Fyodor's Blog of the Day.

Joannejacobs.com chronicles the depredations of Big Education. Here are a few recent samples.


February 15, 2006

Looking for trouble

In the post-Columbine era, students who write about violence or abuse in test essays may be reported to their schools by test-grading companies, reports USA Today.

When test graders around the nation pore over student essays this spring, they'll be looking for more than just writing clarity or good grammar. They'll be keeping an eye out for signs of child abuse, depression and threats of violence.

It's become common practice among states to flag what some call "alert papers" because they contain signs of potentially troubling behavior by or against students.I had no idea this was going on. In the one example given of a student who wrote about violent fantasies, "school officials encouraged his parents to seek counseling." One wonders what happens in other cases.
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Classless in Seattle

Seattle Public Schools has told nearly a quarter of its sophomores that they've been reclassified as freshmen because they didn't earn enough credits for 10th grade status. The district had feared a third of sophomores would be reclassified.

The move, effective this semester, was part of a package of changes the district announced in October to help better prepare high school students to pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning and graduate.

Held-back students won't take WASL, thereby boosting pass rates on the test. Less cynically, they'll have a chance to get real about their education early enough to have a shot at improving.
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February 14, 2006

Millennials at work

In the workplace, 20somethings -- "millennials" -- are aggravating their baby boomer and GenX bosses, says Fast Company. Millennials don't take criticism well.

Cindy Pruitt, a professional development and recruiting manager with the national law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, shares with disbelief a recent incident in which one of the firm's summer associates broke down in her office after being told his structure on a recent memo was "a little too loose." "They're simply stunned when they get any kind of negative feedback," Pruitt says. "I practically had to walk him off the ledge."

Even worse are employees whose parents show up demanding to see the manager who crushed their child's ego.

The story isn't all negative. Millennials' refusal to do busywork has its merits and apparently they're good at marketing pizza rolls.

Via Eric Kendall.

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February 13, 2006

High grades, no skills

Honor students who can't pass California's graduation exam should be angry, writes Ken at It Comes in Pints? They should be angry at teachers who gave them A's they didn't deserve.

While the hardest questions on the graduation exam require 10th grade English skills and algebra (allegedly an 8th grade skill in California), students with basic skills who guess blindly on the harder multiple-choice questions should be able to get a minimum passing grade in their first, second, third, fourth or fifth try at the test. The minimum passing grade is 60 percent for English and only 55 percent for math.

In Tracy, a girl who claims a 3.6 grade point average says she's failed the math exam five times because teachers didn't teach her right. She doesn't seem to question the validity of her A's and B's.

My great potential is being snuffed by this test.

Ken responds:
AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Once again, one more time: The test is not snuffing anything except the lies that your fraudulent diploma would be telling potential employers and/or college admission boards. You should be happy that this test is telling you that you are unprepared when it's still early enough to correct the problem. Down the road it will get progressively harder, and employers will not be happy that you don't have the skills your diploma claims you have. And believe me, employers will cut you little slack.

Ken also responds to an LA Times column by Russell Rumberger, an education researcher, who complains that "the state exit exam ignores 'noncognitive' social skills — motivation, tenacity, trustworthiness, perseverance, etc. These are difficult to measure but highly valued by employers. Research studies show that 70% to 80% of a high school diploma's market value — measured by earnings differences between graduates and dropouts — can be attributed to these skills."

As Ken notes, students who are motivated, tenacious and persistent can learn the skills necessary to pass the exam.

Ken also cites a letter from a TA to chemistry students who can't tell "vial" from "vile" and think their high school A's mean they can pass pre-med classes without knowing what a logarithm is.
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February 12, 2006

Tar Heel uses free speech

Showing more courage than many professional newspapers, the University of North Carolina's Daily Tar Heel published a cartoon showing Muhammad complaining the Danish cartoons show him from his "bad side" while the violent protests show his "worst."

Muslim students wrote a letter of protest demanding an apology.

"The intention of bigotry was clear," the association wrote in a letter to The Daily Tar Heel. "One must question the DTH's ethics in advancing a widely protested issue to cause a riot of their own. The MSA not only found this cartoon derogatory but is also shocked at the editor's allowance of its publication -- one that incites hate in the current political and social context."

"Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry," explains the AP story. Apparently it's possible to have idolatry without imagery.

Daily Tar Heel editor Ryan Tuck said the newspaper wanted to challenge fellow students to think about the issue. He said while he has apologized personally to individuals who told him the cartoon offended, the newspaper will not apologize.

"The point of any cartoon in any newspaper is to challenge belief systems," Tuck said. "We knew it would offend, but that doesn't make it the explicit goal of the cartoon."

Meanwhile, Iowahawk reports on rioting in Wisconsin where "tensions remain as high as the cholesterol" over a Dallas Cowboy fan's cartoons mocking Vince Lombardi.
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