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A good friend of mine is right now dealing a POS principal who has instructed her not to teach the "Outsiders" in 8th grade despite it being approved by the state for that level. The teacher has taught it for 10 years without objection because she informs parents at begining of year, in January and just this week before she starts it on March 25th. Parents can opt for an alternative assignment but the principal is pretending that she is concerned about the law when it has been approved for 8th graders. When I see headlines about how difficult this law is to follow I get pissed because it is easy to follow and this teacher has gone out of her way to ensure parents with immature children have an alternative. 

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On 3/16/2024 at 7:55 PM, BillStime said:


Sound familiar? 

 

 

He's a hero and John McCain isn't, because it's hard to get captured loading boxes in Japan.  MAGA logic.

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1 hour ago, Orlando Tim said:

A good friend of mine is right now dealing a POS principal who has instructed her not to teach the "Outsiders" in 8th grade despite it being approved by the state for that level. The teacher has taught it for 10 years without objection because she informs parents at begining of year, in January and just this week before she starts it on March 25th. Parents can opt for an alternative assignment but the principal is pretending that she is concerned about the law when it has been approved for 8th graders. When I see headlines about how difficult this law is to follow I get pissed because it is easy to follow and this teacher has gone out of her way to ensure parents with immature children have an alternative. 


 

How much of this is lib admin essentially being a prick about the law and is going to show everyone how “ridiculous” it is?  
 

I can also see conservative or at least completely indifferent admin that just want to do their job being worried about someone coming after them all in the name of this “vile” law.  

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I don’t share the sympathies for teachers and school admins that Mr. Archer appears to have, but the inevitable “why” asked by journalists when shown results such as these in schools with the kinds of resources that LeBron has enabled this one to have almost always results in “must be the teachers’ fault” (or if they’re very bought in, some kind of “structural racism” line). 

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8 hours ago, LeviF said:


I don’t share the sympathies for teachers and school admins that Mr. Archer appears to have, but the inevitable “why” asked by journalists when shown results such as these in schools with the kinds of resources that LeBron has enabled this one to have almost always results in “must be the teachers’ fault” (or if they’re very bought in, some kind of “structural racism” line). 

 

This only proves that it's mostly on the parents and then the kids.  

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26 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

This only proves that it's mostly on the parents and then the kids.  

 

I mean, yes, but probably not in the way you mean it.

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55 minutes ago, LeviF said:

I mean, yes, but probably not in the way you mean it.

 

Meaning parents aren't stressing education and kids aren't studying.  Did you mean something different?

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Just now, Doc said:

 

Meaning parents aren't stressing education and kids aren't studying.  Did you mean something different?

 

I mean the kids are simply not capable. And since intelligence is highly heritable, they can thank their parents for that.

 

The blank slate insists that if "anybody" just studies hard enough they can grasp and apply algebraic concepts. This is simply untrue.

 

Now are there a couple of these kids that may be able to understand 8th grade math well enough that simply have no structure or support at home? Sure. But do we really think the vast majority of them, given that this is a school specifically targeted to and structured for "at risk" kids, could pass 8th grade math standards even with such structure and support?

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1 hour ago, LeviF said:

I mean the kids are simply not capable. And since intelligence is highly heritable, they can thank their parents for that.

 

The blank slate insists that if "anybody" just studies hard enough they can grasp and apply algebraic concepts. This is simply untrue.

 

Now are there a couple of these kids that may be able to understand 8th grade math well enough that simply have no structure or support at home? Sure. But do we really think the vast majority of them, given that this is a school specifically targeted to and structured for "at risk" kids, could pass 8th grade math standards even with such structure and support?

 

I think some simply aren't capable.  But I think a lot are just unmotivated.  The old "you can lead a horse to water..."

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5 hours ago, LeviF said:

 

I mean the kids are simply not capable. And since intelligence is highly heritable, they can thank their parents for that.

 

The blank slate insists that if "anybody" just studies hard enough they can grasp and apply algebraic concepts. This is simply untrue.

 

Now are there a couple of these kids that may be able to understand 8th grade math well enough that simply have no structure or support at home? Sure. But do we really think the vast majority of them, given that this is a school specifically targeted to and structured for "at risk" kids, could pass 8th grade math standards even with such structure and support?

The concept of being proficient at math at these ages is much more along the lines of effort for 90% of students, because the math is simply not difficult.  I have only had a few students, about 5-8%, who truly could not complete up to the level when they tried. Much of the issue is simply showing up to class and working through concepts, which is primarily on parents. The way that LeBron has set up the school is truly no better for these kids than the local public school since there is no requirement that parents be involved. LeBron is not the problem but he is not the solution at all. 

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1 minute ago, Orlando Tim said:

The concept of being proficient at math at these ages is much more along the lines of effort for 90% of students, because the math is simply not difficult.  I have only had a few students, about 5-8%, who truly could not complete up to the level when they tried. Much of the issue is simply showing up to class and working through concepts, which is primarily on parents. The way that LeBron has set up the school is truly no better for these kids than the local public school since there is no requirement that parents be involved. LeBron is not the problem but he is not the solution at all. 

Been a while (but not that long of a while), but that basically agrees with my experience.

Class of 30 (Catholic school, so class sizes are larger): probably 20 kids doing just fine. 7-8 kids just not trying, partly on parents and partly on legitimate attention issues. Maybe 2 or 3 who just seem not to get it no matter what they or their parents do. So mostly effort, but there are some maturity and/or innate issues that also show up in a small percentage of kids.

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4 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Been a while (but not that long of a while), but that basically agrees with my experience.

Class of 30 (Catholic school, so class sizes are larger): probably 20 kids doing just fine. 7-8 kids just not trying, partly on parents and partly on legitimate attention issues. Maybe 2 or 3 who just seem not to get it no matter what they or their parents do. So mostly effort, but there are some maturity and/or innate issues that also show up in a small percentage of kids.

There's also a cultural issue.  There's always been a percentage of kids too cool for school, but that group seems to be larger now.  Dangerous minds gave us insight into this 30 years ago.  The parents in the community need to be the catalysts, so again it falls back into the laps of the parents.  The kids with disabilities have special resources, and health-care(thanks libs) to help deal with their disabilities.  Capitalism isn't going to be kind to them no matter what.   

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Just now, daz28 said:

Capitalism isn't going to be kind to them no matter what

It's dangerously un-woke to say it, and I wouldn't want it to apply before a kid is about 13, but ...

... there is something to be said for a different/vocational track for some kids. It is not doing them any good to keep them in traditional college-prep high school, struggling through algebra and geometry and a foreign language and all that. There is nothing wrong with letting kids who seem to be continuously struggling (regardless of individualized education plans and other interventions) step away from the academic track and start learning marketable skills that don't require higher math, etc. In fact, we're not doing them any favors by forcing continuing failure on them.

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2 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

It's dangerously un-woke to say it, and I wouldn't want it to apply before a kid is about 13, but ...

... there is something to be said for a different/vocational track for some kids. It is not doing them any good to keep them in traditional college-prep high school, struggling through algebra and geometry and a foreign language and all that. There is nothing wrong with letting kids who seem to be continuously struggling (regardless of individualized education plans and other interventions) step away from the academic track and start learning marketable skills that don't require higher math, etc. In fact, we're not doing them any favors by forcing continuing failure on them.

 

Not everyone was meant for college.  There's nothing wrong being going to a trade school.

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