struggling and lose interest in school
> altogether. I know the schools I have worked in believed in
> social promotion and students knew they would go on without
> being held accountable. I also understand that NCLB was
> supposed to help with that but someone needs to realize that
> teachers and schools are not the only responsible ones in the
> education process. Students and parents need to take on some
> responsibility.
>
>
> On 2/23/09, Surprise wrote:
>
>> I really admire your willingness to take the problem on.
>>
>> This is exactly why NCLB came about. It's just that those at
>> the lower levels still cannot see any accountability in their
>> actions. Remember, blame the parents, blame the students,
>> never look at thyself. That will get you and through the
>> day. Said sarcastically, of course.
>>
>>
>> On 1/22/09, Teachaustin wrote:
>>> I am a high school teacher with illiterate students in her
>>> class. These students have somehow made it into my 11th
>>> grade English class without learning to write sentences!
>>> I am not exaggerating. Here are some examples of students'
>>> work:
>>> We just be chillin in everthing all Saturday
>>>
>>> I have a good personality to keep the relationship going.
>>>
>>> I no what I wont form a relacionschip.
>>>
>>> I can be mean but I can be nice when I want if I like some
>>> body or not it depens on the people cause if I like you I am
>>> nice and if I dont then I am not.
>>>
>>> These are 16-17 year old students in a Junior level class.
>>> My question is not if I should help them. That is an
>>> obvious YES. My question is: how on earth did they progress
>>> to the 11th grade without learning how to write simple
>>> sentences?
>>> 10 teachers before me had many opportunities to help these
>>> students. If they did not learn the skills they were
>>> supposed to learn, why did they pass that grade level?!
>>> If a student in the 5th grade does not master 5th grade
>>> level skills, why are they passed to 6th grade?
>>> This had to have happened to my students, because here they
>>> are, Juniors in high school and they cannot even write
>>> sentences.
>>>
>>> I would love for someone to please explain to me how my
>>> students reached the 11th grade without the skills they
>>> should have learned in the lower grades?
>>>
>>> Are they now passing my 11th grade class? NO!
>>> They are not passing because they cannot correctly complete
>>> 11th grade level work! You do not pass an 11th grade class
>>> because you show up or because you write a string of
>>> meaningless words down on paper and try to pass it off as an
>>> essay.
>>>
>>> Can someone, anyone, please tell me what happened? What is
>>> happening now? Where do we expect these teenagers to end
>>> up if they cannot even write a sentence correctly? If they
>>> do not know words such as appeal, ingrain, deliberately,
>>> convey, and govern by the time they are 17?

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